William Penn Life, 2010 (45. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2010-08-01 / 8. szám
Magyar Matters Hungary remains defiant with IMF despite dire predictions BUDAPEST — Prime Minister Viktor Orbán maintained a defiant stance over Hungary's failed negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), despite predictions the impasse could weaken the nation's bonds and currency. Talks between Hungary and the IMF ended in July with the two sides failing to agree to terms on a new standby credit agreement and other long term issues, including Hungary's 2011 budget. The IMF issued a statement saying the government needs to make "tough decisions, notably on spending" if it is to reach its previously agreed goal of reducing Hungary's deficit to 3.8 percent of GDP this year. Orbán, in remarks following a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel held several days after the IMF talks stalled, said he sees no point in continuing negotiations with the IMF and will instead confer exclusively with the EU on how to reduce the budget deficit to below 3 percent in 2011. He also said Hungary will MARSHALLTON, PA - The local United Methodist Church is collecting donations to aid the Hungarian students and teachers involved in the July duck boat accident on the Delaware River in Philadelphia. Two Hungarian students—Dóra Schwendtner, 16, and Szabolcs Prem, 20—died in the incident. The Hungarian students and teachers were staying with members of the church while visiting the U.S. as part of a cultural exchange program. They were on a sightseeing trip July 7 aboard the duck boat, when the boat became disabled in the river and was rammed by a barge being pushed by a tugboat. The 35 passengers on the duck boat were thrown into the river, and all were rescued except the two students. Their bodies were recovered two days later. 6 0 August 2010 ° William Penn Life meet it's 3.8 percent goal this year. The IMF is providing much of a 20-billion-euro emergency loan to Hungary under a 2008 bailout agreement. Meanwhile, Hungary is in its fifth year of belt-tightening measures and hopes to persuade creditors to loosen restraints on the country's deficit targets. "This is definitely negative for bonds and negative for the currency, both in speculative terms and in real flows," said London-based economist Peter Attard Montalto in an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek. The forint fell 4.6 percent against the euro in the two days following the end of talks with the IMF and has fallen 6.5 percent against the euro in the past three months. The forint did recover slightly a few days later, but some financial analysts expect the forint and bond prices to drop further and are advising investors to stay away for now. "Our responsibility is to restore confidence in Hungary," said Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics. □ In the days following the accident, Pastor Scott Widmer said his church received many expressions of condolences and monetary donations. It set up the Hungarian Students Emergency Fund to handle the donations. The money will be used to help all the victims of the accident, both Hungarian and American, he said. Funds will be used to pay for medical bills, counseling, potential lost income and any other unforeseen expenses. Memorial services for the victims were held July 10, both along the banks of the Delaware River and outside Kossuth Lajos Secondary School in Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary, where the victims were students. For information on the emergency fund, please call the church at 610- 696-5247, or visit the church's web site at www.marshalltonchurch.org. □ In Brief □ The Annual Birmingham (Ohio) Ethnic Festival will be held Sunday, Aug. 15, from noon to 9:00 p.m. on Consaul Street in East Toledo’s Birmingham neighborhood. This family event features Hungarian and ethnic foods, arts and crafts exhibits, cultural displays and a wide variety of music, dance and entertainment. Food available for purchase includes chicken paprikás and kolbász dinners, Hungarian pastries, paprikás noodles and gravy, kolbász sandwiches, stuffed cabbages and szalonna sütés. For more information, visit the Festival web site at www.birminghamethnicfestival.org. □ The American Hungarian Reformed Presbyter’s Association will hold its 64th Annual Conference Aug. 28 and 29 at the Bethlen Communities Conference Room in Ligonier, Pa. The theme for this year’s conference will be the “Past, Present and Future of the Presbyter’s Association.” Organizers of the meeting are planning open forum discussions during which attendees can determine the group’s future by exploring its past. For more information, call Wilburn A. Roby Jr. at 724-285-8851 or email him at warajr@embarqmail.com. □ Fidesz-Christian Democrat candidate Pál Schmitt was elected Hungary’s new president in a landslide during voting in Parliament June 29. Schmitt received 263 of a possible 366 votes. He will succeed incumbent László Sólyom on Aug. 6. In his acceptance speech Schmitt said “it is an historic task to create a new Constitution for a united Hungarian nation. All people are born equal, are entitled to the same rights and have the same obligations.” Prior to the election, the Jobbik Party said it would not vote. Jobbik chairman Gábor Vona said “we consider Schmitt a decent Hungarian. The big question is whether he will be able to politically meet the challenge, as we know he is a party politician.” András Schiffer of the Politics Can Be Different Party (LMP) said he expects the president-elect to be an effective counterweight against the governing power. LMP had wanted Sólyom to retain his post, but will cooperate with Schmitt. Emergency fund established to aid victims of Philly duck boat accident
