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BUDAPEST (AP) - Hungary's prime minister stunned the country Saturday by announcing his resignation because he had become an "obstacle" to the reforms needed to pull the country out of its worse financial crisis since the end of communism nearly 20 years ago. Ferenc Gyurcsany, of the ruling Socialists, made the unexpected announcement at his party's congress saying that he was keeping a pledge he made in January last year to change the leadership if the embattled party's popularity failed to recover. He accepted his reputation was badly damaged when state radio in 2006 broadcast a speech he made at...

BUDAPEST (AFP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany came under fire Wednesday from both allies and the opposition for what they described as the secretive way in which he struck a recent gas pipeline deal with Russia. Gyurcsany and Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced Monday in Budapest that they would sign a deal on the South Stream gas pipeline project, bringing Russian gas to Europe, later in the week. "I don't know the content of the agreement. (But) to make an agreement that will determine energy (policy) for the next 20 to 25 years and have no...

The new chief of the Hungarian secret services, who spent six years at the KGB's academy in Moscow during the 1980s, has become chairman of NATO's intelligence committee, a development that diplomats said could compromise the security of the alliance. Sandor Laborc, 49, was personally chosen by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany of Hungary as director of the country's counterintelligence National Security Office in December, after a bitter dispute between the governing coalition led by the Socialists - the former Communists - and the main opposition party, Fidesz. Laborc, a former Communist who was trained at the KGB's Dzerzhinsky Academy from...

The head of the main right-of-centre opposition party in Hungary, a former Soviet satellite, on Friday raised the spectre of communism as he warned against the government getting too friendly with Russian gas giant Gazprom. Hungary was known as the Soviet Union's "most cheerful barracks" in the later years of communism, and Fidesz leader Viktor Orban used this phrase to evoke a vision of Hungary once again falling under the sway of Moscow. "Those young people following us should not allow Hungary to become Gazprom's most cheerful barracks after we freed ourselves from the fate of being the Soviet system's...

RUSSIA 'WILL REMEMBER THE BEHAVIOR OF PRAGUE AND WARSAW' The daily "Vremya novostei" wrote on March 29 that "Russia will remember the behavior of Prague and Warsaw" in the current debate about stationing part of the proposed U.S. missile-defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. The paper argued that the system is directed against Russia rather than Iran or North Korea and is being planned without concern for the wishes of all NATO members (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 12 and March 22, 28, and 29, 2007). Russia has been seeking for weeks to bully Poland and the Czech Republic,...

'Lying' Prime Minister clings on to power From Adam LeBor in Budapest TENS of thousands of demonstrators called for the resignation of Ferenc Gyurcsany, Hungary’s Socialist Prime Minister, at a rally outside parliament yesterday. The streets around the parliament were a sea of Hungarian flags, but in contrast to the recent violence the atmosphere was almost carnival-like, with rock music blaring out across Kossuth Square. The rally was called by the right-wing opposition Fidesz party but is unlikely to bring down the Government. Mr Gyurcsany won a vote of confidence in parliament yesterday. The ruling Socialist-Liberal coalition attracted 207 votes,...

Once shining star, Hungary falters An opposition rally Friday is part of a broader populism that has stalled the young democracy. By Michael Logan | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – The political and social crisis that has engulfed Hungary for almost three weeks intensified on Thursday as the main right-wing opposition party Fidesz announced a massive street rally for Friday. The rally, which could spark further violence, coincides with a vote of confidence called for by the beleaguered prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany. After defeat in local elections on Sunday and criticism from the nation's president, the...

Hungary PM says democracy at stake Oct 4, 2006 — BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said on Wednesday Hungary's democracy was at stake and underlined he would not resign in the face of mounting pressure. Hungary has been in crisis since the leak of a tape two weeks ago in which Gyurcsany admitted lying about the state of the economy to win April's election. He has defied opposition calls to quit and is firmly backed by his Socialist Party. "The main opposition (Fidesz) and its leader (Viktor Orban) are filled with a thirst for revenge. He cannot accept...

Hungary PM says sorry for lies September 27, 2006 - 8:00PM Source: ABC Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany apologised on Wednesday for the tone of a leaked speech in which he admitted lying about the parlous state of the economy to win April's election. The leak of the profanity-littered tape triggered violent protests this month and calls for the government of Socialists and Free Democrats to quit. On the tape, Mr Gyurcsany said in May that "we lied in the morning, we lied in the evening". "Of course I am sorry.... these were the words of reproof, affection and passion,"...

Hungary's Socialists rally behind embattled prime minister By Pablo Gorondi ASSOCIATED PRESS 1:45 p.m. September 25, 2006 BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary's ruling Socialist Party stood by the prime minister Monday, saying it has no plans to replace him despite calls for the appointment of a caretaker government because he admitted he lied about the economy. Only about 200 demonstrators rallied in the main Kossuth Square – down from last week's large protests, including 20,000 on Saturday demanding the resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. But a group of prominent Hungarians submitted a petition to Parliament demanding the convocation of...

A question of honor Robin Shepherd International Herald Tribune Published: September 20, 2006 BRATISLAVA, Slovakia Rarely has a modern European leader been more brazen in his contempt for basic standards of political decency. After Hungary's socialist prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, admitted that he had secured re-election earlier this year after lying to voters about the true state of the economy "morning, evening and night" for the whole of his premiership, it is difficult to know whether one should be more appalled by his admission or by the astonishing fact that he is now trying to make political capital out of...

BUDAPEST, Hungary - Mounted police charged bottle-hurling protesters outside Socialist party headquarters early Wednesday, another night of violence touched off by the prime minister's leaked admission that his government had repeatedly lied to the public about the economy. Up to 50 people were reported injured, including one policeman. The state MTI news agency said the officer was seriously hurt in the clashes, which - like on the previous day - involved splinter groups separate from a larger demonstration massing about 10,000 people. MTI said total police at the scene numbered around 1,000. It reported several police cars burning and said...

BUDAPEST - Hungary's prime minister on Tuesday rejected calls to resign and threatened to crack down on any repeat of anti-government riots that left 150 injured in the worst street violence here since the fall of Communism. Following are excerpts from Ferenc Gyurcsany's controversial May 26 speech to members of his Socialist party, leaked to the press over the weekend, which set off the protests: "I almost died, that for one year and a half I had to pretend like we were governing. Instead, we lied morning, night and evening. I don't want to do it any more. Either we...

A leaked recording that caught Hungary's prime minister admitting the government had lied about the economy — keeping it afloat through "tricks" and relying on "divine providence" — has prompted protests outside parliament and calls for his resignation. The tape was made at a closed-door meeting in late May, weeks after Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's government became the first in post-communist Hungary to win re-election. It seemed to confirm the worst accusations leveled at him by the center-right opposition during the campaign — that Hungary's state budget was on the verge of collapse and that Gyurcsany and his ministers...

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's Socialist-led coalition won a general election on Sunday with an increased majority in parliament to become the country's first government to retain power since communism fell in 1989. With 98 percent of the vote counted in the second round of polling, the election commission projected the Socialist Party and its Free Democrat allies would increase their majority from 198 to 210 seats in the 386-member parliament. It was a personal triumph for 44-year-old Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who rescued the Socialists from what looked certain defeat when he became premier in 2004, and provides him with...

A week ago yesterday, Ferenc Gyurcsany, the man who would be Hungary's Tony Blair, led his socialist-liberal coalition to victory in the first round of parliamentary elections. He is poised to finish the job this Sunday and become Hungary's first post-communist prime minister to win re-election. It was, however, only his second most impressive triumph in the past two years. The more surprising win came in August 2004 when he was named prime minister. A battle had been brewing all that year within the Socialist party between the young party activists, led by Mr Gyurcsany, and the aging leadership. The...

BUDAPEST : Ferenc Gyurcsany, a former communist youth leader turned millionaire businessman, was elected prime minister of Hungary after parliament approved his nomination by a narrow margin. Gyurcsany's appointment was made possible by the slim majority held in parliament by his Socialist Party and its liberal coalition partner, the Free Democrats. He won the support of 197 of the 384 members of parliament. The conservative opposition abstained en masse, with 175 lawmakers not casting a vote. Twelve lawmakers voted against Gyurcsany. Gyurcsany took his oath of office immediately after the vote. He was due to unveil his cabinet on Thursday,...