HUNGARY/ ROMANIA/ SLOVAKIA : Hungarian Passport Demand Surges Under New Citizenship Law.

BBC/ Laurence Peter /

    Thousands are applying for Hungarian passports at Romanian consulates in regions that used to be part of Hungary after a new citizenship law took effect
   One expert said "hundreds of thousands" would apply in Transylvania, northern Romania. Officially Romania has about 1.5 million ethnic Hungarians, though some estimate "nearly two million".
   Some Slovakian politicians have condemned the law because southern Slovakia has about 500,000 ethnic Hungarians, nearly 10 percent of the population.

EUROZONE: Some In Eastern Europe Now Balking At Euro Adoption.

BBC/ Laurence Knight /

     Many nations in central and eastern europe are thinking long and hard about their promise to adopt the euro when they signed up for the EU.
     The "PIIGS" (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) were caught in the euro trap because the boom years hyped labor and public finances but the bust has left them uncompetitive with a major debt. But inside the euro zone, the easy cure, currency devaluation, is not available.
      Now, some pols and much of the public in the Czech Republic and Poland don't really want to join the eurozone.

EASTERN EUROPE: Economies Ride German Export Wave For Growth; But Still Neglected By Foreign Capital.

BLOOMBERG/ Ott Ummelas /
   Eastern Europe is drafting behind Germany's 3.7% economic expansion - its fastest growth since 1991.
    “Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic all expanded at a much faster pace than we had expected, while the Romanian economy shrank by less than we thought likely after last quarter’s fiscal squeeze,” said economist Neil Shearing. “The key driver was probably a rebound in industrial exports on the back of continued strong growth in Germany.”
    “The key issue is whether the German export machine can withstand the renewed slowdown in the global economy that appears likely over the next year or so,” Shearing said. “We’re cautiously pessimistic.”

  BLOOMBERG also reports:
     Eastern Europe's nations are struggling to attract foreign capital even as some Asian and Latin American countries struggle to control the flood of hot money from investors seeking higher yields.
   “The countries that need the money the most are the ones with the biggest difficulty,” said economist Nigel Rendell. “They’d like more money from overseas, but I’m not sure they are going to get a great deal more because it’s just too risky.”  
 SEE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-12/global-currency-war-may-miss-investment-starved-east-european-countries.html 

EASTERN EUROPE: Poles And Czechs Lead Recovery.

REUTERS/ ANALYSIS: Michael Winfrey :
     "A two-speed recovery is under way in the European Union's emerging eastern economies, with Poland and the Czech Republic outpacing peers Hungary and Romania for now. Portfolio investors looking for higher yields in sluggish western economies are pouring into the region, but uncertainties remain, including battles over austerity and next year's budgets and the need for Germany's export boom to keep their recoveries alive."
     AND: "Long seen as a safe haven, the Czech crown has led gainers this year, rising 7.6 percent against the euro versus 4 percent for Poland's zloty. But since last month, other currencies have outperformed. Hungary's forint has jumped 5.05 percent after a sharp fall in July."

EASTERN EUROPE: Chinese Increasing Investments In Poland And Hungary.

NYTIMES/ By JUDY DEMPSEY :
   "From the Baltic states to the Balkans, Chinese companies, flush with money, are buying real estate and competing for public infrastructure contracts, especially as Poland and Ukraine work at breakneck speed to jointly play host to the 2012 European soccer championship. They are also investing in the manufacturing of products like electronics and chemicals to gain a foothold inside Europe’s expansive single market.
Chinese companies are becoming increasingly active in Poland, where the work force is well educated and still relatively inexpensive compared with those in Western European countries.  Trade flows have also changed. “China used to mainly export textiles, shoes and tea to Poland,” said Tomasz Ostaszewicz, director of the bilateral economic cooperation department at the Polish Economy Ministry. “Now China is our main supplier of electronic goods."

HUNGARY/ROMANIA/SERBIA:The Trio Struggles To Sell Enough Debt.

BLOOMBERG/ Gordana Filipovic/
   Hungary, Romania and Serbia needed $55 billion in IMF bailouts in 2009. Now they can't find enough debt buyers as spending cuts weaken government power and concerns grow about stalled recovery.
Filipovic: "Serbia and Romania failed to sell the planned amount of debt on offer this week while Hungary paid more today to sell all of its debt by allowing the yield to rise. Hungary failed to sell the planned amount of 12-month debt on Sept. 2 as concern the central bank might raise interest rates damped investor demand."

EASTERN EUROPE: 2010 Economic Forecast.

BUSINESSWEEK/        Poland and Slovakia will expand 2.7%, compared with an average of 1% for the 27-member EU, projects an EU report. The Czech Republic will grow 1.6% and Hungary will stagnate. Germany may grow by 1.2%.

Austerity Has Helped Hungary Survive The Recession.

THE ECONOMIST/
"The government has trimmed public spending by fully 3.8% of GDP this year, with most cuts falling on social spending and public-sector pay. These cuts came on top of earlier ones that reduced the budget deficit from 9.2% of GDP in 2006 to just 3.4% in 2008. More are on the way. The Socialist government, led by Gordon Bajnai, wants to chop an extra 1.7% next year to keep the deficit within the IMF-approved limit of 3.8% of GDP. It has also set up an independent fiscal council to monitor compliance with budget-balance targets.
The combination of these cuts and a big IMF loan is having a marked effect. The threat of a run on the currency has receded."

Hungarian Economy Fails To Correct.

FISTFULOFEUROS.NET/
"... the Hungarian Prime Minister himself may be having doubts(about the economy), as he is reportedly thinking of leaving the helm of the struggling ship placed under his charge before the next general election, which is scheduled to take place sometime early next year."

Hungarians Wary Of Political Extremisim.

BUDAPEST TIMES/
"Seven out of ten Hungarians believe political extremism is a dangerous phenomenon, a poll published last Monday by the left-of-centre daily Népszabadság suggested. However, only 50 per cent of those polled said they thought that any of the parties currently active in Hungarian politics could be described as extremist. A quarter of respondents said they saw no danger at all in extremist politics."

Fitch Ratings Downgrades Central Europe.

BLOOMBERG/
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic will suffer deteriorating state finances even as the global crisis subsides, pushing up debt levels and raising the risk of ratings downgrades, Fitch Ratings said.

After 1,003 Years, Hungarian Monks Going Green.

REUTERS/
The Abbey of Pannonhalma celebrated its millennium in 1996.
The Abbey will soon get its own heating plant that runs on wood refuse from a nearby forestry and plant debris from local farms. It will nearly halve energy costs while cutting fossil fuel usage.
"We will eliminate the need to burn natural gas in all but the coldest days of the year," said chief architect Sandor Beck, pointing at the concrete skeleton of the plant. "We will put solar panels on the roof, and even collect and use rainwater."

Some Hungarians Playing Poker To Pay Bills.

REUTERS/
In a Hungary weakened by the economic crisis, poker has become a national pastime and for some people, a source of income.
The Poker Association of Hungary estimates about 50,000 people of the 10 million Hungarians play poker live, and 200,000 more do it online. Most took up the game in the last few years.
Poker player numbers grow as jobs shrink. The crisis has sent Hungary's unemployment to nearly 10 percent, the highest in 13 years.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Balazs Speaks About Slovakia.

BUDAPEST TIMES/
Foreign minister Péter Balázs spoke to The Budapest Times about relations between Slovakia and Hungary, refusal to allow Hungarian President László Sólyom to enter Slovakia, and the Slovakia's own goals.

( You can also check this blog's news/links for... Sept. 3... Aug. 25... and Aug. 22... for more background on this story)

Budapest Riot Police Gas Anti-Gay Parade Demonstrators.

JTA.ORG.
Budapest riot police arrested more than 30 and used tear gas against about 500 demonstrators including neo-Nazis and skinheads trying to disrupt Hungary's annual Gay Pride parade in the city's Jewish district.

Hungarians Summon Slovak Ambassador To Protest Denied Visit.

BBC.

Budapest has summoned Slovakia's ambassador to protest Bratislava's refusal to let Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom into the country.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs described Slovakia's refusal to allow Solyom into the country as "unprecedented and unacceptable."

Hungary Cuts Interest Rate Again To Jolt Economy.

BLOOMBERG.

"Hungary’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to the lowest in 17 months to help jolt the nation out of its worst recession in almost two decades as a steep decline in domestic demand keeps inflation in check.

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank lowered the two-week deposit rate to 8 percent from 8.5 percent.

Rates may fall further as the economy is in its worst recession in 18 years and declining demand eases price pressures."

Hungarian President Calls Off Slovakian Visit.

REUTERS.

Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom canceled a visit to Slovakia after Bratislava called the trip a provocation.

Slovakia sent a note saying Solyom was not welcome in the central European country on August 21, the 41st anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of what was then Czechoslovakia.

Four Detained In Hungary For Roma Murders.

REUTERS.

Four men are being held in Hungary on suspicion of carrying out attacks in which several Gypsies, or Roma, were killed.

Polish Stocks Surge After JP Morgan Ugrade.

BLOOMBERG.

Polish stocks rallied after JPMorgan raised its recommendation on Polish, Czech and Hungarian stocks to “overweight” from “underweight."