Republic Day commemorates two key events in Hungary that both happened on 23 October; the 1956 uprising against the Soviet Union and the creation of the Republic of Hungary in 1989.
Category: Galery
Greens protest against CETA in Strasbourg
For more photos click here.
Luxleaks trial and conference- whistleblower protection now!
Antoine Deltour, the whistleblower behind the LuxsLeaks scandal, was sentenced to 18 months suspended on first instance. On the second instance, the attorney asked for dispensation, the prosecutor for exasperation. The first day of the second instance trial was yesterday in Luxembourg, several members of Greens/EFA group were present. Jávor Benedek spoke in his defense (and that of his colleagues, Raphael Halet and journalist Edouard Perrin) on the solidarity protest.
However, Deltour’s story is not unique. Many whistleblowers are similarly facing various official and legal procedures, threats and others ways to annihilate their work and life. Four whistleblowers came to Luxembourg, including András Horváth, who reported on the systematic tax evasion on the scale of 1000 billion forint and the Hungarian Tax Authorities’ (NAV) blind eye towards the tax evasion techniques of multinational corporations. The lack of protection of whistleblowers does not only concern the whistleblowers, it also discourages others to make public those abuses they know about. Therefore the public’s interest is harmed. That is why we need strong, European-wide protection of whistleblowers. The Greens have prepared a draft for a whistleblower directive. The European Parliament has claimed at various times to support the creation of such a directive. Now it is time for the Commission and the Member states to make it happen.
Discussion between Benedek Jávor and András Horváth here.
More photos from the conference below:
Solidarity with Népszabadság in the European Parliament
Today during the Plenary of the European Parliament we showed our concerns for Press Freedom in Hungary and the closure of Hungarian daily Népszabadság. Members of Greens/EFA raised up the last issue of the Népszabadság, which was published as a street paper sold by homeless people.
Protest in Brussels for Népszabadság
A protest took place in Brussels on Wednesday organized by former employees of Népszabadság to show solidarity for Népszabadság newspaper in Hungary. Around 100 people came together to bring attention to the sudden closing of the Hungarian newspaper.
Photos by Sarah Levesque
The Future of Europe – The Europe of the Future international conference in Budapest
The European Greens, the DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement) and the Progressive Hungary Foundation has organised a one-day-long conference in Budapest at the A38 ship on 19 September 2016.
Benedek Jávor and more than twenty other speakers came to take part in five international and one Hungarian round table talks. 250 people attended the venue in Budapest and several hundred people followed it on our live stream.
European progressive and green politicians, thinkers and leaders came to the conference, among others Yanis Varoufakis previous Greek minister of finance, the initiator of DiEM25, Philippe Lamberts co-chair of European Greens or Zoltán Pogátsa Hungarian DiEm25 initiator, economist. This was the first international public conference when European Greens and DiEM25 leaders discussed various issues. There were diverging views in certain topics, but the commitment for rethinking the foundations of European integration was the same.
Benedek Jávor in his opening speech emphasised the EU has torn away from its citizens, but the nation state can no longer mitigate the consequences of the mistakes made at EU level. The real conflict is not between the EU and the nation states but “between the policies that serve the interests of and are accountable to the community, and the policies implemented by the corrupt elites and conducted against the interests of the community, both at EU and national level.”
Benedek Jávor installed solar panels- “Bringing the light” workshop
The Green Workshop Foundation together with the Romaversitas Foundation organised a three-day workshop in the town of Bicske. We have prepared a cheap lighting solution with a solar panel and small batteries and LED lights. We also taught the various steps of the installation for the locals. On the last day we installed electricity for the Járóka family’s house. Benedek Jávor took part in the work as well. Two boys from the family, Patrik (17) and Marci (10) worked very well, and after we left they continued installing electricity in the other rooms.
Photos Járdány Bence