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The coronavirus epidemic slowed down the entire world in 2020, but during December there was a sufficient event for a year: Viktor Orbán announced new economic protection measures, which made local governments scream. Earlier this month, a painful scandal broke out at Fidesz in the heat of the debate on the EU’s rule of law. However, vaccination has arrived, with the UK being the first to cut mass vaccination. We got rid of the bans on Christmas Eve, they said they were banned from fireworks for New Years Eve, but in the end there was a loophole. The real Brexit deal took hold, the earth shook, the epidemic receded. The last month of 2020 was full of important events.
The epidemic in Hungary showed a rather special outlook throughout the year, but the official data for December brought many fluctuations, so it was quite uncertain what kind of Christmas we could prepare for. On December 1, “only” 3,951 new infections were found, compared with 5,595 the day before, followed by another increase on December 3 and 6,635. Again, 8 days later, there were similar ups and downs, and then again, the 24-hour case count was close to 6,200, then steadily declining. The government has promised to link the slowdown in Covid-19 to a possible end to Christmas curfews, then set a good enough date of December 21 for the decision, when the one-day restriction was finally lifted in Good night. By then, however, the epidemic curve was rising again: in 1593 it was still 1893, and then on the 18th, there were almost 4,500 days of re-identification again. Meanwhile, Hungarian mortality data showed one of the worst mortality rates in Europe during the second wave. However, between the two holidays, significantly fewer newly discovered cases were reported, sometimes below 1000, but during the last few days the indicator started to rise again.
Together with him, the government has also decided that there will be no exception on New Year’s Eve: after 8 at night, at most there can be someone on the street to work. Then came the prohibition that it would not be possible to fire firecrackers in public places or sell pyrotechnic devices. However, there was a loophole in the regulation: if someone had previously bought fireworks from a specialized store and stored them correctly, on the 31st they could shoot them from private territory. This was later clarified to the extent that it could only be shot in a garden. Animal advocates see this as a half-solution and those who want to play fireworks as a pointless restriction, but hopefully this year will have a simpler day for pets.
In addition to health management of the epidemic, the government also tried to deal with economic protection: László Parragh, president of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, indicated in November that freeing the business tax (ipa) could effectively help to businesses, which local governments immediately indicated. In exchange for the increased expenses and income lost so far due to the epidemic, it will be impossible for them to lose the ipa. On December 2, Fidesz politician Lajos Kósa, a minister without portfolio responsible for the development of cities with province rank in the previous government, also said that the main ruling party did not support this proposal. By then, however, a government decision had already been issued prohibiting city councils from raising taxes in 2021 and increasing service fees for their owned businesses.
Not surprisingly, Viktor Orbán announced new economic protection measures on Saturday, December 19: from January a new loan will arrive for the rehabilitation of homes and, in addition to extending the moratorium, it has been decided to halve the business tax for small and medium-sized businesses as of January 1. Settlements with less than 25,000 inhabitants receive support for this, in the case of larger cities it is still being investigated. Opposition-led districts, cities and county seats immediately sounded the alarm, claiming it was directed against them. On December 24, a governmental resolution was issued deciding on the municipalities that were compensated in the first round, the non-governmental cities again complained about this, but they were promised that in 2021 it would happen to all. As for the home renovation loan, it is important to note that it is one more incentive, not the subsidy of up to 3 million already announced in November.
The veto was at its peak and finally a balloon popped
With only 15 minutes left until the virtual summit of the European Council in November to discuss the threat of a Hungarian-Polish veto of the HUF 1.7 billion allocation method for the new seven-year budget and recovery fund, it was left until December to somehow resolve the debate on the rule of law mechanism with the two relinquishing member states. Warsaw and Budapest pose the situation as a matter of sovereignty, with the fight against migration at home and the violent intervention around the reform of the judiciary in Poland marking the protection of democratic values in the EU. In this tense situation, Fidesz was in the worst position when József Szájer, the party’s MEP, the most important politician in Brussels-Strasbourg, became embroiled in a volatile organ scandal, which is being investigated by the Belgian authorities even by drug possession.
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutter has fired on the EU community to work out the money distribution without the Hungarian-Polish tandem, if necessary, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged a compromise. Then unexpectedly, a week before the December conciliation, the Polish government suddenly failed due to its internal political divisions: it indicated that if they received a final supplement on the conditions of the rule of law, they would be ready to adopt the budget program. Viktor Orbán seemed to be left alone with his government in the fight, and then, three days after the Polish capitulation – a crisis of power had been avoided in Warsaw, although the coalition had already disintegrated – Mateusz Morawiecki pointed out that they would veto it a bit.
Finally, on December 10, the Poles received what they asked for around the world: the Germans allowed it and did not allow it, so the solution was to maintain the rule of law, the violation of which could lead to the suspension of funds from the EU, but fraud, corruption and will focus on incompatibility, only for funds paid from 2021, and there will be an additional document that also clarifies when and why and how to initiate procedures. The adopted text declares that the rule of law must be applied in a fair, impartial and non-discriminatory manner to the Member States. Hungary and Poland are the biggest beneficiaries of the budget, the former being able to extract a total of 38.8 billion euros and the second 125.5 billion euros from the common coffers over the next seven years.
Meanwhile, the exclusion of Fidesz from the European People’s Party was back on the agenda, because Tamás Deutsch MEP made a gesture and obeyed the previous words of Manfred Weber. In addition to the suspended membership, so much has happened now that Tamás Deutsch could remain in the alliance, but was unable to enjoy any privileges from it.
The vaccine has arrived
The UK was the first in the world to give official approval for the use of a coronavirus vaccine, Pfizer-BioNtech, on December 8. This was the first time they started their vaccination program, in which 800,000 doses of vaccine were administered to the most vulnerable in the first round. At the top of the list are nursing home residents and their caregivers. They are followed by those over 80 years of age and those who work in the first line of health and nursing services, followed in chronological order by 75, 70, 65, 60, 55 and finally more than 50.
At the time, the British were still talking about Victory Day, and then on December 19, they announced that they had identified SARS-CoV-2, which causes the Covid-19 disease. a new mutation in the virus that does not cause stronger symptoms but infects humans 70 percent more effectively. According to early studies, vaccination also provides protection against this variety, but they have been reinforced by the breeze where the new strain has already been found.
The first phase of mass vaccination, vaccination of healthcare workers, has started in Hungary for the first time in the European Union, which is home to almost 450 million people. Vaccination is a crucial step in ending a pandemic that kills more than 1.7 million people worldwide, cripples economies and destroys businesses and jobs, writes one of the world’s largest news agencies in the national program. The vaccines arrived in Hungary on Saturday morning from a preparation developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which was first administered to a chief physician at South Pest Central Hospital on December 26, when the preparation arrived.
The vaccination program was also launched in the United States, which quickly became a container base: Sister Tiffany Dover, who fainted after the injection, was first vaccinated at the Catholic Health Initiatives Hospital (CHI ) in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Vaccinations immediately spread the word that the vaccine was dangerous, while Dover told local television a few hours later that he could not bear the needle stick in the first place, causing him to lose consciousness. Since then it has been reported that the nurse has died, which has since been refuted several times, including by Reuters.
They had finally left in English
After a long delay, a separation agreement between Britain and the European Union was reached in the early afternoon of December 24, so that by the end of the year, the British will not only withdraw from the common market, but that will remain as before. Provides 100% tariff liberalization in bilateral trade in goods, but regulates trade in services, the British must allow EU fishermen to enter their waters, just as workers from EU countries remain free to work.
At the end of the year, there was even a wave of earthquakes: since Monday, December 28, the earth has been continuously shaking in Croatia, with the two strongest earthquakes causing severe damage in 86 smaller settlements in addition to Petrinja and Sisak. By the end of the year, almost 10 deaths had been reported. On Tuesday, the earthquake was so strong that it could be felt even in Budapest and in various parts of the country.
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