Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán shows complete lack of understanding of democracy

President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso indirectly told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán that he lacks understanding of what democracy is. Barroso responded trough a spokesperson to a statement by Viktor Orbán, who compared the European Union to the USSR. Asked to comment Orbán's speech on the occasion of the country's national day, in which the Hungarian Prime Minister compared the European Union to the Habsburg empire and the former Soviet Union, Barroso's spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said she was going to quote president Barroso: "Those who compare the EU to the USSR show a complete lack of understanding of what democracy is and show a lack of respect for those who have fought for freedom and democracy," she stated.

80 billion on research from 2014

Europe lags behind when it comes to translating breakthrough technologies into business opportunities but the EU aims to overcome this with Horizon 2020, a €80 billion plan to boost research and innovation for 2014-2020. On 20 March the Parliament's industry committee questioned scientists and business leaders about whether they thought these ambitious plans would be enough. The committee will produce a recommendation to the EP this autumn after which negotiations can start with the Council. The parliamentary committee for Industry, Research and Energy in the European Parliament held a whole-day-long debate on the 8. frame research program of the European Union which will be started in 2014. Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Edit Herczog, who is also member of the Hungarian socialist delegation in the EP underlined that the most important point was to avoid making a difference between eastern and western support. She also said that if Europe will be divided into two parts at the territory of science, it will be divided in every single aspect, too.