The opposition Socialist Party (MSZP) on Monday called for reforming Hungary’s healthcare system, criticising the government for its “insufficient funding” of the sector.
Socialist MP Ildikó Borbély Bangó told an online press conference that while government funding for sports-related projects had increased by 458 percent over the past ten years, spending on healthcare has only seen a 49 percent increase over the same period.
Bangó said the pandemic had shown that “there is no time to waste” in reforming the country’s healthcare system.
“The healthcare system must be rebuilt because the only way we’ll be able to give everyone a chance to recover is by having enough doctors, nurses and equipment,” she said. Bangó added that the government should dedicate a separate ministry to healthcare with a competent leader at its helm.
| UPDATED: 20:12, Tue, Jan 19, 2021
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German MEP Gunnar Beck said Armin Laschet, the new leader of Germany’s CDU, will struggle to wield the same sway in Brussels. Mr Laschet, who is now in line to succeed Mrs Merkel as chancellor after the parliamentary elections in September, pipped conservative rival Friedrich Merz to the leadership of their party last weekend. But Mr Beck claimed the new CDU chief would be extorted for Germany’s vast wealth by fellow EU leaders looking to cash in.
The confrontation, which came at the height of the 2015 Greek debt crisis, was noted in “Adults in the Room”, the memoir of Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister who tried to win debt relief for Greece.
Mr Macron formed a strong bond with Mr Varoufakis, as he believed the crippling austerity being inflicted on Greece in return for bailouts could lead to the ultimate destruction of the eurozone.
On June 28, 2015, with Greece’s bank on the cusp of closure, Mr Varoufakis wrote that he received a text from Mr Macron offering to broker a last-minute deal to win debt-relief for Greece in return for structural reforms.
| UPDATED: 06:39, Fri, Jan 15, 2021
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Political author Matthew Qvortrup believes the internal party elections in Germany to replace Angela Merkel could see an outsider draw ahead in the race to become the next Chancellor. Mr Qvortrup suggested the Chancellor s Health Minister Jens Spahn could emerge as a contender despite being written off as a favourite in the race. There are currently three leading candidates to replace Ms Merkel but political scientist believes Mr Spahn could yet emerge from the pack
The year 2020 was anything but normal. The pandemic is a phenomenon the likes of which we never lived through. It could have broken us but it did not. Furthermo