‘They Fear Us Like No Other’ — Alice Weidel’s CPAC Speech | Viktor Orban...

 

‘They Fear Us Like No Other’ — Alice Weidel’s CPAC Speech | Viktor Orban | APT



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May 30, 2025 #AliceWeidel #AfD #ViktorOrban

Alice Weidel, chair of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, gave a bold speech at CPAC Hungary 2025, claiming that the media and political elites “fear us like no other party — with good reason.” Speaking before Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and other conservative leaders, Weidel warned of rising censorship, opposition surveillance, and democratic backsliding in Germany.

Eva Vlaardingerbroek's Speech at CPAC Hungary

 

Impacts of Hungary's no-work Sunday: Cabinet already has detailed data

May 12, 2015, 2:21 pm

Hungarian version




Almost two months have passed since Hungary’s mandatory Sunday rest day (or no-work Sunday or Sunday shopping ban or Sunday closure of retail stores) was put into effect. People are on pins and needles to see the first sales data that could be compared to earlier data, i.e. those from a year earlier. Well, the cabinet has finally started to communicate these figures, saying Hungarians have been spending more than before the no-work Sunday. Compared to what you may ask. We are asking the same, but there’s no answer. They are spending more, that’s it. Why you have to be so nitpicky all the time, huh?

The law on no-work Sunday entered into effect on 15 March and guessing started a few weeks ago how the restrictions - stores may be open between 6 A.M. and 10 P.M. and may not open on Sunday - affected retail sales.

Data we could compare to a year earlier have been published only for March, which shows slower growth than in the preceding months.

Local business daily Napi Gazdaság on Tuesday cited Kristóf Szatmáry, Minister of State for Economic Regulation, as divulging data about consumption, based on information gathered from online cash registers. He said:

• "Since the implementation of the mandatory Sunday rest day the average daily consumption in Hungary grew to HUF 22.45 billion from HUF 20.9 billion.
• Based on these figures he claims that "citizens are buying more goods over six days then they did before on a full week."
• Then he adds that "the over HUF 1.5 billion daily growth is related not only to shopping in stores, but - meeting the preliminary expectations of the government - spending by families have increased further in the area of services."
• "Before the law came into effect, the average weekly spending of families amounted to HUF 141 billion, which sum grew to HUF 157 bn since the introduction of the Sunday restriction."
• "The implementation of the Sunday rest day has not caused losses; it has rather been able to channel retail sales into a fairer range, creating a more advantageous situation for smaller businesses that have been sharing a small slice of the market.".

Compared to what?!

Having read the above remarks we would like to make a few observations in order to get a fuller picture on the impacts of the no-work Sunday on retail sales:

• The data Szatmáry shared with the public referred to daily average consumption rather than on retail sales (the former is of a wider scope since it also includes services).
• Szatmáry has not mentioned a point of reference at all. The data he compares the average daily consumption is for what period exactly? The comparison of the most recent readings should be made with data from a year earlier.
• The same applies to the weekly data he has provided.
• Without such retail sales data going back several years it would be too early to draw any conclusion about the impacts of the no-work Sunday.

In order to see more clearly we have requested data from the National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV). As soon as we have these figures for comparison, we’ll be back. However, with regard to data gained from online cash registers we should underline that years-long data series will not be available for comparison considering that the connection of online cash registers to the tax authority started to rise sharply only during 2014.

2015.05.07 11:27
Hungarian maverick finds out what locals think of the Sunday closure of retails stores


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Hungary Christian Democrats submit bill on mandatory Sunday rest day

November 6, 2014, 4:53 pm

 Hungarian version



Hungary’s Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) has submitted a bill to Parliament on Thursday which, if passed, will have all stores closed at 10 P.M. on every day of the week. The original argument for the restriction is that a shopping ban for Sundays would bring families closer and protect employees from being exploited by their employers. There will be five Sundays in a year when stores can be open, as well as on 24 and 31 December between 6 A.M. and noon.

2014.11.06 15:19 

Hungarian lawmakers to vote on Sunday shopping ban as gov´t backs bill

Here are the details!

If the bill submitted by the ruling Fidesz party’s minor ally is passed by Hungarian lawmakers, the general rule for businesses from 15 March 2015 will be the following:

opening hours on working days are from 6 A.M. to 10 P.M.
on Sundays and holidays businesses must be closed
stores may be open on five Sundays a year between 6 A.M. and 10 P.M.
stores may be open between 6 A.M. and noon on 24 December and on 31 December

The bill also includes exceptions and government decrees can also create exceptions to the rules.

If a store wants to be open on any of the five Sundays allowed by law it will have to announce this intention to the commercial authority at least 15 days prior to the day in question.

The exceptions

The law would make tourism services exempt, just like commercial activities in accommodations and service activities supplying commerce. The following commercial units may continue to be open on

Sundays:

national tobacco shops

pharmacies

at international airports

at railway stations and coach terminals

in the area of correctional facilities

in the area of health care institutions

on markets and farmers’ markets

in fairs

petrol stations

in military unitsSpecial provision 

The bill also stipulates that stores selling exclusively bakery goods and dairy products may open at 5 A.M. on regular days and be open between 5 A.M. and noon on holidays and Sundays. Newspaper stands and florists may be open between 6 A.M. and noon on Sundays and holidays.

Further exceptions that take into consideration the specifics of a given area/settlement may be determined in a government decree to be conceived at a later date, with special emphasis on the need to serve tourism, meet shopping habits and taking into consideration the interests of employees and the residential environment of a given area.

400 sqm threshold

Stores with shopping area of under 400 square metres may remain open even on the restricted days during the allowed opening hours if the operator is an individual entrepreneur, member of a sole proprietorship or a person with controlling share in a company or family member of the aforementioned.

Fines will fly

The consumer protection authority will check whether the commercial units comply with the law or not. If it find irregularities it can have the business closed.

for between 5 to 15 days on the first infringement

for 30 days on the second infringement;

for 90 days on the third infringement;

and for 365 days on any further infringement.

Here’s the explanation!

The lawmakers behind the bill underline that this proposal is to put an end to a lengthy debate by stipulating when stores can be open in Hungary.

They said that "in view of the proposer of the bill the situation is ripe for Hungary - drawing from several western European examples, e.g. of Austria or German - to have law regulating the opening hours of commercial units."

Opening will be banned on Sundays and on holidays as a general rule. Opening hours will be restricted on any other day to between 6 A.M. and 10 P.M., including on Saturdays.

Source: http://www.portfolio.hu/en/economy/hungary_christian_democrats_submit_bill_on_mandatory_sunday_rest_day.28648.html
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