VZCZCXRO1765
PP RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHUP #0302/01 1061536
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161536Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4096
INFO RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BUDAPEST 000302 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/FO AND EUR/CE JAMIE LAMORE. PLEASE PASS 
TO NSC JEFF HOVENIER AND KHELGERSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS HU
SUBJECT: HUNGARY - NEW GOVERNMENT, NEW MINISTERS 
 
REF: BUDAPEST 297 
 
¶1.  During remarks to Parliament prior to his election as the 
new Hungarian Prime Minister (reftel), Gordon Bajnai 
announced six new Heads of Ministries and two additional 
minister-level appointments.  Short bios of the new ministers 
follow: 
 
- Minister of Foreign Affairs: Peter Balazs (replacing Kinga 
Goncz) 
 
A career diplomat and professor, in 2004 Peter Balazs became 
Hungary's first Member of the European Commission, serving as 
the Commission Responsible for Regional Policy.  He 
previously served as Hungary's Ambassador to Denmark, 
Germany, and the EU.  Born in Hungary on December 5, 1941, 
his early career included several foreign trade and 
international economic relations postings.  In recent years 
he served as professor at Corvinus University, and in 2005 he 
joined the Central European University as a full time 
professor and Director of the Center for EU Enlargement 
Studies.  His expertise is in the area of EU enlargement and 
external relations with the EU.  He is fluent in Hungarian, 
English, French and German. 
 
- Minister of Finance: Peter Oszko (replacing Janos Veres) 
 
Peter Oszko is a tax attorney and certified tax advisor.  He 
joined Deloitte Hungary in January 2004, and became the 
managing director of the company's tax practice in 2005, 
specializing in international taxation, mergers and 
acquisitions consultancy, VAT, and transfer pricing.  He has 
headed the Hungary Deloitte office since 2007, and serves on 
the board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary.  He 
began his career at KPMG, and was a tax advisor at the 
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer law firm.  Oszko helped author 
last year's "Big Four" tax reform strategy for Hungary, and 
was also involved in the non-governmental "Reform Alliance" 
proposal for structural economic reform in Hungary.  He is 
well known to the Embassy, and as Minister of Finance will 
likely be a no-nonsense, pragmatic cost-cutter.  He is fluent 
in Hungarian, English, and French. 
 
- Minister of Transport, Communication and Energy: Peter 
Honig (replacing Pal Szabo) 
 
Born in Hungary in 1952, Peter Honig holds degrees in 
production organization and ergonomics from the Technical 
University of Budapest.  Honig worked at Arthur Anderson, 
Digital Equipment Hungary, and ABB Hungary.  Honig was 
responsible for energy issues in the 1998 Oran government in 
the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and played a role in 
Hungary's gas and electricity liberalization at that time. 
He was involved in the privatization of Hungary's state-owned 
steel company Dunaferr, as well as other privatizations, 
including Malev, and served on the company's Board of 
Directors.  He most recently served as Deputy Director of 
electricity and power generation company Budapesti Eromu Zrt, 
which is majority owned by Electricite de France (EdF).  He 
is fluent in Hungarian, English and Italian, and is an avid 
sailor, and has been president of the Hungarian Sailing 
Association. 
 
- Minister of Social Affairs and Labor: Dr. Laszlo Herczog 
(replacing Erika Szucs) 
 
Dr. Herczog currently serves as the State Secretary 
Responsible for Social Relations at the Ministry of Social 
Affairs and Labor.  In this capacity, he is responsible for 
the reconciliation of interests and maintaining the social 
dialogue between the government and social and labor groups 
impacted by government policies and programs.  A career civil 
servant who served in both Socialist and Fidesz 
administrations, Herczog previously served in senior 
positions in the Ministry of Economy before coming to the 
Ministry of Labor.  Dr. Herczog began his career at the 
Finance Ministry.  He speaks Hungarian and some English. 
 
- Minister for Local Government and Regional Development: 
Zoltan Varga (replacing Istvan Gyenesei) 
 
Zoltan Varga has been a Socialist Party Member of Parliament 
since 2006.  Prior to that he served in a number of positions 
in local government in Bekes county, including County 
Assemblyman Deputy President of the Country MSzP Chapter, and 
MSzP faction leader. 
 
BUDAPEST 00000302  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
- Minister without Portfolio Responsible for Secret Services: 
Adam Ficsor (replacing Gyorgy Szilvasy) 
 
Just 29 years old, Adam Ficsor served as former Prime 
Minister Gyurcsany's Chief of Staff since 2008.  Before that, 
Ficsor served as State Secretary in the Ministry of 
Agriculture and Rural Development between 2006 and 2008, as 
well as in other positions in the ministry.  The Embassy 
maintains good contacts with Ficsor, recently identifying him 
as a possible candidate for the International Visitor's 
Program. 
 
- Minister of the Prime Minister's Office : Csaba Molnar 
(replacing Peter Kiss) 
 
Born in 1975, Csaba Molnar is a lawyer and former university 
instructor. He joined the Socialist party while a university 
student, and he has been a member of Parliament since 2006. 
Active in Socialist politics in western Hungary, he 
eventually was elected as the party's youngest County 
President.  Appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of 
National Development and Economy by former Prime Minister 
Gyurcsany in May, 2008, Molnar became Minister of 
Transportation, Communications and Energy in December, 2008. 
 
¶2.  The nominee for Minister of Economy (to replace newly 
elected PM Bajnai), Tamas Vahl, has already stepped back and 
will not accept the nomination.  Tamas Vahl currently serves 
as Chairman of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce, and 
since December 2008, as CEO of 3-D navigation software 
company Nav N Go.  However, Transparency International raised 
concerns over Vahl's nomination based on previous issues 
surrounding "cartel charges" when he served in a senior 
position at SAP.  This issue, with potentially protracted 
committee hearings, played a role in Vahl's decision to 
decline the nomination. 
 
¶3.  In addition to the above new ministers the following 
ministers remain in place: 
 
- Minister of Defense:  Imre Szekeres 
 
- Minister of Education and Culture: Istvan Hiller 
 
- Minister of Environment and Water Management: Imre Szabo 
 
- Minister of Health: Tamas Szekely 
 
- Minister of Justice and Law Enforcement: Tibor Draskovics 
 
- Minister of Agriculture and rural Development; Jozsef Graf 
 
¶4.  The following minister position has been eliminated: 
 
- Minister without Portfolio: Karoly Molnar 
 
¶5.  Comment. The nominees, including those remaining in their 
posts, are currently undergoing hearings with various 
parliamentary committees.  To date, only Adam Ficsor's 
nomination failed to receive support, as the National 
Security Committee deadlocked at 5-5 with one abstention. 
However, as the committee vote is non-binding, PM Bajnai 
indicated that he stands by Ficsor and will present the 
nomination letter to President Solyom for signature.  With 
the President's signature, current plans call for the 
Ministers to be sworn in on Monday, April 27. 
Levine