information about state

HUNGARY – GENERAL INFORMATION

 

Capital:                           Budapest

Population:                     10 117 000

GNP:                                + 4,1% (2005)

Official Language:          Hungarian

Hungary is a continental country situated in the Central Europe. Hungary borders with Austria (366 kms) and Slovenia (102 kms) on West, with Croatia (329 kms) and serbia (151 kms) in the South, with Romania (443 kms) and Ukraine (103 kms) on the East and with Slovakia (677 kms) in the North.

POLITICS

The Republic of Hungary is- since 1989 – a Republic on Parliament bas. The Head of State is a President. The country is administratively divided into the area of a capital a 19 districts.

Hungary is a Member of European Union and NATO.

GEOGRAPHY

Hungary is surrounded by mountains of Alps and Carpathian. The inland forms from 80% the plains  and higlands  of 200 m of height.  The Big Hungary Plain forms a part of Carpathian  Basin , on the North of the country the middle mountain ranges  are reaching 100 m approx.

The river of Danube is  navigable along  all its length of 417 kms through Hungary.

The river of Tisza is the longest river in Hungary.

THE NATURE

The Lake of Balaton with its  water-surface realting to 595 square kms is the bigger inland lake of West and Central Europe. The mild climate is influenced with atlantic, continental and mediterranean  influences.

HEALTH CARE

It is necessary to obtain – from the local Health Assurance Agency – the respective European Certificate of Health Assurance.

Anyway, the citizen can contact directly the doctor or a hospital , provided he has the European Certificate  of Health Assurance . The contents of  stipulated doctor is to obtain

in Area Branches of National Fund of Health Assurance ( Országos Egészségbiztosítási Pénztár ).

You can receive the medicines in every  stipulated pharmacy on  prescription issued by a doctor.

For the medical care you pay the following participation: dental care – according to the sort of a care: 0-100% according to type of a medicine

The pacient can meet with cash payment in medical offices in  two cases:

The doctor does not have the contract with the Hungarian Fund of Health Assurance  or the care was made , for which is to be paid , and the participation is to be made.

Provided the pacient does not have the respective European Certificate of Health Assurance with, he has the chance to present it to the medical office within 15 days.

If he does not do so, he has to pay cash and let then the paid amount refund after his return to the Czech Republic. Here he has to present the originals of documents. The Czech Health Assurance Agency pays the costs up to the level  paid by Hungarian  part. However, the remittance takes some time. If the bill (invoice) does not exceed  the amount of EUR 1000,-

then the Czech Health Assurance Agency can  be asked for payment of bills according to the Czech tariffs. This remittance is to be received shortly.

Provided the citizen is asking for a claim  on  Czech  Sick Insurance  in Hungary – from the reason of  work-inability -  it is necessary to ask the doctor to issue a certificate confirming the work-inability  and sending to the nearest branch of National Fund  of Health Assurance within three days  from the date when the work-inability started.. It is important to announce the address of his stay in Hungary and the address of the respective Czech Regional Management of Social Securing.

The citizen is obliged to let know his employer as soon as possible what happened ( by phone or by fax), the beginning and the approximate time of treatment , as well as the place of treatment.

TRANSPORT

There are to pay the fees for using highways in Hungary.  On the highway M 1 (Bratislava-Budapest) , M3 (Budapest – direction Miskolc) M5 (Budapest-Szeged) and M 7 (Budapest-Balaton)  there are using the vignettes together with the magnetic card.

PRESS, TV

Public TV Broadcasters:

Programms MTV 1 and MTV 2 : the first programme is – as similar as in the Czech Republic – complex informativ, and  pleasure-leasure channel, the second channel is –again similar as above –for specialised  observers. Except of  standard programmes, the TV is presenting also a broadcasting for  nationalities-minorities  living in Hungary.

Duna TV – similar as MTV 2 – is  aimed at  minority-conservative observers, broadcasting  the news about Hungarian minority communities, living in neighbour-countries.