Summary Report of Roundtable discussion in Budapest

In an effort to increase its visibility and activity in Hungary, and to locate potential media and NGO partners, UNIS Vienna organized a roundtable discussion in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday, 20 June. Titled: "The Road Ahead- Post 2005 World Summit", it was held at the Budapest Sofitel with a working lunch.

The idea behind the roundtable was to have a "networking" event - i.e., bring together a select group of representatives of leading media, NGOs, CSOs, government and other international offices working out of Budapest. The event was structured as an informal lunch discussion. 

The event had three speakers: Nasra Hassan, Director UNIS Vienna, who chaired and moderated the event; Lloyd Dakin, Regional Representative UNHCR who spoke on the occasion of World Refugee Day commemorated annually on 20 June (and who got a useful forum to showcase the Day); and Ambassador Mayrhofer-Gruenbuhel, Austrian Ambassador to Hungary and former senior UN staff member, who spoke on bilateral issues (since Austria and Hungary are both client countries of UNIS) and shared his UN experience with the participants.  UNIS Vienna also invited Istvan Lakatos, First Secretary, Department of International Organizations, Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make a short presentation on the work of his department.

Ms. Hassan highlighted the outcome document of the 2005 World Summit, and invited participants to share their views on what they thought would be of relevance and interest to the Hungarian public and media. She pointed out that many current UN themes were of direct relevance to Hungary. Mr. Dakin informed on the activities being held in Budapest to commemorate World Refugee Day, and said that the difference between refugees and migrants,  whether legal or illegal, needed to be better understood.

Ambassador Mayrhofer-Gruenbuhel referred to major topics in the context of Austria's presidency of the EU. He said that Hungary and Austria had worked closely through the course of the Austrian presidency, and hoped that their good relations would continue. He spoke at length about the importance of Vienna as a UN headquarters.

Mr. Lakatos made a strong case for increased coverage of UN issues in the media, pointing out that although many issues being discussed at the UN were of direct and indirect relevance to Hungary, he had not seen any coverage or discussions in the media. He highlighted the UN's development work and on UN reform, saying that this was an area that he expected Hungarian readers to be interested in.

Following the presentations, each participant was invited to take the floor and offer feedback on issues they felt would resonate in Hungary. The exchange was lively, and even heated in some parts, as participants exchanged views on the whys and hows of coverage of UN affairs in Hungarian media.