Budapest  - Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom gave a sombre New Year's address on Thursday and called on the nation to find a way out of an economic and political crisis that, for Hungary, is well into its third year.

"We stand before an uncertain and critical year, and however regrettable it may be, it is not possible to give you a traditional New Year's greeting," said Solyom.

"In just a few years, after being a model country we are now bringing up the rear," Solyom said. As he spoke, Hungary's small neighbour to the north, Slovakia, was starting the year with a new currency, the euro.

Budapest - As air pollution levels reached worryingly high levels, the Budapest Mayor's Office urged citizens of the Hungarian capital to leave their cars at home on Tuesday and said that an official smog warning could be issued on New Year's Day.

With Budapest cloaked in smog, Istvan Bozoky of Hungary's National Meteorological Service told the local news agency MTI that no wind is expected before Thursday, so the situation is unlikely to improve.

Budapest  - The head of Hungary's ad hoc parliamentary committee on the Nabucco gas pipeline said on Monday that no more time should be wasted in setting up of an international advocacy body to push for political commitment to the project.

The Nabucco gas pipeline project, favoured by the EU and the US, aims to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian gas by bringing in alternative supplies from the Caspian Sea region.

Budapest  - Freezing weather forced a Kosovan family to turn itself in after crossing illegally from Serbia into the EU, Hungarian border guards saidon Sunday.

Szilvana Tuczakov, a spokeswoman for the police in Csongrad County in southern Hungary, told the local news agency MTI that the two adults had probably feared for the safety of their four children. The oldest was just six years of age.

The family gave itself up to border guards on Saturday afternoon as temperatures plunged well below zero Celsius. The group subsequently claimed asylum and was transferred to Hungary's refugee processing centre in the town of Bekescsaba.

Budapest  - Unions called for a temporary end to a two-week strike at Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport, effective 10 pm (2100 GMT) Tuesday, for the benefit of Christmas travellers.

Unions leaders said the strike was being suspended for holidaymakers as well as to facilitate constructive talks with the German-owned operator of Hungary's only major international airport.

Budapest - The head of Transparency International Hungary was one of four to resign from the Hungarian government's Anti-Corruption Coordination Board because they felt their work was wasted, the corruption watchdog confirmed on Tuesday.

Transparency International Hungary said in a statement sent to the state-owned news agency MTI that the work of the advisory board, set up by the government in the summer of 2007, had become "irrelevant."