Ferenc Gyurcsany wordt nieuwe premier Hongarije (en)

Hungary's ruling Socialist Party yesterday (25 August) chose a 43-year-old charismatic millionaire Ferenc Gyurcsany to be the country's new prime minister.

Mr Gyurcsany is expected to be approved by the parliament in early September.

Former Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy resigned after a row with the Socialist party's liberal coalition partner, which said it no longer supported him.

According to the Financial Times, Mr Gyurcsany is a modernising social democrat, who models himself on UK prime minister Tony Blair.

The Socialist Party has lost support during the past few years, but the new leader has promised to beat the opposition in a 2006 election.

Hungary is the latest central European state to suffer political crisis. In May, the Polish prime minister Leszek Miller resigned due to his party's fading popularity.

Mr Miller was followed by the Czech prime minister Vladimir Spidla, who stepped down because his party did badly in the European elections.