After nine months of non-stop German diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, Chancellor Angela Merkel decided in mid-November that a change of tack was needed.
Hungary will stand by its European Union allies' decision to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine but will need help to safeguarding energy supplies put at risk by the dispute, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.
The United States is mounting a diplomatic offensive to stop Hungary selling a stake in a Croatian energy firm to Russia, part of what Western powers see as Budapest's dangerous drift into Moscow's orbit.
About 100,000 Hungarians rallied on Tuesday night to protest at a planned tax on data traffic and the broader course of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government they saw as undermining democracy and relations with European Union peers.
Waitress Maria Kecskemeti says working with people is a daily challenge, requiring much skill and empathy. She also admits to initially being somewhat scared of how guests would react when she took the first orders from her wheelchair.
