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Orbán says Hungary is "on good terms" with the US, Russia, and China in annual speech
In his annual speech in Băile Tuşnad, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that Donald Trump’s presidency had brought an end to “political discrimination” against Hungary, 444 reports. According to Orban, the new administration cleared the way for major projects such as the Paks II nuclear plant and new investments. He argued that Trump’s return to the White House "reduces the chances of a world war". Orbán noted that rivalry between the great powers, Russia, China, and the United States, had intensified since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On the Ukraine war, Orbán said it was already “a European war” rather than a local conflict. He argued that Ukraine’s bid to join the West had triggered “an existential crisis” for Russia, and that EU support for Ukraine had “started a spiraling conflict.” He reiterated his opposition to Ukraine joining the EU and stressed Hungary’s stance of staying out of the war by building good relations with all major powers, including Russia, China, India, and the “Turkic world.”
Orbán criticized the EU’s “wartime budget” that allocates 20 percent to Ukraine and accused Brussels of seeking to defeat Russia and topple Vladimir Putin. He said Hungary would not accept such a budget and would block it until EU funds owed to Hungary were released. He also warned that EU leadership is pushing Europe toward a trade war with China and the U.S. while already “at war with Russia,” calling for a change of direction in Brussels.
Szijjártó: Preparations begin for U.S. nuclear plant deployment
The technological, infrastructural, financial, and legal preparatory work required for US modular nuclear technology in Hungary will begin, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.
According to Szijjarto, the security of energy supply in Europe is under threat, several supply routes have been closed due to political decisions, and prices have skyrocketed, 444 reports. Hungary, which has no coastline and no significant energy resources of its own, is particularly hard hit by this problem, and the best solution, according to the foreign minister, is nuclear energy, which is currently undergoing a major technological revolution. He explained that, in addition to large power plants, small modular nuclear reactors have started to be developed, which are ideal for providing reliable, cheap, and environmentally friendly energy to industrial areas.
Market leaders of this technology are US companies, such as GE Vernova, which is already present in Hungary, and their technology is owned by a Polish company, Synthos Green Energy, which holds the rights to use it in Central Europe, Szijjártó said, before he announced that Hunatom, a nuclear technology development company belonging to the Paks II Group, has signed an agreement with Synthos Green Energy to prepare the introduction of the US technology in Hungary.
Hungarian state firm buys majority stake in Serbian business linked to organized crime
According to Nova.rs, Hungary’s state-owned energy company MVM Zrt announced on July 17, 2025, that it had acquired a majority stake in two subsidiaries of Serbia’s Maneks Group, which focus on electrical and telecommunications systems. MVM had previously held minority stakes in these firms but exercised an option to purchase more shares after recent growth in orders, turnover, and profitability. The deal is part of MVM’s regional expansion strategy, which has already included acquisitions in the Czech Republic and Romania.
Nova.rs reported that the Serbian companies involved, Energotehnika – Južna Bačka and Elektromontaža, have long enjoyed privileged status, receiving large state contracts since Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power in 2012. Their owner, Dragoljub Zbiljić, had previously guaranteed a major loan for the SNS election campaign that year and has since won state contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros, including projects such as the National Stadium and electricity networks. Serbian media have also linked Zbiljić to well-known organized crime figures.
The sale of additional Maneks Group shares further tightens financial and political ties between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, according to Nova.rs. Serbian opposition party SRCE argued that “neither of the two companies would be of interest to anyone without close ties to the SNS regime.” Analysts told Nova.rs that the companies will likely continue to receive Serbian state contracts, but a share of the resulting revenue will now flow to Hungary through MVM.
Hungary became a nation of middle-aged people in 20 years, according to new report
The number of people under 14 in Hungary has plummeted dramatically in the last twenty-four years since the start of the 2000s. New demographic data shows a staggering ageing of the population, 444 reports. Hungarian population is shrinking at an alarming rate, and all indications are that the next official data release on 1 January 2026 will show the Hungarian population closer to 9 million than 10 million.
The detailed regional data shows other worrying demographic trends. The steeply declining birth rate is not only reducing the population, but is also drastically ageing the country, despite the government's "pro-family" polices.
Last year, according to KSH's data, only 77,511 babies were born, a drop of more than 9 percent in a single year. This year will see a further drop of almost 10 per cent in daily births. The number of newborns may not even reach 70,000 by the end of the year, compared to before 2024, when there were only rare occasions when the number of births did not reach 90,000.
Children have almost disappeared from the country over the last twenty years. The number of children under 14 has dropped from nearly 1.7 million to less than 1.4 million, or 323,243, since January 2001. This represents a 19.1 per cent drop, meaning that one in five children has now 'disappeared'.