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Szijjarto confirms call between Trump and Orban on Russian oil dependence
US President Donald Trump and Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán spoke on the phone on Wednesday about Hungary’s dependence on Russian oil, Hungary’s foreign minister has confirmed. Péter Szijjártó said the Hungarian MP raised the need for Russian fuel to keep domestic energy prices low, and Trump “understood these aspects”. Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, later told reporters in Budapest that Trump had acknowledged Hungary’s limited alternatives, given the restricted capacity of the Adria pipeline from Croatia.
The call came only days after Trump demanded that NATO allies suspend Russian oil imports to weaken Moscow’s war economy. “He is a friend of mine. I have not spoken to him, but I have a feeling that if I did, he might stop. And I think I’ll be doing that," Trump had said earlier in the week. According to Szijjártó, the leaders also discussed the wider war in Ukraine, prospects for peace, tariffs, and the global economy. Orbán, who has long positioned himself as one of Trump’s closest political allies in Europe, has consistently argued that Hungary cannot afford to end its dependence on Russian energy.
Later this week, Orban's chief of staff told journalists that “Our position is that peace should be achieved as soon as possible. Trump wants this too, and he has done more than anyone else to achieve it. He is now making different statements than before, but it is not the Hungarian government’s job to figure out why.”
Orbán takes control of Fidesz campaign as Magyar upends Hungarian politics
Viktor Orbán has made significant changes in his re-election campaign, sidelining long-time ally and "propaganda minister" Antal Rogán and handing tasks to his political director, Balázs Orbán. The move marks a break with the team that has directed Fidesz’s election machinery since 2006, which included campaign veterans such as András Gyürk and Gábor Kubatov. Sources with insight into the ruling party say the changes reflect unease inside Fidesz after Péter Magyar’s rapid rise and the failure of old communication tactics to regain his momentum.
The shift comes as Orbán faces a challenge unlike any in his decade-long dominance. Magyar’s Tisza party has capitalised on discontent following last year’s political scandal, filling the vacuum on the opposition side and drawing unprecedented support. Government-friendly media attacks have failed to weaken his popularity, forcing Orbán to abandon his reliance on sweeping narratives and instead fight daily battles online and in the media. “Mudslinging is not effective anymore. Shouting louder is,” said one source close to the campaign.
Orbán has also taken a more direct role in shaping Fidesz’s message. In Kötcse this month, he openly laid out his campaign plan, from welfare measures to a national consultation, a transparency unusual for a leader who typically guards his strategy. For many inside Fidesz, the decision signals both confidence and vulnerability: Orbán remains the dominant figure in Hungarian politics, but his decision to personally shape the campaign shows the pressure from an opposition figure he never faced before.
EP resists Hungary’s attempt to strip opposition leader of immunity
The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee has recommended that the immunity of three MEPs – Péter Magyar, Klára Dobrev, and Ilaria Salis – should not be lifted, a draft resolution confirmed on Tuesday. While the committee’s opinions are only advisory, they are rarely overturned by the full parliament, making it likely the three will retain their protections. The closed-door vote was first reported by Euronews and later confirmed by several outlets.
The cases had drawn significant political attention in Hungary. Prosecutors had sought to remove Magyar’s immunity over an alleged nightclub altercation, while Dobrev faced a defamation case linked to comments about the sister of former president János Áder. Salis, an Italian activist elected in June after spending more than a year in Hungarian custody, was accused of violent attacks on the far right. All three deny wrongdoing and argue that Hungarian authorities cannot guarantee impartial trials. “In a democratic country, an independent court should decide whether someone is guilty or innocent. Unfortunately, this is not the case in our country,” Dobrev said.
Fidesz has accused the parliament of political interference. Tamás Deutsch, head of the party’s delegation in Brussels, said the decision meant Magyar was being “rescued” from prosecution, while Orbán branded it “shameful and disgraceful”. Supporters of Salis, however, argued that the move protected her from what they described as an attempt by the Orbán government to use the legal system for political ends.
Hungary falls behind on inequality and education spending
As regards the widening of educational inequalities, Hungary has once again achieved one of the most concerning results among OECD countries this year, according to the organization's latest report: 71 %of 25- to 34-year-olds obtain a higher education degree if at least one of their parents has a higher education degree, while only 6 % do so if neither of their parents has more than eight years of schooling. This 65 percentage point difference is one of the largest among OECD countries, where the average is 44 %.
On a slightly more positive note, the proportion of young people without secondary education is steadily declining: between 2019 and 2024, this figure fell by one percentage point from 13% to 12%, which is still one percentage point better than the OECD average of 13%.
The more educated someone is, the better their chances on the labor market and the higher their expected salary: while on average in OECD countries 12.9 percent of young people with only an eighth-grade education are unemployed, among those with at least a secondary education, the rate is only 6.9 %. In Hungary, the gap between educational levels is much wider: 15.5 percent of those without a secondary education, 4.1 percent of those with a high school diploma, and only 2.4 percent of those with a college degree are unemployed.