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Orban re-elected as Fidesz party leader

Viktor Orbán was re-elected as chairman of Fidesz for another year at the party’s congress on Saturday, after standing as the sole candidate. According to the results, 729 delegates voted in favour of his reappointment, while eight delegates did not cast a vote. Orbán has led the party since 1993, except for three years between 2000 and 2003. Delegates also approved the party’s four deputy chairs. Speaking after the result was announced, Orbán thanked members for their confidence and said they were prepared to devote even a decade to building a "sovereign Hungary."

Orbán said he believed that moment represented Hungary’s final opportunity before being “swallowed up by the bottomless pit that is the Western globalist liberal world”. Reflecting on his years in office, he said he had not anticipated developments such as the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and migration. He warned that “the foreigners are coming, and they’ll empty Hungary's pockets”, adding that he knew both his opponents and the challenges facing the country.

Orbán said he had considered stepping down after following Fidesz’s election defeat in April, but not to withdraw completely from public life. "I do not give up, I never, never, never, never, never give up," he said. “I have always been open about what you are getting with me. You know I have no interest in changing. I don’t do things halfheartedly, I don't make complete U-turns, and I won’t be showing up at frivolous parties,” he said, adding that "neither wealth nor international recognition motivated him" and that he wished only to serve his country.

Orban government had plans for a secret migrant camp, Magyar says

According to Hungarian PM Péter Magyar, after the 2024 European Parliament elections, the Orbán government had planned to build a migrant facility near the Austrian border. He claimed the project was intended to ease tensions with the European Union and halt the daily €1m fine imposed on Hungary over its migration policies. The interior minister strongly denied the allegation at the time, but Magyar and his allies have continued to argue that a classified government decree relating to the project exists. Magyar now says that, following the change of government, a previously classified document has surfaced which could demonstrate that the former administration had indeed planned a refugee facility in the village of Vitnyéd, near the Austrian border.

Speaking in parliament, Magyar told Fidesz MP János Pócs that the government had intended to spend several billion forints on establishing a migrant camp in Vitnyéd and had prepared a secret cabinet resolution to that effect. He pledged to release both the decree and related official documents. The controversy first emerged in autumn 2024, when residents and journalists noticed construction work at Csermajor being carried out under police supervision. While the government repeatedly denied that a refugee camp was being built, local speculation persisted, with estimates suggesting the site could accommodate up to 500 people.

Hungary ranks last in the EU in terms of consumption

Consumption by Hungarian households stood at 73% of the European Union average in 2025, tying with Latvia for last place among member states, according to Portfolio’s report on the latest Eurostat data. The publication notes that this is the first time comparable EU-wide statistics on 2025 consumption have been released.

The picture has not changed much from the previous year, but the slight shifts have been unfavorable for Hungary. In 2024, Latvia’s final consumption was the lowest at 72% of the EU average, while Hungary tied with Bulgaria for second-to-last place at 73%. In 2025, the Bulgarian and Latvian figures improved, so we now share the bottom spot with Latvia, just behind Estonia at 74%. The Bulgarians improved to 77%. Among the Central European EU member states, Romania is far ahead of Hungary at 86%, while Slovakia stands at 77%, the Czech Republic at 83%, and Poland at 88%. Hungary’s relative consumption level is low, even by its level of development.

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Hungary says breakthrough reached with Ukraine over minority rights

“Hungarian foreign policy has once again become visible and proactive in Europe,” foreign minister Anita Orbán told parliament’s foreign affairs committee. She said Budapest had renewed its engagement with the Visegrád Group, which had been neglected under the previous government. Referring to Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s first foreign trip to Warsaw, she said: “We have now recalibrated Hungarian-Polish relations.” Hungary is expected to host a summit of V4 prime ministers in the near future. In contrast, a Hungarian-German summit is scheduled for early October in Berlin, beginning with talks between the two countries’ foreign ministers and followed by wider government consultations.

Orbán also highlighted the recently announced Hungarian-Ukrainian agreement, describing it as the result of extensive consultation and negotiation rather than political gestures. Under the agreement, Ukraine committed to restoring the system of schools for ethnic minorities and guaranteeing the free use of the Hungarian language and national symbols. In municipalities where Hungarians make up more than 10% of the population, Hungarian may be used in healthcare, public events, academic conferences, and political campaigns. These commitments form part of the action plan linked to Ukraine’s EU accession process, which Orbán said would begin once the conditions had been fulfilled, proceed under the standard timetable, and be preceded by a referendum. She did not provide a timeline for a meeting between Magyar and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Hungarians increasingly doubt US would defend Europe

Doubt among Europeans is growing about whether the United States would defend the continent, and they increasingly believe Europe should develop stronger defence capabilities of its own, according to a new survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations. Conducted across 15 countries ahead of next week’s G7 meeting in France and July’s Nato summit, the poll found that support for Ukraine remains intact, but enthusiasm for further EU enlargement to the east is limited under current conditions. Views on energy also remained divided: 44% of respondents opposed returning to Russian energy imports, while 27% supported such a move.

Hungarians, however, 42% backed importing Russian oil and gas. The survey found confidence in the US alliance had weakened amid recent developments, including troop withdrawals from Europe, tensions over Greenland, and repeated remarks by US President Donald Trump about the possibility of withdrawing from NATO. Only 11% of respondents described the United States as an ally, down from 16% six months earlier and 22% in November 2024.

According to the survey, trust in the US is declining in most countries, but it is a new phenomenon in Hungary and Poland. At the same time, support for replacing NATO remained limited, and attitudes towards European defence spending varied sharply across the continent. Hungarians were among the least supportive of expanding defence spending at the expense of other sectors and showed little appetite either for national nuclear deterrence or a pan-European alternative. The survey also found divisions over buying US-made weapons and differing views on responsibility for higher energy prices, with Hungarians among the least likely to blame either their own government or the EU.

Hungary’s easing inflation may open path to lower rates

Hungary’s central bank may require a lower interest rate to maintain price stability following a decline in inflation and an improvement in risk premia, but policymakers remain cautious amid volatility in long-term yields and energy markets, a senior official has told Reuters. The bank last month discussed a rate cut for the first time since reducing its base rate to 6.25% in February from what had been the highest level in the European Union, after inflation fell below its 3% target earlier this year.

However, uncertainty linked to the war in Iran and turbulence in global markets has tempered expectations of an easing cycle, despite the potentially disinflationary effects of the forint’s appreciation following the 12 April election that ended Viktor Orbán’s rule. Consumer prices rose by 1.8% in the first four months of 2026, below the central bank’s March forecast of 3.8% average inflation for the year, while economists expect May inflation at 2.3%.

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Magyar seeks constitutional change to remove Hungary’s president

Hungary’s government is preparing a constitutional amendment to remove President Tamás Sulyok, as Prime Minister Péter Magyar moves to replace officials appointed during Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. Magyar, whose Tisza party secured a two-thirds parliamentary majority in April’s election, has repeatedly called on Sulyok to step down, arguing that the president has failed to fulfil his constitutional duties. After meeting Sulyok at Budapest’s Sándor Palace, Magyar said the president had refused to resign and announced that lawmakers from his party would begin the “necessary procedures” to remove him.

While the Hungarian presidency is largely ceremonial, the officeholder signs legislation into law and can refer bills to the constitutional court for review. Magyar accused Sulyok of remaining silent on issues, including remarks made by Orbán about his political opponents and legislation passed by the previous government banning Pride. “It is in Hungary's interest that this institution regain the prestige that has been eroded by its silence and inaction,” he said. Fidesz caucus leader Gergely Gulyás criticised the move, saying that “in a constitutional democracy, it is not conceivable that a president is forcibly removed” before the end of their term. Last week, Sulyok’s office said Magyar’s calls for his resignation undermined both the constitutional functioning and authority of the presidency, adding that the president had sought a legal assessment from the Venice Commission.

Budapest Mayor: "Finally, Pride will be celebrated the way it is in a normal European country."

Budapest Pride will go ahead on 27 June, with Hungarian police saying they will not prevent people from attending the LGBT+ march. “The Budapest Metropolitan Police has approved the 2026 Budapest Pride Parade and also has issued restrictive orders in relation to three counter-demonstrations,” a police spokesperson said. Welcoming the decision, Budapest’s mayor, Gergely Karácsony, wrote on Facebook: “Freedom and love can’t be banned,” describing Pride as “the event of freedom-loving Hungarians”. He added, “Finally, Pride will be celebrated the way it is in a normal European country.”

The development follows an attempt by Viktor Orbán’s right-wing nationalist government to ban the event last year. In response, Karácsony organised the parade as a municipal event in an effort to circumvent the restriction. Last year’s march had a record high turnout, which turned into an anti-Orbán demonstration.

Vsquare: Maga circles exploring UN role for Orban

According to investigative outlet Vsquare, MAGA figures are working on securing a senior position for Viktor Orbán within the United Nations, with the specific role seen as less important than the diplomatic immunity such a post could provide. The extent of that immunity would depend on the position. Under the 1946 UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities, the Secretary-General, under-secretaries-general, and assistant secretaries-general receive diplomatic immunity equivalent to that of ambassadors, while lower-ranking officials enjoy more limited protection linked to their official duties.

The outlet's sources said Orbán could potentially count on support not only from the United States but also from Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, who, like JD Vance, visited him in Budapest before April’s election. The source noted that the contest to succeed António Guterres as UN secretary general is already underway, with Rafael Grossi, the Argentine head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, regarded as a leading candidate. Sources close to the former prime minister said that if political pressure in Hungary intensifies, he could remain in the US for an extended period, and that a UN position could offer what they described as a more graceful exit than seeking political asylum.

Majority of Hungarians see no path for Orbán's comeback

Nearly two-thirds of Hungarians believe Fidesz has little chance of regaining its former dominance, according to a new survey by Publicus Institute. The poll found that 66% of respondents believed the party would not recover its previous strength, while 27% said it could still rebuild itself. Among Fidesz supporters, however, eight in 10 said they believed the former ruling party would eventually regain its position. Fewer respondents considered a comeback by Viktor Orbán happening in the future. According to the survey, 76% said the former prime minister either would not or was unlikely to return, with 69% saying there was “absolutely no chance” of such a comeback. Fewer than two in 10 respondents thought Orbán could return to power.

The survey also found that 44% believed Orbán “is doing the right thing by retreating into the background”, while 14% agreed that “he is doing the right thing because this is how he can reorganize Fidesz”. Nearly half of Fidesz voters said stepping back could help Orbán reorganise the party, although two in 10 considered the decision a mistake. Among Tisza supporters, many believed it was time for Orbán to withdraw from politics, though 44% said he should still have taken up his parliamentary mandate. More than half of Fidesz voters saw former foreign minister Péter Szijjártó as the strongest potential future leader of the party. According to the survey, six in 10 people believed corruption was the biggest reason for Fidesz's electoral defeat.

Zelensky honours Budapest for standing with Ukraine

Budapest mayor, Gergely Karácsony, received an award in Kyiv from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On Facebook, he wrote that Budapest had been presented with the “Savior City” award, given to cities that have provided exceptional support to Ukraine. “Budapest has indeed provided a great deal of tangible assistance,” he said. Karácsony said the city had supported its sister cities, Berehove and Kyiv, with donations, generators, and other technical equipment, while also helping refugees arriving from Ukraine. “We will continue to do everything we can to make our friends fleeing the war feel at home in our city. But we have done something else as well: we have preserved our moral compass in this era of madness and evil.”

Karácsony said the recognition belonged to the people of Budapest, “who showed their solidarity in many ways even amidst the hate campaigns forced upon them”. He added that Zelenskyy had highlighted in his speech that Budapest had taken a different position from the foreign policy of Hungary’s previous government and had expressed hope for cooperation with the country’s new administration. Recalling a visit to Transcarpathia last autumn, Karácsony noted that he had accepted a donation worth five million forints and attended the opening of the “Autumn in Berehove” event.

Several diplomatic passports issued by Szijjártó's foreign ministry are being revoked

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reviewing the diplomatic passports issued by Péter Szijjártó, György Velkey announced. The state secretary cited very serious abuses; according to their data, and based on a ministerial decision and individual requests, nearly 1,500 individual diplomatic passports were issued under the previous system. Radio Free Europe previously reported that a total of 10,219 such documents were issued between 2019 and September 2023.

Last year, Antal Rogán’s ministry, citing national security reasons, refused to answer whether, for example, Tamás Lánczi, the president of the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty, former minister Zoltán Balog, soccer player Balázs Dzsudzsák, or Ádám Matolcsy held diplomatic passports. Velkey has now promised to revoke those passports that were issued to people “undeservedly and without any justification.” “Cronies, sports club members, NER business circles, and individuals with foreign ties received diplomatic passports from the state for no reason whatsoever. And they were able to use those passports for years without any explanation,” the state secretary stated.

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Hungary reverses plan to leave the International Criminal Court

Hungary’s new centre-right prime minister, Péter Magyar, has announced changes to the country’s foreign policy direction, including reversing plans to leave the International Criminal Court and reintroducing restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. “The government is withdrawing Hungary’s intention to leave the International Criminal Court and is banning the import of agricultural products from Ukraine,” Magyar wrote on X.

In 2025, Hungary’s previous government backed a proposal to withdraw from the ICC after a visit to Budapest by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom the court had issued an arrest warrant. The withdrawal process was due to conclude on 2 June 2026. Since his election victory, Magyar has repeatedly said Hungary would remain a member of the court, stressing the importance of complying with international obligations, including enforcing decisions relating to wanted individuals.

Independent Balkan media outlets set to be sold to Orban-linked fund

A major Balkan media group known for its independent journalism is quietly being prepared for a sale to an investment fund linked to the political orbit of former nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which cited a leaked draft contract. The report said United Group was preparing to sell media assets, including the N1 and Nova television networks, described as “rare bastions of critical reporting” in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro.

The official buyer is listed as European Future Media Investments, a Luxembourg-based investment fund, but details in the draft contract point to the investment firm Alpac Capital. The company previously acquired a majority stake in Euronews in a deal that was reportedly heavily financed by Hungarian state capital and businesses linked to Orbán’s propaganda network.

Magyar greeted with military salute in Vienna

Péter Magyar was welcomed with a military salute at Vienna’s Ballhausplatz, outside the Austrian chancellor’s office, during the latest stop of his first foreign trip since taking office. The Hungarian prime minister arrived in the Austrian capital from Gdańsk alongside several members of his cabinet, including foreign minister Anita Orbán, transport and investment minister Dávid Vitézy, energy and economy minister István Kapitány, and living environment minister László Gajdos. After talks with Austria’s chancellor, Christian Stocker, the two leaders addressed a range of issues at a joint press conference, including asbestos contamination in western Hungary linked to aggregates from Austrian mines, transport cooperation, special taxes and energy diversification. Stocker said he was confident cooperation between the two countries would improve, describing the Hungarian election result as significant beyond Hungary’s borders because, in his view, it showed that a large majority of Hungarians had rejected isolationism in favour of a civic approach.

Stocker said the two sides had also discussed Hungary’s special taxes, which Austria views as discriminatory towards Austrian companies, adding that resolving these disputes would help build trust through dialogue. “We are stronger together when we act as a region,” he said, arguing that closer cooperation would also strengthen both countries’ voices in Brussels. He stressed the importance of improving competitiveness and avoiding dependence on external actors. Referring to the war in Ukraine and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, Stocker said European unity was now more important than ever. “Both Hungary and Austria are committed to the European Union,” he said, while adding that although both countries supported EU enlargement, “there is no fast lane, and there are no shortcuts”.

Hungary summons Russian ambassador after drone attack on Transcarpathia

Russia’s ambassador to Hungary, Yevgeny Stanislavov, was summoned by Hungary in connection with Wednesday’s Russian drone attack on Ukraine, which also struck Transcarpathia. The ambassador arrived at 11.30 am at the Foreign Ministry and left half an hour later. Prime Minister Péter Magyar had announced the summons the previous day, and, similarly to Foreign Minister Anita Orbán, strongly condemned the attack on behalf of the Hungarian government. Magyar said it was the most intensive drone strike to hit Transcarpathia since the start of the war, with Mukachevo, Uzhhorod, Svalyava, and several smaller towns affected. Hungary’s state railway company, MÁV, also informed transport minister Dávid Vitézy that railway employees at Chop station near the Hungarian border had been forced to take shelter during the attack before later being brought into Hungary.

The response stands in sharp contrast to the previous government’s approach to Russia. Under former foreign minister Péter Szijjártó, ambassadors from countries including the US, Austria, Germany, Finland, Denmark, and Ukraine were repeatedly summoned over statements concerning Hungary. Still, the Russian ambassador was not called in even after Russian hackers breached the foreign ministry’s IT system in 2022 or after Russian strikes hit Transcarpathia in 2025. Following the latest attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Magyar for his compassion and firm stance. On Thursday, Anita Orbán also held the first general assembly for foreign ministry staff in 12 years, pledging to restore “the professional and strategic tasks that have been the strength of Hungarian diplomacy for decades”. Shortly after meeting the Russian ambassador, Orban urged Russia to do everything possible to secure a ceasefire.

'State of danger' due to war next door ends in Hungary

After six years, Hungary’s state of danger has come to an end. The state of danger, one of six forms of special legal order defined in Hungary’s constitution, differs from a state of emergency in that it allows the government to rule by decree without parliamentary approval. Viktor Orbán’s government first introduced the measure in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic and later maintained it in 2022, citing the war in Ukraine. At the time, Minister Gergely Gulyás said accusations from the opposition that the government wanted to maintain the special legal order indefinitely were unfounded, adding that it would end sooner than in most European countries. In the years that followed, however, Hungary’s Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary majority repeatedly extended the measure, allowing Orbán’s government to govern an entire four-year term under the special legal order.

After Tisza’s election victory, Péter Magyar asked Fidesz to prolong the state of danger until 31 May, saying around 160 emergency decrees remained in force and warning that an abrupt end could create legal chaos. Without an extension, decrees introduced during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine would have immediately lost validity. The outgoing government declined to extend the arrangement, and on 9 May, the new parliament voted to elevate the emergency decrees into law.

Warsaw expects the US to return ex-minister who fled via Hungary

Poland says it expects the United States to extradite former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro after reports emerged that he had travelled there from Hungary, where Viktor Orbán had granted him asylum. Polish prosecutors said they were investigating how Ziobro, a central figure in Poland’s previous nationalist conservative government, managed to leave Hungary and enter the US on the same day as the inauguration of Orbán’s successor, Péter Magyar. Sikorski said Polish prosecutors would seek both European and international arrest warrants and that Warsaw expected “friendly countries to honour our request”. Ziobro, who was stripped of his Polish and diplomatic passports last year, confirmed to the rightwing broadcaster Republika that he was in the US, saying he had arrived in the “strongest democracy in the world”.

Polish prosecutors said Ziobro remained wanted under a domestic arrest warrant and noted that he had not possessed a passport for months, raising questions about how he entered the US. He faces charges carrying a possible 25-year prison sentence over allegations that he created and led a criminal group which diverted funds intended for victims of violence, including to purchase Pegasus spyware allegedly used to monitor political opponents. Ziobro denies the accusations, describing them as "politically motivated." Poland’s foreign ministry said it would seek explanations from both Washington and Budapest regarding the legal basis for Ziobro's leaving Hungary and entering the US. Ziobro said he travelled using asylum documents issued by Hungary, while Polish media reported he may have obtained a US journalist visa.

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Only 39 percent of Hungarians feel like Orban was qualified to serve as PM, research shows

The trend of voters gravitating toward the winner continues: for every Fidesz supporter, there are now three Tisza supporters, a new Medián poll commissioned by the magazine and conducted between April 27 and May 2. Tisza’s support stands at 61 percent among the total population, nearly three times that of Fidesz; the gap has widened even further among party voters and those who are certain in their party preferences, with support for the winning party reaching 70 percent among the latter group.

Fewer and fewer people believe that outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was qualified to serve. Now, only 39 percent consider him qualified, while 59 percent are not satisfied with him.

In contrast, 72 percent of respondents have no doubts about Péter Magyar’s competence. The proportion of those who have complete confidence in his abilities has doubled since then.

Hungarian authorities returned the cash and gold bars seized from the bank convoy to Ukraine

Hungarian authorities today returned the assets seized during a raid on Ukrainian money couriers in March, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced.

“An important step in relations with Hungary: today, Oschadbank’s funds and valuables, seized by Hungarian special services in March, were returned. At that time, the Hungarian side had unlawfully detained the Ukrainian cash-in-transit employees. We had already brought our people home earlier, and now the assets have also been returned in full to Ukrainian territory, “The Ukrainian president wrote on X:

“I am grateful to Hungary for its constructive approach and civilized stance. I want to thank every member of the Ukrainian delegation who fought for a fair decision and defended the interests of our state and our people,” Zelenskyy added.

TV2's propaganda program "Tények" shuts down

TV2 Tények is shutting down, Miklós Vaszily, the channel’s CEO, announced. It currently appears that the magazine program Napló will also be discontinued.

“We are currently in the process of revamping our infotainment programs, a move necessitated primarily by the erosion of the Tények brand. My goal is for TV2 to provide news coverage that meets the expected professional standards with the newly launched brands, after drawing the necessary lessons,” the CEO wrote to 444.

"Tények" was one of the central channels for Fidesz's smear campaigns and had the widest reach. The program launched in 1997, and like TV2, the commercial channel, its editorial stance was liberal at first. After 2010, it ended up in the hands of Andy Vajna and Fidesz circles and ultimately became the most vicious propaganda machine.

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Orban-linked oligarchs are carrying their wealth out of Hungary

Private jets allegedly carrying assets linked to the pro-Orbán elite have been steadily leaving Vienna, while others are said to be moving quickly to transfer their wealth abroad, according to The Guardian. Hungary’s prime minister- elect, Péter Magyar, wrote on X that “Orbán-linked oligarchs are transferring tens of billions of forints to the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Uruguay and other distant countries”. He added that Hungary’s tax authorities had suspended several high-value transfers connected to Antal Rogán’s circle on suspicion of money laundering. Magyar also said that the family of Lőrinc Mészáros, Hungary’s richest man, a former gas-fitter and a childhood friend of Viktor Orbán, was expected to travel to Dubai in the coming days.

Two sources inside Orbán's Fidesz party told the Guardian that members of Orbán’s inner circle were moving assets to Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, while others were considering relocating funds to Australia and Singapore. The Guardian also reported that senior figures linked to Fidesz were applying for US work visas.

The Hungarian police are investigating the asset-transfer case on suspicion of embezzlement causing particularly significant financial loss, they wrote on a social media post on Tuesday. In the statement, they emphasized that they are investigating “alleged” asset stripping, meaning activities aimed at concealing unlawfully obtained money and other assets from the authorities through financial or other transactions.

Local Fidesz leader was arrested at the airport

A former regional leader of Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party has been detained at Budapest airport in connection with a fraud case, according to reports. Rádi Feríz, who previously led the party in Szeged, Hungary’s third-largest city, resigned from his position last week after the National Tax and Customs Office issued an arrest warrant against him. He was arrested on Friday at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc international airport upon returning from a trip to Egypt.

Feríz is suspected of budget fraud, according to the broadcaster RTL Klub. The politician, who joined Fidesz from the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) three years ago, has a background in agribusiness and runs a successful plant-breeding company with his family.

Orban steps down from Parliament, won't take his seat

Hungary’s outgoing prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said he will not take up his parliamentary seat after his party suffered a landslide defeat. “I am now needed not in parliament, but in the reorganisation of the patriotic movement,” he said in a video statement published on social media on Saturday evening. Although his nationalist Fidesz party's seats fell from 135 to 52 in the 12 April election, Orbán had been re-elected as an MP via its proportional representation list.

After a meeting of party officials, Orbán, said Fidesz’s parliamentary group would be led from Monday by Gergely Gulyás, who has served as the minister in charge of the prime minister’s office. “The mandate I obtained as the lead candidate of the Fidesz-KDNP list is, in fact, a parliamentary mandate of Fidesz. For this reason, I have decided to return it,” he said.

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Hungary will not veto, EU can finalize €90 billion loan to Ukraine

European Union ambassadors approved a €90bn loan to Ukraine and a new package of sanctions against Russia after Hungary lifted its veto, the bloc’s Cypriot presidency said. The EU’s 27 member states are expected to formally sign the agreement by Thursday afternoon. The loan is intended to support Ukraine’s finances through 2026 and 2027. Hungary had previously blocked the deal, accusing Ukraine of sabotaging the transit of Russian oil through a pipeline damaged by Russian attacks, a dispute that also delayed the sanctions package the EU had hoped to adopt to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Hungary’s oil group MOL said it had been informed that the Ukrainian operator of the Druzhba pipeline was ready to resume crude oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia. The company said it expected shipments to restart by Thursday at the latest. Both countries remain heavily dependent on Russian energy supplies.

New Medián poll shows Tisza would defeat Fidesz by 65-25

Medián published its first post-election poll in HVG. According to their survey, Tisza Party has continued to gain strength, while Fidesz’s support has declined significantly. Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar’s party would receive votes from 56 percent of the total voting-age population and 66 percent of eligible voters, while Fidesz would receive 21 and 25 percent.

The phenomenon of “siding with the winner” shows not only in party preferences, but also in how respondents recall their decision on April 12. Although Tisza won by a margin of 53 to 39 based on the election results, 59 percent of respondents recalled voting for Tisza, while only 26 percent recalled voting for Fidesz.

The survey also revealed a similar trend regarding voter turnout. Although actual voter turnout was 79 percent, 95 percent of respondents said they voted.

Arrest warrant issued in case linked to Orbán’s younger brother

Arrest warrants have been issued in a criminal case involving a labor hire agency, Hungary’s Central Investigative Prosecutor’s Office said on Friday. The two suspects were taken into custody on suspicion of influence peddling and other offences. At the time, reports indicated that the younger brother of the outgoing prime minister, Áron Orbán, had links to the case, which Telex first wrote about last year.

Prosecutors said a search had been carried out, evidence had been seized, and four individuals were questioned as suspects, with two placed in detention. Citing a risk that the suspects could flee, go into hiding, or obstruct the investigation, authorities sought their arrest, a request upheld by the court. Both suspects and their lawyers have appealed the decision. Áron Orbán is not among those detained.

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Hungary's next PM pledges Hungary would be a “constructive partner” in the EU and NATO

Hungary’s prime minister-electPéter Magyar held his first international press conference on Monday, after his landslide victory that ended Fidesz’s 16-year rule. During the press briefing, he said Hungarians had made clear that “Hungary’s place was, is, and will be in Europe”. He urged President Tamás Sulyok to convene parliament and begin the process of forming a government without delay. Framing the result as the start of “a new era”, Magyar said voters had backed not only a change of government but a “complete regime change”, pledging to represent all Hungarians and to amend the constitution to introduce a two-term limit for prime ministers. He also promised to restore checks and balances, review undisclosed agreements and contracts, and make public any that do not harm national interests, while involving citizens more directly in decision-making through referendums and local votes.

Magyar said his government would prioritise tackling corruption, including setting up an anti-corruption office and pursuing audits of major public procurements, as well as seeking to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. He pledged that Hungary would be a “constructive partner” in the EU and NATO, while maintaining pragmatic relations with Russia and diversifying energy sources, stressing that Hungary would not interfere in other countries’ internal affairs. He said Ukraine was “a victim in this war”, while adding that normalising relations would require addressing the rights of Hungary’s minority there, and ruled out supporting Ukraine’s accelerated EU accession during wartime. Magyar also signalled efforts to rebuild ties with allies, including Poland, Germany, and Austria.

He said the rule of law would govern Hungary, maintain close relations with the United States, and seek to restore its standing in Europe, while addressing issues such as migration through what he described as more direct and realistic approaches.

Magyar vows to halt state media, calling it a ‘propaganda machine.’

Péter Magyar has said he will suspend news coverage by state media when his government takes office in mid-May, describing the system as a “propaganda machine”. Speaking in two tense interviews on public radio and television on Wednesday, following his landslide election victory that ended Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power, Magyar outlined plans for the move and used the appearances to sharply criticise the outlets’ editorial line.

Magyar said it was his first invitation to appear on state media in 18 months, contrasting it with Orbán’s regular presence. During the interviews, he accused the outlets of spreading fear and falsehoods, likening their output to propaganda from North Korea and Nazi-era Germany. “Every Hungarian deserves a public service media that broadcasts the truth,” he told Kossuth radio, adding that his government would introduce a new press law and establish a media authority aimed at ensuring state media fulfils its intended role.

Hungary's regulator investigates use of Webloc mass surveillance system

An investigation by VSquare and Citizen Lab has found that Hungarian intelligence agencies have been covertly using Webloc, a mass geolocation surveillance system developed by the Israeli-American firm Cobwebs Technologies. The tool draws on location data gathered by smartphone apps for advertising purposes, enabling authorities to track the movements of hundreds of millions of people through unique device identifiers, without their knowledge or consent. It allows agencies to geofence specific areas, reconstruct individuals’ movements from historical data, and link digital identities to physical locations in near real time. Within the EU, the use of such personal and advertising data for government surveillance is widely regarded as incompatible with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which tightly restricts how such data may be processed and shared.

A week after the report was published, Hungary’s data protection authority said it was taking action. Attila Péterfalvi, head of the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, said the body had no prior knowledge of the tool or its alleged use before receiving a press inquiry, indicating that intelligence agencies had been operating the system without the regulator’s awareness. He confirmed that no complaint or notification had been filed and announced the launch of an ex officio investigation into the use of Webloc in Hungary. The response came days after Viktor Orbán’s electoral defeat, at a time when other institutions previously seen as aligned with the government have begun to act.

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Leaked call transcript between Putin and Orban shows dynamics between the two leaders

Bloomberg News obtained a Hungarian government transcript of a call between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 17 October, in which Orbán likened their relationship to that of a “mouse” ready to assist a Russian “lion”. According to the transcript, Orbán told Putin: “Yesterday our friendship rose to such a high level that I can help in any way … in any matter where I can be of assistance, I am at your service.” He was also said to have invoked one of Aesop’s fables, describing a mouse that repays a lion’s earlier mercy by freeing it from a hunter’s net, a remark that reportedly drew laughter from the Russian president.

Orbán, a right-wing populist who has sought to reshape Hungary into what he calls an “illiberal democracy”, is widely seen as the European Union’s most Moscow-friendly leader, prompting some critics to label him Putin’s Trojan horse. The reported exchange is likely to intensify scrutiny of his ties to the Kremlin, as questions have mounted in recent weeks when both the United States and Russia may be seeking to bolster him while he trails in the polls.

Hungary alleges a sabotage threat gas pipeline in Serbia right before elections

Serbia has said it discovered “explosives of devastating power” near a pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to Hungary and beyond, prompting Hungary’s leading opposition candidate to suggest a possible “false flag” operation aimed at influencing the country’s election. On Sunday, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said he had been informed by Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, of the find near an extension of the TurkStream pipeline, which transports Russian gas through the Balkans to central and eastern Europe. Orbán said an investigation was underway and that he had convened an emergency meeting of the defence council. The discovery comes one week before a pivotal parliamentary vote in which Orbán’s 16-year hold on power faces an unprecedented challenge from Péter Magyar, a former senior figure in the ruling Fidesz party.

The campaign has intensified in recent months: Orbán has warned that the war in Ukraine poses a grave threat to Hungary and cast himself as the best guarantor of security, while Magyar and his Tisza party have urged voters to focus on economic stagnation, strained public services, and corruption. Vučić said Serbian forces found two backpacks containing “two large packages of explosives with detonators” in the northern municipality of Kanjiža, a few hundred metres from the pipeline, describing it as a threat to critical infrastructure that could have endangered lives and caused significant damage. However, he declined to disclose details about their origin.

JD Vance endorses Orban after expressing concerns over foreign interference in Hungarian elections.

Five days before Hungarians head to the polls, US Vice President JD Vance has expressed his full endorsement of the Hungarian prime minister and expressed sharp criticism towards the European Union. Standing alongside Orbán in Budapest, Vance said he is shocked by the level of foreign interference in the Hungarian election campaign, right before he said he is “to help him in this campaign cycle”. Orbán’s challenger, Péter Magyar, is leading in most opinion polls, posing the most serious threat yet to a political career that has spanned nearly four decades and delivered four consecutive election victories since 2010.

The last-minute effort to bolster Orbán before the 12 April vote, Vance and his wife, Usha, travelled to Budapest in the first high-level US visit to Hungary in two decades. Vance said Orbán’s relationship with Donald Trump had ushered in a “new golden age” in bilateral ties. Magyar said his Tisza party welcomed Vance’s visit, adding that a future government under his leadership would view the United States as a key partner, both within NATO and economically.

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Hungary files espionage case against top journalist

Hungary’s government has filed espionage charges against investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi, in a case tied to reporting on alleged contacts between Budapest and Moscow. Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said justice minister Bence Tuzson had decided to proceed, arguing that publicly known details were "sufficient" and accusing Panyi of acting “in cooperation with a foreign state”. The allegations follow a Washington Post report claiming Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, regularly shared confidential information from EU meetings with his Russian counterpart.

After the Post's piece was published, pro-government outlet Mandiner published claims that foreign intelligence services had wiretapped Szijjártó with Panyi’s assistance, alongside an edited recording in which the journalist discussed sharing the minister’s phone number with a source at an EU government agency. Gulyás rejected the notion that such actions constituted journalism, alleging the intent was surveillance. Panyi denied the accusations in a Facebook post, saying the recording had been heavily edited. He is currently working on a book about Russian interference in Hungarian politics. Panyi has previously been targeted with the Pegasus spyware.

Hungarian government rejects opposition claims of secret service operation against Tisza's IT system

Hungary’s main opposition party has accused the government of orchestrating a covert operation to infiltrate and undermine its activities, weeks before the parliamentary election on April 12. The claims, dubbed “Orbán-gate”, draw on an investigation by Direkt36, citing police documents that describe an alleged attempt to compromise the IT systems of Tisza. According to the report, operatives sought to recruit a young volunteer linked to the party to gain access to its digital infrastructure and install loyal insiders in key positions.

The alleged plan was disrupted after police raided the homes of two men associated with the party, who were said to be preparing to record the recruitment attempt using a concealed camera. Direkt36 reported that the raids were carried out under the pretext of a child pornography investigation, though no such material was found, and attention instead shifted to the planned recording.

Bence Szabó, a senior investigator at the Cybercrime department of the National Bureau of Investigation, sat down with Direkt 35 on the record about the case. In the video, Szabo explained that several screenshots were discovered between the IT specialists and individuals, including Magyar's ex-girlfriend, revealing details of a secret service operation. The goal of the operation was to hack into the Tisza Party’s IT system and bring it down.

Magyar has presented the affair as evidence of democratic backsliding, while the government has rejected the allegations and framed the issue as one of national security.

Government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said individuals linked to Tisza had connections to Ukrainian actors and hacker networks, a claim amplified by pro-government media, while several state bodies declined to comment on the specifics of the reported operation.

Politico: Anxiety builds in MAGA world over fate of Hungarian elections

As war with Iran dominates attention in Washington, concern is mounting within the MAGA movement over the electoral prospects of Orbán, Politico reports. After more than a decade consolidating power, Orbán now faces one of his most difficult contests, with polling ahead of the 12 April vote showing his Fidesz party trailing the centre-right Tisza party. Discontent over a sluggish economy, rising living costs, and a series of scandals has weighed on his campaign, prompting unease among allies of US President Donald Trump, who regard Orbán as a key ideological partner in Europe. In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly endorsed him, while Marco Rubio visited Budapest in February, and JD Vance is reportedly considering a trip, though it has not been formally confirmed.

Orbán is seen as a model of “illiberal” governance in the Trumpist segment of the Republican Party, from his hardline immigration policies to opposition to military aid for Ukraine and efforts to reshape Hungary’s institutions. His allies have cultivated close ties with MAGA-aligned groups such as the Heritage Foundation, and the relationship has yielded tangible benefits, including a US exemption allowing Hungary to continue purchasing Russian oil. Yet the overt support carries risks: far-right parties in Europe have sought to distance themselves from Trump, and some within his orbit fear the strategy could alienate Hungarian voters. Diplomatic tensions further complicate the picture, as Orbán’s move to block an EU loan to Ukraine clashes with US efforts to encourage European support for Kyiv.

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EU leaders condemn Hungary's Orban for blocking Ukraine loan

EU leaders condemned Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, after he refused to drop his veto to a €90bn loan for Ukraine, accusing him of acting in bad faith and reneging on an agreement reached in December. Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, described the move as “a gross act of disloyalty”, warning it would “leave deep marks”, while the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the loan remained blocked because “one leader is not honouring his word” but insisted it would be delivered “one way or the other”. At a summit in Brussels, leaders openly criticised Orbán’s stance, with European Council president António Costa saying: “Nobody can blackmail the European institutions.” The bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Hungary was “taking [its] agreement back” and questioned how the EU could enforce the deal, adding she did not expect a resolution before Hungary’s 12 April elections.

Orbán, alongside Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico, also refused to endorse a European Council statement supporting the release of funds, and showed no sign of compromise, saying he would not back any decision benefiting Ukraine while Hungary was unable to receive oil deliveries it considers its own. The dispute centres on the Druzhba pipeline, which Ukraine says was damaged in a Russian air attack but which Orbán has accused Kyiv of failing to repair.

EU leaders said his position undermined decision-making as Ukraine faces urgent funding needs. Finland’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, accused Orbán of using Ukraine “as a weapon” in his election campaign. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever called the reversal “unacceptable”, while officials said Hungary and Slovakia were also blocking a new sanctions package against Russia. Although Ukraine has agreed to accept EU support to repair the pipeline, Orbán’s stance has not shifted, as he continues an election campaign portraying his opponent, Péter Magyar, as a puppet of Brussels and Kyiv.

Reuters: JD Vance to visit Budapest ahead of Hungarian elections

US vice-president JD Vance is preparing to travel to Hungary in the coming days in as a show of support for Viktor Orbán, who faces a tightening race ahead of next month’s election, Reuters reports. The planned visit follows a February trip by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who publicly backed Orbán as he confronts his most difficult re-election bid since 2010, with opinion polls indicating he is trailing in the final stretch before the 12 April vote. The timing of Vance’s trip remains uncertain and could shift, particularly as senior US officials weigh staying in Washington during the ongoing US-Israeli air war on Iran. The White House declined to comment.

Orbán, a close ally of Donald Trump, has long clashed with the EU, particularly over Ukraine, maintaining ties with Moscow and rejecting both arms deliveries to Kyiv and its EU accession. Concerns over Hungary’s democratic trajectory were raised by Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, who questioned Rubio’s earlier visit and asked how it served US strategic interests. Trump, who recently endorsed Orbán, has similarly backed conservative figures globally, while Vance is seen as a prominent player in foreign policy and a potential 2028 presidential candidate.

Orbán to host key figures of the European far right

Two major Fidesz-sponsored events are scheduled in the coming days. The invitees are mostly far-right politicians, and the list also includes an influencer with ties to Russia.

The first event is CPAC Hungary on Saturday, featuring almost no US speakers. Speakers will include former Polish right-wing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who is currently seeking to legitimize a law modeled on Russia’s “agent law.”

The other event will be a meeting of the ruling party’s European Parliamentary group, the European Patriots, organized by the Fidesz Foundation. In addition to Viktor Orbán, the speakers' list includes,

• Marine Le Pen, parliamentary group leader of the far-right French National Rally,
• Matteo Salvini, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister,
• Santiago Abascal, the leader of the Spanish Vox party,
• Herbert Kickl, the leader of the Austrian Freedom Party,
• and Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, who was unable to form a government after the elections.

Another notable speaker will be influencer Dave Rubin, who has earlier interviewed Viktor Orbán. Two years ago, YouTube banned him because he worked with a media company called Tenet Media, which illegally received millions of dollars from two employees of the Russian state-funded channel RT. Tenet is owned by political influencer Lauren Chen, who previously appeared as a guest at the MCC festival, which is also linked to the Hungarian government.

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Orban claims Ukrainians are "threatening his family"

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, has accused Ukrainians of plotting to attack his family. The dispute has unfolded as Hungary approaches a parliamentary election next month that could end Orbán’s 16 years in power, with the prime minister and his allies appearing to use the confrontation for political advantage.

In a video released on Wednesday night, Orbán appeared to speak to his daughters by phone, saying: “I’m sure you’ll see on the news that the Ukrainians have threatened not only me but you as well.” He added: “My kids and my grandkids … We have to take this seriously but we must not be scared.” The remarks appeared to refer to comments by Hrihoriy Omelchenko, a retired Ukrainian politician who served in the SBU security service in the 1990s and who suggested in a televised interview that vigilantes could target Orbán if he did not change his stance on Ukraine. Earlier, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had also said he might “give this person’s address to our armed forces” when referring to Orbán, comments that reportedly prompted European allies to urge him to tone down his rhetoric.

The latest tensions were triggered after Ukraine said repairs to an oil pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungary, reportedly damaged in a Russian drone attack, could take several weeks.

FT: Russia is running a disinformation campaign in Hungary to support Orbán

The Kremlin has launched a disinformation campaign intended to help Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, secure re-election next month, according to people familiar with the matter, The Financial Times reports. Russia is said to have endorsed a plan by the Social Design Agency, a Kremlin-linked media consultancy under western sanctions, to support Orbán’s Fidesz party by spreading messages on social media designed in Russia and shared by influential Hungarians. A proposal prepared by the agency for the Kremlin last year reportedly presents Orbán as the only candidate capable of preserving Hungary’s sovereignty and dealing with global leaders as an equal. It contrasts him with his main challenger, Péter Magyar, leader of the Tisza party, describing Orbán as a “strong leader with global friends” and Magyar as a “Brussels puppet with no outside support”.

The proposal also outlines “information attacks” targeting Magyar, whose party currently leads in opinion polls. The campaign aims to portray Tisza as marked by “incompetence, division and secret agendas”, highlighting controversial party figures and depicting Magyar as dependent on the EU. Reports by the independent outlet VSquare said three officers from Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency had recently been posted to the embassy in Budapest, prompting Magyar to call for their removal and declare: “Russians, go home”. The agents are believed to be linked to Sergei Kirienko, Putin’s deputy chief of staff, who has previously overseen similar campaigns. The effort comes amid growing tensions between Budapest and Kyiv, after Orbán vetoed a €90bn EU loan for Ukraine following a dispute over a damaged oil pipeline. The Social Design Agency’s proposal warns that direct Russian backing could prove counterproductive, noting: “While interfering in election narratives, one should take into account that direct support from Russia could have the opposite effect.”

21 Research Center: Fidesz is gaining strength, but Tisza still leads

Fidesz's deficit has decreased among those who say they will vote, but the Tisza Party still has a significant lead, according to a survey by the 21 Research Center, commissioned by 24.hu. According to estimates, Tisza would win 115 of the 199 seats if the elections were this Sunday.

According to the survey, 92 percent of voters would vote for one of the two major parties, with all other parties combined receiving 8 percent, of which 6 percent would go to Mi Hazánk, and 1 percent each to the Democratic Coalition and the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party. Among the entire population, Tisza has a 38-30 advantage, while far-right Mi Hazánk is at 4 percent. Among party voters, the score is 51-41 in favor of Tisza, with Mi Hazánk standing at 6 percent. Thanks to the mobilization of Fidesz supporters, Fidesz has somewhat caught up with Tisza among those who say they will definitely vote, with Tisza now at 53 percent and the government at 39 percent among definite party voters. The latter is the highest Fidesz figure since October 2024.

Hungary seizes Ukrainian vehicles carrying cash and gold

Escalating tensions between Hungary and Ukraine has intensified after Hungarian authorities impounded two Ukrainian bank vehicles transporting millions of euros in cash and gold bars across the country. Seven Ukrainian citizens accompanying the convoy were detained. Hungarian officials said those arrested had intelligence links and suggested the funds might be of questionable origin. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, accused Budapest of “taking hostages", while also alleging that Viktor Orbán had manufactured the scandal for political gain ahead of Hungary’s elections next month.

Hungary’s national tax and customs administration said it had launched a money-laundering investigation into the shipment, which it said contained $40m, €35m in cash and 9kg of gold, adding that one of those detained was a former Ukrainian intelligence general. Ukraine’s state savings bank, Oschadbank, said its staff had been transporting the money between Austria and Ukraine on a "routine trip", carried out by road because of restrictions on air travel during the war. Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán, questioned the legitimacy of the shipment, writing on X that armoured vehicles carrying large amounts of cash and gold were not typical of normal financial transactions.

EU should rely less on unanimity after Hungary veto, Dutch PM says

Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten has called for the European Union to move away from unanimity in decision-making, pointing to Hungary’s last-minute veto of a €90bn loan to Ukraine as evidence of the system’s shortcomings. Speaking during his first trip to Brussels since taking office, Jetten said the new Dutch government favoured reducing the number of decisions requiring unanimous approval at EU level. “This is a clear example of why that is important because we cannot explain to our constituents that Europe is sometimes way too slow in reacting to great issues that affect us all,” he told reporters.

Jetten urged Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, to respect the agreement reached by EU leaders in December after lengthy negotiations. Under that compromise, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic agreed to support changes to EU budget rules in exchange for being exempted from joint borrowing. Orbán’s veto relates to the suspension of Russian oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, which Kyiv says was damaged in a Russian drone attack on 27 January and has not resumed operations. Orbán, however, has accused Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy of deliberately shutting down the pipeline for political reasons ahead of Hungary’s elections. The European Commission has called on Kyiv to repair the pipeline and on Budapest to lift its veto, while Hungary and Slovakia have proposed a fact-finding mission to inspect the damaged section.

European Commission says Zelensky’s remarks about Orbán are unacceptable

The European Commission has rebuked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky over his remarks widely interpreted as a threat against prime minister Viktor Orbán.

Zelensky said on Thursday: “We hope that one person in the European Union will not block the 90billion euros, otherwise we will give this person’s address to our armed forces. Let them call him and talk to him in their own language.” Hungary took offence at the comments amid an intensifying dispute between the two countries.

Responding on Friday, the European Commission criticised the language used by the Ukrainian leader. “Specifically in relation to the comments made by President Zelenskyy, we are very clear as the European Commission that that type of language is not acceptable. There must not be threats against EU member states,” the commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, Olof Gill, told reporters, in a rare public condemnation of the leader in Kyiv.

Orbán deploys troops to energy facilities over alleged Ukrainian threat

Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has ordered heightened security at energy facilities, including the deployment of the military, after alleging that Ukraine is seeking to disrupt Hungary’s energy system. Budapest has accused Kyiv of withholding Russian oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukrainian territory to refineries in Hungary and Slovakia. Ukrainian officials reject the claim, saying the pipeline was struck in a Russian drone attack. In a video posted on social media, Orbán said Ukraine was using “an oil blockade” to pressure Hungary and that Hungarian national security services had indicated Kyiv was “preparing further actions to disrupt the operation of Hungary’s energy system”, though he provided no evidence. He said soldiers and equipment would be deployed to guard key facilities, with increased police patrols around power plants, distribution stations and control centres. A ban on drone operations was also introduced in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, which borders Ukraine.

The move comes as Orbán intensifies an anti-Ukraine campaign ahead of April’s parliamentary elections, widely seen as the most challenging contest of his 16 years in power. He has portrayed Ukraine as a serious threat to Hungary’s security and cast himself as its guarantor. Hungary and Slovakia, unlike most European countries, have maintained and even increased imports of Russian oil and gas since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, receiving a temporary EU exemption from a ban on Russian oil imports. Druzhba has not delivered oil since 27 January, and Ukrainian officials say repairs are dangerous and dependent on Russia halting attacks on energy infrastructure. In recent days Hungary has threatened to block a €90bn EU loan to Kyiv, vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia, and signalled it would obstruct further EU assistance until oil shipments resume.

German Foreign Minister: "Hungary is betraying its fight for freedom and trampling on its own heritage"

"The government rejects the increasingly open German attacks and attempts to interfere in the Hungarian election campaign," Hungarian state news agency MTI quoted Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó. At a press conference prior to a public forum held in the city, the minister responded to Johann Wadephul's statement regarding the blocking of European Union sanctions against Russia, saying that "Hungary is betraying its own fight for freedom and trampling on its own heritage."

According to Szijjártó, the German foreign minister has been conspicuously active in attacking Hungary in recent days. "I think it's a bit much when a German person lectures Hungary and Hungarians about historical heritage. We reject this, just as we reject any attempt to interfere in the Hungarian election campaign. I suggest that the German government also adhere to this in the coming period," he explained.

Tisza has a 20-point lead among decided voters, Medián poll shows

Tisza party holds an 11-point lead over Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz among the entire voting-age population and a 20-point advantage among decided voters, according to a new Medián poll reported by Hungarian weekly, HVG. Among voters with a declared party preference, Tisza stands at 55% to Fidesz’s 35%. The difference narrows to 13 points when turnout certainty is factored in: 97% of Tisza supporters say they are certain to vote in April’s election, compared with 85% of Fidesz voters.

Compared with Medián’s previous survey, Tisza has gained two percentage points while Fidesz has lost two. Among those certain to participate, Tisza improved by four points and Fidesz dropped by four, widening the gap between them in that category by eight points. The far-right Mi Hazánk is polling at 6%, the threshold for entering parliament. Other smaller parties, including the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party and the Democratic Coalition, remain at 1–2%, with the rest collectively below 1%. Medián noted that recent controversies such as the battery factory in Göd have attracted widespread attention, with 89% of respondents saying they had heard about them.

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Szijjártó says Hungary will stop diesel fuel shipments to Ukraine

Hungary will suspend diesel fuel supplies to Ukraine until oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline resume, the foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said. No crude oil has reached Hungary and Slovakia via the pipeline since 27 January, when it was struck by Russia, and deliveries have not restarted. Budapest has blamed Ukraine for the disruption, with Szijjártó accusing Kyiv of “political blackmail” and insisting that all technical, physical and logistical conditions are in place for the resumption of shipments. The halt has led the Mol Group to ask the energy ministry to release strategic oil reserves, while the European Commission has urged Ukraine to restore the pipeline’s operation.

Szijjártó said Hungary’s oil supply remained secure, citing three months of reserves and the expected availability of Russian oil from mid-March. While EU rules prohibit Russian oil imports, Hungary and Slovakia have exemptions for pipeline transport and have notified the European Commission of their intention to import Russian crude until pipeline deliveries are restored. Mol has ordered 500,000 tonnes, with shipments due to arrive at a Croatian port in early March and reach refineries in Hungary and Slovakia within five to ten days.

Hungary and Slovakia have also asked Croatia to allow the transport of Russian crude via the Adriatic pipeline, despite earlier disputes over its capacity. A recent study has also found that, since the start of the Russia's invasion, Hungary and Slovakia have substantially increased their dependence on Russian oil rather than reducing it.

Hungary is the most corrupt EU country according to Transparency

Hungary and Bulgaria have once again been ranked as the most corrupt countries in the European Union, according to Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index. Both states scored 40 out of 100, with Hungary’s result slipping by one point and placing it 84th out of 182 countries, alongside Cuba, Tanzania and Burkina Faso. The index notes that Hungary, together with countries such as Venezuela, Syria and South Sudan, belongs to a group that has experienced sustained declines in scores since 2012, a trend the report links to long-term erosion of integrity systems driven by democratic backsliding, institutional weakening and entrenched patronage networks. In 2012, Hungary’s score stood at 55 points.

Compared with 2024, Hungary lost one point and fell from 82nd to 84th place globally, reflecting what Transparency International Hungary described as a continued failure to address rule-of-law deficiencies and curb systemic corruption. Between 2012 and 2025, Hungary’s score measuring resilience against public-sector corruption fell by 15 points, the steepest decline among EU member states. By contrast, the Baltic states showed sustained improvement, with Estonia ranking first in the region, followed by Lithuania with 65 points and Latvia with 60, widening the gap between the region’s top performers and the lowest-ranked countries to 36 points.

Trump assures Orbán of his total endorsement at Board of Peace meeting

US President Donald Trump expressed his strongest backing yet for Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, as he faces a tight election on 12 April. Speaking at the first inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace initiative in Washington on Thursday, Trump gave his “complete and total” endorsement of Orbán, telling those present that “not everybody in Europe loves that endorsement, but that’s okay” and praising the Hungarian leader’s policies particularly on immigration. Orbán, who is trailing the opposition in most opinion polls, has increasingly looked to Trump’s support as he campaigns for a fifth consecutive term in office.

The remarks followed a visit to Budapest earlier in the week by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who said Orbán’s re-election would be in the national interests of the US. After Trump’s comments, the forint erased its intraday losses against the euro. According to analysts, a victory for Péter Magyar’s opposition Tisza party could help unlock EU funds frozen over Orbán’s policies, improve relations with Brussels and put Hungary on a path towards euro adoption. Orbán has previously sought a potential “financial shield” from Trump, an option Rubio appeared to leave open. Orbán remains among the few European leaders not to distance himself from the Board of Peace, which has drawn support mostly from political allies with a populist outlook.

Opposition leader suspects former girlfriend behind secretly recorded sex tape

Hungary’s opposition leader, Péter Magyar, who is leading opinion polls ahead of April’s parliamentary elections, has accused Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party and his former partner of preparing a smear campaign involving a secretly recorded sex tape. The allegation marks a further escalation in an already tense campaign. Magyar, whose Tisza party currently leads Fidesz in surveys, said he believed the governing party was planning to release intimate footage allegedly recorded using surveillance equipment. “I suspect they are planning to release a recording, recorded with secret service equipment and possibly faked, in which my then-girlfriend and I are seen having intimate intercourse,” he wrote on social media.

Magyar said the media had received a photograph of a bedroom accompanied by the message “coming soon”, suggesting a video release was imminent. The image has since circulated online, fueling public debate, although no video has appeared. “I am a 45-year-old man, and I have a regular sex life, with an adult partner,” he added. The same image is displayed on a website bearing the name of Tisza’s vice-president, Márk Radnai, alongside the date “2024.08.03”, though Radnai said the domain is not his. Fidesz representatives have denied any role in distributing the photograph. Under Hungarian law, publishing sexually explicit images without consent constitutes a criminal offence. The claims come amid campaign tensions, including reports of activists being attacked and candidates targeted with deepfake videos. On Friday Magyar said he is seeking legal actions.

Workers at Samsung battery plant in Göd have been exposed to toxic substances

An intelligence report presented to Hungarian ministers in 2023 concluded that workers at Samsung SDI’s battery plant in Göd had been exposed to far more serious health and safety risks than previously acknowledged, according to an investigation published this week by Telex. Commissioned by the government amid suspicions that contamination at the factory was worse than publicly admitted, the report detailed systemic occupational safety failures and poisonings. While deficiencies at the plant were already known and had resulted in fines worth tens of millions of forints, the intelligence findings described more severe, previously concealed problems. Internal measurements reportedly showed extreme contamination levels, including a case in which a worker inhaled carcinogenic substances at 510 times the legal limit. Ministers were also shown evidence that the plant’s ventilation system could not filter fine toxic dust and that contaminated black powder was at times released into the open air through the roof.

Samsung SDI’s Göd facility, originally a television screen factory before its conversion to battery production in the mid-2010s, began manufacturing electric vehicle batteries in 2017 and has since become central to Hungary’s strategy of building a battery industry it considers economically strategic. According to Telex, cabinet discussions revealed divisions, with some ministers, including Antal Rogán reportedly arguing for suspending operations, while foreign minister Péter Szijjártó opposed closure, citing economic and investor concerns. The government ultimately opted not to halt production, granting the company time to remedy the issues while imposing what Telex described as symbolic fines relative to revenues. The outlet also reported that leaked internal documents suggested Samsung executives discussed countering the investigative newsroom Átlátszó after it reported on safety and environmental concerns, anticipating regulatory scrutiny. Szijjártó dismissed the Telex report as fake news.

Opposition leader says they are not building a "light" version of Fidesz

In an exclusive interview with 444, Péter Magyar, leader of Tisza party, they already have draft legislations and scenarios prepared for victories of varying proportions - a simple majority and a supermajority." There are areas where this is perfectly in place, 100 percent, and there are areas where our experts are still working. The handover will not be the same as after a four-year cycle. A system has been built up here over 16 years, so we have to be very careful to ensure that, for example, documentation is not shredded," Magyar said adding there are also necessary legislation, whether it be healthcare reform, amendments to the 2026 budget, the establishment of the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, or even the abolition of the Sovereignty Protection Office.

He expressed he doesn't like the term "Fidesz-light." "We are not building Fidesz-light or Viktor Orbán 2. My colleagues and I had civilian lives. Not to feel sorry for ourselves, but it was a much more pleasant life and a more balanced private life than the current situation." He stressed that one of Tisza's main objectives is to rebuild the system of checks and balances and maximize the prime minister's terms of office.

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Orban recieves "Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election" from Trump in a social media post

US President Donald Trump has endorsed Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, ahead of the country’s parliamentary election, praising his illiberal ally as “a truly strong and powerful Leader” in a post published on Thursday.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US president complimented Orbán for strengthening ties between Budapest and Washington. "Relations between Hungary and the United States have reached new heights of cooperation and spectacular achievement under my Administration, thanks largely to Prime Minister Orbán," Trump said. He continued: “I was proud to ENDORSE Viktor for Re-Election in 2022, and am honored to do so again. Viktor Orbán is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary”

The endorsement comes as Orbán faces his toughest elections since his Fidesz party returned to power in 2010. An opinion poll published on Tuesday showed Hungary’s centre-right Tisza party leading Fidesz.

Hungarian links found in the Epstein files, financier was fixated on a Budapest apartment

The newly released Epstein files contain numerous references linking Hungary to the financier accused of sexual offenses, with hundreds of documents mentioning Hungarian individuals and even Viktor Orbán. Emails indicate that he may have travelled to Budapest on several occasions, with repeated mentions emerging in his correspondence with Haakon Gundersen, a Norwegian film producer who has worked on a number of Hungarian productions in recent years.

The precise nature of the relationship between the two men remains unclear, though their exchanges suggest a hierarchical dynamic. Budapest first featured in their correspondence in October 2016, when the billionaire instructed Gundersen to transfer ownership of a Budapest apartment held by his company to a person identified as “Edward”. Subsequent emails show the property was located at 70 Király Street, where Gundersen’s production company, Alphaville Virtual Studios Kft., is still registered, according to Hungary’s company register. In early 2017, the billionaire pressed for the apartment to be sold, asking when and for how much; Gundersen replied that it could be sold within four to six weeks for €240,000. Later emails refer to visits to Budapest and disputes over the property’s title deeds, though it remains unknown how much time the billionaire spent in the city or what he did there. Gundersen has denied having ties to him.

The files also include correspondence with Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen, who is mentioned thousands of times in the documents and had financial links to the billionaire; in January 2019, when Rød-Larsen asked for an address in Budapest, he was given that of the Király Street apartment.

Hungary bans three Ukrainian military officials

Hungary has banned three Ukrainian military leaders from entering the country, accusing them of being “responsible for forced conscription”, government spokesperson Gergely Gulyás said on Thursday. The ban extends to the entire Schengen area. Gulyás said the decision followed the 2025 death of József Sebestyén, a Hungarian man from Transcarpathia and the more recent death of another Hungarian man with health problems during conscription. In a video posted on Facebook on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that Ukrainian citizens involved in “forced conscription” would be immediately barred from Hungarian territory. He cited information from Hungary’s foreign ministry alleging that in January a Hungarian man was taken from the street in the Berehove district of Transcarpathia for conscription, became unwell at a training centre due to a heart condition and later died.

Last summer Hungary initiated a Schengen-wide ban against Robert Brovdi, the highest-ranking ethnic Hungarian in the Ukrainian army, who as commander of drone units oversaw the Ukrainian strike on the Russian section of the Druzhba oil pipeline supplying Hungary and Slovakia.

Ukraine responded by banning three senior Hungarian military officers. On Wednesday, Ukraine’s embassy in Budapest said Ambassador Sándor Fegyir and Hungary’s interior minister, Sándor Pintér, had met to discuss bilateral cooperation, including the education of Ukrainian children in Hungary, the continuation of a Hungarian scholarship programme for Ukrainian students and Ukrainians imprisoned in Hungary.

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Prosecutors file charges against Karacsony for Pride

Budapest’s mayor, Gergely Karácsony, has been charged by the V. and XIII. district prosecutor’s office over organising the 2025 Budapest Pride. Prosecutors have proposed imposing a fine, according to an announcement on their website. Karácsony was questioned on 1 August in connection with the event, and his complaint against the charges was rejected in mid-August. The case follows legislative changes introduced by Hungary’s parliament in the spring, when the constitution was amended to elevate children’s right to “healthy development” above the right of assembly, alongside changes to public assembly laws banning gatherings deemed to breach the so-called Child Protection Act.

Karácsony had announced the Pride march as a municipal event, but police classified it as a public assembly and banned it. Despite the prohibition, the march went ahead at the end of June, becoming the largest Pride event ever held in Hungary. Prosecutors said the mayor was aware of the police ban issued on 19 June, did not seek legal remedy and proceeded with organising the event after the decision became final. Responding on Facebook, Karácsony said he had gone “from being a proud suspect to a proud defendant”, arguing that this was the price of standing up for freedom. He added that prosecutors intended to impose a fine without a court hearing and said he would continue to stand for “freedom”, insisting that the march demonstrated “there is life outside this regime."

Controversial comments by Lazar risk alienating Roma voters

Speaking at a public forum, Transportation Minister János Lázár was answering a question on demographic decline when he argued that, because Hungary was not accepting migrants, it would need to rely on “internal reserves”, which he identified as the Hungarian Roma community. He went on to suggest that unpopular jobs, including cleaning toilets on InterCity trains, would have to be filled in "by gypsies". While the mobilisation of Roma workers has been official policy for years , Lázár’s wording provoked widespread criticism. Employment among Roma people has risen steadily since the mid-2010s but still lags far behind that of the non-Roma population.

The backlash carried political weight because Roma voters live in key constituencies and have previously supported Fidesz. The opposition moved quickly: the Tisza party’s leader, Péter Magyar, shared the clip of Lázár’s remarks, while a video response from a Roma teacher linked to the party drew more than a million views. Roma organisations and public figures also demanded clarification. Lázár initially defended his comments before issuing a public apology at a Fidesz rally, saying he was “truly sorry” to any Roma he had offended and thanking them for their contribution to Hungary. The scale of the reaction appears to have prompted swift damage control from the government.

Hungary says Ukraine has summoned its ambassador

Ukraine has summoned Hungary’s ambassador to Kyiv, according to Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó. The summon came two days after Budapest called in Ukraine’s ambassador, with Szijjártó saying at the time that Hungary would defend its sovereignty “by all means available”. He said the Hungarian government was not surprised by Kyiv’s response, adding that Ukrainian officials objected to a planned national petition in which Hungarians will be asked to give their opinion on "Brussels and Kyiv’s intention to spend Hungarian money on Ukraine’s operation and armament."

Szijjártó said he had still received no explanation for what he described as rude remarks by President Volodymyr Zelensky about PM Viktor Orbán, and Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha's comments. He also claimed that, based on the meeting in Kyiv, Hungary expects Ukraine to interfere in the upcoming Hungarian elections in support of the opposition Tisza party. The latest exchange follows a week of escalating rhetoric between the two countries.

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Orbán backs Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ at World Economic Forum

US President Donald Trump launched the “Board of Peace” on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the founding charter was signed by leaders from 22 countries, including Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Introducing Orbán as a “tough guy”, the US president oversaw the signing ceremony on the forum’s second day. Orbán later shared details of the event on Facebook, saying Hungary had joined because war threatens economic stability through inflation, sanctions and high energy prices, and arguing that participation in international initiatives aimed at preventing conflict was essential to protecting national security.

Hungary and Bulgaria are the only EU member states to have joined the board so far, with several other EU countries declining to participate amid tensions linked to Trump’s dispute over Greenland, while the UK has said it is “not ready” to join because of Belarus’s involvement. In remarks at the ceremony, Trump described the Board of Peace as “one of the most important bodies the world has ever seen” and said it would work with the United Nations to “end conflicts around the world”, though few details have been given about its operation. According to the charter, the board aims to promote stability, restore lawful governance and secure lasting peace in areas affected by conflict, citing the need for a more flexible and effective "peacekeeping" body to succeed institutions it says have failed.

Orbán responds with heated message to Zelensky's criticism

Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, posted a heated message on his X after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, accused him of acting against European interests during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Zelensky criticised Orbán, whom he described as Russia’s closest ally within the European Union, saying: “Every Viktor who lives off European money while trying to sell out the European interests deserves a smack upside the head,” and warning that comfort in Moscow should not translate into European capitals becoming “little Moscows”.

Orbán, who has repeatedly used Hungary’s EU veto to block or delay support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s invasion, addressed Zelensky directly in his response. He claimed it was Zelensky, not Vladimir Putin, who was prolonging the war, which will enter its fourth year in February, and wrote: “I am a free man who serves the Hungarian people,” contrasting his position with that of the Ukrainian leader, whom he said had failed to end the conflict despite extensive assistance from the US president. Orbán attended the Davos forum for the first time in 26 years.

Szijjarto says Greenland is not a matter for the European Union

Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said Budapest would not support a unified European Union position on Greenland following recent remarks by US president Donald Trump, arguing that the issue does not fall within the bloc’s remit. Speaking at a press conference in Prague, Szijjártó said Hungary regarded the question of Greenland’s future as a bilateral matter, adding: “We see this as a bilateral issue that can only be resolved through negotiations between the two parties (…) I do not consider this to be a matter for the European Union.”

Szijjártó said Hungary will not join any joint EU statement on the issue. The Czech government has also so far declined to back Denmark, saying the issue should be resolved through an agreement with the United States.

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Human Rights Watch says Hungary's treatment of pensioners violates human rights

Human Rights Watch says the Hungarian government has failed to uphold elderly people’s rights to social security and an adequate standard of living, warning that low pensions are forcing many to choose between food, heating and medicine. In a report published on 14 January, the organisation said pensions have not kept pace with rising living costs, leaving a growing number of elderly people in poverty. According to official data cited in the report, by the end of 2024 more than two-thirds of pensioners were receiving payments below the gross minimum wage, while nearly a quarter lived below the official poverty line, with women particularly affected.

The human rights group said structural problems in Hungary’s pension system have deepened inequality, pointing in particular to an indexation mechanism that widens the gap between higher and lower pensions. While the government has introduced measures such as, including one-off payments and food vouchers, Human Rights Watch said these steps amount to temporary fixes that fail to address the underlying problem. The organisation urged Hungary to raise pension levels and reform the system to ensure elderly people can meet basic needs, arguing that the current situation falls short of the country’s obligations under international human rights law.

Gap between Tisza and Fidesz is widening again, new poll says

According to a new Medián survey, opposition Tisza party's support has increased slightly, while Fidesz's support has stagnated compared to the previous survey, meaning that the gap between the two parties is widening again. Tisza's support among the entire population was measured at 40 percent, a historic high, while Fidesz remained at 33 percent.

According to the polling, only the two major parties are certain to enter parliament. According to current data, far-right Mi Hazánk is on the brink of winning seats in parliament. However, looking at historical data, this is nothing new: last spring, they were last at 6 percent among certain voters, and since then their support has fluctuated between 4 and 5 percent. DK's support, on the other hand, is now only 1 percent, which is a low point. Respondents were also asked who they expected to win the election. Thirty-nine percent of people expect Tisza to win, while 44 percent expect Fidesz to win.

Mol to close deal on Russian shares in Serbia’s NIS, Hungary says

An agreement on the purchase of Russian shares in Serbia’s oil company NIS by Hungary’s Mol could be reached within days, Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, says. The Foreign Minister says negotiations were nearing a key stage and confirmed that Budapest backs Mol’s bid, arguing that the deal would significantly strengthen energy security in central Europe. He said the coordinated operation of crude oil systems in Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia, alongside the integration of refineries in Bratislava, Százhalombatta and Pančevo, would create a level of supply security and price stability the region had not previously experienced. He also rejected suggestions that Mol intended to close the Pančevo refinery, describing such claims as “fake news”.

Szijjártó started the Hungarian government had been providing diplomatic support to facilitate Mol’s planned role as majority owner of NIS and confirmed that Hungary and Serbia would sign an agreement to strengthen strategic cooperation in the oil sector. This would include confirming the importance of a planned oil pipeline between the two countries, as well as the construction of a new oil products pipeline linking Mol’s refinery in Százhalombatta with a logistics centre in Novi Sad. The minister said European Union policies had previously contributed to a serious energy crisis in central Europe and warned that further measures, including a ban on Russian oil imports and restrictions on Russian gas from 2027, would worsen the situation. He said the past months had underlined the interdependence of Hungary and Serbia on energy security.

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Trump praises Orbán ahead of April elections

US President Donald Trump has wished Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán “best of luck” in his election campaign and hinted at a possible visit to Budapest, underlining the close ties between the two leaders in a letter Orbán shared on Facebook. The message followed a White House meeting on November 7, after which Trump granted Hungary a one-year exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy. In the letter, Trump praised Orbán’s “bold leadership” and said he looked forward to “deepening cooperation” on defence, energy, and illegal migration, adding: “You have always stood firm to defend the principles that make Hungary such a tremendous place – faith, family, and sovereignty.”

Orbán, a far-right leader who has been in power for 16 years, faces his toughest elections, amid economic stagnation, rising living costs, and a child abuse scandal in a government institute that has strengthened an opposition challenger who leads most polls. The election is expected to be held in April. Trump and Orbán also discussed possible financial assistance in November, though Trump later rejected Orbán’s claim that Washington had agreed to up to $20bn in support. Orbán admitted on Monday that Hungary had not secured the level of backing it initially sought, but that talks were ongoing. Trump also thanked Orbán for an invitation to visit Hungary, saying his team would “be in touch” about scheduling. In contrast, Orbán noted a visit by a “high-ranking” US politician was likely before the election

Legendary filmmaker Bela Tarr dies at 70

Béla Tarr, the legendary Hungarian filmmaker whose most known for his slow-paste black-and-white films, including Satantango and Werckmeister Harmonies, has died at the age of 70. He died on Tuesday in a Budapest hospital after a series of “long and serious” illnesses, according to his stepdaughter, Réka Gáborjáni. Tarr’s work, focused on marginal lives and psychological states, with his camera lingering on faces and landscapes to express emotions. The bleak rural settings of his film were not mere backdrops but integral to his vision of human endurance.

Though widely celebrated on the European festival circuit, including with multiple awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, Tarr’s films never achieved broad popular appeal. Satantango, his seven-and-a-half-hour 1994 adaptation of László Krasznahorkai’s novel, and Werckmeister Harmonies, also based on Krasznahorkai’s work, came to define his uncompromising style, praised by filmmakers such as Jim Jarmusch and Gus Van Sant, and by critics including Susan Sontag, who called Satantango “enthralling. Tarr himself insisted that his films were about more than story, arguing that cinema should encompass “time, space, things not directly connected to the storytelling”, and repeatedly returned to what he described as a single, enduring subject: human dignity.

Orbán says US move in Venezuela may help shape global energy prices

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán said the United States’ decision to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro should benefit global energy markets, arguing on Monday that, with control of Venezuelan oil reserves alongside those of the United States, Washington could wield substantial influence over prices and create a “more favourable global energy situation” for Hungary. The comments came after U.S. Special Forces captured Maduro in Caracas over the weekend and took him to New York to face drug charges. US President Donald Trump, who has exempted Hungary from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy ahead of the elections, signals interest in Venezuelan oil.

Orbán, speaking at an international news conference, said he believed the combined reserves could amount to 40-50 per cent of the world’s total and emphasised the potential positive impact on energy markets, while Budapest continues to import Russian oil and gas and has signed a five-year liquefied natural gas supply deal with Chevron as part of efforts to diversify.

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Péter Magyar: The ruling party has fallen

Just like on January 1, 2025, Péter Magyar gave his New Year's speech a few minutes after midnight, accompanied by the national anthem. The president of the Tisza Party began his speech with five numbers: 26, 48, 56, 67, and 89, which he said were defining years in Hungarian history. Four of the five years he referred to were 1848, 1956, 1867, and 1989. The fifth, however, was not 2026, as many might have thought, but 1526, the year of the Battle of Mohács, a warning that the division of the nation "always comes at a heavy price."

"The country cannot have a leader who does not put the welfare of Hungarian children first, who does nothing for years while knowing that thousands of children are being abused," said Magyar, referring to the recent child abuse scandal. He also criticized the prime minister for his sensitive moves in terms of national policy and for increasing poverty. In his words, Orbán "will betray our Hungarian brothers and sisters in Upper Hungary, Transylvania (...) his main task is not to eliminate poverty, but to enrich his own family."

Magyar said, the election should not be about anger or revenge, nor even about victory. "Above all, it should be about our common hope," a country where "the state is not an enemy, but an ally." According to Magyar, "everyone can see that the current government has failed. It has lost the trust of the people. They also feel that this is the end."

Fidesz voters split over government response to abuse allegations

More than half of Hungary’s population is critical of the government’s handling of the abuse allegations linked to the juvenile detention centre on Budapest’s Szőlő Street, according to a representative poll conducted by the 21 Research Center (commissioned by Telex) . The survey suggests that even within its own ranks, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party can rely on the backing of only a relatively narrow segment of voters. The case, which has come to encompass a series of allegations involving a state-run institution, has resulted in the arrest of the facility’s former director and his partner on suspicion of human trafficking and forced labour, alongside charges of abuse of office and misuse of a firearm. Since then, several more suspects have been questioned, with multiple former employees now in custody or under criminal supervision, many accused of abusing minors held at the centre.

The poll highlights how deeply politicised the affair has become. A quarter of respondents said the government bears responsibility for what happened, while smaller proportions blamed the institution’s staff, its director, or, in a minority of cases, the minors themselves. Views diverge sharply along party lines: most Fidesz supporters tend to fault the centre’s employees, while voters for the opposition Tisza party overwhelmingly place responsibility on the government. Dissatisfaction with the authorities’ response is widespread, with more than half of respondents rating it poor or very poor, and only a small minority judging it positively. Notably, even among Fidesz voters, approval is unusually low by the party’s standards, underlining the extent to which the Szőlő Street affair has become a politically damaging issue for the ruling party.

Ukrainian politician once on Hungary’s most wanted list resurfaces with public project in Beregsurány

Natali Vasilyeva is an influencer from Berehove. She tries to bring a little cheer to the small town since the war started. Her videos on TikTok are primarily aimed at the Ukrainian population. However, on Sunday she crossed the border to make a promotional video from a free parking lot on the Hungarian side, in the immediate vicinity of the Beregsurány border crossing.

The video shows that commuters will find a perfect location next to the border crossing, with a free parking lot with 300 spaces available from Monday for those who leave their cars on the Hungarian side. The video shows a container with a company name on it: BeregParking Ltd.

BeregParking Ltd is owned by a resident of Tiszakerecseny named János Antipov, and its managing director is Anti Viktor , who is registered at the same address and whose mother has the same name as János Antipov's mother. In other words, they are brothers, and both are Hungarian citizens. Anti Viktor topped the Hungarian police's most wanted list in 2019.The 37-year-old Ukrainian-Hungarian dual citizen was wanted on suspicion of instructing two Hungarian men to place a wreath with threatening messages at the home of a border guard. Those who placed the wreath at the house were found, partly thanks to the assistance of the National Defense Service in the investigation. However, Anti Viktor was not found, which is why he was placed at the top of the wanted list.

His real name is Vitaliy Antyipov, a local representative known for his anti-Hungarian sentiments. Anti Viktor/Vitaliy Antyipov was previously the leader of the Poroshenko party faction in Beregszász, and he obtained Hungarian citizenship under a false name.

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Orbán warns against asset seizures and questions who the aggressor is in the Ukraine war

Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has criticised the European Union’s decision to raise a €90bn loan to support Ukraine, dismissing proposals to use frozen Russian central bank assets as legally risky. Speaking to pro-government media after a summit of EU leaders, Orbán said the alternative plan was effectively abandoned after Belgium raised concerns that Russia could successfully challenge the move in court, potentially triggering severe financial consequences. Although most EU leaders said they reserved the right to use the seized assets to repay the loan, Orbán argued that Hungary could not accept a precedent that might endanger its own foreign currency reserves held abroad, adding that Budapest would consider relocating those reserves if such confiscations became possible.

Orbán said the final agreement, which uses the EU budget as collateral, would not impose financial obligations on Hungary, Slovakia or the Czech Republic, but warned that Ukraine would be unable to repay the loan, leaving participating states responsible unless Russia is defeated. Framing the decision as a step towards escalation, he argued that European leaders were acting under the illusion that supporting Ukraine would come at no cost, while questioning basic assumptions about responsibility for the war. Orbán said Hungary must avoid being drawn into conflict, comparing the present moment to Europe’s slide into the world wars of the 20th century. He said Hungary lacked the strength to withstand the political pressure this would have brought, adding that the question of EU membership remained open but had not yet reached a breaking point.

Slovak president signs law criticizing Beneš decrees punishable

Slovak president Peter Pellegrini has signed an amendment to the national criminal code that makes it a criminal offence to publicly question the post-World War II Beneš decrees, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from minority groups and political figures in Slovakia and neighbouring Hungary. The legislation, passed by the Slovak parliament earlier this month, was originally intended to strengthen penalties for minor theft, but was expanded in committee to include measures against alleged foreign interference in elections, restrictions on so-called “repentant witness” testimony, and the criminalisation of public denial or challenge to the legal framework established by post-war settlement documents widely understood to refer to the Beneš decrees. Pellegrini said he had chosen not to veto the bill, adding that responsibility for the law lies with the government and parliamentary majority that approved it.

The most contentious aspect of the amendment is the provision making it punishable to question the decrees, which were issued in 1945 by the then Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš and provided the legal basis for confiscation of property and collective punishment of ethnic Germans and Hungarians after the war. Under the new rules, publicly denying or challenging the legitimacy of the post-war settlement could result in penalties of up to six months in prison. Critics say it effectively disproportionately affects Slovakia’s Hungarian minority, many of whom continue to face unresolved property disputes tied to the decrees. The Hungarian minority party in Slovakia has condemned the law and organised protests, while an adviser on minority affairs resigned in protest. Politicians in Hungary, including Viktor Orbán, said they are seeking clarification about the law’s implications.

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Tisza party leads protest over abuse in juvenile correction facility

Thousands marched through Budapest on Saturday in protest over alleged abuse at a juvenile correction facility, after security footage surfaced showing the violent mistreatment of minors in state care. The protest was organised by the opposition Tisza party after videos emerged about an institution, showing its former acting director brutally assaulting children, including slamming one boy’s head against a table and repeatedly beating and kicking another while restraining him on the ground. The footage caused immediate public outrage over Hungary’s child protection system.

The man seen in the footage resigned a day before the videos were released and was arrested shortly afterwards. Police raided the facility, while the minister heading the prime minister’s office, Gergely Gulyás, announced that all five of Hungary’s juvenile detention centres would be placed under police supervision and that an investigation had been launched. As the inquiry expanded, four additional employees were arrested on suspicion of abuse, with one accused of aiding and abetting. The case has further unsettled the government because it echoes the most damaging scandal of Fidesz’s 15 years in power: earlier this year, president Katalin Novák and former justice minister Judit Varga resigned after it emerged that Novák had pardoned the former deputy director of a children’s home who had coerced victims into withdrawing testimony against a paedophile director, with Varga having countersigned the decision.

Attempts by the government to contain the fallout have failed. Ministers initially stressed that the victims were "not orphans" and described the institution as “practically a prison, listing the alleged crimes of those held there, a response that drew sharp criticism from psychologists and the public alike. Addressing the crowd on Saturday, Tisza party leader Péter Magyar said an internal 2021 report on child protection was not about correctional facilities but about children entrusted to the state’s care. “You knew about these atrocities and did nothing,” he said.

Hungary seeks damages from the EU court over asylum ruling

Hungary is taking legal action seeking damages from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over a ruling on its asylum regime, justice minister Bence Tuzson announced in Budapest. The case stems from infringement proceedings brought by the European Commission over Hungary’s migration rules, which culminated in a December 2020 judgment against the government. While Budapest says it took steps in line with the commission’s recommendations, it did not fully bring its legislation into compliance. Tuzson stressed that Hungary is not challenging the final judgment itself, but is instead pursuing compensation, arguing that EU treaties require institutions to make good any damage caused to a member state.

The minister claimed the court failed to apply key principles and rules in its decision, describing the ruling as ideological and political rather than legal. The government earmarked €1.5m in its 2025 budget to pursue the case, including hiring international legal experts, after deciding last year to proceed even at high cost. Hungary was fined €200m by the ECJ for deliberately circumventing EU asylum rules, with an additional €1m accruing daily, a penalty the court described as an unprecedented and serious breach of EU law. Under EU treaties, damages claims against EU institutions fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the ECJ, meaning Hungary would need to persuade the court to rule that its own final judgment was unlawful to obtain compensation.

Orbán says Russia would respond to EU action on seized assets

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán flew to Brussels on Tuesday evening to attend an EU summit, travelling on a military aircraft alongside senior figures from the country’s pro-government media ecosystem. During the flight, Orbán held a private briefing with members of his entourage, including Dániel Deák, a prominent social media figure affiliated with Megafon, who shared details of the discussion in online posts.

According to those accounts, Orbán told the group that ahead of the summit, he had written to Russian president Vladimir Putin to ask how Moscow would respond if the EU moved to use frozen Russian state assets, and whether Russia was tracking how individual member states voted. Orbán said Putin replied that Russia would adopt strong countermeasures but would take into account each country’s position. The prime minister said he opposed the proposed EU move, describing it as a further step towards escalation. Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, who had arrived in Brussels earlier, also stated that the government had consulted Moscow in advance.

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"I didn't promise him, but he certainly asked for it," Trump tells POLITICO about 'financial shield' Orban says he promised him

Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjártó, has tried to clarify Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán after Donald Trump publicly denied offering the Hungarian leader a financial “shield.” In an interview with Politico, the former US president said, “No, I didn’t promise him, but he certainly asked for it,” contradicting Orbán’s earlier statement that Budapest could access up to $20bn under an agreement with Washington. Orbán, who faces a tough election next year, had said that Hungary could receive a financial shield following his meeting with Trump in November.

Szijjártó said on Tuesday that “no agreement was in fact reached on any $20 billion, just as no one had claimed,” insisting instead that Orbán and Trump had agreed only to begin talks on “a new type of financial cooperation” that could provide some form of protection. Orbán’s government, grappling with a third year of stagnation, has introduced tax cuts, wage increases and food vouchers to bolster domestic support, while presenting potential US backing as proof that Hungary can secure alternatives to frozen EU funds, which remain blocked amid a long-running rule-of-law dispute.

EU to keep Russian assets frozen despite Hungary's objection

The European Union has decided to keep €210bn in Russian state assets stranded in Europe remain frozen indefinitely, after member state ambassadors endorsed a new legal mechanism granting emergency powers to the European Commission. The Danish Council presidency confirmed on Thursday that capitals had backed a revised Article 122 proposal by a clear majority, paving the way for formal adoption on Friday. The measure, which will stay in force until Russia ends its war against Ukraine and pays reparations, represents a significant setback for the Kremlin’s hope of recovering the funds as part of a future peace settlement, an idea promoted by Donald Trump but rejected by European governments. The approach also sharply limits the ability of pro-Kremlin states such as Hungary and Slovakia to veto extensions of sanctions and return the money.

Under the new rules, the current requirement for unanimous renewal of sanctions every six months will effectively be circumvented, removing a route by which Russia-friendly governments could force the release of the frozen assets. EU officials argued that unblocking the funds would risk severe economic disruption and leave the bloc exposed to potential threats. Hungary has formally challenged the decision, claiming it breaches EU law and the Commission’s neutrality, while Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, separately warned against any arrangement that might oblige his country to support Ukraine’s military spending. The Commission originally proposed the mechanism to reinforce a wider initiative to mobilise the frozen assets for Kyiv, most of which are held at Euroclear in Belgium.

Majority of Hungarians fear election interference from Moscow

A new survey by pollster Medián indicates a shift in Hungarian public attitudes since the 2022 outbreak of the war: perceptions of Ukraine have deteriorated, while views of Russia have improved. The findings suggest that years of multibillion-forint government campaigns have helped Viktor Orbán reshape public opinion, fostering growing scepticism toward the West and a rise in pro-Russian attitude, even as most Hungarians still believe the country belongs in the European Union. The result, the report notes, is a political landscape in which many now regard Ukraine as a greater threat to Hungary than Russia, despite Russia being the aggressor in the conflict.

The survey highlights how dramatically these attitudes have flipped. At the start of 2023, 45 percent of respondents viewed Russia as a threat and 35 percent said the same of Ukraine. The polling reverses that picture entirely. Medián also found that concerns about outside interference in next year’s elections are widespread, with 83 percent of Hungarians believing foreign involvement is possible. A majority of those respondents consider interference from Russia the most plausible scenario.

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Hungarian Foreign Minister dodges questions on Russia during interview

Péter Szijjártó was a guest on ATV's Egyenes Beszed ("Straight Talk") program on Wednesday, and had to answer some tough questions about Hungary's position on the Russian-Ukrainian war. First, the host, Györgyi Szöllősi, stopped him from using the usual "Brussels" rhetoric, as he had to explain what he meant by "Brussels," to which the Minister of Foreign Affairs replied, "the European mainstream."

When asked why it is a problem that European countries are arming themselves, especially when Hungary is doing the same and even establishing an arms factory, Szijjártó said he disagrees with arming Ukraine, as the war "cannot be changed on the battlefield."

During the discussion, the host brought up NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's statement that Russia is constantly testing NATO's defense capabilities. "Don't ask me, I don't work for the Russian government, I work for the Hungarian government," Szijjarto responded

When the host confronted him with the fact that when Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán talks about Brussels wanting to drag Europe into war, he is repieating Vladimir Putin's words, Szijjártó replied that he did not care what "the Russians, the Barbadians or the Bermudians" thought, because "it is petty and sick to look at" the similarities between the two countries' positions.

Budapest–Belgrade line to open in February, Hungarian Transport Minister says

Hungary’s construction and transport minister, János Lázár, told parliament’s Economic Committee that the long-delayed Budapest–Belgrade railway line could open on 20 February, provided work continues as planned. He acknowledged that progress in Serbia had recently slowed, while construction in Hungary had accelerated, noting that the section between Subotica and Belgrade is already in operation. Lázár also referred to the Chinese loan agreement underpinning the project, saying its terms remain a trade secret and can only be disclosed with the consent of the parties involved. During the hearing, he highlighted a new investigation into all public-investment subcontracts and the European Investment Bank’s approval of a major loan that will enable almost HUF 800bn worth of rail infrastructure upgrades.

Lázár set out a broader vision for raising Hungary from the ranks of moderately developed countries, pointing to the scale of his ministry, employing 1,930 people directly and nearly 50,000 through the MÁV-Volán transport group. He praised what he saw as strong public procurement performance over the past decade and the recent rise in bus and rail passenger numbers following ticket price cuts. Toilet renovations across the network, he said, had also improved conditions for most travellers. But he warned that almost half of the country’s state roads require urgent work and that the next government will have to confront this reality. Lázár added that Budapest’s HÉV suburban rail lines, beginning with the Szentendre route, need a full overhaul, and said the government would settle its outstanding debts to the capital by year’s end. Renovation of the city’s major railway stations, he argued, will only be possible through private-sector involvement, as MÁV will not have the necessary funds for decades.

Hungary to sue over EU decision on Russian gas

Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, has warned that an EU agreement to phase out Russian natural gas would have severe consequences for the country, insisting that Budapest cannot comply with what he called a “Brussels dictate.” He argued that Hungary cannot be supplied without Russian energy and claimed that once the regulation takes effect, household electricity bills would rise at least threefold. Instead of commenting on the NATO talks, Szijjártó described the move as political and ideological, saying it undermines Hungary’s energy security and that the government will “protect everyone.”

Szijjártó confirmed that Hungary will take legal action as soon as the legislation is adopted, saying preparations for a lawsuit are already underway and will be coordinated with Slovakia. He argued that the decision breaches EU treaties by encroaching on national energy policy, constitutes “legal fraud” by disguising sanctions as trade measures to avoid the need for unanimity, and contradicts the European Commission’s own impact assessment. While Euronews noted that such proceedings can take years, Szijjártó said, “It would be a shame if we couldn’t get this done in two years.” The draft regulation, agreed on Wednesday by EU governments and the European Parliament, is expected to move quickly through formal approval, with the European Parliament scheduled to vote under an emergency procedure on 16 December.

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Orbán defies EU partners again with Moscow visit focused on energy deals

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić before travelling to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin. Orbán, widely viewed as Putin’s closest ally in the EU, again positioned himself as a mediator, with Putin thanking him for suggesting Budapest as a possible venue for a "peace summit". The idea collapsed after Moscow refused to compromise on its conditions for ending the conflict. As his Fidesz party faces an election in April, Orbán has continued to frame himself as a champion of “peace,” while accusing EU leaders of “war-mongering” for resisting elements of Trump’s 28-point peace plan.

Energy concerns dominated the visit. Orbán has repeatedly opposed EU efforts to phase out Russian oil and gas, and has presented the Moscow trip as part of a regional strategy to secure winter supplies for Hungary, Slovakia, and Serbia. Earlier this month, in Washington, he obtained a one-year sanctions waiver on Russian fuel purchases. Hungary currently relies on Russia for more than 80% of its oil and gas and all of its nuclear fuel, and Orbán argues that without agreements with both Washington and Moscow, heating prices would surge. Despite recent deals to buy US LNG and nuclear fuel, which could reduce Hungarian demand for Russian energy, he is under EU pressure to end all Russian imports by 2027. Putin praised Orban's approach to the war during their meeting: “We are aware of your balanced position on the Ukrainian issue.”

Political analyst Daniel Hegedüs of the German Marshall Fund wrote Orbán’s Moscow trip should be viewed “primarily in light of yesterday’s Orbán–Vučić meeting, rather than the peace-negotiation rollercoaster of the past week.” According to Hegedüs, one concrete outcome could be Putin’s approval for Hungarian energy firm MOL to acquire a majority stake in Serbia’s NIS, whose refinery in Pančevo has been constrained by US sanctions targeting its Russian ownership structure. With oil supplies to the refinery unresolved, he noted that deciding whether MOL or the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ultimately takes over Gazprom’s shares “will clearly be a strategic geopolitical and geo-economic decision from the Russian side.” In his words, “this is the real stake of Orbán’s Moscow trip, despite all the negative optics.”

New Median poll: Tisza's advantage over Fidesz is decreasing

Opposition Tisza party continues to lead, but is now only 5 percentage points ahead of Fidesz among the entire voting-age population, according to Hungarian pollster Medián's November survey, HVG reports. Since the beginning of September, Fidesz has improved by 3 percentage points and Tisza by 1 percentage point. It means that the number of undecided voters is steadily decreasing, similarly to Tisza's lead.

Among the entire population, Tisza stands at 38 percent, Fidesz at 33 percent, the far-right Mi Hazánk at 5 percent, and undecided voters at 19 percent. Péter Magyar's party lead narrowed by 4 percentage points to 6 points among those who are eligible to vote (Tisza 47%, Fidesz 41%), while among those who say they are certain to vote, the difference decreased by 3 percentage points, and Tisza now leads Fidesz 50-40.

According to Medián, Tisza may have further cause for concern as public sentiment appears to be changing, and the proportion of those who want a change of government has fallen significantly. This figure has decreased from 60 percent in September to 52 percent, the lowest level since the summer of 2024.

Bosnia blocks Szijjarto's plane from landing

Bosnia blocked a military aircraft carrying Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó from landing in the Bosnian Serb Republic on Wednesday, arguing that Budapest had backed actions that undermine Bosnia’s sovereignty. Zukan Helez said Hungary had not clarified why Szijjártó was aboard the plane seeking permission to land in Banja Luka, the administrative centre of the Serb-majority entity. Szijjártó had been in neighbouring Serbia earlier in the day to discuss how Hungary could assist Belgrade after crude oil deliveries from Croatia were halted. Helez accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Szijjártó of openly supporting Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik in moves that threaten Bosnia and Herzegovina’s territorial integrity and unity.

In a Facebook post, Helez said it was his responsibility to uphold Bosnia’s constitutional order and national interests, and for that reason, he refused to approve the landing until Hungary provided full transparency and respect for the state. The Hungarian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Dodik, the former president of the Serb Republic, removed from duty following his conviction for ignoring rulings by the international peace envoy and constitutional court, has repeatedly highlighted Orbán’s backing. On Wednesday, Dodik and his ally Sinisa Karan, who, according to preliminary results, won the region’s snap presidential election, held talks with Orbán in Budapest.

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MOL turns to the European Commission amid ongoing debate over Hungary’s ability to quit Russian oil

The Adria oil pipeline, which runs through Croatia to Hungary, would be one of the most important routes for supplying the country if it had to give up Russian oil. There has been an ongoing debate about the capacity of the Adria pipeline ever since the European Union and the US imposed sanctions on the purchase of Russian crude oil. The Hungarian government's main argument is that without Russia, it would be impossible to supply the country's energy needs. Hungary and Slovakia were granted a temporary exemption, allowing them to continue purchasing Russian oil.

Mol and its Slovak subsidiary, Slovnaft, are also in dispute with Janaff, the operator of the Adria pipeline, over the capacity of the oil pipeline. This dispute has now entered a new phase with the two Mol companies turning to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition.

The two companies told the European Commission that Janaff had informed them that they would only receive the crude oil they had already purchased and scheduled for delivery if Mol and Slovnaft agreed to purchase additional quantities, which would be entered into Janaf's system as "technical stock."

Huawei receives Hungarian cybersecurity certification amid debate over security risks

Huawei Technologies Hungary has become the first company in the country to obtain an IoT cybersecurity certificate for its residential inverters, according to the Authority for the Supervision of Regulated Activities (SZTFH). The certification applies to Huawei’s solar inverters and energy storage devices, an area in which the company holds a leading position in the Hungarian market. SZTFH President László Nagy highlighted the rigor of the process, noting that products undergo multiple stages of cybersecurity assessment to verify transparent design, manufacturing, and servicing. While the authority did not disclose who carried out Huawei’s compliance review, the assessment likely involved Hunguard, an organization associated with Cabinet Minister Antal Rogán and previously rated as having “high” reliability by SZTFH.

The certification comes amid concerns in many Western countries over Huawei’s ties to the Chinese state, with critics citing fears of espionage and cyberattacks. Although Huawei has consistently denied such allegations and has challenged them in court, suspicions persist, including claims made by a former CIA director and cases involving exposed Chinese agents. Despite most European states phasing Huawei out of their 5G networks in favor of alternatives such as Ericsson, Hungary has continued to deepen its relationship with the company. This stance has drawn criticism abroad, including from former U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who accused the Orbán government of maintaining ties with strategic rivals of the United States. Against this backdrop, the EU has worked to establish a unified cybersecurity framework, with Hungary among the first to begin shaping its legal foundations, and SZTFH designated as the responsible authority.

Szijjártó takes swipe at NATO after Baltic air-defense mission

Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó called the Baltic air-defense mission NATO’s most dangerous task, warning of a daily risk of confrontation with Russia and crediting Hungary’s role with helping prevent wider escalation. Yet when he made these comments on 10 November, Russian aircraft had not entered Estonian, Latvian, or Lithuanian airspace for more than 50 days. That pause followed a shift in NATO’s response on 19 September, when the alliance used new tactics to counter Russian violation measures.

Several elements of Szijjártó’s remarks have since stirred criticism. Although he praised Hungary’s contribution, the decisive response in September was carried out by Italian and Swedish aircraft under NATO command, coordinated by the Joint Air Operations Center in Uden, Germany. Analysts also noted that by the time Szijjártó warned of daily risks, the pattern of routine Russian incursions had already changed. The deterrence achieved this autumn stemmed from coordinated NATO capabilities, including surveillance systems, AWACS aircraft, and modern fighters such as F-35s and Gripens that operated together without Hungarian jets participating in the specific interception. Critics argue that Szijjártó either overlooked or omitted the scale of this NATO operation, which showcased the alliance’s significant technological advantage over Russia.

Experts say Russia has long used Baltic airspace violations to test NATO readiness, map its responses, and probe for weaknesses. However, the 19 September incident broke with earlier patterns: NATO conducted a complex interception designed to demonstrate clear superiority, utilizing passive radar, electronic warfare, and networked data-sharing to overwhelm three Russian MiG-31s without ever revealing aircraft.

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Rubio contradicts Orbán’s claim of unlimited sanctions waiver

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the waiver granted to Hungary on importing Russian oil and gas would last for one year. His remarks aligned with earlier reporting by CNN, The Guardian, the BBC, and Reuters, which cited a White House official saying Donald Trump had approved a one-year exemption. This stands in stark contrast to the Hungarian government’s position: Viktor Orbán previously told ATV’s Egon Rónai that Hungary had secured an exemption of unlimited duration.

Gergely Gulyás, the minister leading the Prime Minister’s Office, said the timeline had not been discussed during the Washington meetings. He acknowledged that information “may be coming now from the US State Department,” but maintained that Orbán and Trump had agreed to a waiver without any time limit. Gulyás added that the two governments would clarify the details through official channels, with foreign minister Péter Szijjártó expected to contact Rubio. While unable to specify when the agreement would be formally signed, he said the government expected this to occur before the sanctions come into force.

Following his meeting with Trump, Orbán announced that Hungary would receive a full exemption from US sanctions related to Russian oil and gas. He also said Hungary would purchase nuclear fuel from the US, clearing the way for the introduction of small American modular reactors. US sanctions linked to the construction of the Paks II nuclear plant would be lifted, although no progress had been made on restoring the double taxation agreement.

Kremlin spokesperson: Kremlin has no information on Orbán’s proposed Ukraine peace plan

Despite Viktor Orbán’s suggestion in Washington that Hungary has ideas for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Kremlin says it has no knowledge of any such proposals. Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Vladimir Putin, said Moscow has not been informed of Orbán’s initiatives and has not had the opportunity to examine them. Orbán’s remarks came during his meeting with US President Donald Trump, where he said Hungary had suggestions on how to bring Russia to the negotiating table. He also argued that European governments are mistaken in believing military support for Ukraine will help Kyiv win the war.

During the meeting, Orbán reiterated the Kremlin’s line that European governments are “pro-war” because they assume Ukraine can achieve a battlefield victory.. Orbán praised Trump’s “valuable peace efforts” and said Hungary would support them as much as it could. The conversation closed with Orbán noting that if Trump meets Putin again, he would like that meeting to take place in Budapest.

Ziobro does not want to return home from Budapest for questioning

Former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who has been in Budapest for weeks now, does not want to return to Poland for questioning. The former Polish justice minister, who is suspected of abuses related to the Justice Fund, including the illegal acquisition of Pegasus spyware used against opposition figures and journalists. Ziobro has therefore offered the Warsaw prosecutor's office to appear for questioning in Brussels or Budapest, according to Gazeta Wyborcza.

"We suggested that Zbigniew Ziobro be questioned at the consulate or through international assistance, as such proceedings can be conducted remotely. The minister can appear at the agreed time and place, as Poland has not been his permanent residence for a long time," Ziobro's lawyer told Rzeczpospolita.

The politician is suspected of having "established and led an organized criminal group" while serving as justice minister during the Law and Justice (PiS) party-led government. The organization is suspected of having embezzled more than 150 million zlotys. If found guilty, he could face up to 25 years in prison.

Ziobro is suspected of embezzling funds from the Justice Fund, which was set up to assist victims and prevent crime.

His deputy, Marcin Romanowski, is also living in the Hungarian capital under political asylum. Romanowski was also charged with embezzlement of state assets in connection with the Justice Fund case, but he fled to Hungary before an arrest warrant was issued against him.

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Orbán secures one-year exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy

The US has granted Hungary a one-year exemption from sanctions on Russian oil and gas imports after Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán pressed his case during a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington. The Hungarian PM met the US president at the White House on Friday for their first bilateral talks since Trump’s return to power, arguing that Hungary had "no viable alternative" to Russian energy. “The consequences for the Hungarian people, and for the Hungarian economy, not to get oil and gas from Russia” would be severe, Orbán said. Trump, who has been urging Europe to reduce reliance on Russian energy, appeared sympathetic. “They don’t have the advantage of having sea,” he said, noting that “many European countries are buying oil and gas from Russia, and they have been for years.”

A White House official said alongside the sanctions exemption, Hungary had agreed to purchase $600m worth of US liquefied natural gas. Bloomberg reported that Orbán was expected to offer commitments to buy US LNG and nuclear fuel as part of the deal. The meeting, marked by warm exchanges, saw Trump describe Orbán as a “great leader” and call for European countries to “respect Hungary and respect this leader very, very strongly.” He also praised Orbán’s hardline anti-immigration stance, saying “Look what’s happened to Europe with the immigration,” Trump said. “You go to some of the countries, they’re unrecognizable now because of what they’ve done. And Hungary is very recognizable.”

Orbán, who has been accused by EU critics of cosying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he wanted to revive plans for a Trump–Putin summit to end the war in Ukraine. During his remarks, he praised Trump and attacked the previous Democratic administration, claiming the bilateral relationship had now entered “a golden age.” The Hungarian leader is reportedly seeking to host Trump in Budapest ahead of upcoming elections, as he faces strong domestic competition from a new challenger, Peter Magyar.

Pro-Orbán media firm purchases Hungary’s top-selling tabloid ahead of election

A media firm close to Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party, bought the tabloid from the Swiss media group Ringier, 444 reports. The purchase comes ahead of crucial elections next year, when Orbán faces an unprecedented opposition challenge, and is widely seen as another attempt to tighten government control over the country’s media. Indamedia also acquired several other titles including Glamour magazine and Kiskegyed. Blikk’s former editor-in-chief, Iván Zsolt Nagy, said he and another senior manager were leaving “in mutual agreement” with the new owners.

After the move, only a few independent outlets are left in Hungary’s media landscape. The deal gives Orbán’s allies control of the country’s most-read daily, whose readership includes many undecided voters. Over the past 15 years, Orbán’s government has consolidated power across the press through loyal business figures, including Indamedia’s co-owner Miklós Vaszily. Indamedia received a 13 billion forint (~£ 29 million) credit line from Viktor Orbán’s childhood friend Lőrinc Mészáros' bank, MBH, right before the purchase of Ringier Hungary, Hungarian news outlet HVG reported . Vaszily, is the chairman of the supervisory board of MBH and also the chairman and CEO of TV2, a company linked to Mészáros.

US to cut funding of Radio Free Europe’s Hungarian service ahead of Orbán visit

Kari Lake, the head of the US Agency for Global Media, is planning to shut down the Hungarian service of the congressionally funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a move widely seen as a gift to Viktor Orbán. Two days before Orbán’s scheduled visit to the White House, Lake wrote to Republican congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, announcing that the Trump administration would withdraw funding for Radio Free Europe’s Hungarian-language service, Szabad Európa, 444 reports. Lake claimed the outlet’s “programming has undermined President Trump’s foreign policy by opposing the duly elected prime minister Viktor Orban.” The letter was shared online by former Voice of America correspondent Steve Herman, who retired earlier this year amid Lake’s controversial overhaul of the agency.

Lake’s decision has drawn criticism from observers who see it as a blow to press freedom. Lake argued that the decision was necessary to avoid interference in the affairs of a NATO ally, and suggested similar cuts would be made in other NATO countries. However, the letter offered no evidence of any content undermining Orbán’s government. Critics say the timing of the decision underscores how Trump’s campaign to dismantle the US Agency for Global Media and its outlets, including Voice of America, is serving the interests of his allies abroad.

Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office has launched a disinformation campaign against The Eastern Frontier Initiative (TEFI), a consortium of independent publishers from Central and Eastern Europe. The office falsely claims that the participating outlets are not independent media but rather collaborators seeking to "exert direct political pressure" to manipulate society. It also alleges that TEFI is a propaganda initiative funded by the European Commission to shape public opinion in Central Europe in line with Brussels’ war strategy.

TEFI members – 444, Bellingcat, Gazeta Wyborcza, PressOne, and SME – categorically reject this defamatory campaign, which targets one of the last bastions of democratic institutions: the independent press.

The consortium's editorial teams assume full responsibility for the content they produce and publish. The funding that supports TEFI’s operations does not compromise journalistic independence; on the contrary, it is contractually mandated and guaranteed under European law.

TEFI participants collaborate on reporting issues related to the broad spectrum of security in Central Europe, from natural resources and cybersecurity to defense and personal safety.

The initiative aims to foster knowledge sharing within the European press and contribute to a more resilient European democracy. A key part of this mission is countering disinformation, one of the most pressing threats to our democracies.

The European Commission has deemed Hungary’s "Defence of Sovereignty" law – which established the Sovereignty Protection Office – to be in violation of EU law and has referred the country to the European Court of Justice.

Hungary's pro-government media machine has recently launched a massive smear campaign against 444.hu and Bellingcat (NL), while also targeting their international partners, PressOne (RO), Gazeta Wyborcza (PL), and SME (SK). These outlets cooperate in a cross-border journalistic project, The Eastern Frontier Initiative (TEFI) covering regional security, co-financed by the European Commission.

The smear attack applies components and techniques of long-circulated Russian disinformation campaigns. Consortium members are accused of carrying out "active information warfare", allegedly financed and orchestrated by foreign powers (namely the US and the UK) and their intelligence services. According to the accusations the aim is no less than undermining trust in the Hungarian government’s actions, such as recent military buildup programs and the peace efforts of the Hungarian state regarding Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Centrally coordinated communication attacks on independent journalists in Hungary have not been uncommon in the past years. However, the recent establishment and increasing activity of Hungary’s so-called Sovereignty Protection Authority (an arbitrarily appointed body with a vaguely defined mandate and practically unlimited reach, operating without any democratic oversight) raise fear of false claims articulated in such smear campaigns could later be used as the basis for yet undefined actions against critical and independent media, including further harassment, surveillance and even investigations.

444, Bellingcat, PressOne, Gazeta Wyborcza, and SME jointly and fully refuse the allegations of this smear campaign, and strongly believe in the role of independent media as a crucial component of a healthy democratic establishment. They consider the seemingly government-supported campaign an assault on that very establishment, which is therefore to be spoken up against in the starkest manner and on the highest levels locally and internationally.

The project nominally under attack is TEFI, The Eastern Frontier Initiative supported by the European Commission. It is a collaboration of independent publishers from Central and Eastern Europe, in which participants jointly cover issues related to the widely interpreted security of the Central European region from natural resources to cyber security to defense and to personal safety. The aim of the project is to promote knowledge sharing in the European press and to contribute to a more resilient European democracy.

Bennfentes.net, the publisher of the initial article attacking TEFI is a known platform for launching anonymous smear campaigns strictly aligned with the political and communication interests of the Hungarian government. It has been used in notorious cases of publishing untruthful information (e.g. the alleged plan to sell the Budapest City Hall building) which would then be circulated by the immense media network controlled by the FIDESZ government and closely allied cronies: a large set of privately owned and state run outlets.

The pattern is repeated in this case: the original article has been recirculated by more than 15 outlets. The list includes the state television website (M1), numerous outlets owned by Mediaworks, the foundation into which government aligned oligarchs had consolidated all their close to 500 formerly acquired media entities (e.g.: Origo, Magyar Nemzet), and other privately owned entities known to be instructed from the Prime Minister’s Office (TV2 - Tények).

In the smear articles, Bellingcat, the renowned Netherlands based investigatory team providing online open source investigation trainings for the consortium is repeatedly accused of being closely connected and financed by the US and UK secret services. (Open source investigations are a practice of gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information from publicly available sources - a fast evolving and proven toolset and approach in contemporary journalism.) Attacks also target specific Bellingcat staff members and experts.

Other members of the consortium - 444 (HU), PressOne (RO), Gazeta Wyborcza (PL), and SME (SK), all leading independent media outlets in their respective countries - are referred to as members of the "Soros network" as seen in numerous smear campaigns before. Multiple authors are also called upon by name and implicitly accused to be serving (presumably hostile) interests of foreign powers.

The key allegation suggests that the TEFI project is an example of "global powers" (from the so called "Soros conspiracy" to 3rd party states) do not only contribute to financing media to "influence, flood, and manipulate" local audiences, but they also deploy intelligence service personnel to fully control the operations and narratives these allegedly pseudo-independent Central European outlets disseminate. By this, they supposedly contribute to undermining trust in the Hungarian government, and also hinder its diplomatic peace efforts.

If and when these accusations are internalized by the public and relevant authorities - and such communication campaigns are aiming at just that - they are to become the basis for further action against critical media.

The Sovereignty Protection Office (SPO, established with a law the constitutionality of which is highly debated if not fully denied by independent legal experts) is mandated and expected to find ways to step up against the few remaining defenders of freedom and democracy among Hungarian media players and NGOs on the basis of "breaching national sovereignty" . A separate piece of legislation is in the making at the Ministry of Justice. Based on a recent Government decision it should aim at sanctioning "war propaganda" and hinder the foreign financing thereof.

The SPO recently launched seemingly baseless and full scale "investigations" into the operations of the critical independent investigatory outlet Atlatszo.hu, and the most outspoken anti corruption NGO, Transparency International Hungary. Based on these precedents and the recent public statements of SPO officers, critical reporting published by 444.hu and its consortial partners will come under scrutiny as whether they represent "war propaganda" or "breach national sovereignty".

Once again 444, Bellingcat, PressOne, Gazeta Wyborcza, and SME jointly and fully refuse the allegations of this smear campaign, and strongly believe in the role of independent media as a crucial component of a healthy democratic establishment.

Although the newly adopted "Sovereignty Protection" law does not expressly regulate the operation of media companies, it is capable of severely restricting the freedom of the press, potentially making it difficult or even impossible for independent newsrooms, journalists and media companies to operate.

The so-called "Sovereignty Protection Authority" will be an arbitrarily appointed body with unlimited powers, operating without any oversight. This office will have the means to threaten and harass the individuals and organizations it targets, in a way that is nominally lawful but in fact arbitrary. It does not even need sanctions to do so; the damage caused by investigations without limits or legal guarantees may in itself be enough to destroy those in the crosshairs.

This law makes it clear: in Hungary today, anyone who takes part in democratic debate or even simply informs the public is suspect to those in power. Independent media outlets that obtain and report information in the public interest are repeatedly accused of serving "foreign interests". This is a deliberate lie, which defames not only the newsrooms that do vital work for democracy, but also those Hungarians who watch, listen to and read their content, and support their operations financially. The operation of independent newsrooms, including their financial background, is public and transparent. There are no hidden funds or subsidies.

The creation of a "Sovereignty Protection Authority" that can collect unlimited data, can interrogate anyone, and can be used against anyone, is contrary to the most basic norms of the rule of law. It goes against the human rights and democratic principles accepted by Hungary, and against common sense.

However, we, the undersigned independent media organizations, will not change the principles and practices of our operations: we will continue to work transparently, accountably and in accordance with the rules of our profession to ensure that the Hungarian people know what is happening in the country and why. This is our patriotic duty, and no "Authority" will deter us.

Why is the authority established by the act against the rule of law?

• The authority can open an investigation against any person or organization on the basis of its own decision without giving reasons.
• According to the text of the law, which uses undefined terms, such an investigation can be launched against anyone who is active in public life in the broadest sense.
• The organizations and persons under investigation, including all staff, regardless of their job title, are obliged to provide information to the authority.
• The same applies to anyone else who, although not the subject of the investigation, may be considered by the authority to be involved.
• The authority may also request information from any public or other body on anyone and anything without restriction.
• The authority is outside the jurisdiction of any redress forum, including the courts. Persons and organizations under investigation have nowhere to turn if they consider the investigation to be unjustified, conducted in bad faith or its findings to be unfounded.

We are united in our view that the law entitled "On the Protection of National Sovereignty" should not simply be corrected in its details, but entirely rejected. It does not serve the information security of our society; on the contrary, it is meant to directly undermine it with its threat to free media and democratic debate in general.

Tamás Bodoky, atlatszo.hu

Endre Bojtár B., Magyar Narancs

Zsombor György, Magyar Hang

Márton Gulyás, Partizán

Tamás Német, Telex

András Pethő, Direkt36

Péter Uj, 444

Gábor Vajda, Qubit

The newsroom of Válasz Online

Blanka Zöldi, Lakmusz

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“They are trying to replace the lack of European, Christian children with migrants”

On Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán gave a policy speech at the Parliament. In his address, he heavily criticized the European Union and echoed the American far-right with thoughts resembling the “great replacement theory”. Orbán said he sees a suicidal attempt across Western Europe, including the “gender madness” and the “great European population exchange”. “They are trying to replace the lack of European, Christian children with adults from other civilizations – migrants,” the nationalist leader noted.

He accused Brussels of abusing its power, stating that the EU “wants to impose on us things that are bad for us”. The prime minister, who is starting his fourth consecutive term, circled back to the spread of LGBT rights in Europe, saying “We will stand up for the idea that the father is a man and the mother a woman, and we will not accept any proposal from Brussels that would destroy our families.”

Orbán also weighed in on the Ukraine conflict stressing the importance of Hungary’s NATO membership and continued to question the effectiveness of EU sanctions against Russia: “Europe has no tools for ending and managing the war”. Orbán recognized the increasing attention the country has received in the past years, stating that “Hungary has become the last Christian-conservative stronghold of the Western world”

According to fact-checkers, far-right Mi Hazánk party brings Russian propaganda to Hungarian Parliament

In the April 3 elections far-right Mi Hazánk party reached the 5 percent threshold, allowing them to form a six-member parliamentary group for the next four years. Since the Russia-Ukraine war has started, politicians of the party have supported Hungary’s neutrality in the conflict, opposed economic sanctions against Russia, military aid to Ukraine, and the country’s accelerated accession to the European Union. They often have a favorable position to Vladimir Putin and the Russian propaganda machine – writes Lakmusz, a Hungarian fact-checking website.

Lakmusz revealed that the party, led by László Toroczkai, has often embraced allegations that are not proven, such as the ‘development of 'bio-weapons in Ukrainian laboratories under the command of the United States. Or that the ‘Ukrainian committed genocide in Donbas with the help of the West'. The party leader has formerly praised Russia Today for its 'objectivity'.

Since Toroczkai’s page was deleted by Facebook, because of hate-mongering, the far-right politician has been communicating with his supporters on Twitter, Telegram, and Tiktok, where he regularly shares Kremlin-friendly content.

Hungarian President Katalin Novák condemns Putin’s aggression during her official first visit to Poland

Following her inauguration ceremony, Katalin Novák's first trip abroad was to Poland to try to repair relations damaged by their differences in the Russian-Ukrainian war. “Mr. President, dear Andrzej, I am grateful we can talk to each other in a friendly way," Novák told Polish President Andrzej Duda.

The Polish leader spoke at a press conference after their meeting saying "the decision of the President to take her first steps to Warsaw is a sign that the friendship between Poland and Hungary will continue, which I welcome with great pleasure. "Duda also touched on relations between Hungary and Russia. He said that Hungary is strongly linked to the Russian economy, which would be difficult to change quickly. Meanwhile, Poland had a less challenging time, because they started to transform their energy system earlier. He said Novák understood him perfectly when they discussed adopting the sixth package of sanctions against Russia.

Novák reiterated Hungary's condemnation of Putin's aggression and its rejection of any attempt to restore the Soviet Union. Novák's stance on the Russian invasion shows a visible difference from the more neutral standpoint Hungarian government officials formerly conveyed.

Orbán praises Tucker Carlson at CPAC Hungary

Prominent conservative figures from the United States and Europe have arrived in Budapest to attend American Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The keynote speaker of the event Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered his opening address on Thursday morning. He urged American conservatives to defeat “the dominance of progressive liberals in public life” which he believes he has already succeeded at in his country. The nationalist leader has also stressed the importance of the conservative community having media outlets because as he phrased it, this is “the only way to show the insanity of the progressive left". Orbán stated that “leftist opinion can only be seen as mainstream because the media helps them amplify their voice”, and that professors who taught journalists have progressive leftist principles. He praised Fox's Tucker Carlson and said that shows like Tucker’s should be broadcasted ‘24/7’.

CPAC’s keynote speaker urged the attendees to expose their opponents with the example of ‘LGBT propaganda’ which is ‘still new in our country but we have already destroyed it’.

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Fidesz voters would prefer even stronger ties with Russia

Political preference among Hungarians has a considerable impact on the perception of Russia and Ukraine – Median Institute's latest polls show. The survey conducted on a sample of 1,000 Hungarian citizens, was commissioned by 444.

The figures from this new survey show that the perception of Western countries is stagnating (compared to a study made in 2018 by the same institute), but Hungarians have become distrustful of world superpowers. In the case of Russia, the result was predictable because of the invasion of Ukraine. But the 10-point drop in the perception of the United States is quite remarkable. No survey was conducted on Ukraine in 2018, but Median measured a low, 33-point approval rating this year. One explanation for the low numbers in the case of the US may be the new administration and the narrative (strongly supported by the Hungarian government) that suggests the United States was actively involved in the triggering and the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

Changes in perceptions are strongly correlated with political preferences in Hungary. It also shows in Russia’s scores. Although the war has made pro-government voters more critical of Russia, opposition voters are even more critical of the country’s leadership. Among Fidesz voters, the current figure dropped 16 points compared to the survey made 4 years ago, and 25 points among voters who are not supportive of the ruling party.

The differences were even more striking when they asked which country should Hungary have closer relations with – Russia or the United States. America leads in terms of the total population, but there is a significant difference between those who are in favor of the governing party and who have other party preferences.

Just under a quarter of Fidesz voters said they would prefer stronger ties with America compared to opposition voters – eight-tenths of the latter group would prefer closer relations with the US. According to Median’s survey, 55 percent of pro-Orban voters would prefer stronger relations with Russia.

Hungarian ambassador to Croatia summoned over Orban’s controversial comments

The Hungarian ambassador was summoned by the Croatian Foreign Minister over Viktor Orban's remarks in a recent interview. The Croatian ambassador to Hungary has asked Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto for an explanation for these comments – Croatian new site Otvoreno writes.

The Hungarian Prime Minister said on public radio last Friday that the EU’s oil embargo does not affect all member states equally and that Hungary has a disadvantage because "our seas were taken away from us".

The Croatian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying "we condemn all territorial claims against sovereign states". They asked for an explanation why these comments "unnecessarily damaging to neighborly relations "were made.

State Secretary Tamas Menczer reacted to the statement saying it was a misunderstanding and that Orban only mentioned a "historical fact". Menczer was referring to the Treaty of Trianon. By the terms of the treaty, Hungary was shorn of at least two-thirds of its former territory, including Rijeka (Fiume), a coastal city that now belongs to Croatia. Before 1918, Hungary had access to the sea through the Rijeka coastline.

Minor Party Volner changes its name to Huxit Party

“Today marks the end of the first one and a half year phase of Volner Party. We will continue our work under the name Huxit Party - signaling our next major goal. Our most important goal is to achieve Hungary’s withdrawal from the European Union,” writes Janos Volner, an independent member of the National Assembly, who did not win a mandate for the next term.

Volner says it is becoming "economically unviable for Hungary to remain in the EU", and the war in Ukraine has caused supply issues that "could be solved with Huxit".

The party’s founder, who is a former member of Jobbik and Mi Hazank, has spoken openly about their aims to support Fidesz’s policies.

According to political analysts, this move signals that Orban is testing the Hungarian public’s receptiveness to a potential withdrawal from the EU.

Hungary’s inflation hits a 20-year record in April

Prices went up in Hungary by 9.5 percent in April compared to last year. The last time inflation was at such a high rate was 21 years ago, in the second quarter of 2001.

According to Portfolio, there are several reasons for the price rises. On one hand, inflation is hitting decade highs worldwide due to increasing global energy and food prices, which are rising mainly because of the Ukraine war – on the other, there are internal effects. Various price freezes are supposed to curb inflation, which is why Hungarian inflation is on the European average. On the other hand, at the beginning of the year, the Hungarian government stimulated demand with significant measures (tax rebate, 13th-month pension), which makes it easier for service providers to raise prices. This year’s 20 percent increase in the minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum wage is also pushing prices up. The impact of the war next door could trigger even higher inflation in the coming months.

Budapest called Danilov’s claims that Hungarian authorities knew about the Russian invasion beforehand 'fake news'

The secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said Hungarian authorities were informed about a full-scale attack on Ukraine beforehand by the Russian President. “Hungary openly declares its cooperation with the Russian Federation. Moreover, Putin warned [them] in advance that there would be attacks on our country,” Danilov said. He also believed Hungary had plans for part of the territory of Ukraine.

The Hungarian embassy in Kyiv took to Facebook and wrote they are “outraged” by the allegations that Budapest was warned in advance about Russia’s plans to go to war. “The statement by Oleksiy Danilov, head of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), ‘contains accusations that are false and unfounded, and incite hatred against the Hungarian people and Hungary in Ukrainian public opinion, which is suffering from war’,”- the embassy’s social media post reads.

The country’s Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations, Zoltán Kovács, also called the accusation “fake news” on Twitter: “Responding to fake news: On April 3, Hungarians decided that Hungary will not ship weapons to Ukraine. While we understand that Ukraine does not welcome our decision, spreading fake news and coming up with lies will not change our position.”

Though Dalinlov's claims are yet to be confirmed, the Hungarian PM, Viktor Orbán had an exchange with Pope Francis where the country's prime minister allegedly indicated he has some insight on the war next door. In an exclusive interview with Corriere Della Sera, Pope Francis has had an interesting remark about Hungary's nationalist leader. “When I met Orbán, he told me that the Russians have a precise plan and that the war will end on May 9th.” - the Catholic leader said.

Orbán previously listed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as one of his opponents amongst the “international left, the bureaucrats in Brussels, the money of the Soros empire and the international media” in his speech after his landslide victory in the April 3 parliamentary elections.

Justice Minister Judit Varga submits the 10th Constitutional Amendment proposal

“We are going to protect the Hungarian people. I submitted the 10th Constitutional Amendment Proposal,” wrote Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga on Tuesday on Facebook. ”The Russian-Ukrainian war has resulted in a humanitarian situation not seen since World War II, and it has changed the economic perspectives in Europe. To meet and counter these challenges, our country must ensure the capacity to develop effective and quick national responses”.

The proposal published on the Hungarian parliament’s website expands the government’s mandate to declare a state of emergency in case of war or a humanitarian crisis in neighboring countries.

The submission of the proposal was not unexpected, as Gergely Gulyás, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office had already announced it and explained the need for this step during a press briefing on April 21. Gulyás said that the state of emergency due to the pandemic expires on May 31, and it will not be further extended, but they will create the possibility of introducing a new emergency category due to the war next door. According to Gulyás, this law will make it possible to declare a state of emergency because of the war in Ukraine.

Missile attack in Transcarpathia

A missile struck a small Transcarpathian town, Volovets ( Volóc), which is only 115 kilometers (71 miles) away from the Hungarian border, on May 3. This was the first time since the Russian invasion started in Ukraine, that a missile reached the region where Hungarians are the most substantial ethnic minority.

“A missile hit an infrastructure facility in a mountainous district in Transcarpathia. Emergency services are working at the scene, and we are monitoring the damage and possible casualties,” - Viktor Mikita, Head of the Transcarpathian Regional Military Administration wrote on Telegram, asking everyone not to take photos at the scene.

According to Karpatalja.ma, an electrical substation and a railway station were hit by the missile, and there was a fire at the site.

Later that day, the council of Ungvár wrote on its Facebook page that windows had exploded within 500 meters of the blast, damaging nearby cars.

Hungary will veto the EU’s proposal to ban the import of Russian oil

Zoltan Kovács, Hungary’s Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations, was a guest on BBC’s Hard Talk, where he told the host Stephen Sackur that the country would veto the EU’s proposal of a Russian oil embargo. According to Kovacs, it is "unacceptable", “ against Hungarian interest “, and would "completely ruin the Hungarian economy".

The host also asked Kovacs if Hungary "supports Ukraine's current resistance, its defense of its territory by military means against the Russian aggressor", and the spokesperson replied with the following: “We do support Ukraine but not by military means.”

The proposal must be approved by all 27 EU member states to take further steps, but Kovacs’s statements threw the proposal into doubt.

Press freedom in Hungary has deteriorated over the past year, but it moved up in RSF rankings

Hungary’s World Press Freedom Index score fell further on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) list, but the country moved up from 92nd out of 180 countries to 85th place. In the European Union, only Greece and Bulgaria were ranked below Hungary. The organization named the Center-European country, among other European countries, that “intensified draconian laws against journalists”.

Although Hungary has risen from 92nd place since 2021, its state of media freedom is still the worst in the V4 region, and the higher ranking might be a result of other European countries like Albania shifting further down on the list. The method for compiling the index has also changed; the one used now takes press freedom in the digital space more into account than before.

Since his return to power in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “has unceasingly attacked media pluralism and independence” - RSF said in their latest report.”After public broadcasting was turned into a propaganda organ, many private media [outlets] were taken over or silenced. The ruling party, Fidesz, has seized de facto control of 80 percent of the country’s media through political-economic maneuvers and the purchase of news organizations by friendly oligarchs”. The report also mentions that Hungary is the only EU member country where journalists were monitored with Pegasus software.

Small gas stations are suing the Hungarian state in Strasbourg over price freeze

The extended price cap on gas in Hungary led to a state where smaller gas stations have operated at loss for the past six months. Fifty of these mainly family-owned companies decided to sue the state in collective action, Szabad Europa reports.

“Next week, we will file a constitutional complaint and initiate proceedings against the Hungarian state before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,” said Dániel Karsai, a lawyer. According to Karsai, the stations suffered a loss on every liter of fuel sold, which infringes on their legitimate expectations and ownership. He added that the 20 Hungarian forints per liter government compensation payments to gas stations did not help.

The article states that the government’s actions may violate the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects ownership. Also, the part of the measure that obliges fuel sellers to operate their business even at loss, and the part that allows competitors to take them over, violates these rights.

Commission launches conditionality mechanism against Orbán government

This is the first time that this mechanism has been launched in the history of the EU.

The mechanism could be launched against Member States where the EU's financial interests are directly threatened by failures in the rule of law.

According to the Commission, there has been ample evidence over the last ten years that this is the case in Hungary.

According to the official schedule, the Hungarian government will have two months to respond to the allegations and submit proposals to significantly improve the situation.

If the Commission is satisfied with the government’s response, the mechanism will be terminated. If not, they will continue the procedure, which could end with a proposal to the Council to suspend payments in Hungary.

Theoretically, the suspension could reach as much as 40 billion euros, although experts say this scenario is very unlikely.

The Hungarian government is ready to settle its dispute with the European Commission.

“The letter from the Commission has been read by the government, and there is nothing stopping it from signing the recovery agreement, as the letter only stipulates what has been under discussion with the commission in the last few months,” Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s office said at a press conference on Thursday.

“The letter from the Commission on the rule of law mechanism is in fact to be welcomed,” he added.

He also said that there were areas in which Hungary could not waiver, like the fact that Hungary must stay out of the Russian-Ukrainian war, however, the EU’s mechanism is by no means connected to the recent Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“It depends only on the European Commission when the Hungarian government and the Commission sign the agreement on the recovery fund, there are no obstacles for Hungary,” Gulyás underlined.

In the Council, the governments of the Member States must support the suspension of money by a qualified majority. Following last weekend's French and Slovenian elections - where leaders opposed to Orbán have been elected - , that majority is likely to emerge.

Viktor Orbán will have the right to ask for a debate on the matter at a prime ministerial level. The procedure can take up to 9 months from now.

All funds awarded since 2021 could be jeopardized.

Exactly how much money the suspension would affect depends on how much damage the EU budget says the EU has suffered as a result of the irregularities in Hungary.

It is certain that all payments awarded from 1 January 2021 onwards will be affected by the suspension: cohesion aid, money for agriculture, and the recovery fund.

Local NGOs have found that in Hungary, one fifth of the total EU funding of the last ten years were attributed to companies belonging to a narrow circle of twelve people, each having excellent relations with the government.

The Hungarian budget would be in great need of EU subsidies. And while this mechanism has just been launched, the government has not had access to the billions in the recovery fund for more than a year, also because the Commission has not approved the Hungarian recovery plan due to the high corruption risks surrounding public procurement.

Hungary's central bank raises base rate to 5.4 pct

The Monetary Council of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) raised the central bank base rate by 100 basis points to 5.4 percent, MNB said here on Tuesday.

The move came as no surprise and was in line with the analysts' expectations.

MNB increased the base rate by 30 basis points to 0.9 percent on June 22, 2021. Previously, the MNB's base rate had been on hold at 0.6 percent since July 2020.

It has been steadily increasing since then, in line with the growing inflation rate.

According to the latest official data released on April 8, the inflation rate in Hungary stood at 8.5 percent in March, well over the three percent target set by MNB.

MNB also decided on Tuesday to raise the overnight (O/N) deposit rate by 100bp to 5.40 percent and the O/N and one-week collateralized loan rates by 100bp to 8.40 percent.

Following the release of the new interest rate, the Monetary Council of the central bank said that the war in Ukraine has ”constituted a much higher risk than usual" to the inflation outlook.

"The Monetary Council deems it necessary to continue the tightening of monetary conditions and to continue the base rate tightening cycle by taking a decisive step in order to anchor inflation expectations and mitigate second-round inflation risks," it added.

The central bank recently published its latest inflation and GDP forecast a month ago. A forecast of 7.5-9.8 percent has been announced for this year's average inflation rate.

“It is widely believed that price increases have not yet peaked, and inflation may rise further in the coming months. Depending on the maintenance of price stops, we can see a value of over 10 percent in the summer, and we may see a slow decline in the last quarter,” business online portal Portfolio commented on the decision.

The Hungarian government had introduced temporary price caps on staple food and on fuel, measures that contributed to keep prices under control for the population, but if they are to be lifted - in mid May according to earlier announcements - inflation rate could hit new records.

Hungarian government extends price cap on fuel and staple food

The government will extend the price caps on fuel and staple food until July 1, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on his Facebook page following Wednesday's government meeting.

"Today we had to decide what to do (about the price caps), we decided to extend our price control measures in both cases, so both the price of fuel and the price of selected food products will remain unchanged until July 1,” Orbán said in a short video message.

“As long as the war lasts, prices will rise, but the Hungarian government cannot watch this process idly,” he added.

“In Hungary, the government is doing everything in its power to protect families from the consequences of rising prices,” he stressed.

On January 12, Orban announced that the prices of granulated sugar, wheat flour, sunflower oil, pork thighs, chicken breast and 2.8 percent cow's milk would be limited from February 1 due to the high inflation rate.

The price of designated products in all stores were brought back to their former levels of October 15 last year.

Initially the price price-stop would take effect between February 1, 2022 and May 1, 2022. The regulation also said that the concerned products must be kept in stock.

Local business portal Portfolio previously calculated that if the price stop were to end, a liter of sunflower oil could cost up to 1,000 forints instead of 720 forints. The price of chicken breast may increase from 1,600 forints to 2,000 forints, and that of pork thighs from the current 1,400 to close to 1,600 per kilogram. While the price of milk would jump from 274 forints to 330 forints.

The government also fixed the price of 95 petrol and diesel per liter at 480 forints on 15 November due to high inflation, and then extended the petrol price-stop from February 15 for another three months, until mid-May.

According to the latest official data released on April 8, the inflation rate in Hungary stood at 8.5 percent in March, well over the three percent target set by the central bank MNB. The bank originally forecast a 7.5-9.8 percent inflation rate for this year.

The Polish government launches Hungarian-language campaign to stop Russia

The Polish government wants to break through the "wall of European indifference" about the war with vivid posters and a social media campaign, the #StopRussiaNow campaign has been launched in eight languages, including Hungarian.

Hoardings with the slogan will be placed in a number of European cities and the campaign will be reinforced in social media, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference at the National Stadium in Warsaw on Saturday.

He also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has prepared a special operation of war crimes and genocide" and Poland wanted the campaign to be "a cry of those who have been brutally murdered in the streets of Ukraine."

The Polish campaign reported that so far 208 children were killed in Ukraine, and 386 children were injured by Russian war criminals.

The pro-Ukraine information and fundraising campaign, called #StopRussiaNow, aims to raise awareness of not only the war, but also invites anyone to take action against it.

Morawiecki underlined that the news of atrocities in Ukraine had had a short-lived effect in Europe.

"Our partners in Western and Southern Europe want to return to normalcy too soon," Morawiecki noted, adding that there could be no restoration of standard relations with Moscow.

The home page was linked to the Yale University collection, which includes a list of companies that continue to do business with Russia. The list also includes Hungarian companies such as Mol, Gedeon Richter, Rába and Zwack.

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Volodymyr Klitschko condemns Hungarian government’s loyalty to Moscow

According to former world boxing champion, Volodymyr Klitschko, “Hungary’s loyalty towards Russia can still be felt’, he said in an interview given to local online journal Válasz Online. The paper also wanted to know his opinion on the fact that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had not immediately condemned the Bucha massacre, to which he replied:

“Really… who do you think might have done it? Who invaded whom? Maybe we invaded ourselves? Would we have slaughtered our own people to show it to the world, blaming someone else? Bucha was a clear message from the Russian president, and we Ukrainians have been victims of his aggression for more than 50 days. If anyone looks aside and pretends not to see anything, he himself becomes a passive warring party and blood sticks to his hand. ”

Klitschko himself visited the mass graves in Bucha, and added that the Russians' "special military operation" consisted of nothing more than killing Ukrainians. He also spoke about his experience: “Death was silent. Young people lay dead on the streets, a car driven over by a tank, limbs still in the car. (...) I don’t want to recall everything I’ve seen, but there is clear evidence of crimes. Those images, that smell… Total destruction. These are not human things, but depictions of evil itself. And they could show up anywhere. If you think it could never happen to you? You might be mistaken.. "

Although the former champion is currently trying to help Ukraine more in the diplomatic field, he is still willing to fight. He asked Hungarians to support the combat of the Ukrainians by every means possible: “Stand by our side and we will stand by yours! And believe me: we will give back all the support! Just help end the war - because we are also protecting you from the evil that has broken into our country! ”

IMF reduces Hungary's growth prospects

In its World Economic Outlook (WEO) published on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that Hungary's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 3.7 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year. These figures are an important slash compared to the latest October report, in which the IMF expected 5.1 percent growth in 2022 after last year’s 7.1 percent expansion.

Inflation could skyrocket to 10.3 percent this year from 5.1 percent last year, up from the 3.6 percent stipulated in October’s report. For 2023, the IMF calculates an inflation rate slowing down to 6.4 percent. The unemployment rate will slightly rise from 4.1 percent last year to 4.3 percent this year, and will come down to 4.2 percent by 2023.

According to the IMF's forecast, Poland will achieve the same economic growth of 3.7 percent this year as Hungary after 5.7 percent last year. In October, the IMF put Poland’s GDP growth at 5.1 percent by 2022. Next year, the growth of the Polish economy may slow down to 2.9 percent. In Poland, after 5.1 percent last year, inflation could be 8.9 percent this year and 10.3 percent next year. The unemployment rate could fall to 3.2 percent this year and 3 percent next year, after 3.5 percent last year.

Regarding Ukraine, the IMF said it currently estimates that GDP could shrink 35 percent this year after last year’s 3.4 percent increase; the IMF did not provide a forecast for any other indicator.

The IMF also predicted that Russia’s GDP could shrink by 8.5 percent this year after a 4.7 percent increase last year, and a further 2.3 percent in 2023. Inflation could be 21.3 percent this year and 14.3 percent next year, after 6.7 percent last year. Unemployment will rise from 4.8 percent last year to 9.3 percent this year, and the rate will fall to 7.8 percent next year.

President Áder convenes opening session of new parliament

According to the regulations, the President of the Republic convened the inaugural session of the Parliament for May 2, within 30 days following the parliamentary elections.

At the inaugural session, the head of state formally calls on the president of the party that won the election to form the new government. On April 3, Fidesz-KDNP won 135 parliamentary seats, which translates into a fourth consecutive win, with a qualified majority of two-thirds of the seats.

At the inaugural session of the parliament, the results of the elections are adopted, by a simple majority.

MPs also elect the Speaker, and the Vice-Presidents of the new parliament, and the personal and organizational conditions of the next four-year term are created. The credentials of elected deputies are confirmed and the deputies take their oaths at the inaugural meeting.

The representatives of opposition party Momentum will not be present, as they are boycotting the meeting.

The opposition alliance, consisting of six parties DK (Left) Jobbik (right), LMP (green), MSZP (socialist), Momentum (liberal) and Párbeszéd (green) received 57 seats.

The far-right Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement) got six seats, one fewer than the count right after the Sunday vote showed.

The representative of the National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary also secured a single seat in parliament, the deputy usually votes alongside Fidesz party-lines.

Freedom House: Albania and Serbia are more advanced democracies than Hungary

Freedom House (FH), an American-based non-profit NGO that monitors the situation of democracy and political freedoms, has released its latest democracy report on the countries of the post-Soviet region.

FH already put Hungary from the democracies to hybrid regimes in 2019, which by definition means that elections are held in the country, but democratic institutions are fragile and political and civil liberties are not enforced in all circumstances.

The sad novelty of this year's report is that for the first time in the 21st century, the dominant regime in the region was the hybrid regime, pushing democracies out.

FH marked 2004 as the start of the democratic decline in the region, and listed four countries that have drifted into this gray zone: Hungary, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia.

“The ranks of hybrid regimes have been swollen by elected leaders in erstwhile democracies who abandoned any commitment to liberal democratic principles in their pursuit of a de facto monopoly on power. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary exemplifies this trend, and he has worked actively to propagate likeminded governments across Central and Eastern Europe.

Still playing the good democrat, he allowed competitive elections on April 3 of this year, but he and his Fidesz party pressed the entire state apparatus—along with the politically captured bulk of the civic and media sectors—into service against the opposition,” FH said.

“The vote was consequently not free, let alone fair. Now that Orbán has survived it, he is likely to give full vent to his illiberal and kleptocratic tendencies. Much the same could be said of President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia, who, along with his Serbian Progressive Party, swept that country’s April 3 elections,” FH added.

Paying in rubles for Russian gas is not a violation of sanctions

The payment in rubles for Russian gas is not a violation of EU sanctions, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said on Saturday.

“The EU so far has no common procurement of gas and oil for European countries. So as we speak, we still go by alongside those contracts we have with Russians regarding gas and oil, and according to those contracts, it is a technical issue, in what currency we have to pay,” Kovács said, in an interview given to CNN.

“So it is not going around any sanction policy, as you well know, the Hungarian population and the Hungarian economy is dependent on 80 % of Russian gas, it is not a situation we created, it has been inherited without any alternatives,” Kovács also said.

Kovács, the Minister for International Communication commented following a statement of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said Friday that such a move was a violation of the EU sanctions directed against Russia.

“We did an analysis of the decree of Putin, and the legal case is very clear. What Putin is suggesting – this transforming euros into rubles and then paying the gas bill — would be a breach of sanctions. If you do that, pay in rubles, you breach the sanctions, you circumvent the sanctions we put on Russia,” EU Commission President von der Leyen told CNN in an interview on Friday.

Earlier this week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that his country would be willing to pay for Russian gas in rubles after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree stipulating that, ‘unfriendly countries’ would be required to pay for gas in the Russian currency.

“So far Hungary has stuck to the sanctions, so until we don’t see the opposite, it’s fine. Never before have we seen the European Union so united, so determined, so fast. And I think for each of our member states, also a question, do I want to be the first one to break that unity? I think no,” she said.

Kovács also recalled that it was important to know that there were no physical alternatives to Russian oil and gas: “So these are the facts, so going for energy and paying for energy for us, is going to happen, we see the very strong rhetoric coming from different corners of Europe and even from Ukraine, that we should stop it: it’s impossible.”

Kovács also noted that despite the currency issues, Budapest was committed to abiding by its policy of sticking with the Euro-Atlantic alliance: “We stand a 100 pc with EU decisions and NATO decisions: we look for peace, whatever it cost, however it’s achieved, truce and peace should come as soon as possible.”

The EU was in discussions with Budapest about the currency issue, according to Von der Leyen.

Gábor Bencsik: political bias of public TV channel M1 unsustainable

"Now, after a 4th 2/3 triumph, which I do welcome, let me take a deep breath and say what everyone on the political right knows very well: the political bias of Hungarian public television is unsustainable," Gábor Bencsik, a journalist for the Magyar Demokrata (hard right), posted on his Facebook page.

"It is simply impossible for opposition politicians to be virtually unable to set foot in the studios, news commentators and experts come exclusively from institutions close to the parties in power, news programs present long pro-government editorials as news, while opposition opinions are mostly wrapped in pro-government denials."

Bencsik got especially annoyed by the fact that Péter Márki-Zay, the candidate for prime minister of the opposition alliance, had only been given five minutes before the election, but now - that the interview has no stakes anymore - was invited to Tamás Lánczi's 48-minute program.

"Hungarian public service television is also the television of the other half of the country, leaning towards the opposition, their taxes also pay for the public TV, it is time to start behaving accordingly," Bencsik concluded.

Members of the opposition were not impressed by the peculiar post of Bencsik. “The public media is only trying to score good points to lighten the penalty in the conditionality mechanism,” socialiste MEP Istvan Ujhelyi reacted.

“Instead of a real shift in its policy, it is more likely that Fidesz, who is desperately in need of the withheld EU funds, is trying to show how much change is coming in the public media,” anticorruption opposition figure Akos Hadhazy, said.

The European Commission has formally notified Hungary that they are activating the mechanism in the European Union budget, which links EU funding to the rule of law.

The State does not facilitate the employment of Ukrainian refugees

More and more people fleeing Ukraine - who decided to stay in Hungary - are looking for work.

Currently, there would be plenty of work for Ukrainian refugees, but the paperwork and permits needed take up a lot of time, usually more than a month, and the refugees are being sent back and forth between different official institutions.

State aid is ridiculously low and lasts for only 45 days.

Some of the refugees came with some cash, while others had no savings at all and could only rely on donations. By now, most of them start to run out of money and have but two options left: either they continue to survive on donations and a meager public aid, or they try to find work.

Refugees have started to look for work very seriously, according to volunteers helping refugees in the BOK Hall.

The construction industry, where Ukrainian labor has often been employed so far, could absorb many of them. László Koji, the president of the National Association of Construction Entrepreneurs (ÉVOSZ), confirmed that the job search process has started among the refugees.

ÉVOSZ acts as a bridge between entrepreneurs and jobseekers. They published a list of the businesses where refugees are welcome and they can help refugees with the search itself.

A few hundred people have applied for all kinds of jobs so far: trained workers, skilled workers, engineers, according to Koji.

Mostly medium-sized and large companies offer jobs to refugees, and most of these companies already have experience with Ukrainian workers, so language skills are not a problem either, Koji added.

The most difficult problem to solve is what to do with the kids while the parents are working, in this respect, entrepreneurs usually seek the help of local governments.

One of the Kremlin's harshest Hungarian-language propaganda sites organizes pro-Putin demonstration

A demonstration in support of Putin's war will be held in Budapest on April 30, according to oroszhirek.hu.

The page is one of the most disturbing Kremlin propaganda pages in Hungarian, and includes titles such as: "Video evidence of Ukrainians placing the bodies in Buca.”

(The fake news of Bucha was uncovered by Lakmusz.)

The short march in support of the war will start from Heroes' Square and will end before the Russian Embassy on Andrássy Avenue.

The Facebook event of the demonstration begins with: "Enough of the lying media! Enough of the Ukrainian and EU, US lies! Enough of the sanctions!”

Organizers also welcome drivers, bikers, and cyclists alike.

The event is organized by a Facebook site called “EU free of war, lies and theft”, which posts pro-Putin fake videos from sites such as oroszhirek.hu.

Oroszhirek.hu was the propaganda site that said Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had fled Kiev during the first days of the war.

Filled ballot papers supporting the opposition were burned in Transylvania

A reader of Atlatszo.ro, the Romanian edition of Átlátszó, found some 30 filled out ballots in Transylvania, near Jeddar, which were undoubtedly cast for opposition parties.

Pictures taken from the ballots show a bunch of ballot papers cast for opposition parties United for Hungary and the Mi Hazánk opposition party, along with the envelopes in which they should have reached the counting centers.

A full bag of ballot papers lay on the road, including the half-burned ballot papers cast for the opposition, local journalist Boróka Parászka said on her Facebook page Thursday.

It is obvious that the RMDSZ (Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) and the Hungarian Association of Transylvania were unable to guarantee that the votes cast reached the counting centers, she added.

Transylvania is not the only place where there are problems with the handling of votes by mail. Last week, 444 reported that activists linked to NGOs close to Fidesz in Vojvodina, Serbia had taken over the delivery of the ballot papers from the post office, filling out ballot papers in many places were done in the presence of the activist, who volunteered to return and deliver the ballot papers.

Meanwhile, there were locally known non-Fidesz voters who did not receive their ballot papers at all.

“We always knew they were into election fraud, but now everyone can see what this means in practice,” the six-party opposition alliance said on its Facebook page following the scandal.

“It looks like more and more people in Transylvania think that Fidesz should go. And Fidesz is so terrified of defeat that they commit an evident election fraud: they literally try to make garbage out of the will of the electorate?” the alliance added.

“Our lawyers are already working on the next steps because we will no longer let Fidesz and Orban cheat. They cannot cheat so openly at home - this is ensured by twenty thousand opposition activists in the polling stations,” according to United for Hungary, which called on the National Election Office to launch an examination of the event, and also called on to ban the whole vote by mailing system in general.

V4 - suspended until further notice

A meeting scheduled for Wednesday in Budapest of the Visegrád Group or V4 was canceled after Polish and Czech defense ministers decided not to attend due to Hungary's ties to the Kremlin.

“A meeting of defense ministers from the so-called V4 group will be held at a later date,” the Hungarian defense ministry informed on Tuesday, without further details

Earlier, Polish Minister Mariusz Blaszczak had announced that he "would not go" to Budapest. Her Czech counterpart Jana Cernochova also said last week that she would not go there: ”They have elections and it is not right for me to participate in the campaign," she tweeted, referring to the upcoming parliamentary elections on April 3.

"I have always supported V4 and I am very sorry that Hungarian politicians now find cheap Russian oil more important than Ukrainian blood," she added.

The leader of the parliamentary group of the Polish New Left (opposition) party, Krzysztof Gawkowski, welcomed Mr. Blaszczak's decision to snub the meeting: ”It's very good that he is not going. The Hungarians must be punished for their position which is pro-Russian," he said.

Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, who was also invited, also confirmed the cancellation of the meeting, according to local press.

The Visegrád group (V4), was founded in 1991 in the midst of the post-communist transition, bringing together Poland, Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia.

These Central-Eastern European countries, all members of NATO, had been particularly active during the "migration crisis" of 2015, refusing the system of quotas for the distribution of some of the refugees proposed by Brussels.

But Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlighted the differences within the coalition, as Orbán, who is too close for comfort to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is keen to stay out of the conflict.

Other V4 members are at the forefront of the EU’s and NATO’s sanctions and plans against Russia, while Orbán’s media is still acting as a channel for misinformation and propaganda from Russia’s RT and Sputnik TV, and blaming the Ukrainians for the war.

Orbán’s double-talk is clearly seen as unacceptable by its regional (former) allies.

Russian hackers within the Hungarian MFA

Putin’s hackers gained full access to Hungary’s foreign ministry networks, the Orbán government has been unable to stop them, local investigative site Direkt36 informed earlier this week.

“According to former intelligence officials, the cyber attack trail suggests that hacker groups working for Russian intelligence are clearly behind the operations against Hungary’s foreign ministry,” Direkt36 said.

Direkt36 uncovered the Russian intelligence operations against the Hungarian foreign ministry and the inadequacy of Hungarian counterintelligence measures, going back at least a decade, with the help of foreign ministry documents and more than thirty background interviews.

The site says that these hackers work for the Federal Security Service, FSB, which was previously headed by Putin, and for the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU.

Direct36 also underlines: “What makes the news even more worrisome, is that these hacker groups have been well known to the Hungarian State authorities for a long time, as they have been continuously attacking Hungarian government networks for at least a decade.”

Hungarian diplomacy has become practically an open book for Moscow through the hacking of the ministry’s networks, according to the report, and Russians are able to know in advance what the Hungarian foreign ministry is thinking and planning, and all of this is happening at a very sensitive time.

Russian infiltration remained active before and partly after the invasion of Ukraine, during the current EU and NATO crisis summits. Meanwhile, there is absolutely no sign about the Hungarian government publicly protesting to Russia about the cyber-espionage.

Former Hungarian intelligence and security officers who had worked on Russian intelligence-related fields and had concrete information on many of the cases described in this article contributed to the dating findings. Sources familiar with the internal affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade also shared information about the ministry’s handling of the cyberattack.

Following the publication of this in-depth article, Szijjártó’s ministry refused to comment directly but replied to other media outlets: “We do not pay attention to campaign lies.”

Orban’s party keeps its advantage in polls a few days before elections

Less than a week before the elections, Viktor Orbán’s political formation maintained its lead over the opposition alliance.

Less than week ahead of the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary elections, recently conducted major polls all point to a fourth consecutive victory of Orbán's Fidesz party, and also to a record turnout reaching as high as 80 percent at the elections on Sunday.

According to a survey conducted by Medián late March, the ruling party kept its February positions, with 40% of the population and 50% of eligible voters a few days before voting.

The joint opposition list was supported by 32 % of the voting population and 40 % of eligible voters, according to the poll published Wednesday by Medián. No other party would get into parliament.

Medián also informed that its survey showed a dramatically divided Hungary: 87 percent of Fidesz voters said Hungary was going in the right direction, while 8 percent said it was headed for a bad turn.

On the other hand, 95 percent of opposition voters said Hungary was headed in the wrong direction, versus only 2 percent who said things were going in the right way.

According to another pollster, Závecz research’s latest poll conducted before the elections, Fidesz was 39 percent popular in the general population, ahead of the opposition alliance, which stood at 36 percent in the week of March 21.

Just like Medián, Zavecz Research also dismissed the possibility of other parties making it through the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter the parliament.

A recent survey done between March 16-18 by the liberal Republikon Institute predicted a close race between governing Fidesz and the six-party alliance of opposition parties, with a difference within the margin of error.

According to Republikon, Fidesz has a slight, 41 percent lead among the total population compared to the 39 percent support of the allied opposition parties. Strangely, Publicus came out with the exact same numbers on Wednesday.

Overall, Fidesz still has a relatively comfortable advantage, but the expected results show a parliamentary majority well below two-thirds, and smaller parties do not appear to have strengthened in recent weeks, Vox Populi commented on the recent numbers.

Vox Populi also recalled that a surprise was still in the realm of possible scenarios on election night, as the margin of error of the Hungarian pollster was very high, due to a very divided society, and limited resources for polling agencies.

The opposition alliance can find hope in the fact that opinion polls in general are still distorted in favor of Fidesz, as it has been the case in the 2019 municipal elections, Vox Populi concluded.

“About opinion polls, I can only say that I belong to politicians who have lost all polls, but have never lost an election,” Péter Márki-Zay, the challenger of Orbán, said following the publication of the latest results.

Curia rules against government in LGBTQ case

Last year, a bookshop chain has been fined 250,000 forints for selling an LGBTQ book, a children’s story depicting a day in the life of a child with same-sex parents.

Following the penalty, the company went to court, and the Budapest District Court has ruled that the punishment was unlawful.

The government office filed for an appeal, but it was rejected by the Curia, which acts as a Supreme Court in Hungary. The decision was final: the punishment of the government was unlawful.

Two courts have ruled: there is no place for punishment in Hungary if a storybook includes families with small children, who have same-sex parents, the Foundation for Rainbow families, the publisher of the book said on its Facebook page.

“The final verdict is very important for the families concerned, especially in the light of the recent decisions of the last years that had an adverse, and stigmatizing effect,” the foundation added.

“Every young child deserves the right to recognize itself or its parents in a storybook,” the foundation also underlined, adding that they did not understand why the government was so eager to impose a fine.

At the time, the government argued that Líra Csoport had violated rules on unfair commercial practices by failing to clearly indicate that the book contained “content which deviates from the norm”.

The picture book, “Micsoda család!”, is a Hungarian translation combining two storybooks by American author Lawrence Schimel and illustrator Elīna Brasliņa: Early One Morning, which shows a young boy’s morning with his two mothers, and Bedtime, Not Playtime!, which tells about a young girl who is reluctant to go to sleep, and has two dads.

“In these stories, the fact that the parents are two mums or two dads is incidental to the story, as it is to the daily lives of children in rainbow families. These families don’t only experience homophobia, they also have fun,” Schimel commented on the fine last year.

Hungarian government opens new facility for refugees

The Defense Committee of Budapest opened a huge transit hall for the refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine on Monday.

The new transit hall is very close to the large Keleti railway station of the Hungarian capital.

The facility provides free services such as a heated waiting room, interpreting services, a baby and children's corner, toilets, medical care, mobile phone charging stations as well as internet access.

“On site personnel will help refugees with organizing accommodation, travel and administration of asylum applications,” the Hungarian government said in a statement before the opening.

Humanitarian organizations are able to distribute food, toiletries and other donations to the people fleeing war, according to the statement, adding that an international ticket office would also be part of the facility.

The new facility also provides assistance in helping the transport of refugees: an international MAV (Hungarian national railways) ticket office has been opened in the waiting room, and passengers are provided access to the main railway stations as well as to the Liszt Ferenc International Airport.

The Prime Minister’s office said that the new facility was necessary because the government was expecting to deal with a larger influx of refugees in the future.

So far, MAV has given some 120,000 free tickets to refugees from Ukraine, the railway company informed on Monday.

MAV also informed that most refugees quit Hungary towards Austria, Germany and Poland.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video message posted on his Facebook page, that more than 500,000 refugees have entered Hungary in the last three weeks.

More than half of them came directly through the Ukrainian border, while the rest came through Hungary by crossing the Romanian border, according to the International Communication Office of the Hungarian government.

Orbán also visited the new shelter on Tuesday. “People are coming here from Transcarpathia, but now most of them are coming from the interior of Ukraine – mostly from the cities under military attack and bombardment.”

“For them to flee is a shocking experience, a traumatic experience,” Orban underlined.

“We are providing special care for the children, there is a medical service, and soon there will be employment agency representatives,” he added.

Orban also said that the majority of refugees would move on to other countries, but for those who chose to stay, Hungary had many jobs to offer.

Government confirms Orbán was seeking a large EU credit line

Viktor Orbán urged the President of the European Commission to give Hungary access to the EU's reconstruction fund as soon as possible. Orbán also asked Ursula von der Leyen to provide the country with the credit line that the Prime Minister had personally refused in Brussels last April.

444 was the first to report about a letter sent to Brussels by Viktor Orbán last Friday, and three hours later the government published the letter on its website, abbreviated in Hungarian and in full English.

“Hungary only asks for immediate and effective access to EU funds allocated to it, and to be able to use them in a flexible way for the purposes best suited to dealing with the crisis,” Orbán wrote.

“I ask the Commission to approve, as a matter of urgency, the Recover and Resilience Plans, Partnership Agreements and operational programmes of the Member States protecting the eastern borders of the European Union,” Orbán added.

In order for the Hungarian government to have access to the money, it would be necessary for the European Commission to accept the Hungarian plan for spending it. For a year now, the Hungarian government has failed to submit a plan which, according to the Commission, meets the criteria set by the Member States.

In his letter, Orbán also calls for the criteria to be relaxed: “I ask the Commission to allow rapid, targeted and flexible use of EU budgetary resources by removing pre-financing, co-financing and transferability limits.”

Benedek Jávor, the representative of the Budapest City Council in the EU told Klub Radio that seemingly Orbán does not understand how the spending of EU funds occur, this is not Russia when the President wants something paid and gets it done with a phone or a letter, the Hungarian government failed to provide a credible recovery plan, failed to justify the spending of the money, and failed to provide insurance against the corruption surrounding the disbursement of EU funds.”

On Thursday, government media started to publish news about the success of Orbán’s letter, with the head of International Communications Zoltán Kovács tweeting: “Mission accomplished: In response to PM Orbán’s letter, Hungary received 300 million euros of support from RRF.”

The original Hungarian statement was very vague, used conditional and failed to mention which EU fund the money was coming from, a day later, Brussels correspondent Katalin Halmai tweeted: “FYI: Hungary has no approved recovery plan and cannot receive a eurocent from the RRF. If HUN receives 300 million euros from Brussels it would come from various funds released by the Commission to help countries most affected by the war. It's nothing to do with Orban’s letter.”

OSCE denounces unfair Hungarian election system in preliminary report

OSCE concluded a 16-page preliminary report ahead of next week’s general elections, listing a series of concerns that all point to an unfair event, where all the circumstances favor the government. The report says that election campaigning by public officials is commonplace, and goes hand in hand with the massive use of administrative resources in the elections campaign.

Under the media legal framework, the report mentions a "systemic political bias and a virtual absence of opposition politicians in the programmes of the public broadcaster.”

It also takes note of the increased concentration of media ownership, and a distortion of the advertisement market which is dominated by government commercials.

The amount of money that can be spent on the campaign of the referendum concurrent with the elections is unlimited, and initiated by the government. In addition, spending on referendum campaigns is not limited or subject to any disclosure or reporting requirements.

According to consultations of the OSCE, this issue is a ground for concerns, as this lack of regulation facilitates the government’s considerable spending on the referendum campaign.

A recent change in the definition of residency may result in so-called voter-tourism, i.e a kind of tactical relocation of voters to constituencies too close to call. A fact that would only add to the gerrymandering process that has been going on for several years.

Voting by correspondence in case of ethnic Hungarians living outside of Hungary, mostly in Romania, Ukraine and Serbia, was also criticized for its limited security guarantees.

Opposition MPs have revealed that the Hungarian election authorities have not revised the list of voters and as such, may contain the date of several hundreds, if not thousands of people already deceased. In theory, anyone could cast their vote in their place.

Contrary to Hungarian ethnic minorities, several hundreds of thousands of Hungarians have left the country to work abroad, mostly in the UK and in Germany, they kept their citizenship and maintained a domicile in Hungary.

Because they are not known to be Fidesz-voters, they cannot vote by post, but only in person at the diplomatic missions abroad, which often requires them to travel a long way to cast their votes.

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Orbán and Márki-Zay rally supporters on national holiday

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his challenger Péter Márki-Zay both showed confidence as they rallied supporters less than three weeks before the general elections.

“We have to win these elections, and we will triumph, and at that point: we will have peace, security and calm in Hungary,” Orbán said before the crowd gathered on Kossuth square.

March 15 is the National Holiday of Hungary, when the country commemorates the anniversary of the 1848 revolution against the Austrian Empire. Nationwide, plenty of ceremonies remember the revolution that started 174 years ago, and had been crushed in 1849 with the help of the Russian empire.

Orban made little connection to the historic events, he used the occasion to concentrate on the upcoming elections, where he aims to get a fourth consecutive term in power.

“Neither the war, nor the left can divert us from our path,” he stressed.

The supporters of Orban, who filled up the whole square, and some of the surrounding streets, came to the capital city from the countryside with buses, and marched a couple of kilometers in a show of force for Orban's support, ahead of the general elections set for April 3.

Orban's campaign has been focused on a fierce anti-immigration and anti LBTQ message, mixed with a strong anti-EU rhetoric, but was forced to alter its message to one called “strategic calmness” because of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Orban accused his opposition of wanting to drag Hungary onto the conflict by wanting to send soldiers and weapons directly to Ukraine: “We cannot get caught between the Ukrainian anvil and the Russian hammer.”

He did not mention Russian President Putin by name, nor did he talk about who he thought was responsible for the war.

He spoke in length about the results of his government during the last twelve years, such as the creation of “a million new jobs” the “decrease of the price of utility bills, the birth of 200,000 more children than under the reign of the opposition”, and made it clear, that if the opposition lead by Peter Marki-Zay were to win, all the results would vanish.

He finished his speech with his trademark slogan “Let’s go Hungary let’s go Hungarians,” and the crowd replied by shouting: Viktor! Viktor!

On the other side of the Danube River, before the University of Technics, the united opposition also organized a big rally, drawing tens of thousands of supporters.

Following other party leaders, Márki-Zay accused Orban of “having committed a terrible crime against the people, because he divided the country, he turned Hungarians against one another, and corrupted the words such as ‘people,’ or ‘nation’.”

“On election day, we must vote to be a one nation again: we cannot be outsiders in our own country,” he underlined.

Orban’s Fidesz party is leading in the polls, but the margin of error in Hungary is larger than usual, and analysts warn that the next elections could be the hardest for Central-Europe’s strong man.

“Orbán showed confidence.. of course, it’s what all politicians do, but he is one who had already lost elections, even ones where polls said he would win,” analyst Gábor Török said following the demonstrations.

Orbán misses the train to Kyiv

“It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is here that freedom fights against the world of tyranny. It is here that the future of us all hangs in the balance. EU supports UA, which can count on the help of its friends - we brought this message to Kyiv today,” the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted.

He traveled to the besieged Ukrainian capital in the company of his colleagues the Czech Petr Fiala and the Slovenian Janez Jansa, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, Jarosław Kaczyński,.

The message sounds especially interesting in Hungary, not only because the country celebrated the Hungarian War of Independence on March 15, but because the Hungarian government was not represented in this Central European mission.

A spokesman for Orbán said the prime minister knew about the visit but was not going to Kyiv at this time.

The Hungarian-Polish political alliance seems to be weakening because of the war. It seems that Hungarian foreign policy is basically just waiting for the elections, while the government’s main ally Poland has become a dominant player, trying to seize the moment through its commitment to Western values and tries to settle its relations with the West.

Solidarity with Ukraine in Poland is now limitless.

According to a study by Political Capital, the government media is trying to communicate the issue in two directions (pro Russian and Western) at the same time, the results is that the Polish and the Hungarian governments now have radically different ways of speaking of the war.

The resignation of the Honorary Hungarian Consul in Szczecin, Poland a few days ago is also related to the recent conduct of the government. Balázs Artur, who previously held a ministerial post in Warsaw has been representing Hungary for ten years.

He found the official Hungarian position on the war untenable, after waiting in vain for Hungary to hand over arms shipments to Ukraine or for Viktor Orbán to completely and clearly stand up and speak up for Ukraine.

According to a leaked letter from the Hungarian embassy, Artur also coordinated his move with the leadership of the Polish party in power PiS, making the resignation an unofficial warning to Fidesz.

Not enough fuel?

The government introduced new measures to stop panic buying at local fuel stations.

Last weekend, several customers tried in vain to fill up their cars or trucks, as many fuel stations simply ran out of fuel.

The Hungarian government introduced three new measures at the end of last week to curb the panic buying and fuel tourism that developed in recent days at Hungarian fuel stations across the country.

The new measures announced last Thursday late night went into effect immediately after the announcement: heavy vehicles over 7.5 tons will only be allowed to fill up at specified gas stations where fuel is available at market prices.

This applies to both Hungarian and foreign trucks, and also applies to smaller foreign trucks and lighter utility vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons.

People spreading false news or creating panic about lack of fuel or supply problems will be severely sanctioned.

The government also decided to lower the excise tax by 20 forints per liter. However, the price cap of 480 forint per liter for both diesel and gasoline will certainly be maintained until May 15.

Finally, the government also decided to introduce a truck driving ban in effect over the long weekend (because of the National Holiday on March 15, Hungarians have a long weekend from March 12 to 16).

Authorities investigate drone that crashed in Zagreb

“Our authorities are investigating what happened, as according to the currently available data, the airspace of several NATO member states, including Hungary, was involved in the flight of the drone,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a Facebook post after a Soviet military-tactical reconnaissance robotic plane crashed near Lake Jarun in the center of Zagreb last Thursday.

A three-meter-diameter crater was formed at the crash site.

“We are working closely with the Croatian authorities and other NATO allies on the investigations,” Szijjártó also said, adding that he has already consulted with the Croatian Foreign Minister, Gordan Grlić Radman.

According to the data collected so far by the Croatian authorities, the drone entered Croatian airspace from east to west, i.e. from Hungarian airspace, at a speed of 700 kilometers per hour at an altitude of 1,300 meters.

Benedek Jávor, the mayor's chief adviser on EU affairs, pointed out that the escaped drone could have easily hit anyone, and it passed through the Hungarian airspace in such a way that the Hungarian army did not see it, let alone shoot it down.

According to him, the fact that the Hungarian Air Force did not do anything about the most probable type of threat (an unknown aircraft moving from the neighbor), raises many questions.

Criminal and military investigative authorities are also involved, and international consultations are under way, in particular with NATO, to explore all circumstances of the incident.

Hungarian government allows deployment and transit of NATO troops

Hungary’s government issued a decree on Monday allowing NATO troops to be deployed in western Hungary and weapons shipments to cross its territory by land or by air to other NATO member states.

The decree was signed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and published in the official gazette on Monday.

The decree goes against the earlier position of the Hungarian government, that was against the presence of NATO troops in the country.

“There are already NATO soldiers in Hungary: the Hungarian Armed Forces, which is a NATO unit. The Hungarian Armed Forces are in good condition to defend the country, so there is no need for external troops,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said last month.

The decree was also forbidding the transit of “lethal weapons” across the country bound for Ukraine.

"A decree has been issued making clear that weapons may not be delivered to the territory of Ukraine from the territory of Hungary," Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video message posted on his Facebook page following a meeting of the National Security Operative Corps.

The Hungarian government said from the start of the war that it would not allow NATO weapons transiting to Ukraine across its territory, but also said that it would refuse NATO troops on its territory.

Orbán also underlined that military operations were moving closer to Ukraine's border with Hungary, and said he expected the number of refugees would rise.

In this regard, he said decisions were taken "to ensure smooth cooperation between the authorities and civil organizations”.

“They lied that NATO weapons will not be transported through Hungary, and Fidesz did not even want to allow NATO defense forces a few weeks ago,” opposition figure András Fekete-Győr commented on the government's recent decision.

“The result: NATO weapons can be transported to Ukraine via Hungary, but only if they are not sent through the Hungarian-Ukrainian border. In practice, if the consignments bypass the Hungarian-Ukrainian border via neighboring Slovakia or Romania, the same goal will be achieved. This is not strategic calm (whatever that means), but strategic lying,” he added.

"Strategic calm" is the name Orbán gave to his government's policy regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Opposition stages protest in front of MTVA headquarters.

The 1,500-people strong protest was announced to stand up against the "Lies, falsifications and the spread of Russian propaganda in support of the aggressor, affecting the outcome of the elections.”

The speakers of the event were Ákos Hadházy, Bernadett Szél, László Varju, Tímea Szabó, Koloman Brenner, István Újhelyi, among others.

The main speaker of the demonstration was Péter Márki-Zay, the opposition's candidate for prime minister.

Ákos Hadházy reminded the participants of the demonstration that MTVA was shamelessly pushing government propaganda with a budget of hundreds of billions.

Timea Szabó recalled and deplored that since 2013, members of the opposition were practically excluded from the MTVA’s building.

Péter Márki-Zay spoke about the false news of the government, accusing the opposition of wanting to send weapons to Ukraine in connection with the Ukrainian war.

"The brainwashed masses will never hear it, but in fact Viktor Orbán is the one transporting weapons as he voted for the weapons transport together with other EU member states,” he said. However, the public media never talks about the spy bank, about the record deficit, the fuel shortage, the reasons behind the record inflation and the weakness of the local currency. Orbán is a traitor, Márki-Zay summed up.

Opposition parties want:

• their election program to be shown in the public media
  
• the end to the spreading of Russian propaganda
  
• that Orbán participate in an open debate,
  

Márki-Zay concluded by saying they wanted to transforms Hungary into a country where the rule of law prevailed.

Novák elected as president

Hungary's parliament Thursday elected Katalin Novák as the country's first female president for a five-year term, winning over economist Peter Rona in a vote split along party lines.

The ruling Fidesz Party and its junior coalition ally, the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP), which hold 133 seats in the 199-member parliament, nominated Novak for her first term.

Left-wing opposition parties nominated International economist professor Peter Rona, but his nomination was rather symbolic, as Novak’s election was assured by the two-third majority of Fidesz.

“The parliamentary parties for Unity in Hungary do not consider it fair that a few weeks before the end of their term, the majority of the current parliament, Fidesz, decides who will hold the presidency of the republic,” united opposition parties said, a day before Novák's election.

The Hungarian president is elected by parliament. To be elected in the first round of voting, a candidate must receive two-thirds of the vote.

Novák, a former minister without portfolio for families in the Orbán government, will become Hungary’s first female president when she takes office in May 10.

“Hungarians want peace. We women do not want to win the war, we want peace,” Novák said, before taking oath.

She is taking over from incumbent president János Áder, who is ending his second term as president. Áder took office in May 2012 following the resignation of his predecessor, Pál Schmitt, who became involved in a plagiarism scandal.

Novák was born in 1977. She studied Economics at the Corvinus University of Budapest and Law at the University of Szeged, including studies at Paris Nanterre University. She speaks French, English and German. She started working in politics back in 2001 (during the first Orbán administration) at the Foreign Ministry, specializing in European matters. In 2010, she became a ministerial advisor, and two years later she was appointed Head of Cabinet of the Ministry of Human Capacities (EMMI).

In 2014, she was named EMMI’s State Secretary for Family and Youth Affairs, eventually becoming Minister of Family Affairs in October 2020.

Between 2017 and 2021, she also served as one of Fidesz’s vice-presidents.

She suspended her party membership upon her nomination as a prerequisite to serving as the country's president.

Hungarian currency hits rock bottom at 400 forints for one euro

The Hungarian national currency, the forint, hit record lows against the euro 400 HUF/EUR on Monday.

The Hungarian currency reached a record 399.98 to the euro. The forint also dropped to new lows against the USD and the CHF at 367.90 and 399.03 forints, respectively.

The forint has plunged almost 10% against the euro to a record low since the start of the war in Ukraine. It’s among the biggest losers in the world.

The central bank’s (MNB) intervention of raising its one-week deposit rate proved to be in vain.

The rapid weakening of the forint is also adding to the inflation pressure, already at an astonishing level: The annual price growth accelerated to an almost 15-year high of 7.9% in January and reached 8.3% in February.

“The war makes the forint weak,” local business portal Portfolio commented on the negative record of the Hungarian currency.

“It is not yet clear where this weakening will end, investors are now paying close attention to the news of the Russo-Ukrainian war, as long as the current war conflict persists, it is difficult to imagine a serious calm in the exchange rate,” according to Portfolio.

Government condemns Russian invasion

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán condemned Russia’s war waged against Ukraine, in a video posted on his Facebook page last Thursday.

"We condemn Russia's military action with our European Union and NATO allies," Orbán said in a video posted on his Instagram and Facebook pages following a meeting of the National Security cabinet.

The Hungarian prime minister spoke for the first time after Russia launched an invasion in Ukraine early Thursday morning.

Orbán also participated last week in the EU’s emergency meeting in Brussels.

The Hungarian chief of government also said that the Hungarian military forces were making preparations for the arrival of Hungarian minorities living in Ukraine as refugees: “Our military and designated police units have begun work on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Kiev decided to sever diplomatic relations with Moscow after Russia crossed Ukrainian borders and launched military operations in Donbass.

Earlier Thursday last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized what he euphemistically called "special military operation," and Ukraine confirmed that military installations across the country were under attack.

The Ukrainian President declared martial law in the country following Russia's aggression. In a week, several hundred thousands of refugees left Ukraine, mostly through Poland, but also through Hungary.

Orbán made a statement on Wednesday, following a meeting of his Cabinet: “We reaffirmed Hungary’s continued resolve to send neither troops nor weapons to Ukraine. We reaffirmed that, in addition to this, no weapons will be allowed to pass through Hungary’s territory towards Ukraine. Our primary consideration is the lives and security of the Hungarian people, including Hungarians living in Transcarpathia.”

“We cannot and shall not take any decisions that would lead others to target either settlements or people in Hungary, or Hungarians – and Ukrainians – living in Transcarpathia. It is of paramount importance for Hungary to stay out of this war. At the same time, Ukraine is our friend; they are in distress, and those in distress must be helped,” the statement added.

“We have launched one of the largest humanitarian operations in Hungary’s history. As a first step, we are sending 600 million forints’ worth of food, hygiene supplies and childcare products,” the statement concluded

Opposition turns to OSCE over false media coverage

“Hungarian united opposition parties find it unacceptable that the state and the pro-government media, which are publicly funded, play a role in spreading Putin’s war propaganda,” opposition parties wrote in their statement.

“That is why the members of the opposition federation turn to the OSCE mission in Hungary,” the statement added.

“It is literally impossible to watch how reality is distorted in the state media about the Russian aggression, also, the Hungarian opposition parties’ positions are taken out of their context, completely changing their original meaning. This practice is reprehensible and particularly irresponsible, given that the European Union is already penalizing Russian media companies that spread Putin's war propaganda,” they underlined.

On Saturday, Prime Minister-candidate Péter Márki-Zay also demanded that "the broadcasting of Russian propaganda in the Hungarian public media be suspended with immediate effect". On the same issue, Péter Ungár from green opposition party LMP turned to the national media council.

444 has already reported about the false news inundating public media, for instance, the Ukrainian president was sometimes portrayed as Adolf Hitler, whereas the Russian aggressors were shown as a calm force, and the Ukrainians were associated with the threat of World War III.

But the “blame the victim” attitude against Ukraine is overwhelming not only in the official media, but also in the pro-government social media.

When many people in Ukraine, which is neighboring Hungary, are still losing their lives to protect their homes, it would be extremely important to provide accurate information and fair presentation of political discourse, according to the opposition.

In the current war situation, the strict minimum is that the state media, which is maintained for more than HUF 130 billion of taxpayers money, should meet these basic requirements, the opposition parties stressed.

Hungarians welcome refugees from Ukraine

Villages close to the Ukrainian border united their efforts to help Ukrainian refugees arriving in Hungary.

Volunteers are present at every border station, and have set up reception points, where they welcome people from Ukraine with hot beverages, food, and also organize free transportation for them to other parts of Hungary.

In the first wave, the big majority of people from Ukraine belonged to the Hungarian ethnic minority of Transcarpathia, and spoke Hungarian, so there was no need to provide interpreters, and most people had where to go.

Humanitarian organizations are also ready to give legal counsel to the few that would want to apply for asylum in Hungary. But currently, there is little need for that. A situation that might change in the future.

The majority of the Ukrainians were taken to relatives or friends at the border station, but small and mid-sized vans were carrying those who were on their own to neighboring villages’ cultural centers or sports halls, which were turned into a temporary shelter.

Most of the refugees are reluctant to speak to the press, let alone give their names. Sometimes older couples pass through the border with their daughters and grandchildren, but mostly it’s just young women with children.

A young mother of three refused to leave the welcome point at the border without her husband, who came earlier to Hungary, in order to avoid military service in Ukraine, where the government forbade males aged 18-60 to leave the country.

She was later reunited with him at the village shelter some 10 kilometers from the border.

Local volunteer drivers said they started transporting people from the border station to the shelter as soon as the war broke out.

On Wednesday, the government said it has set up a humanitarian council to make the work of government actors and large charities even more coordinated and organized to help refugees in Ukraine, a government spokesman said at a news conference.

According to Alexandra Szentkirályi, the council formed under the leadership of Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, includes representatives of public education, higher education, social and child protection, health care, regional administration, labor, national politics, Hungary Helps and transport.

Alexandra Szentkirályi said that since February 24, almost 104,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Hungary, more than 1,300 of whom have been resettled with the support of the Hungarian State.

More than HUF 200 million has been offered via a donation line so far, she added.

According to her, state-owned companies were also helping, those arriving from Ukraine can travel for free on MÁV-Start lines, and Volánbusz provides buses to transport refugees at four border locations and at Budapest's main railway stations.

The government spokeswoman recalled that the delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó had transported 30 tons of food and 100,000 liters of fuel to Transcarpathia on Sunday, and on Monday they decided that food, baby care and hygiene products worth HUF 600 million would also be sent.

On Thursday, Gulyás said before journalists that Hungary and the V4 do not support the EU Commission’s proposal to grant immediate refugee of war protection in the EU for those fleeing the war in Ukraine, that would grant the refugees a residence permit and an immediate access to the labor market.

Gulyás insisted that a general refugee status was given by Hungary and that this status was recognized throughout Europe

Hungary supports swift EU accession of Ukraine

Hungary supports Ukraine's accelerated EU accession, supports the request made by eight EU member states on Monday to include Ukraine as a candidate for membership of the European Union and begin preparations for membership, Foreign Minister Szijjártó said Tuesday.

"We urge the Brussels institutions to put this request of the eight presidents on the agenda, which Hungary also supports,” Szijjarto informed in a video posted on his Facebook page. “We expect Brussels to take this initiative seriously,” he also said.

On Monday, eight Eastern and Central European countries said they would support Ukraine's immediate accession to the EU in a joint declaration.

“Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Poland, the Slovak Republic, and the Republic of Slovenia strongly believe that Ukraine deserves receiving an immediate EU accession perspective,” the declaration said.

Romania also joined the initiative on Tuesday.

The joint declaration was published after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had signed an application to join the EU, prompting Ukraine to become a member of the EU.

But EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen does not have the power to bestow the formal status of membership candidates, let alone grant EU membership to any country.

Decisions as such have to be agreed by all of the bloc's 27 member countries, who have shown divergent views recently on the issue of EU enlargement.

Asked about Kyiv’s membership prospects, European Council President Charles Michel admitted that there were “different opinions and sensitivities within the EU on enlargement.”

In spite of these differences, some Central European capitals are pushing for a signal that Kyiv has at least a path to membership, even if the accession process usually takes many years as would-be members work to align their societies, legal systems and economies with EU norms.

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Hungary slams European Court of Justice decision on rule of law

Hungary slammed the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and accused the top court of political bias and abuse of power following the ECJ’s decision on tying the disbursement of European funds to the rule of law.

In November of 2020, the EU adopted a mechanism that allows Brussels to cut EU funds from member states - such as Hungary and Poland - that do not maintain the democratic standards of the Union.

Hungary and Poland appealed against the decision at the ECJ, but in vain, as the top court rejected their legal challenge: “the Court of Justice, sitting as a full Court, dismisses the actions brought by Hungary and Poland against the conditionality mechanism which makes the receipt of financing from the Union budget subject to the respect by the Member States for the principles of the rule of law.”

"The decision is living evidence that Brussels is abusing its power," Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a Facebook post, a few minutes after the presentation of the verdict, which was streamed live and read in Hungarian by the ECJ.

"The Court of Justice of the European Union has made a political decision because of the Child Protection Act!" she said, referring to homophobic legislation adopted last year which bans the “promotion, and the representation” of homosexuality to minors.

"The verdict is another pressure on our country because we passed our child protection law in the summer," she said.

The Hungarian law discriminates against the country's LGBTQ community, according to both local and foreign critics, and earned Hungary an infraction procedure for the umpteenth time.

The mechanism "is intended to protect the Union budget from effects resulting... from breaches of the principles of the rule of law" and was thus allowed under EU treaties,” the ECJ noted in its ruling.

“The sound financial management of the Union budget and the financial interests of the Union may be seriously compromised by breaches of the principles of the rule of law committed in a Member State,” the ECJ also said.

The verdict puts Poland and Hungary to a tangible risk of seeing money cut from the billions in EU funding they receive.

“Fidesz finally lost the battle against the European Commission, the EU will now have the right to impose sanctions on member states that violate the rule of law,” joint opposition parties reacted in a statement, following the top court’s decision.

“The stakes of the April elections have become even clearer: if Fidesz wins, we will not have access to the resources intended for the Hungarian people, and for the Hungarian economy,” the opposition parties added.

Varga said before journalists that the solution to the problem would be the “Child Protection” referendum set on the same day as the general elections on April 3: “Even Brussels will not be able to ignore the voices of the Hungarian people,” she said, adding that the dispute was “never about the rule of law, but about the protection of children.”

This statement lacks some logic, as the new mechanism had been adopted way earlier (in 2020) than the adoption of the homophobic laws (in 2021), but Varga stormed out of the presser and gave no chance to journalists to confront her with the facts.

"The Court of Justice of the European Union has decided that it no longer gives money to thieves,” Péter Márki-Zay, the challenger of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a Facebook post.

“These funds are due to the Hungarians. We will send Orbán away and the new government will bring home the funds!” he added.

Hungarian NGOs have welcomed the ECJ’s verdict.

"Today's ruling underscores that the dismantling of the rule of law will have financial consequences and must lead to triggering the conditionality regulation without delay. The HHC has called out the deteriorating situation in Hungary for years now, and the European Commission has at its disposal the necessary information to make use of this new tool. The Hungarian government's latest attempts to attack the CJEU's independence should not be taken lightly: it is yet another challenge against the rule of law, this time at a European level. This must stop,” Márta Pardavi, co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee said in a statement.

Orbán launches election campaign in state of the nation speech

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered a political campaign speech masquerading as a state-of-the-nation speech, exactly 50 days before the general elections, on Saturday.

Orbán started his hour-long speech by recalling how the Hungarian government made a stand during the pandemic, whereas the situation in Europe was much worse: “Hungarian health care was outstanding, and the state administration, the police and the soldiers worked quickly and in a disciplined manner.”

“The country's ability to act was not in jeopardy for a moment and most people think Hungary defended itself quite well,” he said. “This was not the case in Europe: people's confidence had evaporated from governments and protests had to be suppressed by force,” he added.

If the Left governs, there is no money, he said, quickly switching to campaign mode: “The Iron Lady (Margaret Thatcher) said the problem with the Socialists was that they always run out of others' money. And indeed, they take money away from those who worked for it at first with high taxes. That’s being spent quickly, so they have to take out loans that they want to repay with the money that is being taken away from people again with even higher taxes,” he said.

“In the end, both taxes and debt are in the sky, and they have a crumbling economy: unemployment, austerity measures, mountains of debts, IMF: No money. If the Left rules, there is no money. It's always the end of the song,” he hinted at his political opponents.

Speaking of concrete measures, Orban announced that the fuel price cap (set at 480 forints) would be extended for another three months, until May 15.

He also said that the coronavirus vaccine factory in Debrecen would be operational by the end of the year.

Orbán warned that the Hungarian hard stance on migration would be only “alive as long as Fidesz was in power.”

“The Hungarian defensive lines stand on the border only as long as Fidesz is in government, because Gyurcsány would allow migrants, and once migrants are admitted, they cannot be returned, and then there will be a large open society here,” he said.

Saturday’s was his 23rd state of the nation speech, and Orbán did not go into much detail about his administration’s ongoing dispute with the EU Commission on the rule of law.

However he did say that the root of the problem was a dispute in the ways Western and Hungarian societies viewed migration.

“The EU is supporting the invasion. The Italian border is as perforated as a pasta strainer, and the Germans have simply declared themselves to be an immigrant nation, Orbán said, calling Brussels’ fight on the rule of law a “jihad”.

Orbán also tackled international issues, such as the situation of the Balkans and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

About the Balkan region, he said that these countries needed to be included in the European Union, and a Balkan Marshall package was needed for helping these southern European countries to catch up.

On the build-up of tensions between Moscow and Kiev, he underlined that Hungary’s interests were clear, war had to be avoided, because it could bring millions of migrants from Ukraine to Hungary.

Orbán spoke on the first day of the official start of the electoral campaign before the general elections set for April 3.

The election campaign officially starts 50 days before the date of the ballot: on February 12.

Hungary’s roughly 8 million voters will have the opportunity to cast two ballots in the single-round election deciding 199 seats of the Parliament.

One ballot directly elects lawmakers in 106 individual constituencies, while the remaining seats are distributed based on votes cast for a party list.

The law on elections demands that prospective candidates secure 500 signatures by February 25 to run in an individual constituency.

On Saturday, both Fidesz and the six united opposition parties gathered the necessary signatures in a couple of hours.

Orbán is aiming to win a fourth straight term in power, but faces his closest contest since coming to power in 2010 after six opposition parties formed an electoral alliance to try to oust him, uniting behind 49 year-old Márki-Zay.

Marki-Zay criticizes Orban’s last three terms

Opposition leader Péter Márki-Zay strongly slammed the last twelve years of the Orban government in his state of the nation speech on Thursday.

Márki-Zay started his speech by admitting that twelve years ago, also voted for Fidesz, believing what Fidesz was campaigning for.

“Viktor Orban has received an unparalleled mandate and an unparalleled opportunity from the electorate, and an unparalleled amount of money from the European Union, compared to which we have not only failed to catch up with Austria today, but we are also performing worse than Romania in many respects,” the conservative 49 year-old mayor of Hódmezővásárhely said.

Hungary has general elections on April 3. Prime Minister Orbán is aiming at grabbing a fourth consecutive term, while the opposition parties have united and rallied behind Márki-Zay, who was elected Prime Minister candidate in opposition primary elections last October.

The challenger also recognized results of the past 12 years such as a ban on slot machines and indoor smoking, family support or community service.

These, along with the border fence in the south of Hungary, will be kept by his government should the opposition win the elections.

According to Márki-Zay, Orbán failed to remember the 43,000 people who died in the coronavirus epidemic.

Marki-Zay went on and named the Fidesz-related scandals - Völner, Kaleta, Szájer, Borkai - at length, and said that this system should be replaced on 3 April.

“He pretends to be a modest man with little money, but he returns home to a castle and does not even dare to visit a kindergarten without a bulletproof vest,” he also said, arguing that Orban lost contact with everyday’s problems.

"Today, Hungary is led by the most corrupt government of the last millennium,” he said repeatedly, and made an exhaustive list about what Fidesz grabbed during the last twelve years, from banks to tobacco shops.

The opposition leader also hinted at Wednesday’s decision of the European Court of Justice and noted that Hungary could lose billions of euros in EU funds until the country's prime minister was “a thief.”

This all can be changed on April 3 by voting against Orbán, Márki-Zay underlined.

He finished by reminding electors that a vote cast for the candidates of the opposition coalition was the only good vote for a change of government.

He then called for a major rally on March 15.

Liu Shaoang received his gold medal from Pál Schmitt

“I dominated Sunday, it was a perfect race,” Liu Shaoang said after taking home the gold medal for the 500-meter men’s short track speed skaters at the Beijing Olympics on Monday night.

The athlete was awarded the medal by former Hungarian President Pál Schmitt, a member of the International Olympic Committee and the honorary chairman of the Hungarian Olympic Committee.

"I had tears in my eyes during the national anthem, but the feeling that I was an Olympic champion was already in me, I processed it, because I already felt like I was going to be an Olympic champion on the morning of the final,” Shaoang said after the ceremony.

“Yesterday was a long day, after the race we were still waiting for a doping control, we had to have dinner and I was able to talk to all my loved ones,” he added.

The results of the competitors, the professional staff and the support of the association and the government made it possible that the short-track speed skaters have won three medals, including one gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics, according to Lajos Kósa, President of the National Association of Hungarian skaters (MOKSZ).

"Coaches had a huge role to play in this, especially Attila Telegdi and Ákos Bánhidi, who I think are now the best coaches in the world," Kósa said, adding that the 500-meter gold medalist Liu Shaoang was one of the best in the discipline with his Beijing results.

"He was a finalist in three races, winning a gold and a bronze, plus he finished fourth, and he's only 23 years old, so we are really having high hopes,” he also said.

At the Beijing Olympics, Hungary proved itself to belong in the "Category A nations" of short-track speed skating, along with China, Canada, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan.

OSCE to send full scale mission on election day

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has decided to send a full scale observation mission to Hungary for the April 3 general elections, putting Hungary yet again as an outsider, considering the fact that up to now, the only other EU member country where such a mission was judged necessary has been Bulgaria.

The prelude to the OSCE’s full mission was a call from twenty Hungarian civil society organizations, asking the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to organize a full-scale election observation mission to Hungary, accompanied by a high number of short-term observers on April 3.

According to the twenty NGOs, the situation in Hungary has significantly deteriorated from 2018, with further backsliding on democratic standards.

The NGOs highlighted the following problematic issues:

• Changes to electoral and other laws since 2018, by then already gerrymandered voting districts
• Discrimination in how Hungarian citizens living abroad can vote
• Voter-tourism
• Vastly unfair campaign resources benefit the ruling party
• Increased intimidating
• Xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
• Ruling party dominance in the media market
• The occupied electoral bodies and political influence over courts
• Further centralization of power under the guise of the pandemic
• Arbitrary restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly and free expression

All of the above point to a grave and direct threat to the integrity of the elections.

In addition, there is a true potential of a close electoral race, which goes hand in hand with a highly polarized society and a weak public confidence in the fairness of the electoral process.

The OSCE’s needs assessment mission studied election-related legislation in Hungary in January, at the invitation of the Hungarian government, and proposed 18 long-term observers to Hungary, to be joined by 200 observers who will arrive shortly before April 3 and leave a few days after the elections.

OSCE also recalled that contrary to their previous recommendations, campaign finance legislation has remained largely unchanged in Hungary since the last parliamentary elections.

“One thing is certain: OSCE staff will have the chance to witness a free, fair and democratic election, but only if they do not attempt to interfere in the Hungarian elections during their mission,” Minister of Justice Judit Varga commented on her Facebook page following OSCE’s announcement.

“Judit Varga has it all wrong: the OSCE is not coming to intervene in the Hungarian elections, but to prevent Judit Varga from interfering in the Hungarian elections,” opposition MP Tímea Szabó reacted to Varga’s comments.

Hungarian government extends validity of immunity certificates

The Hungarian government has decided to extend the validity of the official immunity certificate, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said in his weekly press conference.

“The Hungarian government will extend the validity of the covid immunity certificates for people who have already received two doses of vaccination until May 1,” Gulyás said.

This is considered an easing measure compared to the original plans, which tied the validity of the certificate to a booster shot, or to two shots administered within six months.

He explained the change by simply following “the current practice” of the European Union (EU): “Neither Brussels nor EU member states have tightened existing travel regulations due to the emergence of the Omicron variant, and the government does not want Hungarians to be subjected to stricter rules than other EU citizens.”

The decision comes at a time when the 5th wave of the pandemic peaked in Hungary: “Although the virus is spreading much faster in the fifth wave, neither the number of hospitalizations nor the number of deaths is even close to that of previous waves,” he added.

Virology expert Miklós Rusvai said that the Omicron variant - especially its “sneaky” variant, the BA2 - was much more contagious but less lethal than all previous versions, helping the population to get immunized with less cost to the health system.

“We see that the number of people needing hospital care of ventilators is much less than under the previous waves, and getting infected after getting the vaccine is the online way for the body to create a threefold defense, at the level of the mucous membrane, besides the cells and the antibodies,” he explained.

Hungary on Thursday reported 12,885 covid-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,684,432.

In the past 24 hours, 99 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 42,269 in the country, while 1,410,550 have recovered. Currently, 5,198 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 198 on ventilators, figures from the government's coronavirus information website showed.

As of Thursday, 6,376,902 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 6,127,609 had two jabs, and 3,746,680 got their booster shot, according to the website.

Budapest to host extraordinary Swimming World Championships in June

Budapest will host an extraordinary FINA World Championships in the summer, the International Swimming Federation said Monday.

Budapest will be the host of the championships from June 18 until July 3, according to the international organization.

Hungary already hosted the FINA World Championships in 2017.

The agreement on hosting the world event ensures athletes have a global aquatics championship to target in the summer of 2022, FINA said. The agreement was signed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and FINA President Husain Al-Musallam.

"We know we need to be imaginative in our approach in navigating through the current health crisis for our athletes. Today's agreement is a testament to this work," Al-Musallam was quoted as saying by FINA.

"We are extremely fortunate to have event hosts that share our passion for aquatics and have the willingness, capability and flexibility to organize FINA's most prestigious event. We are deeply grateful to all our hosts and know that aquatics athletes feel the same way," the FINA president added.

FINA World Championships are set to feature five FINA aquatics disciples: swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming and open water swimming.

Last week, FINA announced that the 19th FINA World Championships, initially scheduled to take place in Fukuoka, Japan, on May 13-29, 2022, were rescheduled for July 14-30, 2023.

The measure was taken "due to the current health impacts of the Omicron COVID-19 variant and the pandemic measures currently in place in Japan," FINA said.

The administration of Budapest only learned from the media that there would be a World Cup in the capital again.

Local daily Népszava (left) asked the general deputy of the mayor Ambrus Kiss about the new World Water Championships in Budapest: “The government did not consult with the local government of Budapest in any way in advance about hosting the World Water Championships. We only learned about the commitment from the media. "

“Balázs Fürjes, the Secretary of State for the Development of Budapest and the agglomeration gave a brief briefing on the government decision on Monday after the news appeared,” Kiss added.

Hungarian Olympic Committee wants ethical investigation in the case of Sándor Liu Shaolin

The Hungarian Olympic Committee (HOC) and the Hungarian National Skating Association (MOKSZ) announced in a joint statement that they had formally initiated a review of the Beijing Winter Olympics men's 1000-meter speed skating final and called on the leaders of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to initiate an ethical investigation.

The 1,000-meter race for men’s short-distance speed skaters was held at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Monday.

Sándor Liu Shaolin and his younger brother, Liu Shaoang, and three other Chinese competitors made it to the finals. Sándor Liu Shaolin won the tense final on the ice, but he was disqualified by the judges.

Although the Hungarian team had filed an appeal against the decision, it was rejected by the International Speed Skating Federation.

The gold medal eventually was given to China’s Zen, and Liu Shaoang won the bronze medal.

The HOC and the skating federation want a review not only of the result but also demand an ethics investigation against the chief judge of the competition.

Orbán meets Putin in Moscow

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, for a much longer discussion than planned. In addition to the usual protocol, the following specifics topics were also discussed:

• The amount of gas destined for Hungary, fixed in a long-term agreement valid until 2036, will be increased by 1 billion cubic meters per year, and a final agreement on this would be signed in April.

• Viktor Orbán hopes that the number of Russian tourists arriving in Hungary may increase, thanks to the introduction of new direct flights.

• Hungary is expected to order from the Russian booster jab “Sputnik Light”, and the Hungarian vaccine factory under construction will probably also produce a Russian vaccine.

• A new Hungarian-Russian freight-logistics joint venture would be established in order to enlarge eastern freight traffic.

• Construction of the new Paks Nuclear Power Plant blocks may begin soon.

Of course, security issues were also given a prominent role in the press conference, as the level of tensions between Moscow and the EU/NATO are so high, that the united opposition parties even called on Orban to cancel his visit.

“In a tense situation around the conflict in Ukraine, such a friendly meeting is particularly harmful and contrary to our national interests,” as it suggests that NATO and EU member states are not united in rejecting Putin's proposals.”

According to them, the Hungarian prime minister "indirectly encourages the Russian president to further escalate the current tense situation,” they said in a statement.

They were also worried that Orbán might "take a decisive step in the construction of Paks 2" at the meeting, and that they want to bring another gas agreement "unfavorable to Hungary" under the roof.

Opposition parties also plan on launching a constitutional amendment aiming at tying Hungary’s potential exit from the EU or NATO to a referendum. According to the current legal framework, Orbán could very well do so by using his qualified majority at the Parliament.

Part of the pressure on the Hungarian government was the surprise visit of British defense minister Ben Wallace, Monday morning.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was in Budapest today for bilateral talks with the Hungarian Defense Minister Tibor Benkő focusing on European Security and the ongoing threat of Russian military forces on the border of Ukraine, the British government said in a statement.

“Following meetings in The Hague, Brussels and Germany last week, this visit was a chance for NATO allies to discuss ways to respond to the unfolding crisis on the Ukrainian border,” the statement added.

We discuss current issues including NATO, Russia and the security of Europe,” Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was quoted saying.

“Current Russian aggression will only lead to greater instability, migrant flows and higher prices,” he added.

In light of this prelude, Viktor Orbán - who spoke with NATO’s general secretary Jens Stoltenberg over the phone in Moscow Monday evening - said that this was the most important of the dozens of meetings with Putin: "The visit was also a peace mission," he explained, "and I said there was not a single leader in the European Union who wanted a conflict with Russia."

According to the Prime Minister, this is especially important in Central Europe, because there is no need for a new Cold War, Orban also said every effort should be made to reduce tensions through diplomacy.

The Prime Minister recalled that the situation was complicated, with great differences between the parties. What Russia wants is clear, there are big differences in the answers. But distance is not insurmountable, agreements can be made that meet everyone’s needs, according to him, without giving details on the latter.

Hungarian leading think tank Political Capital called the timing of the event unfortunate: “The timing of the Orbán-Putin meeting was unfortunate and its only visible benefit to the Hungarian cabinet is that the PM himself could claim that his personal relationship with Vladimir Putin is the foundation of the utility cost cuts enjoyed by Hungarians.”

Political capital published their opinion about the face to face meeting on Wednesday.

“Hungary’s diverging diplomatic path was on full display: while most EU or NATO member states, including those from the CEE region, condemned the Kremlin’s aggressive foreign policy one after another, the Hungarian premier lashed out against the EU’s sanctions policy concerning Russia. This – just like similar Hungarian statements diverging from those of western allies – are making Hungary the prime example in Russian state media’s narratives,” they added.

For Russia, the key point of the meeting was that President Vladimir Putin could condemn the West without backlash in the presence of an EU and NATO member state’s head of government, according to their analysis.

Following rumors about deployment of NATO troops in Hungary, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto confirmed in a statement last week that the Ministry of Defense was negotiating a US request for the deployment of NATO troops in Hungary.

As for CNN’s information that the number of NATO troops deployed in Hungary could be as much as a thousand troops, he expressed astonishment, saying he hadn’t heard that number from anyone yet, and it was just fake news.

Szijjarto also stressed that Hungary was against a new cold war:“Hungary is a loyal member of NATO, but our country’s interests are best served by a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. What is good for Hungary is peace on its eastern border, not armed conflict. Therefore we shall always assist in the negotiated settlement of disputed questions”.

Teachers stage a two-hour warning strike

After 2016, the teachers went on strike again, as there was no teaching in the participating schools and kindergartens between 8 and 10 am on Monday. Not surprisingly, Trade unions are demanding an increase in wages from the government and a reduction in workloads.

The Ministry of Human Resources, (responsible for education) repeatedly called the strike illegal, and said the protest was a result of the action of opposition parties/figures.

Several large schools in Budapest and the countryside joined the demonstration in large numbers, but in the smaller settlements, on the other hand, the threats of the ministry may have discouraged many teachers and many stayed away from the strike.

Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, and Freeszfe also stood by the teachers.

“We entrust our children, our future, to teachers, yet the Orbán government values them the least,” Karácsony said in a Facebook post.

In international comparison, Hungary spends little on public and higher education - and this money is unequally distributed. Recently, a young teacher wrote a letter to the Prime Minister describing the harsh conditions he lived in, because of the meager salary he received. But his cries for help were in vain.. According to the power, the solution is not to allow them to strike,” the mayor added.

Twice as many indicated their participation in advance compared to those who actually went on strike, and according to the unions, there were two reasons why only about 20,000 people participated: many withdrew from the strike due to intimidation, and many came down with covid, and thus were unable to protest in person.

The government has put enormous pressure on parents and teachers to ensure that this strike does not take place, according to them.

After the press conference of the trade unions, a car demonstration started on Heroes' Square, organized by the Hungarian Trade Union Confederation. A Next, larger strike is planned for March 16.

Illegal use of Pegasus spyware? Everything a-okay: Data Protection watchdog assures

Since August, nearly a hundred Pegasus observations have been investigated and it has been established that everything has met the necessary standards, Attila Péterfalvi, the president of the Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH) said.

Applications submitted by the National Security Service and permits issued by the Minister of Justice were also examined, he added.

Péterfalvi underlined that the examinations carried out by his office were not formal but rather substantive. The monitoring service provided sufficient evidence in all cases that the data collection was necessary, because of reasons of national security, according to the NAIH.

The agency only checked some of the Pegasus surveillance cases, so it is certain that the software was deployed over a hundred cases.

Péterfalvi did not disclose the total number of times Pegasus was used by the State, but the NAIH investigated all cases that appeared recently in the local media.

Although Pegasus was developed in principle to eradicate terrorism and organized crime, investigative portal Direkt36 revealed that traces of the software were found on the phones of Hungarian journalists and businessmen.

The Israeli-made spyware can infiltrate other people's smartphones, capture images, videos, messages, and emails.

The spyware was deployed against:

• Szabolcs Panyi and András Szabó, journalists of Direkt36,
• Brigitta Csikász, journalist at Átlátszó
• Zoltán Páva, the operator of the opposition ezalenyeg.hu,
• Photojournalist Dániel Németh, who has been investigating the luxury trips of the NER elite for years (he also photographed Péter Szijjártó on the yacht of László Szjjj),
• and Zoltán Varga, one of the dinner partners of the owner of the Central Media Group, which also operates the 24.hu.

Observations with Pegasus required the approval of the Minister of Justice. Judit Varga delegated this to her deputy, Pál Völner, who has since been suspected of corruption by the prosecutor's office.

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Opposition gathers necessary signatures for referendum

Opposition parties handed over the signatures collected for the referendum on Fudan University and extending the jobseekers’ allowance, on January 21.

The alliance handed over the 235,000 signatures supporting each of their referendum questions to the National Election Office.

Although time is tight until the general elections of April 3, several opposition politicians have said that - similarly to the government’ homophobic “child protection” referendum - their referendum could also be held on the day of the parliamentary election.

However, there are strict schedules and deadlines for ordering a referendum, which are regulated by law, such as:

• Verification of signatures (up to 60 days)
• Deadline for appeal (5 days)
• Examination of an appeal - Supreme Court (max. 5 days)
• Informing the Speaker of the Parliament (max. 8 days)
• The Speaker of the Parliament announces the initiative (next day)
• Parliament orders referendum (max. 30 days)
• Publication of the resolution of the Parliament in the Hungarian Gazette (max. 8 days)
• Deadline for Appeal (15 days)
• Review of Appeal - Constitutional Court (max. 30 days)
• Setting the day of the referendum - President of the Republic (max. 15 days)
• Date of the referendum (70-90 days)

Based on the above, it is impossible for the opposition referendum to be held on election day.

Szilveszter Csollány, Olympic champion gymnast, dies at 51

Hungarian athlete Szilveszter Csollány, Olympic champion gymnast, died at 51 from the COVID-19.

“We have to announce with deep sorrow that Olympic, World and European Champion gymnast Szilveszter Csollány has died at the age of 51,” The Hungarian Gymnastics Association and the Hungarian Olympic Committee informed in a joint statement.

“The Olympic champion gymnast not only achieved outstanding results as an athlete, but was also an excellent husband and a very good father,” the statement added.

From the beginning of December, Csollány was infected with the coronavirus and was in serious condition on a ventilator in a hospital in Budapest.

The gymnast won an Olympic ring championship in Sydney in 2000, retired in 2003 and recently worked as a coach in Austria.

The Olympic champion previously shared anti-vaxxer posts on his Facebook page.

"He didn't want to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, but since he worked in Austria as a coach at a small club in Eisenstadt, where he was required to be protected, he vaccinated himself,” local tabloid Blikk informed.

According to the same source, the athlete had received a single-dose vector vaccine, Janssen.

Orbán inaugurates House of Music on National Culture Day

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán inaugurated Hungary’s new contemporary cultural landmark, the House of Music, on the occasion of the National Culture Day, here on Saturday.

“Crisis or not, we Hungarians are currently in a cultural expansion,” Orbán said at the opening ceremony in a snowy Budapest.

“Europe is going through difficult times, with epidemics and waves of migration, the European energy crisis is threatening us…while the political, military, economic and cultural weight of our continent is constantly shrinking compared to the rest of the world," he added.

He also said that elsewhere, such institutions tended to close, downsize, and retreat because of the epidemic, while "we have this stunning new institution here.”

“What is more, the House of Hungarian Music is not a standalone project, but an integrated part of a huge cultural investment,” he added.

Being a cultural nation was an extremely important part of Hungarians self-definition, according to him.

The House of Music, a new contemporary cultural landmark dedicated to music in Budapest, was built as part of the Liget Budapest Project, Europe’s largest and most ambitious, multiple award-winning urban cultural development, according to Orbán.

The new spectacular building, designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, features a vast undulating roof and was created to host a range of interactive musical experiences in celebration of music-making.

The vision for the project is to bring the experience of music to life through the interaction of nature, sound and light.

The International Property Awards selected the House of Music as the best building, and thanks to its unique concept the Music Cities also awarded it with the title of Best Use of Music in Property Development.

The impressive 9,000m2 (total floor area) building is nestled amongst the trees of the City Park. The designers have taken inspiration from the synergy between sound and nature; presenting the building as a continuation of its park context and an ambitious rethinking of a 21st century museum space.

The House’s facade is paneled in a curtain of glass to create a completely translucent building that blurs boundaries between indoor and outdoor space. The glass facade is made up of 94 custom-manufactured, heat-insulated, horizontally undivided panels and its height reaches almost 12 meters in some areas of the House.

The feeling of being in nature is further enhanced by a canopy of over 30,000 decorative tree leaves set in the suspended ceiling and secured in place by a steel structure made out of 1,000 honeycomb-shaped elements.

Although the building is spectacular, critical voices reminded that the conception of the project was controversial to say the least.

“On Culture Day, it is particularly important to remind ourselves that this building was built not in the name of culture but in the spirit of barbaric violence,” Budapest city mayor Gergely Karácsony said following the opening ceremony.

“Violence against the city's most important public park. Violence against nature. Violence against the rule of law, as the construction was made possible with the adoption of a separate lex-Városliget, hacking all existing legislation. Violence against the will of the people, as he public has been opposed to the project, and my referendum initiative to stop it has been illegally blocked. There was also literally brutal violence against citizens protesting against the investment, who have been beaten by criminal security guards. And violence against taxpayers, because, as usual, the investment exceeded original plans many times, costing more than 10 million forints a square meter,” he explained in a Facebook post.

Of course, I don’t encourage anyone not to visit the House of Music, the best way to reduce the damage caused by an investment is to use it once it has been built, the mayor argued.

TI: Hungary is the second most corrupt member state of the EU

Hungary managed to achieve a worse result than in 2020 in the corruption report published by Transparency International (TI).

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Hungary received 43 points in 2021, which is one worse than the previous year's figure. In the European Union, only Bulgaria performs worse, with a score of 42 points. Hungary is ranked 73rd out of 180 countries.

Transparency has been measuring the Corruption Perceptions Index since 1995, and Hungary has never received such a bad grade.

Switzerland (84), the Netherlands (82), Belgium (73), Slovenia (57), Poland (56) and Cyprus (53) also received their worst ratings ever.

In addition to Luxembourg, Poland and Cyprus, Hungary was highlighted in the summary as a European State where the corruption situation has significantly deteriorated since 2012.

According to TI, the Hungarian government has taken advantage of the epidemic to further consolidate its power and restrict freedoms, especially the freedom of expression and the freedom of media.

In comparison, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Italy and Greece have made progress in the last ten years.

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand lead the global list with 88 points, and Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany are also in the top ten.

According to the report, the most corrupt country in the world is South Sudan (11 points).

This year, the global average remains unchanged for the tenth year in a row, at just 43 out of a possible 100 points. Despite multiple commitments, 131 countries have made no significant progress against corruption in the last decade. Two-thirds of countries score below 50, indicating that they have serious corruption problems, while 27 countries are at their lowest score ever.

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Hungary allows 4th jab to fight surging Omicron wave

The Hungarian government allowed the 4th vaccine against the Covid-19, in a bid to curb the fifth wave of the pandemic, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s office declared in a press conference.

“Anyone who asks can get the fourth vaccine,” Gulyás said. “Anyone can get his or her fourth vaccination following a medical consultation,” Gulyás added.

Miklós Kásler, the Minister of Human Resources, responsible for national healthcare, has already said that a 4th vaccine seemed “inevitable” in a recent radio interview.

The Hungarian government moved to introduce the fourth jab as daily infections numbers are rising due to the Omicron variant, which is causing the majority of the infections.

“The bulk of infections are now caused by the Omicron variant, but the government expects the number of people needing hospital care will not rise as fast as the number of infected,” Gulyás also added.

In order to curb the mounting tide of infections, the government also decided to modify its official pass, called “protection certificate” in Hungarian, to “vaccination certificate” from February 15, putting pressure on the unvaccinated to get the jab.

This means that the pass will only be valid in the hands of those who have received three vaccinations or a second jab within the last six months.

“You will not need a new card for this, the QR code can be read, this will confirm its validity. The government is confident that this step will persuade many unvaccinated people to get inoculated, but no new measures are planned for compulsory vaccination,” Gulyás underlined.

According to international examples, the length of official quarantine will also be reduced to seven days (from currently ten days), but after five days a negative test can be used to lift off quarantine, Gulyás also informed.

In schools, even in the lower grades, unvaccinated contact children will have to be quarantined for five days. They can learn online from home if it can be arranged.

Hungary on Wednesday reported a new high of 14,890 COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,369,974.

In the past 24 hours, 85 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 40,686 in the country, while 1,181,715 have recovered. Currently, 2,645 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 208 on ventilators, figures from the government's coronavirus information website showed.

As of Wednesday, 6,322,905 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 6,066,056 had two jabs, and 3,430,445 got their booster shot, according to the website.

The real problem is that the Hungarian testing capacities cannot keep up with the spread of the Omicron variant: this is undoubtedly illustrated by the fact that 58 percent (!) of all test results were positive.

This means that there are far more coronavirus-infected people in Hungary than in the official report, but there are not enough tests to know at least approximately how many people have been infected with the virus.

Hungarian PM Orbán announces cap on food prices

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced a price cap on basic foods, to help families battle high inflation, following a meeting of his government last Wednesday.

"The government meeting ended, it was long, we dealt with the issue of price rises in addition to the virus, as prices are rising across Europe due to rising energy prices,” Orbán said in a video message posted on his Facebook page.

“Hungary protects families, we have managed to curb the rise in petrol prices, we have introduced an interest rate stop on mortgages, and we have a policy of reducing utility bills, i.e. Hungarian families are getting energy at a fixed price, which protects them,” Orbán added.

“But the prices of other important products are rising, such as food, so today we have decided to intervene in the prices of six products, granulated sugar, wheat flour, sunflower cooking oil, pork leg, chicken breast and 2.8 percent cow's milk,” Orbán said, listing the most common food products bought by Hungarian consumers.

In Hungary, inflation has shattered a 15 year-old record, reaching 7.4 percent in December, according to the latest figures of the Central Statistical Office KSH.The price of these 6 products must be brought back to the level where it stood on October 15 last year.

The Hungarian head of government also noted: “This has to happen in every store, and from February 1st."

It will be interesting to see how the prices of these products develop at the beginning of this year, to determine how much difference the return to the level of October means.

Curbing the rapid rise in prices through interventionism is not a new effort on the part of the government. After the huge rise in energy prices, the freeze on utility bills (electricity and gas) has long been below market prices for years.

For fuels, the government has also introduced a price cap at 480 forints (1.53 U.S dollar) last November, which has since been below market price for the most part (though not always).

In the case of food, this is the first such step from the government in the current upswing in inflation, in the past the government has tried to curb price increases in individual cases by cutting Value Added Tax, (pork and eggs.)

Schadl helped relatives of Völner, and Rogán’s chief of staff pass university exams

A recently obtained investigation report by 444.hu on Völner’s alleged corruption scandal reveals that Schadl used his relationships to help several law students pass their exams, including a relative of Pál Völner and even Antal Rogán’s chief of staff.

The Völner scandal broke out on December 7, when the chief prosecutor’s office had requested the waiver of the immunity of member of parliament Pál Völner, deputy secretary of state in the minister of justice.

Völner - who was also the ministerial commissioner responsible for the Hungarian Court Bailiffs Chamber since August 2019 - is accused of having illegally received regular bribes of 2 to 5 million forints from György Schadl, the president of the branch of bailiffs over a sustained period of time, according to the prosecution.

Völner resigned from his position with immediate effect.

Since then, Völner has remained in liberty, and the opposition parties have repeatedly called on Justice Minister Judit Varga to step down, arguing that it was inconceivable that she, as Völner’s immediate boss, had no knowledge of his subordinate’s actions.

444.hu obtained the 1,700-page investigation document, which contains transcripts of phone conversations between Völner and Schadl.

According to the documents, a great many people have contacted Schadl to help them pass exams needed for their law degree, and Schadl abided by these demands: he helped bailiffs, their relatives, and even Pál Völner.

In the transcript of a three-minute long phone talk, Schadl assured Völner that “everything would be fine.” The Fidesz politician repeatedly thanked him for his help.

444.hu’s article also reveals that Antal Rogán’s chief of staff’s exam was also discussed and arranged by Schadl over the phone. According to the prosecutor’s office, the student was “not even present at the exam,” and according to information gathered during the investigation, Schadl also arranged the registration of the exam in the national online education software ‘Neptun’.

Start of new fact checking website: Lakmusz.hu

Magyar Jeti Zrt, the publisher of 444 and Qubit, launched a new website last week: Lakmusz (www.lakmusz.hu), the first website in Hungary that dedicates all of its efforts to fact checking.

Disinformation has become a threat to democracy, to the health of citizens and to security worldwide, but the issue is of particular significance in Hungary.

The goal of Lakmusz is to check and investigate claims that reach a wide audience and have a potential to significantly influence people's lives.

Journalists of Lakmusz uncover what facts and evidence support (or refute) the claim, regardless of the author.

During the first week of their operation, Lakmusz debunked, for example, claims made by the government about LMBTQ issues and migration, covered misinformation about COVID-19, and also pointed out incorrect and unfounded claims made by opposition politicians.

Lakmusz was created as part of the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory, a project supported by the European Commission and carried out in collaboration with French news Agency Agence France-Presse, which held a training for journalists of Lakmusz, 444 and Qubit, and the Media Universalis Foundation, which provided academic research to support the project.

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Hungary to hold general elections and referendum on April 3

Hungarian President Janos Ader called the general elections and also set the date for the homophobic “Child protection” referendum for April 3 in an official statement published on Tuesday.

"The general parliamentary elections will be held on April 3", Ader declared in the statement, recalling that the first free general parliamentary elections in Hungary were held 32 years ago.

Elections will be held in one single turn, and Hungarians will have the chance to give Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a fourth consecutive term in office.

During the last elections, Orban' s Fidesz Party won 49 percent of the vote, which translated into 133 of the 199 seats of the national assembly.

This meant that the Fidesz retained its qualified 2/3 majority of the Parliament, enabling the party to alter the Constitution, which it did so many times, cementing its power, according to critics.

Viktor Orban, a hardliner in immigration policies, is likely to face his most difficult adversary according to the majority of polls.

The six Hungarian opposition parties, conservatives, socialists, greens, liberals etc.. have decided to unite before the general elections, in order to maximize their chances at winning over the Prime Minister, who has been continuously in power since 2010.

Opposition parties held primary elections last October, to find Orban’s challenger.

Peter Marki-Zay, a 49 year-old conservative mayor of Hódmezővásárhely won these primaries, putting him as the challenger of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

During the primaries, opposition voters also elected the 106 common candidates, who will go into the elections to challenge each representative of Orban’s Fidesz party in an electoral duel.

A political party must obtain 5 percent of the vote to enter the parliament.

On April 3, citizens will also be able to cast their vote in the referendum initiated by the government, but several Hungarian NGOs are urging an invalid vote on April 3.

Parliament voted on a homophobic “child protection” referendum on November 30, with the following four questions on the ballot:

• Do you support the organization of sexual orientation sessions for minor children in public education without parental consent?

• Do you support the promotion of gender reassignment treatments for minor children?

• Do you support the unrestricted presentation of sexual media content to minors that affects their development?

• Do you support the display of gender-reassignment media content to minor children?

According to Orban, the referendum is needed because “Brussels is demanding changes to Hungary’s Act on public education and its child protection rules.

“The referendum is particularly vile for two reasons. On the one hand, the wording of the questions suggests that young people are harmed by hearing about sexual and gender minorities, on the other hand, it violates the dignity of LGBTQI people,” according to the NGOs.

“The wording is intentionally manipulative: it tries to use the natural concern for protection of the parents to fuel their own political purposes. For the second time, the Fidesz-KDNP government is building its election campaign on incitement to hatred against a vulnerable group,” the NGOs added.

The signatories - including Amnesty International Hungary, Budapest Pride, and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee - said that the easiest way to vote invalid was for voters to check both the “Yes” and the “No” box on all referendum questions.

Hungary's COVID-19 death toll exceeds 40,000

Hungary’s COVID-19 death toll reached another benchmark, exceeding 40,000 people on Tuesday, but severe cases needing hospital care or ventilators were slightly down despite the fifth wave of the pandemic, according to the government's coronavirus information website.

On Wednesday, the country registered 7,883 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,308,877, according to official data.

In the past 24 hours, 67 people died from the disease, taking the cumulative death toll to 40,083 in the country, while 1,149,849 have recovered. Currently, 2,758 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 257 on ventilators, the government's website said.

Hungary’s COVID-19 death toll exceeded 20,000 in the end of March 2021, and 30,000 in the beginning of July 2021.

Speaking about the expected burden of the fifth wave on the Hungarian healthcare system, Miklos Kásler, Minister of Human Resources, said that the number of daily infections could reach 13,000 and the number of hospitalizations could be up to 8-9,000.

“At the same time, the number of deaths at the peak could be around 200 per day,” Kásler added in his interview given to commercial radio Infóradió.

Kásler was also “absolutely certain” of a need for a fourth vaccine, and said that the government was ready for that.

Based on the immunological tests, it seems there might be a longer gap between the third and the fourth jab, than between the second and the third, but more tests were needed to determine the date of the fourth vaccination, the minister said.

The 40,000 deaths compared to the population of Hungary (9.8 million people) is dramatic when reading the report of the central statistical office KSH, according to which the population decline of 2021 was of 60,000: a decrease not seen in Hungary since the end of World War Two (1945).

“Although the full data for the whole year are not yet available, I would estimate that in 2021, about 93,000 people were born and 153,000 died in Hungary. The former is a relatively good number, the latter an amazingly bad value,” Balázs Kapitány, an expert in demography said, following the release of the latest figures.

“The loss for 2021 is 60,000 people, which could be offset (somewhat) by the excess immigration. In peacetime, since the introduction of official statistics, there has never been a worst year in demography in Hungary. I hope that the year 2022 will show a more positive picture in this respect,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

The extent to which the excess mortality is attributable to COVID-19 cannot be deduced solely from this data, but fluctuations in the number of deaths clearly follow the patterns and dynamics of the epidemic at first glance, news portal Telex said after the publication of the data.

As of Wednesday, 6,297,101 people had received at least the first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 6,039,940 had both jabs, while 3,299,569 received their third, booster shot, the website noted.

Hungary’s interest is to restore peace and order in Kazakhstan

Hungary's national security interest is the stability of Central Asia, that is why the government supports efforts to restore peace and order in Kazakhstan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday on his Facebook page.

Szijjarto posted his message following a video conference of the Organization of Turkic States, where Hungary is a member with a status of observer.

"Our interests lie in a peaceful and stable Central Asia. Attempts at destabilization and coups run completely counter to our security interests, since they end up making more room for acts of terror and the spread of radical and extremist ideologies, which tends to lead to the emergence of large migration waves from various regions,” he stressed.

A joint statement was adopted at the morning virtual council meeting, in which they condemned the violence, the acts of vandalism, and expressed their solidarity with the Kazakh people and expressed their condolences for the deaths, according to Szijjarto.

“We know quite well from experience what tends to happen in these instances on the international political scene: We usually see so-called human rights groups and certain countries wanting to level criticism and approve declarations condemning the situation,” Szijjarto said about the riots.

Instead of condemning others, the international community should focus its energies on preventing the repetition of such “worrisome and violent" events in the future.

Those responsible for any form of violence must not be absolved and terrorist groups and organizations spreading extremist ideology must not be given room to operate, he also said.

The minister concluded by informing that all Hungarian citizens requesting assistance from Kazakhstan had been repatriated.

According to Szijjarto, the Kazakh State has been “attacked” and the perpetrators wanted to “overthrow the constitutional order”.

These words clearly testify that he practically reiterated the Kazakh and Russian presidents' interpretation of what had happened, saying that the actions were coordinated from a single center.

The words of Szijjarto meant that the Hungarian government became an uncritical supporter of an unacceptable, repressive dictatorship, according to opposition Momentum politician Edvin Mihalik.

“It is as if the Foreign Minister were saying: In 1956 a treacherous attack was perpetrated on the People's Republic!”

Mihalik also reminded that in Kazakhstan the police were shooting live rounds on anti-government protesters.

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Hungarian writer and political activist found dead in Italy

Gergely Homonnay , a Hungarian writer and political activist close to opposition party DK, was found dead in Rome.

Homonnay has been living in Rome for a while. He published three books, each of which presented the events of the world from the perspective of his cat, Erzsi.

He was also known as a journalist and blogger, and has become an opposition activist in recent years, close to the DK. He was also a loud advocate for gay rights.

According to the Italian media, Homonnay went to a gay club in the early morning of January 1, and lost his life in the private bath of the club. Suspicious liquids and powder have been found beside him, which are still being investigated by the Italian police.

According to Italian paper La Repubblica, Gergely Homonnay was still alive, but had difficulty breathing, and was essentially unconscious when the owners of the club called for an ambulance.

The newspaper also reported that Homonnay went to the club at five in the morning accompanied by a man, who left later. Following the New Year's celebration, Homonnay went down to the Turkish bath, reserved strictly for members of the club, and was found unconscious there.

La Repubblica also said that local police were also investigating Homonnay’s phone calls and messages to find out who he spent his last hours with.

Police also visited a friend in Rome whom he had not met for some time, but the man could not offer any help according to the newspaper, as Homonnay had been living alone in the San Giovanni area for some time.

Omicron gains momentum in Hungary

The presence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 60 of the 100 positive cases per day. That is, 60 percent of new infections are caused by Omicron, according to the findings of a private lab, Neumann Labs.

However, according to official information published Tuesday, only 11 percent of the cases are due to the new variant. Hungarian authorities also said that they registered a total of 100 cases so far.

Miklós Nyíri, the managing director of Neumann Labs, told commercial television channel RTL Klub that the new mutation is spreading rapidly in Hungary as well.

As he said, they have about a hundred positive cases a day in the lab, and sixty out of the last hundred have been diagnosed with Omicron, meaning that sixty percent of new infections are already caused by the Omicron variant.

Miklós Nyíri said that out of about 1000 tests a day, there will be 100 positive cases. This astonishingly rapid upswing we are experiencing is in line with what has already been reported from several countries around the world: the Omicron is a very fast-spreading variant.

Hungary on Thursday reported 6,454 Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,276,433.

This number is more than a 90% increase compared to last week, while the daily infections registered at the end of December ranged between 2 and 3 thousand infections.

In the past 24 hours, 80 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 39,679 in the country, while 1,133,345 have recovered. Currently, 3,101 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 307 on ventilators, figures from the government's coronavirus information website showed.

As of Thursday, 6,272,718 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,996,472 had two jabs, and 3,198,951 got their booster shot, according to the website.

Local media is already talking about the start of the fifth wave, although the fourth is still ongoing.

The situation is similar to that of January last year, when the second wave has not yet ended while the third has already begun.

Based on the experience of the countries that were first hit with the Omicron: it is certain that the number of new infections will skyrocket in the coming weeks, but the number of those in serious condition might not follow so steeply.

Orbán-Putin summit again in February

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had a busy day in Moscow last week: he first received the "For Friendship" award from Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for his achievements in developing bilateral relations, and then announced that 2021 was the most successful year ever in terms of Hungarian-Russian cooperation.

In order to duly mark this milestone, the leaders of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban decided to meet in the next month.

"Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet with President Vladimir Putin in early February, preparations are underway, because we would like to have some milestones in our relations in 2022 as well,” Szijjarto announced on his Facebook page.

The main topics of the planned meeting are:

• the Paks Nuclear Power Plant project,
• the National Vaccine Factory, also calibrated for the production of Sputnik,
• the cooperation in space technology,
• the strengthening the role of the Záhony (East) region in rail traffic,
• The promotion of Hungarian food exports to Russia.

Szijjartó has not yet provided precise information on the location of the meeting, but based on the reluctance of the Russian leader to travel during the pandemic, chances are high that the meeting will take place in Russia.

After having announced the meeting with Putin, Orban received an endorsement of a senior player in global politics, former American President Donald Trump.

In light of the upcoming Hungarian general elections, Trump said that Orban really loved his country, and the former POTUS supported his 2022 re-election.

Trump threw his support behind the Hungarian Prime Minister, who has been courting the leaders of the far-right, nationalist figures from France or Italy, and who daunted America’s allies in the EU, by gradually increasing his strong hold over the media and the judiciary.

"Viktor Orbán of Hungary truly loves his Country and wants safety for his people," Trump said in a statement. “He has done a powerful and wonderful job in protecting Hungary, stopping illegal immigration, creating jobs, trade, and should be allowed to continue to do so in the upcoming Election. He is a strong leader and respected by all. He has my Complete support and Endorsement for reelection as Prime Minister,” the statement of Trump said.

Hungarian President János Áder is to announce the date of the general elections shortly, they are expected to be held in April.

Viktor Orbán turns to supporters for financing his electoral campaign

The mailboxes of Hungarian voters were flooded with letters and checks in the first days of January, in which Viktor Orbán, the country's prime minister, asked them to financially support the campaign of his ruling party, the Fidesz.

General elections are to be held in April, and President János Áder is expected to set the exact date in the upcoming days.

"I am writing to you because we are facing a crucial decision. The stakes are high: Hungary will either continue to move forward or shall return to the Gyurcsány era, full of failures,” Orbán wrote.

The Prime Minister also writes about his fears of attempts by Brussels and the “Soros Empire” to intervene in the elections, although Orbán’s political formation has a qualified majority in the parliament, Fidesz is in control of the National Electoral Commission and of the Media Council, not to mention its power over all of the armed forces and a system of security surveillance system that had been already used by the government against opposition figures, journalists or businessmen.

In his plea for money, Orbán’s usual topics such as the threat of illegal migration and the many challenges posed by the epidemic, were also present.

"I am asking you to contribute to this fight and support the Fidesz campaign with your donation," the head of government said in the letter.

The Prime Minister sent an amazingly similar letter to this one in 2018, also with a check, asking fellow Hungarians to help protect the country from George Soros.

International investor and philanthropist Hungarian-born George Soros is financing an international network of human rights NGOs, including Hungary, employing a range of experts who have been increasingly critical of Orbán’s policies in the last twelve years.

Since then, he has become a “public enemy” of Orbán, despite the fact that he had personally enjoyed the financial support of Soros in his younger years.

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State Secretary of Ministry of Justice resigns over suspicion of bribery

On the morning of December 7, the chief prosecutor’s office had requested the waiver of the immunity of member of parliament Pál Völner, secretary of state in the minister of justice.

Such a high-ranking politician, who incidentally is a key player in the Pegasus surveillance scandal, has never been found in such an unpleasant situation in the government of Viktor Orbán.

The chief prosecutor's statement revealed that Völner - who was also the ministerial commissioner responsible for the Hungarian Court Bailiffs Chamber since August 2019 - is accused of having illegally received regular bribes of 2 to 5 million forints from the president of the branch of bailiffs over a sustained period of time.

Details are not known as of yet, but Völner has announced in a press release that he was resigning from his position with an immediate effect.

As a prelude to the Völner case, György Schadl, the head of the Hungarian Court Bailiffs Chamber was reportedly arrested on his way to Dubai with his wife, who also worked as a bailiff. This was first reported by Blikk on November 12.

According to the prosecution, Pál Völner can reasonably be suspected of having undertaken to deal with specific cases in compensation for an unjustified advantage - by abusing his supervisory, official and administrative powers - in accordance with the request of Schadl.

If charged and proven guilty, Völner could see a sentence of 5 to 10 years of prison, legal expert György Magyar told commercial radio Klubradio Wednesday morning.

“Everyone is entitled to be considered innocent until proven otherwise, but the mere fact that the protection had asked for the lifting of his immunity means that authorities have been conducting an extensive amount of preliminary investigations, and have come up with a very heavy dossier on him,” he added.

According to weekly newspaper HVG, the ruling parties have tried to do everything possible to keep the details of the embarrassing case in secret for as long as possible, preferably until the election.

In any case, there has been no reaction so far from the highest levels. Neither Viktor Orbán nor Völner's immediate boss, Justice Minister Judit Varga, spoke.

True, the Justice Department has said it sees Völner's resignation as the right move.

Opposition parties called on Justice Minister Judit Varga to step down, arguing that it was inconceivable that she, as Völner’s immediate boss, had no knowledge of his subordinate’s actions.

Péter Márki-Zay, the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate, said that the justice minister and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had been aware of Völner’s actions.

New far right EP groups fails to form in Warsaw

Against expectations, the new right-wing EP faction of Orbán and his political allies did not come alive in Poland, as several invitees, including Salvini did not attend the Warsaw meeting.

The great right-wing deliberation did not turn out exactly as planned by the representatives of the Polish Law and Justice Party (PiS).

The guests formally initiated discussions on the future of the European Union and the future cooperation of the Conservatives, but the meeting was previously signaled in several places as the founding of the new European faction of alternative right-wing parties, that could have been the third largest group of the European Parliament.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate of the French National Rally, Santiago Abascal, president of the Spanish Vox, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, president of PiS, leading the Polish governing coalition, and Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki appeared at the summit.

However, the missing ones were more noticeable: the leaders of the two Italian right-wing parties, the League and the Italian Brothers, Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni, did not attend the gathering in the Polish capital due to “other occupations”.

Negotiations with the two Italian parties will continue at a later date, with Salvini and Meloni allegedly "open to meetings to be held at a later date."

The Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) to its right were also missing from the Warsaw meeting. They all are, along with Le Pen, friends of Putin's Russia, in sharp contrast to the Poles.

Hungarian senior political, minister responsible for families, Katalin Novák, also took part in the event, but refuted possible collaboration with the aforementioned parties, saying:

“Contrary to other rumors, I can assure everyone that Fidesz will only cooperate with democratic, conservative parties in the future.”

A PiS deputy spokesman talked about what was going on behind closed doors: Radoslaw Fogiel explained that conservative parties were different indeed, but were also looking for topics that connected them.

With Le Pen, for example, Polish cooperation will surely not go smoothly, as she is already considered by the local public as a pro-Russian politician.

Hungarian rockstar János Kóbor dies of Covid

János Kóbor, the legendary figure of the Hungarian pop music scene, and singer of the rock Omega band, died at the age of 78 on Monday.

Before succumbing to the virus, the musician spent several weeks in hospital with a covid infection, and his condition was steadily deteriorating.

The band posted the news on their Facebook page:

“We are shocked to announce that János Kóbor, the founder of the Omega band, owner of the Kossuth and the Liszt Ferenc Prize, has passed away after a short illness. He was adored by millions of fans at home and abroad as a shining star in the world of rock music. His passing leaves an incomprehensible void behind. There are no words, only silence remains. Mecky (his nickname) will stay with us forever.”

The famous musician was hospitalized in the beginning of November. In an earlier interview, he said he did not want to be vaccinated because he had never been seriously ill and “trusted his own immune system.”

János Kóbor was born in Budapest in 1943 and founded his first orchestra in high school. He graduated as an architect, but never worked as such.

The band Omega was founded in 1962 as a successor to the band Prophet. At first, several people sang in the band, but from the second half of the ’60s, most of Omega’s own songs were sung by Kóbor, and no-one else.

Omega was not only beloved in Hungary, as records have been also released in English and German, as well as a number of concert recordings.

Kóbor was one of the very few Hungarian pop stars who spent his entire career as a member of one single band. In one of his last interviews, he said that he wanted his ashes to be scattered in the waters of his beloved lake Balaton after his death.

Top Court gives green light to vaccine mandate for health care workers

The Hungarian Constitutional Court informed that it was not unconstitutional to oblige health care workers to get vaccinated, it said in a ruling.

The government has made vaccination compulsory for health care workers in several decrees earlier this year, and also ruled that those who did not get the jab should be fired without fringe benefits.

The constitutionality of the regulations has been challenged by hundreds of petitions, but the Constitutional Court dismissed the motions and ruled:

“The regulation serves the continuity of the operation of national health care, it also serves the safety of patients, and the enforcement of patients' right to life and health.”

The vaccine mandate for health care workers therefore contains a constitutional and proportionate restriction, the court also said.

The Constitutional Court also referred to the position of the World Health Organization (WHO) that public health objectives, and in particular a serious pandemic, may justify the use of coercive legal measures as a last resort.

Hungary on Friday reported 6,884 COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,182,922.

In the past 24 hours, 166 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 36,429 in the country, while 968,897 have recovered. Currently, 6,939 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 573 on ventilators, figures from the government's coronavirus information website showed.

As of Friday, 6,176,567 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,883,873 had two jabs, and more than 2,906,959 got their booster shot, according to the website.

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Opposition parties file complaint against László Kövér

Hungarian opposition parties filed a criminal complaint against László Kövér, the speaker of the Parliament.

"A report has been filed to the Central Chief Prosecution Office of Investigation concerning secret information gathering and the unauthorized use of concealed methods,” Tímea Szabó, group leader of small green opposition party Párbeszéd said Tuesday.

“Today we reported László Kövér for his speech prompting secret services to violate the law and incite against the opposition," she said. "We are not the enemy of the country, Mr. Speaker,” she added.

Szabó also recalled the Pegasus scandal (it is common knowledge that the State acquired the Israeli spyware, which was found on the phones of critical journalists and business leaders), and tied it to the speech of Kövér leaked over the weekend, which had been recorded during a closed event last February.

Referring to Fidesz, Kövér said to leaders of secret services that "part of the Hungarian political class thinks in a self-governing state and a self-conscious nation, in which it believes and for which it works".

He then continued saying that “the other part of politics is acting in the spirit of the political tradition of a surrendering State and is constantly blaming itself”.

He then stressed that "I consider this latter political situation to be the most dangerous threat to national security that threatens Hungary today."

According to the opposition, by using these particular words Kövér has pointed to millions of people as a threat to national security.

Szabó also declared that Fidesz was trying to win next year's elections by illegal means, and also said that Kövér’s use of vocabulary and actions reminded her of those preferred by the communist dictatorship of the 50’s.

EP delegation: situation in Hungary deteriorated since 2018

The situation in Hungary has not improved since 2018, but rather has deteriorated, according to the delegation of the European Parliament on the situation of the rule of law.

During their three-day visit to Budapest, MEPs of the Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) heard from civil society organizations working in the field of the protection of the rule of law, equal treatment, and minority and social rights.

They also met journalists and representatives of outlets covering the whole media spectrum, as well as representatives from organizations working to defend press freedom.

MEPs came to Budapest, to gather information on the changes that have taken place since the adoption of the 2018 Sargentini report and are expected to make recommendations.

As they wrote, there are still serious concerns about threats to the independence of the judiciary and media freedom in Hungary.

Widespread corruption seems to have led to the emergence of a parallel State, which makes action almost impossible in the absence of an independent judiciary. The Pegasus scandal highlights increased state surveillance of activists, journalists and lawyers, according to the MEPs.

However, two members of the seven-member delegation, coming from the far right and the conservative groups, do not agree with the criticism.

LIBE members also informed that most of their discussions were constructive, although they were not welcomed by all negotiating partners, and the hostility towards the official delegation did not really foster open dialogue and sincere cooperation.

“Hungary stands by its current position: we have always respected European values, we have always complied with the rule of law, but we also expect the institutions in Brussels to do the same,” Minister of Justice Judit Varga wrote on her Facebook page.

She also added: “We call on the European Parliament to stop exerting political pressure and smear campaigns against our country. Instead of flouting its own rules, the EP must finally return to European values and leave the Member States alone!”

“Of course, we have no illusions but in any case, we look forward to the committee's report,” she concluded her post.

Omicron: Hungary also bans flights from African countries

The Hungarian government decided to join a number of other countries in restricting air travel from the southern part of the African continent, in an effort to contain the new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron.

The regulations, which took effect on Monday, cover seven countries: the Republic of Botswana, the Republic of South Africa, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia and the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Hungarians returning home from the region or have visited the region in the two weeks prior to their arrival will have to be quarantined, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette of the government.

The Omicron, a more infectious coronavirus variant with surprisingly many mutations has been discovered in Africa. Following a sudden burst of news, countries around the world closed their borders to infected African countries, stocks of travel companies plummeted, and the WHO called for an extraordinary meeting on Friday.

The new variant was identified by a number of scientists to cause only mild symptoms and is therefore considered unnecessary to panic as a result of its discovery.

Virologist Miklos Rusvai said that if clinical tests prove that Omicron indeed does not cause severe symptoms, it could “Push out” the previous Delta variant, which is known to be very harmful.

“If it spreads faster, but causes less damage, then it would not be necessary to introduce new restrictions,” he said, adding that before the results of the clinical tests, caution was still in order.

He also said that the appearance of Omicron in Hungary was only a question of time.

The government also decided to extend its special vaccination action week, which started on Monday November 22, by another week, and after December 20, the vaccine against Covid-19 will be also available to children aged 5-12.

Speaking on public radio Friday morning, Prime Minister Orbán asked parents to vaccinate their smaller children as well.

As of Thursday, 6,138,885 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,852,417 had two jabs, and more than 2,609,385 got their booster shot, according to the government's coronavirus information website.

In the past 24 hours, 218 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 34,931 in the country, while 902,000 have recovered. Currently, 7,450 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 795 on ventilators, the website said

Budapest Mayor Will Not Veto Athletics World Championship

After settling a dispute with the government over the financing of the Budapest city transport company BKV, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony agreed to pull back his veto of the Athletic World Championship.

In early September, Karácsony moved to veto the major sports event, in a bid to force the government’s hand in fulfilling its financial promises to the capital, and to sway from transferring land to Fudan University in the area where the Student City was originally planned.

Karácsony explained that both of his conditions were finally met by the government.

It is true that the healthcare grants were late, but they were finally transferred to the capital’s account by Tuesday, and the Fudan project was also on hold.

“I know for a fact that the government actually let this Fudan story go long ago. They let it go because the Chinese let them, as it is not worth so much to them,” he explained on commercial television ATV Tuesday evening.

Karácsony has agreed with the government on the financing of public transport in Budapest, after having met the Minister of Innovation and Technology (ITM) first thing Monday.

At the signal of the Ministry, the Hungarian State Treasury disbursed the HUF 12 billion annual budget support to the account of the Budapest Municipality on Monday, ITM informed in a statement.

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Government reinstates mask mandate as Covid cases jump

The government decided to reinstate a general mask mandate indoors in public spaces from Saturday, November 20, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister's Office, said at a press conference.

“Masks will be required in shops, museums, cinemas and theaters, and at service providers where more than five people are present,” Gulyas declared.

“The decision on whether to require masks in schools will be left to the directors of the institutions,” he added.

The government has also decided that security cards would be required to attend events of more than 500 people.

As a third measure, the government also said that booster shots would be made mandatory in the healthcare sector.

The decisions were announced shortly after the country’s Chief Medical Officer, Cecilia Muller announced that the Delta-Plus variant of the COVID-19 has been detected in Hungary, and she urged every citizen to get vaccinated.

“The hospitals are filling up quickly and the number of infections are on the rise, I sincerely cannot imagine what would be needed for people to understand how important it is to go and get the shot?” She said in a video posted on the government’s Facebook page.

The number of new infections skyrocketed in Hungary, with numbers comparable to the devastating third wave of the pandemic.

From November 1, the Hungarian government introduced three measures aimed at restraining the fourth wave of the pandemic: companies can mandate the vaccination of employees, the wearing of face masks are mandatory in public transport, and a ban on visits has been imposed in healthcare institutions.

From November 15, the government introduced the compulsory wearing of face masks in every Office of Government Issued Documents.

From November 22 to 28, hospital vaccination points welcome those who have still not received their shots against the COVID-19. They can get the jab without prior registration or appointment.

The county registered a record 12,637 of COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,044,852.

In the past 24 hours, 176 people have died from the disease, taking the death toll to 33,519 in the country, while 856,330 have recovered.

Currently, 6,840 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 664 on ventilators (somewhat under the same period of 2020), figures from the government's coronavirus information website showed.

As of Wednesday, 6,057,367 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,808,536 had two jabs, and more than 2,043,213 got their booster shot, according to the website.

Anna Donáth elected new president of Momentum

“Momentum held a presidential meeting today, and according to the decision of the delegates, the next president of Momentum will be Anna Donáth,” Momentum said in a statement.

Anna Donáth has been an essential member of Momentum since 2016, a vice-president of the party from 2018 to 2020 and a MEP since May 2019."

Momentum elected a new president after the resignation of its former president, András Fekete-Győr, following the opposition primary elections.

Fekete-Győr was replaced because he received only 3.39% of the votes in the primary election to choose the new prime ministerial candidate, while the party performed quite well in the race for parliamentary candidates.

Besides Anna Donáth, Anna Orosz and Gábor Hollai also ran for the presidency.

“I was elected President of Momentum, Thank you for your support!” Donáth said on her Facebook page following the vote.

“I have been an active member of Momentum for five years, and this community has been the most defining part of my life for five years. Until the change of government, I can continue to serve now as president and fight for a fairer, more humane and greener Hungary,” she added.

There is a lot of work ahead of us in the next six months, as there is no change of government without a strong and lovable Momentum, which works in the interest of the people, she also said.

“The country cannot afford four more years under the reign of Fidesz. The following choice is crucial. We cannot let Hungary down, because it is also our country,” she concluded.

EU mounts pressure on Hungary in rule of law discord

The government has taken three blows from the EU in the last few days, all of which makes its position in the long disputes with Brussels over the rule of law less and less tenable.First, the European Commission has written to Hungary - and also to Poland - about problems with the independence of the judiciary, with the lack of prosecution of corruption, and deficiencies in public procurement which threaten the EU’s financial interests.

The two letters, seen by Politico, are an informal first step toward triggering the mechanism adopted last year that allows the EU to cut back on funds because of rule-of-law concerns.

In the letter sent to the Hungarian government, the Commission described systemic problems and a general lack of accountability for corruption, posing sixteen specific questions to Hungarian authorities on issues such as conflicts of interest, who benefits from EU funding, and how judicial review by independent courts is guaranteed.

The Commission also underlined that the bloc’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, found that in the period of 2016 to 2020, Hungary’s financial recommendations in the areas of regional development and agriculture were almost eight times the EU average.

On Tuesday, a landmark decision was made by the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. Hungarian Judge Csaba Vasvári, who fought for judicial independence, asked the ECJ in connection with a verdict brought against him by the Hungarian Supreme Court, the Curia.

The latter’s decision had been in accordance with the will of Chief Prosecutor Péter Polt.

Vasvári turned to the ECJ with a number of questions on issues of judicial independence, which Polt, and the government said was unacceptable.

The ECJ ruled that the Curia's judgment should not be taken into account and that it was contrary to EU law to initiate disciplinary proceedings against a national judge on the basis of seeking guidance from the ECJ for a preliminary ruling.

The verdict is a huge blow to the government.

Finally, in a long letter, Viktor Orbán called on Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission to suspend infringement proceedings against Hungary, which "undermine the territorial and national integrity of the Member States and the protection of the security of their citizens.”

The European Commission has launched multiple such proceedings, mostly in connection with the rule of law, and has even turned to the European Court of Justice in mid-November for non-compliance with last December's verdicts on asylum seekers.

But the letter had little effect on the Commission. No reply has yet been given in writing, but Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said at a press conference in Strasbourg that there was not much to talk about:

There is no political room for maneuver in infringement proceedings. These are strictly defined processes. The only way to close such a procedure is to resolve the case on which it is based. Infringement proceedings may not be terminated for political reasons or by letters, according to him.

United Nations top expert concerned over media freedom in Hungary

UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan summed up her visit in Hungary and concluded that the government was trying to distort the media market in its favor, which raises serious concerns ahead of the 2022 general elections.

During the next general elections, scheduled for April 2022, the way in which the Hungarian government has intervened in the media market over the past decade could pose a human rights risk, said Irene Khan in a press conference in Budapest.

“Information cannot be monopolized in a democracy,” Khan underlined.

"I see a distorted media environment in Hungary where pluralism, diversity and independence of media is being questioned," Khan also said.

"Therefore it is important to ensure that in the context of the elections, there is fair reporting, there is access to all the candidates on a fair and equal basis, and that public service media ... maintains an impartial approach to the different parties and candidates,” she added.

The full report will not be available before next June, but Khan emphasized that even then, before the next spring election, care must be taken to ensure that candidates have equal access to media and that voters are able to receive information from many different sources.

She also mentioned that "Freedom of expression which political candidates have should not be abused to create a toxic environment of violence and hatred".

On behalf of the government, Justice Minister Judit Varga reacted on her Facebook page: “It seems that a toxic environment for Madam Commissioner means a country where the liberal mainstream is not a hegemony but remains only as much present as the conservative side.

We regret if some people cannot find here the same liberal hegemony they got used to at home, in the 'developed' West. For us, however, media pluralism means the equal visibility of the different views.”

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PM Orbán re-elected as Fidesz party leader

To no surprise, Prime Minister Viktor Orban was re-elected president of the ruling Fidesz party at its 29th congress with an overwhelming majority, last Sunday.

Orban received 1,061 votes, more than any of his vice presidents, he was re-elected as the only candidate for a period of two years.

There was no competition for the position of vice-president either, although it was not clear until a day before the congress who would replace Katalin Novák. The congress elected the vice-president for the next two years:

• Gábor Kubatov - 1050 votes
• Kinga Gál - 1040 votes
• Szilárd Németh - 1025 votes
• Lajos Kósa - 1021 votes

“If we continue to govern, we could be among the most developed countries in ten years. Today, Hungary is still an emerging country, and we can only move forward if we work more precisely and raise smarter children than ourselves,” said the prime minister.

Orbán has been leading Fidesz continuously from 2003, and was also its president from 1993 to 2000.

“We still have problems to solve: there are not enough children, salaries and pensions are not high enough, there are still poor people, still not everyone has a home,” Orban warned of the problems still waiting to be solved by his political formation.

He said the successful management of his party demanded time, and he compared the political rivalry to a long marathon.

He thanked his wife Anikó Lévai, for letting him run for president of the party yet another time and praised some Fidesz politicians such as Gergely Gulyas, Péter Szijjártó or András Cser-Palkovics, as representatives of a younger, successful generation of the party.

He hinted at the opposition only vaguely, and not at all at his rival Péter Márky-Zay.

“Those who don’t vote for us still will benefit from our policies, but those who vote for the left will suffer from their policies,” he summarized.

Orban underlined that he considered security to be the most important thing in order to defend the achievements of his government: “We need to defend our results from migrants, standing in masses at the Polish border, or coming from the sea, but also from the pandemic, in order to save lives.”

Orban also stressed the urgent need to have more people vaccinated.

Referring to the Glasgow summit, he lashed out at the “international network led by Brussels, who wanted to make families pay for the cost of climate control.”

Finally, he argued that the whole European political right had to be reshaped, a task he vowed to take on with his ally from Warsaw Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Government caps fuel prices at HUF 480

The government decided to set a cap of 480 forints on the price of petrol and diesel from November 15, meaning prices can be cheaper, but not more expensive than 480 forints, Gergely Gulyás, head of the Prime Minister’s Office said last week at a press conference.

He also informed that this limit would be applied for a period of three months, after which it would be reviewed.

The decision does not concern the premium products of the fuel stations.

Apart from setting an official price, the government has little room when it comes to the price of fuel, as both VAT and excise tax reductions go against EU regulations, and it cannot lower the purchase price of fuel, according to Péter Virovácz, senior analyst at ING Bank.

Based on the fuel consumption of the same period last year, online business daily Napi.hu estimated the cost of the decision to be about HUF 40 billion.

The measure might make consumers happy but will have to be suffered by the distributors, as the government said nothing about compensation.

Government gets a step closer to the acquisition of Budapest Airport

The Hungarian government submitted a revised non-binding offer to buy Budapest Airport, which has entered into a due diligence process with the government, the majority owner of the airport said on Monday, moving the acquisition of the airport towards the state a step closer.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said several times that he wanted to see the airport as a national asset, but owners had so far refused to consider selling it.

The Hungarian government intends to buy back Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport, and this can happen at any moment, Orbán said at the end of October to public media.

“Our single really serious international airport should be back in Hungarian hands, so it is right to buy it back, and our economy is strong enough to make the deal” he said, adding that the deal could be made “at any time.”

If the airport was to be taken over by the state, there would be developments that would increase the value of both the airport and Budapest, according to him.

Local media reported late last month that Hungary had offered some 1,500 billion forints (4.44 billion euros) for the airport.

On Monday, the biggest shareholder AviAlliance confirmed that a consortium led by the Hungarian government had submitted a revised non-binding offer to buy the airport.

“The Hungarian government has accepted our terms and conditions for starting formal negotiations. Therefore we have decided to enter into a due diligence process,” AviAlliance said in a statement.

AviAlliance currently holds a stake of 55.438 percent in Budapest Airport, Hungary's most important international airport.

In June 2007, AviAlliance, together with its consortium partners, had initially assumed responsibility for the airport management with a stake of 75 percent minus one vote.

In July 2011, they also acquired the remaining 25-percent stake of the Hungarian state.

Since then, Budapest Airport has been fully privatized. In 2019, 16.2 million passengers used the Hungarian capital's airport; due to the COVID-19 pandemic the number dropped to 3.9 million in 2020.

Opposition warns of potential election fraud after bill adopted by parliament

A not particularly interesting omnibus bill adopted earlier this week by the parliament is a twist to the election rules that remove infringements of the requirement to vote where you live to be linked to an official address card, the NGO Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) said Tuesday.

“The bill, which essentially legalizes voter tourism and could jeopardize the freedom of next year’s elections, was adopted in a stealthy way by the parliament,” HCLU posted on their Facebook page.

“The government has hidden the amendment into an omnibus bill, which changes the concept of residence by virtually emptying its essence: the place of residence becomes a kind of contact address, meaning anyone can declare an address without criminal liability, even if it is clear from the start that they do not intend to live there,” the NGO added.

HCLU argues that this opens the door to much more widespread “voter tourism” than has happened to date.

In 2018, during the last general elections, independent observers including Hungarian media and election fraud monitors Unhack Democracy documented significant numbers of voters crossing the Ukraine border to vote in Hungary on election day for Fidesz, who were registered for the election as living in Hungary.

No official investigation happened or charges were ever brought.

Until now voting at an alternative address was an offense but this new tweak removes the requirement to do so.

In a bid to control the fairness of the elections, which seemingly will be tighter than ever, united opposition parties started a project last month to recruit 20,000 vote counters for election day, to ensure a presence and control of the opposition in every single voting center.

During the last elections, they failed to be present in close to half of them.

It is obvious that Fidesz is preparing an organized election fraud," Péter Márki-Zay commented on ATV news television.

According to the opposition's prime ministerial candidate, the government can now prepare to move voters onto flipping electoral districts where the fate of the 2022 election could be decided.

“Now the opposition must find the right answer, pay attention to where Fidesz is deploying a large number of voters and, if necessary, compete with even the lowest means of Fidesz,” he added.

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Government introduces new restrictions to curb 4th wave of pandemic

Numbers have been on the rise in Hungary for the past few weeks, with a surge in recent days, and the government reluctantly decided to introduce new restrictive measures to restrain the fourth wave of the pandemic.

Following serious consultations with healthcare professionals and having examined the available data on the increasing number of infections, the government decided on three anti-epidemic measures:

• companies can now mandate the vaccination of employees,
• masks are mandatory in public transport from Nov. 1
• a ban on visits has been imposed in healthcare institutions

The new measures were announced by Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister's Office, at his weekly press conference.

"The vaccine is the only tool that can offer effective protection," Gulyas also stressed.

"The government, as an employer, will require vaccination,” Gulyas said, adding that local governments should soon decide whether they prescribe mandatory coronavirus vaccines for their own employees.

Those who choose to refuse the free jab will have to face consequences: "Anyone who refuses to be vaccinated must be placed on unpaid leave, and if this emergency measure is maintained for one year, the person on leave can be dismissed.”

The deadline of the administration of the vaccine will be specified in a decree that will be issued in a day or two, according to Gulyas.

In the past 24 hours, 107 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 31,101 in the country, while 803,151 have recovered. Currently, 3,366 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 349 on ventilators, the government's coronavirus information website said.

As of Thursday, 5,962,878 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,744,219 had two jabs, and more than 1,274,000 got their booster shot, according to the website.

The fourth wave of the pandemic also took its toll on the economy, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga lowered the government’s official forecast for the annual GDP growth from 7,-7.5 percent to 6.8 percent Thursday.

Joke Party stays out of opposition coalition

The Hungarian joke party Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP) will stay out of the opposition parties’ common list in next year’s general elections, and will face the odds with a separate list of its own, with 85 individual candidates, party president Gergely Kovács informed last Friday.

Kovács also confirmed that his party had been approached by opposition prime ministerial candidate Péter Márki-Zay, hoping that MKKP would join the six-party opposition coalition next spring.

Declining the offer, Kovács explained that MKKP have voters who want to vote for them and only them. He said his hypothesis was confirmed by a recent poll published by Median in mid-October, according to which the MKKP could reach the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter Parliament even if it stayed out of the cooperation of the other opposition parties.

”If everyone who loves us votes for us, there will be 5-6 members of parliament who are not Fidesz,” Kovács underlined.

Basically, he says not having any particular problems with Péter Márki-Zay being the candidate of the united opposition, but stressed he would never cooperate with the parties supporting him (specifically MSZP, DK and Jobbik).

Kovács also informed that the MKKP has already managed to find candidates in 85 constituencies, but said that building a team behind them was the hard part.

In any case, if the satirical party managed to get into parliament, they would cooperate with the current opposition parties in much the same way as they do currently in local governments.

Orbán calls on EU Commission to reimburse billions for border protection

Prime Minister Orbán called upon the President of the European Commission (EC) to reimburse the costs of Hungary’s border protection measures, arguing that Hungary’s measures have become exemplary for a number of other European countries.

In his letter written to President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Orbán pointed out that a new migration crisis was “unfolding at the doorstep of the European Union.”

“As you are well aware, the hybrid uses of migration stemming from Belarus, as well as the disastrous evacuation of the security forces from Afghanistan may potentially bring forth an even more severe crisis than what we witnessed in 2015,” he added.

Orbán said the Hungarian border was paramount to the security of Europe: “I believe that the only reason behind the fragile stability that we currently have in the EU is the fact that Hungary, together with other Member States, successfully protects the external borders of our Union.”

He recalled that Hungary alone has so far spent over 590 billion forints from its national budget on border protection, and was among the first countries to construct a physical border fence.

Over time, the Hungarian border protection measures have become exemplary, according to Orbán, who listed many countries opting for the construction of physical barriers, such as Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

“Physical barrier appears to be an effective border protection measure that serves the interest of the whole EU, not just Member States of first arrival. This legitimate measure should be additionally and adequately funded from the EU budget as a matter of priority,” Orbán stressed.

In his letter, Prime Minister Orbán pointed out it was great time for the Commission to do what it should have done years ago and recognize that the protection of the external borders was an indisputable manifestation of European solidarity and that the efforts of Member States in this context deserved both recognition and support.

“Considering the current situation, especially the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and the continuous hybrid threats at the borders of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland with Belarus, we see no indication for the migration pressure to decrease in the near future.

Now, it is the responsibility of the EU to fairly contribute to our efforts and expenditures,” Orbán concluded.

A spokesman for the EC announced that they had received the letter from Orbán, and that they would reply to the Hungarian prime minister shortly.

The spokesman also said Ursula von der Leyen and the EC’s position had long been known and was crystal clear on the matter: they would not fund fences with EU money.

“The EU supports border protection with financial instruments, but these cannot be used to build fences,” von der Leyen said.

First Presidential visit from South Korean in 20 year

South Korean President Moon Jae-in met both his counterpart János Ader, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest. Moon’s visit is the first presidential visit from South Korea in twenty years.

Áder and Moon held a joint press conference, where Áder presented the Asian country as one of the most important investors in Hungary, with more than 5 billion USD invested so far. In 2019, the level of investments from South Korea even surpassed that of Germany.

Áder also said that he had met with the Korean president at the Glasgow climate summit on Tuesday, and that the two countries' climate goals were the same on several points: both countries aim to become carbon neutral by 2050, and both agreed that it was not possible to reach that level without nuclear energy.

Achieving climate neutrality requires further efforts and developments, which will provide additional opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in the scientific, technological and economic fields, according to Áder.

Moon reaffirmed his intention to raise relations between the two countries to the level of a strategic partnership.

He recalled that the level of trade between the two countries broke a record last year despite the covid pandemic, and pointed out that South Korea invested in innovative areas such as electric cars or batteries.

Moon also thanked Hungary for providing great assistance in locating the victims after the tragic boat accident of the Hableány, and for establishing a memorial site for the victims.

Moon also spoke about the importance of sustained dialogue between the two Koreas and thanked Hungary for its support in this area.

Prime Minister Orbán also met shortly with Moon: “We are amazed at how South Korea has become one of the world’s leading technological powers with a population of fifty million people,” the Hungarian prime minister declared, adding that he could only tell the best about the Korean companies present in Hungary: they have fantastic investments here, they are very honest people, all agreements are respected, deadlines are met, we really like to work with them.”

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Orbán and Márki-Zay rally on 65th anniversary of Hungarian uprising

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his recently elected challenger Péter Márki-Zay both held rallies in the capital on October 23, some six months from general elections, which are expected to be very tight.

Some seventy thousand (professional estimate of atlatszo.hu) supporters of Viktor Orbán took part in a solemn march through the streets of Budapest to hear a speech by Orbán on a national day paying tribute to Hungary's crushed anti-Soviet uprising of 1956.

The prime minister spared only a few words on the actual revolutionary events of 1956, and rather focused on the events that took place 15 years ago, when violent riots broke out under then prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. Orbán also called on his sympathizers to stay united against the opposition. He also pointed fingers at the EU, comparing it to the Soviet Union, because of the its treatment of Hungary and Poland over rule-of-law issues.

The rival of Viktor Orbán, Péter Márki-Zay, who won the opposition primary election a week before the national day, spoke only a few miles from his adversary, before a much more modest crowd.

He told his supporters that people “had enough” in 1956, just as “they have enough today,” but he also struck a more conciliatory note by saying that “..those who are not opposed to us are with us.”

The primary elections of the opposition were organized by the coalition of the six main opposition parties, uniting greens, liberals, social democrats and even a former far-right party.

The association of the opposition, created with the goal of maximizing results in an election system favoring the prime minister’s Fidesz party, did not only succeed in choosing Orbán’s rival, but also found the best contestants suitable to challenge Fidesz candidates in all of the 106 electoral districts.

Orbán won three landslide victories since 2010, giving him a qualified majority allowing him to modify the constitution. If re-elected, he would start his fifth term, as he was already at the head of the government between 1998 and 2002.

Analysts say that next year’s elections will be the closest race since 2006, as most pollsters agree that the opposition alliance led by Márki-Zay is neck-and-neck with Fidesz, even enjoying a slight advantage.

Curia blocks one of the questions in Orbán’s referendum

Hungary’s supreme court, the Curia, rejected one of the questions in the Orbán referendum, arguing that “..a valid and effective referendum on the relevant question would result in a conflict of fundamental rights that could only be resolved by the amendment of the Basic Law. Therefore, a referendum on the specific issue has been rejected.”

The specific question was the following:

"Do you support the availability of non-neoplastic treatments for minor children?"

All five of the government’s questions passed swiftly through the National Electoral Commission at the end of July:

• Do you support the organization of sexual orientation sessions for minor children in public education without parental consent?
• Do you support the promotion of gender reassignment treatments for minor children?
• Do you support the availability of gender reassignment treatments for minor children?
• Do you support the unrestricted presentation of sexual media content to minors that affects their development?
• Do you support the display of gender-reassignment media content to minor children?

A few days shy of the green light given by the National Electoral Commission, Orbán announced that he would initiate a so-called “child protection" referendum, following that, as he put it "Brussels clearly attacked Hungary over the child protection law in recent weeks.”

The government’s anti-pedophile law was passed with homophobic modifiers in which the government banned the "promotion or portrayal of homosexuality."

The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Hungary in connection with the law, arguing that it restricts the right to free speech, while the government is unable to explain why and how LGBTQ content adversely affects children's development.

But now, according to the verdict of the Curia, the outcome of a referendum on this issue would conflict with the Basic Law itself in several respects.

"The Curia, while defending human dignity, refused to validate one of the government's referendum questions. The government planned to put a total of five questions to a referendum during its homophobic and transphobic referendum initiative,” Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) said in a Facebook post following the announcement of the Curia.

"The Curia has stated that the right of minors to receive certain treatments cannot be deprived as a general rule, because it would prevent them from exercising their fundamental rights. Children also have the right to self-determination and physical integrity, and a general prohibition on the decision to use treatment would deprive them of the right to self-determination, “ HCLU added.

On the other hand, the validation of the government's referendum question is made impossible by the latest, ninth amendment to the Basic Law: if “yes” votes were cast in the majority, the “birth gender identity” declared in the Basic Law would be violated by the referendum.

The Curia will decide on the other issues later.

Hungarian competition authority slaps record fine on Nitrogénművek Vegyipari Zrt. and affiliates

The Hungarian Competition Authority GVH imposed a record fine of 14.1 billion forints on Nitrogénművek Vegyipari Zrt. and its group of affiliates for cartel activities, arguing that the companies sought to restrict competition between their reseller partners and imports for years.

“The recently concluded investigation of the GVH has revealed that Nitrogénművek Vegyipari Zrt. and its artificial fertiliser manufacturing and distribution affiliates infringed the law by determining the resale prices of their products and even to which customers the resellers were permitted to sell them,” GVH said in a statement

“Furthermore, in order to restrict imports from abroad, the group of undertakings required significant annual minimum quantities and exclusivity for its resellers,” GVH added.

To put the amount of 14.1 billion into perspective: GVH imposed a total fine of 8.4 billion forints for the whole year in 2020.

“Nitrogénművek Zrt. operates the only artificial fertiliser factory in Hungary; therefore, only imports are able to compete with it on the domestic market. The proceedings of the GVH revealed that the group of undertakings had developed a complex system of agreements with its strategic partners that was able to hinder the competition for customers,” the statement also said.

These agreements were aimed at restricting the pricing of the products manufactured by Nitrogénművek Zrt., while specifying expected order volumes under the threat of high penalties and applying exclusivity clauses were intended to limit the purchase and sale of substitute products, according to GVH.

According to the GVH, Nitrogénművek Zrt. caused significant damage to Hungarian farmers, and because fertilizer is indispensable in agriculture, and the costs of producers are also reflected in consumer prices, the damage was also caused essentially to all Hungarian consumers.

Fatal Verona bus accident: driver sentenced to six years in prison

The trial of the Verona bus accident in Italy, which claimed 17 lives - mostly Hungarian students - continued, and a settlement has been reached, local daily tabloid Blikk reported.

At first instance, the bus driver was sentenced to 12 years in prison and banned from driving, but according to the settlement reached at the current trial, the Hungarian man was sentenced to six years in jail, which he will have to serve in Italy.

The man from Békéscsaba did not appear at the trial. The driver’s lawyers presented a hundred-page document to the judge and proposed that his sentence be halved to six years.

The driver was said to have fallen asleep before the tragedy because he did not brake and did not even steer to avoid the collision. It turned out later that he was struggling with sleep disorders.

The bus accident, which claimed 17 lives, took place between Verona and Venice, Italy on January 20, 2017, when a bus transporting students from the Szinyei Merse Pál High School in Budapest returning from a skiing trip in France collided with a strip fence on the highway and caught fire.

A total of 56 people traveled on the bus, 43 students and 13 adults, including teachers and parents. It was one of the most serious bus accidents involving Hungarian citizens abroad.

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Márki-Zay elected as challenger of Viktor Orbán in Hungarian opposition primaries

Péter Marki-Zay, a 49 year-old conservative mayor of Hódmezővásárhely won the Hungarian opposition primary elections, putting him as the challenger of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in next year’s general elections.

Marki-Zay won 56.7 percent of the votes, against Klara Dobrev (43.3 percent), the candidate of the biggest opposition party DK (social-democrat), who is the wife of former socialist prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

Voters have seen Dobrev as less able to unite opposition, because her husband - even if the president of the currently strongest opposition party - is still one of the most unpopular political figures of the country.

The turnout of the primaries, organized by the six main opposition parties, was over 8 percent, which is above the 3-5 percent expected by the organizers before the voting.

The six Hungarian opposition parties, conservatives, socialists, greens, liberals etc.. have decided to unite before the general elections scheduled for April 2022, in order to maximize their chances at winning over Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has been in power since 2010.

The first round of the opposition primaries, that started last month, elected the 106 common candidates, who will go into the elections to challenge each representative of Orban’s Fidesz party in an electoral duel.

“We are united, young and old, conservatives and liberals, socialists and greens, the only question remaining today is Fidesz or no Fidesz,” Marki-Zay, a father of seven children, told a cheering crowd in downtown Budapest late Sunday night, as votes were still counted, but Dobrev had already conceded victory and vowed to work together with Marki-Zay in the following months.

Marki-Zay only came in third in the first round of the Hungary, behind Dobrev and Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, but the latter stepped out of the race in favor of Marki-Zay, who, according to Karacsony, had more chance to win against Dobrev.

The main program of the opposition is to end all tensions between Hungary and the European Union, which has been at odds with the Orban government for many years, arguing that the Hungarian leader has driven the country away from core EU values. The Brussels Commission wants Budapest to make changes in its legal system mostly concerning the media, the disbursement of EU funds, and the judiciary. All elements that fall in line with the objectives of the opposition.

Hungary will receive a EUR 183 million emergency epidemic loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Hungary will receive an emergency epidemic loan to renovate 17 hospitals from an investment bank focusing on developing Asian countries, local online business weekly HVG said, adding that part of the loan actually finances retroactive equipment purchases, such as unused medical ventilators piled up in a warehouse.

Hungary is the first non-Asian country to benefit from AIIB funding under the Bank's Covid-19 Crisis Recovery Facility. According to hvg.hu, Hungary can receive emergency support under the bank's Covid asset because

• the health system is in bad shape,
• the population is aging and sick,
• the country is performing poorly in the fight against the epidemic.

“Despite the initial success, Hungary has experienced high COVID-19 related mortality rates4 as a result of its underlying population structure, and remains vulnerable to another wave of COVID-19. Hungary’s demographic is tilted towards an older age population with a high prevalence of chronic diseases (cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cancer) which has contributed to the high COVID-19 mortality rate,” according to AIIB.

“Many of the public health care facilities in Hungary were constructed over 50 years ago and require upgrades to accommodate modern infection control including disinfection and air filtration, optimized patient flow, and upgraded modern medical equipment such as oxygen therapy devices, vital signs monitors, and ventilators,” AIIB added.

Part of the loan, EUR 27.6 million, will be spent on “the purchase of patient care equipment”, ie “oxygen therapy equipment, vital signs monitors, protective equipment and medicines”.

In addition, EUR 27.3 million worth of hospital laboratory capacity will be developed. Another EUR 171.5 million will in principle be spent on renovating 17 hospital buildings, including:

• • National Institute for Hematology and Infectology - South Pest Center Hospital
  
• • Korányi National Institute of Pulmonology (OKPI)
  
• • Heim Pál National Institute of Pediatrics
  
• • National Institute of Medical Rehabilitation (OORI)
  
• • Szent Imre University Hospital
  
• • Szent Margit Hospital
  
• • Uzsoki Hospital
  
• • Jahn Ferenc South Pest Hospital and Clinic
  
• • Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Hospital and Clinic
  

Head of pro-Orban Media Council resigns, so Fidesz can choose a successor for 9 years, 6 months before the elections

Mónika Karas, president of the Media Council is officially "looking for new challenges", but her decision is especially timely for the governing parties, as her successor can thus be elected by the current Fidesz-KDNP majority - for another 9 years.

Karas, who also leads the National Media and Communications Authority (NHHH), resigned with effect from October 31.

President Ader appointed Karas, upon proposal of the prime minister on August 19, 2013 - succeeding Annamária Szalai. Her appointment would therefore expire in only September 2022, after next year’s parliamentary elections.

Thus, Karas’s resignation lets the current majority of the parliament decide the fate of this strategically important territory for nine years.

Furthermore, the Media Council is made up of Fidesz delegates only, and they are cemented onto their seats until 2028. The Media Council is the supreme media watchdog of Hungarian media, having an exclusive power to decide on frequency tenders and fines.

It is through the Media Council that the government silenced the only opposition radio Klubradió, by stripping it first from its frequencies outside of the capital, then seizing its Budapest frequency.

Klubradio operates now as an Internet radio, reaching but a fraction of its earlier audience.

The media watchdog also supervises the operation of the state news agency, MTVA, which failed to report on the major political event of 2021, i.e. the opposition primaries.

“What the state news agency does is completely sick, and it is certainly counterproductive. This will drive propaganda consumers to start searching for other sources as well, otherwise they will be left out from relevant information,” Mérték Media NGO said after the resignation of Karas, hinting at the omission of the primaries in government controlled media.

“András Koltay, a tried and tested confidant of the NER, can now take the seat the helm of the NMHH and the Media Council. He served, as he had previously voted for everything he had been asked for as a member of the Media Council for nine years. He loved Simicska, then Vajna, then Mészáros. We wish you much success in your arduous party service,” Mérték Média added.

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Tension builds up between Dobrev and Márki-Zay in second round of opposition primaries

Tension was building up between the two remaining standing candidates of the opposition primaries, Klára Dobrev (DK), and Péter Márki-Zay (MMM), as they clashed in a heated debate Wednesday night on commercial television RTL Klub.

The first part of the debate was full of sizzling tension, which was not at all surprising given the mood of the campaign in the past few days. Dobrev kept repeating that Márki-Zay was not suitable for the post of prime ministerial candidate, as he lacked “mental stamina.” She also compared him to Donald Trump, and said he disrupted the opposition coalition and said what he had done in recent days was “running amok.”

Péter Márki-Zay remained stoic during the accusation and said that personal lies were being spread about him while the DK was blackmailing politicians, including Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony.

The fierce level of the competition is a good indication that Dobrev could no longer behave as she had in previous debates, where she did not have to attack others in the comfortable knowledge of her leadership position. Now she went at Mark-Zay, then tried to assure the viewers that she was the key to the opposition's cohesion.

Dobrev presented more concrete plans and steps than her rival, but surprisingly many of her plans were almost in harmony with Márki-Zay’s. While the opposition between the still-competing actors and their supporters in the primaries seems tense, there is little to no program-based disagreements between the promises of the DK social democrat or the MMM’s center-right liberal-conservative governance.

The basics are a restoration of the State of Law in Hungary, the purge of the Basic Law from its parts that serve nothing but cementing the power of Fidesz, the equitable and transparent distribution of resources, and of course to make former leaders and straw-men accountable.

In four days, some 345,000 people voted in the second turn of the opposition primaries. Organizers said in a Thursday morning report, even though Tuesday’s record was not reached on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, a total of 85,708 people voted for one of the two opposition prime ministerial candidates, 66,938 people in person and 18,770 people online. This is the third-highest turnout. High participation is said to favor MZP, and a lower one tends to be better for Dobrev, analysts have said before the vote.

Results are expected late on Sunday.

Hungary has vetoed the EU strategy on the rights of the child. The reason: LGBTQ lobby

At the meeting of the Ministers of Justice in Luxembourg, the Polish and Hungarian governments vetoed the strategy on the rights of the child presented by the European Commission, local weekly paper HVG reported. According to Justice Minister Judit Varga, the strategy serves the purpose of admitting LGBTQ activists to schools. But there is no such thing in the strategy.

“Action against violence against children or child prostitution, but even ensuring the rights of children with special educational needs or disabilities, and even rejecting any form of discrimination, was no more important to them than granting extra rights for the LGBTQ lobby,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Slovenian Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič, on behalf of the Presidency, said that it had not been possible to win the support of all Member States so that negotiations on the proposal should continue at a technical level. According to Dikaučič, serious efforts were made to persuade the two vetoing ministers to find a compromise solution, but to no avail.

Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said non-discrimination was an essential element of any EU strategy. They want to prevent any citizen from being discriminated, and this also applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation.

On 24 March, the European Commission presented a strategy on the rights of the child, proposing thematic actions in six areas. Among other things, it includes the right of children to benefit from their talents, regardless of their social background, their right to a life free from violence, or even their right to child-friendly justice.

The document repeatedly mentions the acronym LGBTI and LGBTQ, that make the Hungarian government see red, for example: “Some other groups of children, such as children with disabilities and LGBTQI children, may have special needs for mental and physical health that need to be addressed appropriately. "

After the visit of the LIBE Committee last week, Brussels will now send to Hungary their Commissioner for Justice, Mr Didier Reynders. Commissioner Reynders will come to Hungary to continue the professional dialogue on rule of law.

Wednesday, Judit Varga underlined that three steps were needed from Brussels in order to restore credibility to the dialogue:

• They must withdraw the infringement procedures that have been launched against our country over the management of the migration crisis. In fact, they are now supporting other Member States for the very same actions.

• They must withdraw those judgments of the Sargentini report, which were made against our country because of the management of the migration crisis. The same measures have already been put into practice by other Member States too.

• They must withdraw the infringement procedure launched over the Child Protection Act, they must stop blackmailing!

Hungary backs Polish constitutional court ruling versus EU

Hungary on Saturday backed a Polish constitutional court ruling that challenged the primacy of EU law, urging the bloc to “respect the sovereignty of members.”

Poland's Constitutional Court last Thursday challenged the primacy of EU law over Polish law by declaring several articles in the EU treaties "incompatible" with the largest former communist member state’s constitution.

In a decree, the Hungarian government also warned EU institutions not to "act beyond the scope of their competences" by interfering with reforms of Poland's judiciary -- a major source of discord with Brussels.

In the decree welcoming the Polish court's decision, Viktor Orban called on Brussels "to respect the limits of the sovereignty of the member states," according to his press chief Bertalan Havasi.

The decree signed by Orban accuses the EU of "bad practice", seeking to "deprive" members' rights "by stealthy extension of powers”.

“The decree of the Hungarian government states the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Poland was prompted by bad practice of the European Union institutions, which disregards the principle of subsidiarity and seeks to deprive the rights of the Member States, rights never conferred to the European Union, by stealthy extension of powers without amending the Treaties of the European Union,” according to the text.

“The primacy of EU law can take precedence only in areas where the European Union has competence, the framework of which is laid down in the Treaties of the European Union,” the decree specified.

Orban, a strong ally of Polish right-wing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, has frequently been at odds with Brussels over rule-of-law, refugee, and other issues.

Poland's government last Friday insisted it wanted the country to stay in the European Union as it faced a growing backlash against the court ruling that analysts said could lead to a so-called “Polexit”.

However, polls and a number of rapidly staged massive demonstrations suggest that the overwhelming majority of Poles prefer the EU.

President of Momentum steps down after poor election results

Following his weak performance at the first round of the opposition primaries, Momentum called back András Fekete-Győr from the party presidency. In a vote of confidence on Sunday evening, the General Assembly voted against Fekete-Győr. The party' new president will be elected later.

"András Fekete-Győr resigned from the position of chairman of Momentum,” the liberal party informed in a statement, however, the resignation is formal, as before that the party president failed to rally support of the majority in the vote of confidence.

Fekete-Győr requested a vote of confidence from the Momentum Delegates' Assembly following his feeble results, he came in last in the race of the prime ministerial candidates.

The majority of the Assembly of Delegates decided that a new leadership was needed in the next phase of the election campaign. András Fekete-Győr accepted the result and resigned with immediate effect.

The six members of the Momentum presidency will continue their work, and a new position will soon be announced for the presidency.

“Together we built a nationwide movement from scratch, on a generational basis, a centrist party. A party that believes in the solidarity of communities, the performance of individuals, and social peace,” Fekete Győr said following the vote.

“I am confident that the next president and leadership of the party will make the Momentum and the new political generation even stronger, even more successful. And I will do my best for the success of the next president, the Momentum, and the collaboration of opposition parties,” he added.

The former vice-president of the party, Anna Orosz, will be acting as interim president of the party.

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Karácsony and Márki-Zay fail to agree, primaries continue with three candidates

After the victory of Klára Dobrev in the first round of the opposition primaries, the two runners up, Karácsony and Márki-Zay tried to form an alliance in one week, both of them vowing to step aside from the race in order to increase the odds of beating Dobrev, whom neither would like as the final common candidate of the opposition, to challenge Orbán in 2022.

But Wednesday night, both candidates informed that they would not step back, each convinced to be able to win the now again three-partite election.

The mayors of Budapest and Hódmezővásárhely failed to agree, Márki-Zay changed his mind about stepping back after finding, on the basis of opinion polls, that he was more likely to defeat Klára Dobrev than Karácsony, he argued that he would not step down because he was afraid that Karácsony would not be able to win the primaries even if he did so.

“Although I never asked him, Peter Márki-Zay has been saying for months that he would step back in my favor in the second round of the primaries. However, at the last minute before the election, he came to the opposite conclusion. Of course, I respect his decision. As a result, we will start separately in the second round, but we are both committed to maintaining and strengthening the unity of the opposition,” Karácsony posted on his Facebook feed Wednesday night, following a meeting with Márki-Zay.

Dobrev remained impassive to the negotiations, saying only that she had no interests in talks dealing with techniques of power, and concentrated her efforts on continuing her campaign throughout Hungary. But many of her supporters attacked both men for being egotistical, and of demolishing the unity of the opposition.

Karácsony and Márki-Zay began discussing their possible cooperation last Friday, and on Monday they agreed on several important details. They agreed to govern as a candidate for prime minister and a candidate for deputy prime minister and to conduct a joint primary and then election campaign.

The cooperation railed off after Márki-Zay got the results of polls that have shown he had probably more chance at facing Dobrev and Orbán than Karácsony, he also said that more people participated to his rally in Budapest, than the number of people Karácsony could gather "on a boat".

But Karácsony, who had worked as a pollster analyst for years before entering politics, was little impressed with quickly-conducted surveys based on a small number of participants.

In the second round of the elections, which starts on Sunday, it seems that unless some last minute change, all three names will figure on the ballots.

LIBE disappointed following visit in Hungary

Hungarian authorities failed to convince the fact-finding delegation of the European Parliament’s LIBE delegation about the situation of the rule of law in Hungary

The purpose of the LIBE delegation's three-day visit to Hungary last week was to assess the freedom of the press and academia, the independence of the judiciary and the rights of minorities, as well as the proper functioning of the general rule of law environment.

During the brief visit, LIBE officials met more than a hundred people, both from the government, and the opposition, as well as from independent organizations.

The MEPs also held discussions with representatives of political parties, non-governmental organizations, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, the judiciary, academia, education, the media and cultural life, as well as with Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony. On behalf of the government, they met with Justice Minister Judit Varga, and Sándor Pintér, Minister of the Interior.

The delegation also wanted to meet the Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán evaded the meeting, and called it as being “not important,” via the head of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The leader of the delegation, French MEP Delbos-Corfield said there were people (she didn’t identify them) who were clearly hostile towards the delegation: a media representative called the meeting a “joke” and then stood up and left, and a judge threatened and accused them of showing a lack of respect to the court.

Based on the impressions gathered throughout the different meetings, the MP said that the previous concerns about the Hungarian rule of law not only persisted, but had deteriorated in certain aspects.

The judicial “reforms” after 2018 will not help restore the independence of the judiciary, they are also very concerned about the outsourcing of public assets to foundations, as it makes transparency more difficult, according to her.

A continuous emergency situation due to the pandemic has been continuously renewed, similar to a practice existing in other countries as well, but in Hungary, the government took advantage of the situation, and a number of laws that were absolutely unrelated to healthcare and epidemic management were also adopted.

According to Delbos-Corfield, the Pegasus case could be a watershed in the EP, as there are clear signs that the Hungarian government had ordered the controversial observations. Incidentally, Judit Varga's official statement, published by Hungarian news agency MTI after her meeting with LIBE, did not mention a word about Pegasus.

Delbos-Corfield said that the public media and the MTI had little to no coverage of the opposition primaries, and had not even bothered to interview the opposition parties or the prime ministerial candidates: it was clear to the committee that media pluralism was nonexistent, and that the public media was by no means critical of the government.

Based on the experience of the meeting, LIBE will present a new report to the EP in December.

The first Freeszfe graduates will receive their diplomas next week

Next week, students from Freeszfe who have studied in the association's diploma rescue program called EmEx will be able to receive their diplomas from the German and Austrian partner universities, Kata Csató, president and lecturer of Freeszfe, told 444.

The eight-person strong theater playwright class from Hungary will receive the diploma at the graduation ceremony held at the University of Performing Arts in Ludwigsburg, together with the institution's own students. The ten graduate students in acting will graduate in Austria, at the Salzburg University of Music, which prepared a special ceremony for the occasion.

The Freeszfe Association announced in August that it was leaving the University of Theater and Film Arts (SZFE) along with students from the film, the director and the cinematography departments, whch started in 2019. At the beginning of September, another 74 students left SZFE, including the classes that are now graduating. They are all studying further in the Freeszfe EmEx program.

The third graduating class, theater directors, will be able to graduate later than the others, in the winter, because they started their practical courses later due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The EmEx program allows students leaving SZFE to be formally taken over by renowned European universities, which recognize the credits they have earned so far and the further work they will have done within the frames of the Freeszfe Association.

Paks2 nuclear power plant denied permit from local nuclear watchdog

The controversial Paks 2 has been denied its request for the establishment permit, as the nuclear energy agency requested the rectification of deficiencies.

The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) has issued a concise but important announcement on its website.

“The Paks II. Nuclear Power Plant submitted an application on June 30, 2020 for the construction of new nuclear power plant units. From then, the HAEA had 12 months to conduct the establishment permit procedure. This deadline has been extended by three months in accordance with the legal framework.

The essence of the licensing procedure is to prove that the nuclear units will meet the highest domestic nuclear safety requirements and regulations.

For this purpose, the HAEA has involved international and domestic experts in the licensing process.

In the course of the proceedings, HAEA found that:

“The documentation submitted is extremely thorough in several respects, but in order for the authority to be able to fully verify all requirements, further evaluation and analysis is needed in some areas, taking into account the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency's mission in parallel with the permitting process. To this end, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority shall order further rectification of deficiencies in the licensing procedure.”

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Klára Dobrev and her party DK wins first round of opposition primaries

The first round of Hungary's first official primary elections ended Tuesday night, but it took the organizers two days to count all the votes and to shortlist the possible challengers who will defy Viktor Orbán in next year’s general elections.

The winner of the first round is Klára Dobrev, DK candidate. She is followed by Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony (MSZP-Dialogue), and, causing some surprise, by Péter Márki-Zay, Mayor of Hódmezővásárhely (Everyone's Hungary Movement, MMM) who came in third, before Péter Jakab (Jobbik) and András Fekete-Győr (Momentum), who was unexpectedly weak compared to his party's popularity.

Although Dobrev is the clear winner, Karácsony and Márki-Zay will have to be counted with, should they decide to join forces in some kind of agreement in the second round. Jakab and Fekete-Győr might be disappointed with their individual results, but their party candidates have done quite well in many individual districts.

The final results are as following:

• Klára Dobrev (Democratic Coalition): 214,319 votes (34.76 percent)
• Gergely Karácsony (MSZP, Dialogue, LMP): 168,396 votes (27.31 percent)
• Péter Márki-Zay (MMM): 123,453 votes (20.02 percent)
• Péter Jakab (Jobbik): 86,909 votes (14.10 percent)
• András Fekete-Győr (Momentum): 20,944 votes (3.40 percent)

For Dobrev, wife of former Prime Minister Gyurcsány, a nemesis of Orbán, the victory is a particularly strong achievement. The DK candidate had a landslide victory in the countryside in the individual districts, which perhaps few had expected before the vote.

In addition to a spurred campaign and professional mobilization, this result is certainly due to the fact that the DK has the most committed electorate within the opposition: a DK voter is almost certainly likely to go to the polls, while the same cannot be said of sympathizers from other parties.

The big question is how much reserve does Dobrev have in the event that one of his rivals steps out of the race in favor of the other in the second round.

Dobrev has traditionally been the most divisive figure of the candidates, and also the most rejected candidate in analyzes and polls, so it is very doubtful if she can put a significant amount of new supporters behind her to achieve the ultimate victory. She is the first candidate for many, but the second choice for only a few.

Compared to his high popularity and momentum in campaigning, Gergely Karácsony was only able to win the second place in the first round: this result is probably due to a less committed electorate, a political party measured at only a few percent, and also to a lack of rural base.

He is definitely in the next round, and with the possible standing down of Márki-Zay he can expect a tough second round against Dobrev. However, he is the second choice, if not the first, for many people, as a kind of consensual figure.

For Márki-Zay, who entered the race without a party, the 20.4 percent result and the fact that he was able to pass Jakab is a huge success. Even a few days before the vote, he was dismissed by many analysts. He proved them wrong. The lack of a party organization and its infrastructure is a serious disadvantage in terms of mobilization, but Márki-Zay and his followers seem to have managed to compensate for this relative weakness.

The mayor of Hódmezővásárhely now has a tough decision to make: should he step back in favor of Karácsony before the second round, when he seems eager to try and to persuade Karácsony to do so in his favor.

If both Márky-Zay and Karácsony remain in competition against Dobrev, she will have the best chance for the ultimate victory, a scenario which Márki-Zay said he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Positioning himself as the voice of the Hungarian countryside and simple common people, Péter Jakab gained considerable popularity during 2021 (managing to pull up the popularity of his party Jobbik at the same time, which was rather low due to constant internal fights).

But Jakab failed to convert his personal popularity onto votes: in rural areas, the willingness to vote was generally lower than in large cities. Moreover, Dobrev’s promises of making Fidesz leaders and oligarchs accountable were at least as strong as Jakab’s.

Some analysts also suggested that besides polishing his “tough guy” image, he would have benefited from showing a “prime minister’s face” in the second part of the campaign.

Young András Fekete-Győr can be safely called the biggest loser of the primaries, as he performed deeply under the levels of his own party. Momentum’s campaign and negotiating positions were hindered by internal distortions, the signatures required for the candidacy were gathered painfully slowly, and the public appearances of Fekete-Győr were not always successful.

Local newspapers said that many Momentum sympathizers did not want to see the party president as a common candidate for the whole opposition, so the only question remaining was how much the candidate would fall back in the race.

Despite his personal failure, Fekete-Győr did not consider resigning, nor did his party urge him to do so. Despite the poor performance of the party president, Momentum's individual candidates performed very well in many districts: they brought several easy-to-win districts of Budapest and several other rural constituencies.

The order of strength of the parties on the basis of individual victories differs a lot from the order of the prime ministerial candidates. Dk won the battle on these grounds as well, but Jobbik came second, compared to the 4th place of its president. MSZP and Dialogue, individually and together, are stronger than their popularity index.

The main reason for this is tradition, because the MSZP, as the oldest party, has more politicians embedded in several places than the others, and the 2018 election MSZP-Dialogue agreement also managed to retain some candidates already well known in their respective districts.

The final order of the winning candidates from the 106 total:

• DK: 33
• Jobbik: 28
• MSZP: 18
• Momentum: 15
• Dialogue: 7
• LMP: 5

Orban announces extra money for pensioners ahead of next year’s elections

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced the disbursement of some 80,000 forints to every single Hungarian pensioner, ahead of next year’s general elections.

Orbán, who spoke in his traditional press event of the Hungarian public radio on Friday morning, also talked in length about the development of the army, the pandemic situation, but failed to mention the primaries.

Mészáros builds ultra expensive railways between in Budapest

V-Híd Építő Zrt., which belongs to Lőrinc Mészáros, won the expansion of the existing railway tracks between Kelenföld and Ferencváros railway stations at a very high price, for almost 338 billion. This translates to an exorbitant cost of HUF 62 billion/km.

Anonymous experts told newspaper G7 - which spotted the tender won by Mészáros’ company - that they estimated the cost of such work to amount at most in the range of 30-50 billion forints.

During the investment, a third and partly a fourth track will be built next to the existing two tracks between Kelenföld railway station and Ferencváros railway station, along with two new railway stations called Nádorkert and Közvágóhíd.

The absurd size of the investment is well illustrated by the fact that according to business portal Portfolio.hu's calculations, the Hungarian state spent HUF 346 billion on the maintenance of the entire national railway system in total. This sum includes not only the maintenance of the existing track network, but also the cost of benefits to students and pensioners, along with the cost of purchasing new trains.

G7 compared the project with other metropolitan railway developments and came to the conclusion that France’s high-speed TGVs, Vienna’s main railway station, but even Munich's second railway tunnel, were also much cheaper.

The G7 article has also listed some half a dozen other metropolitan rail developments, showing how much better improvements could be made from a similar amount.

The Mészáros development of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, which has been one of the strongest symbols of overpriced public procurement so far, costs 590 billion forints, but it takes place on a line of more than 150 kilometers, ie its specific cost per kilometer is only one-fifteenth of the current Mészáros Project.

Leaders of extremist group arrested

The leaders of an extremist far-right group preparing to commit murder were arrested following a raid by members of the Counter Terrorism Center (TEK). The group calls itself the “Responsible National Government of the Hungarians.”

The alleged perpetrators were arrested on Monday on grounds of preparing to assassinate. On Tuesday, the prosecution included the charge of forcibly altering the constitutional order.

The suspects set up their organization with one of its members bestowed with judicial power, while another suspect was responsible for organizing the "executive branch of power".

The suspects also drafted a new “constitution,” in which one point stipulated that every member of society "shall have the right and duty to oppose and resist at all cost, even of his life, and without charge of infidelity, against anyone who violates the values set forth in the preceding paragraphs of the constitutional principles."

The suspects operated a partly open, partly conspiracy membership organization, which was also featured on social media.

The suspects, in addition to voicing their anti-Semitic views, took concrete steps to forcibly change the constitutional order, as they called upon their members to kill public figures during their rallies and on the internet.

According to the suspicion, at their meeting on 11 September in a village in Fejér County (which was also recorded on a video-sharing channel), the leaders of the group called on the members of the group to commit homicides, saying that if they kill, they should “kill nicely.”

According to the attorney general, several people have volunteered to carry out the killings.

The investigating prosecutor's office has requested the arrest of the suspects, and the investigating judge of the Buda Central District Court will decide on the coercive measures.

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Opposition primaries reloaded

With a delay of two days, opposition primaries restarted on Monday with a turnout of 67,000 people on the first day, and more than 73,000 on the second.

Most voters cast their ballots in person, as the online system was still working very slowly and was clearly designed for a lesser interest.

Organizers of the primaries said that if there was a turnout of 400,000 in a week, it would be considered a success. If interest doesn’t plummet suddenly in the next few days, then this level of turnout could be easily achieved.

The deadline of the first opposition primaries ever held in Hungary, which aim to challenge Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has been extended by two days, until September 28, after a blackout led to the suspension of the ballot.

The opposition denounced a cyberattack organized by the government, and started a probe, but the allegations were far from being proven as of yet.

Despite the technical problems and the controversy surrounding the process, the opposition primaries are by far the most serious political achievement of the political world outside Fidesz in more than a decade.

Opposition rivalry would be normal in a liberal democracy, but in Hungary, it is a necessary, albeit insufficient means by itself, to bring the change of government in the realm of the possible.

Opposition parties have been claiming that Hungary was not a normal democracy since 2018, but failed to come to the conclusion: without extraordinary efforts, they have no chance at all.

Besides agreeing to a joint start, opposition parties asked and required the involvement of NGOs in the primaries, in order to invent a counting system, and to promote the primaries, as well as fill up the tents by volunteers during the vote.

The whole organization required a lot of volunteers, activists, who sacrificed a lot of their free time to make the primaries happen. It has been a very long time since we have seen so many people working together for a well defined political goal in Hungary.

The primaries not only matter because of the selection of the best common candidates. They are also creating a series of events lasting many weeks, which can be joined by a great many people at different levels.

The experience of commitment and participation is fundamental to a good election result, and the primaries can give the experience of “doing something” to many people at once.

Finally, the primaries give a real stake to 2022 elections. It provides an opportunity to modestly compensate the opposition for the financial, legal and administrative disadvantages it has to endure from the government.

Turbulent start at the Parliament’s autumn session

The first day of the autumn session of the Parliament brought a duel, harsh words and threats.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was the first speaker on the first day of the autumn session of the Parliament. The prime minister praised the government’s summer performance, and of course found that everything was great. As he said, the country has been prepared for the fourth wave of the coronavirus, which is likely to reach Hungary as well. He stressed that only the vaccine was effective against the infection, encouraging everyone to get the jab, even if it happens to be the third dose.

The government also submitted its motion to extend the state of emergency and the emergency until the end of the year.

According to the Prime Minister, the Hungarian economy is booming: as he said, economic growth has already exceeded the pre-pandemic level. Orbán stressed that since the economy was able to grow by 5.5 percent, personal income tax would be refunded to parents with children. Thus, a total of six hundred billion would be paid back.

Of course, Orbán reiterated the cornerstones of Fidesz communication: namely Gyurcsány, Soros and Brussels - he called the latter as being the force in control of the Hungarian opposition.

The line of opposition speakers was opened by Ferenc Gyurcsány, who said the government was fighting its own demons and was unable to unite the nation, hence it had to go. He was followed by Tímea Szabó from Párbeszéd: according to her, Orbán had built an underworld instead of a livable world in the past eleven years

Then came Peter Jakab. According to the president of Jobbik, the miscarried policy of the government was well illustrated by the fact that the Romanian minimum wage surpassed the Hungarian minimum payable salary. However, Jakab’s strongest moment was when he said his hands would not tremble when handcuffing Orbán.

Gergely Arató from the DK spoke mostly about the Basic Law, that was worthless according to him, its sole purpose being to ensure the unlimited power of the current government.

“Even the Basic Law states that no one's activities may be aimed at the forcible acquisition, exercise or exclusive possession of power,” he underlined.

He stressed that the Budget Council, the Media Council and the Constitutional Court were examples of bodies created with the sole objective of protecting the power of the government, hence they were all unconstitutional in their current form.

More and more complaints show homophobic law being applied

Local press reported a clearly increasing number of complaints for the breaching the so-called pedophile law passed by the government in the summer, a law full of homophobic elements.

An association in Pécs organized the first Gay Pride outside of the capital Budapest.

Referring to the law, far-right political party Mi Hazánk (Our country) is now reporting the organizers to authorities, because “they saw children at the event.”

The law lies on the principle that the sexual upbringing of children belongs exclusively to the parents, but it seems that Mi Hazánk knows better where a parent can take his child..

This complaint is the third major one in recent days. Last week, the LGBTQ book Meseország Mindenki (Fairytales are for Everyone) was removed from the library of a small town close to Vác, north of Budapest.

Local newspaper Vác Online quoted the mayor of the town, who said users of the library had filed a complaint with the Government Office, and when he learned of this, “he went over to the library in person.”

According to the mayor, the action was needed because the library was close to the school, and the law prohibited books of this type, which “he believed to be harmful himself, to be on a free shelf.”

In fact, there is no such law in Hungary, the homophobic piece of legislation does not include libraries under its scope of action, only bookstores.

The book was found in the children’s section of the library under “You don’t know how to tell it? We help! ” on a shelf where books dealing with childhood illness, death, and family tragedies were found.

The next example of the ill-famed effect of the controversial law concerns the film industry.

"The day before the screening, the Hungarian film entitled The Story of My Mothers, which deals with the story of a lesbian couple preparing for adoption, was removed from the program of the Ars Sacra Christian Art Festival," local news portal Telex reported.

The Hungarian documentary on the adoption of same-sex couples would have been screened at the Tabán Art Cinema on Saturday afternoon, but the screening was eventually cancelled and was not replaced.

The organizers of the festival did not give explanations, but there was a post on the film's Facebook page informing the filmmakers a day earlier that the film would not be released because several people had reported it to authorities and a petition was launched in order to prevent the screening.

“It is truly depressing to see that the government’s homophobic law and the propaganda surrounding it breeds self-censorship and aggression, preventing people from building bridges and any kind of real dialogue,” the authors said.

New daily COVID-19 infections on the rise

Thursday morning, 526 new daily cases were reported by authorities, a level unseen since four months ago.

Official figures also show that the fourth wave is getting stronger. An average of 400 new infections have been reported in the last seven days.

Compared to the number of new infections, the number of victims has been particularly high in the recent period. Last Wednesday, for example, 12 deaths were reported, whereas only 2 deaths were reported Thursday morning, well below the average of the last seven days.

There are currently 5,869,259 people vaccinated. It will take 50 days from the current weekly average to reach at least the threshold of 6 million.

And that is just the six million limit that Viktor Orbán planned to reach by the middle of May. And seven million by the end of May.

The number of second vaccinations was pushed up by the school program yesterday, as students are now receiving the second dose of their Pfizer jabs.

The third vaccine was given to 20,000 people Tuesday, bringing the total to 646,000.

This number shows without any doubt that people can find vaccination spots, except for those who have never gotten their first jab.

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Friendly discussions in first debate between prime minister-candidates since 15 year

Gergely Karácsony, Péter Jakab, Klára Dobrev, Péter Márki-Zay and András Fekete-Győr, all players of the opposition, tried to convince voters on Sunday night, reviving a tradition extinct since 2006: the debate of prime ministerial candidates.

The opposition prime ministerial candidates all agreed on the necessity of dismantling the NER system, and on the need to make Fidesz, and the oligarchs close to it accountable in their first televised debate, even if they approached reform of the tax system or the rule of law differently.

Orban evaded every such opportunity since 2006, when he clashed with Ferenc Gyurcsany.

The only real debate developed around the support of Ákos Hadházy and Csaba Tóth in the capital's 14th district Zugló.

The five opposition prime ministerial candidates agreed on almost everything in their televised debate just a week before the start of the primaries on September 18.

Klára Dobrev (DK), András Fekete-Győr (Momentum), Péter Jakab (Jobbik), Gergely Karácsony (MSZP – Dialogue – LMP) and Péter Márki-Zay (Everybody's Hungary Movement) expressed their views on issues such as wages, taxes, pensions and social care, as well as health and education, and corruption and accountability.

Local media outlined that Peter Jakab promised to resign if there was no accountability.Klara Dobrev said she would be tough in Beijing as well, hinting at the all too friendly nature of relationships of the Orban government with Xi's China.According to the youngest contestant, András Fekete-Győr, new faces were needed to induce real change, while Budapest Mayor Karácsony encouraged voters to choose the best candidate that was able to unite Hungarians.According to Péter Márki-Zay, rural and uncertain voters were the ones that will decide the fate of the 2022 general elections.

Government extends the epidemic emergency until January 1, 2022.

The government will initiate the extension of the epidemic emergency until 1 January 2022.

"In order to continue the effective control of the epidemic and enable rapid action, the government will initiate the extension of the law on the control of the epidemic in the Parliament until January 1, 2022," the government said in a statement, following the government's meeting on Tuesday, the statement said.

The extension of the law is necessary because the pandemic continues and the number of infected people is on the rise again throughout Europe and Hungary as well, mostly due to the spread of the delta virus.

The government argues that its experience of the past 18 months has proved that the extraordinary legal frameworks previously adopted have served the fight against the epidemic very well.

The special legal status was earlier extended in May, and will remain in effect until the 15th day after the first day of the autumn parliamentary session.

"If the epidemic situation allows for it, the government will initiate the elimination of the emergency before the law expires," the government's Information Center said in a statement.

According to Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s office, the extension of the state of emergency does not mean any restriction of personal liberties, but at the same time it is essential for the government's ability to swiftly act until next January.

“People will be able to vote in person during the opposition primaries without any restrictions,” he also assured at a press conference Wednesday.

Pope Francis visits Hungary and meets Prime Minister Orbán

Pope Francis met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday morning before sending a message of openness to the more than 100,000-strong crowd at the closing of the Eucharistic Congress in Budapest.

The pope met with the Hungarian President János Áder, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and other senior politicians behind closed doors in Budapest's Fine Arts Museum.

"I asked Pope Francis not to let Christian Hungary perish," Orbán informed following the meeting, in a post on his Facebook page .

The Vatican said the meeting was “cordial", and the participants discussed mainly issues related to the protection of the environment and the promotion of the family.

The head of the Catholic Church has been known for his frank talk when pushing for assisting refugees, as opposed to Orbán who’s stance against immigrants is among the hardest in Europe.

The pope told his followers that he wanted them to be grounded and open, rooted and considerate.

The meeting had been anticipated with much excitement in the local media, not only because the last visit of a pontiff goes back to a quarter of century, but because media close to Orbán have harshly criticized the pope for his pro-refugee opinion.

“Many of my friends did not show up, because they said the pope hated Orbán,” a lawyer in his early 50s told Insight Hungary, following the mass.

The pope spent less than eight hours in Hungary before flying off to Slovakia for a trip that lasted four days in total. Many experts said this was a clear diplomatic message, the type of which was easy to decode for the Hungarian government.

Pope Francis’ visit to Budapest was the first papal trip to Hungary since Pope John Paul II in 1996.

The 84-year-old pontiff's 34th foreign trip is his first longer voyage two months after a colon operation that required a 10-day stay in hospital.

Orbán braces his parliamentary faction for 2022 general elections

“The Gyurcsány era wants to return, and those who have doubts should look at the capital: Karácsony is on display while Gyurcsány's people are at the coffers,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the Fidesz-KDNP Esztergom faction meeting, according to local daily Magyar Nemzet (close to the government).

The Fidesz-KDNP faction in power had held its season-opening faction meeting Wednesday night, this time in Esztergom, and, as usual, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave guidelines to the deputies for the next period.

The president of Fidesz was already in campaign mode, and expected the same from everyone, according to the paper, adding that according to Orbán, Fidesz faced the same opponents it had already defeated in 2010.

It is not a new left that is preparing to govern here, but the Gyurcsány era that wants to return, according to Orbán, who explained that despite the ongoing primaries, it was clear who was leading the left, hinting at former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

Viktor Orbán, a great fan of military vocabulary, also prepared his deputies for the “future battles” in Brussels.

He said that immigration and LGBTQ “propaganda” were the everyday reality of “the fading Western Europe,” but were considered as grotesque, frightening and disgusting to people in Hungary.

Orban reiterated that the many attacks from the EU against Hungary were the results of his government’s policies against immigration, and LGBTQ propaganda.

In fact, the leaders of the European Commission and the members of the European Parliament have always made a distinction between their criticism, underlining that these were clearly and unequivocally directed at the Orban government, and not against Hungary in general, and even less so at the “Hungarian people.”

The bases of the accusations that earned the government are not the issues of immigration or the government’s stance on LGBTQ matters, but a breach of core European values such as the freedom of press, the independence of the judiciary, and the misuse of European funds.

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Opposition primaries begin

Debates between opposition candidates have started and will continue over the next three weeks.

Fragmented Hungarian opposition, constituted mainly of parties DK, Jobbik, LMP, Momentum, MSZP and Dialogue have decided to run together in the 2022 parliamentary elections, in a bid to have more chance of ousting firebrand Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in power continuously since 2010.

The joint opposition prime ministerial candidate and individual deputies are elected by primary elections to find out the best suited challenger in each electoral constituency. The first round of the primaries will take place between September 18-26, 2021, and the second round between October 4-10.

The idea of holding primaries has been mulled for many years, but has become reality only this fall.

The recipe is based on the successful cooperation of the opposition parties in the 2019 local elections, where one single candidate, representing the united opposition, challenged the Fidesz candidate. As a result, opposition flipped over Budapest and ten of the major cities around the country.

One of the most sensitive questions about the primaries is how sharp the fight should be between those who later will have to fight a much harder battle against those representing the parties in power. In the American primaries, contestants of the same party clash hard without any particular inhibitions.

In Hungary for the time being, a more cautious attitude is typical so that the primaries do little or no damage to the heterogeneous alliance.

Party leaders had previously agreed on three debates between the Prime Ministerial candidates. Main figures are Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, Klara Dobrev, from DK, Péter Jakabb from Jobbik and Péter Márki-Zay from MMM. Two debates will be held before and during the first round (September 18-26) and one for the candidates in the second round, before the second round (October 4-10).

Participants agreed to the following final schedule:

• September 12, 2021 - ATV
  
• September 24, 2021 - RTL Klub
  
• October 4-10, 2021. between - RTL Klub
  

According to Zoltán Novák, research director of Méltányosság Központ, the uncertainties and mistakes brought by this new type of contest will be dwarfed compared to what the primaries will bring to the opposition.

“The opposition is constantly thematizing public discourse, and this is the first time it has been able to override the communication offenses of government parties in the long run,” he said, adding that Fidesz has not yet figured out how to react to the phenomenon.

Orban outlines strategies at Fidesz elite meeting in Kötcse

"Even if the EU disintegrates, we will be among the last to hold the last beam and work to stop and reverse the disintegration,” Prime Minister said at the Kötcse picnic, a traditional meeting of the Fidesz elite.

Opening the political season, the Kötcse picnic was held on Saturday, for the twentieth time, where Viktor Orbán exposed his strategies and spoke about international and domestic topics.

A sudden shift regarding the EU was perhaps most reported by local media. The government has been campaigning against Brussels and the European Union for many years, debates surged recently because of the growing number of conflicts (Szájer affairs, rule of law, withholding of resources, homophobic law. Etc..), there has been a proliferation in allegations that there was life outside the EU. In Kötcse, Orbán said:

“For Hungarians, the European Union has been the most livable framework in recent decades, even though challenges are enormous.”

About next year’s general election, Orbán had outlined a “very complex and intricate” strategy, which was summarized as follows: “we win, they lose. This is the war plan. ”

The election has been simplified, according to Fidesz, because in 2022, the only choice left will be between a return to Hungary before 2010 and a policy that has been successful in the last 10-11 years.

Hungarian football fan's racism stir conflict

The Hungarian national football team suffered a very swift, four-goal defeat from England on Thursday night.

The afterlife of the match lingered on much longer, as Friday morning, both international news agencies and major Western newspapers all emphasized in their reports that English players were the subjects of racist insults during the match.

The basic tone of the match was set by the kneeling of English players: the protest against racism and any kind of discrimination was greeted with an extremely loud whistle in the Ferenc Puskás arena.

More scandalous moments came in the second half when the English started kicking goals. The first goal was scored by Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling, who took off his shirt during the celebration to commemorate his friend, who died young from an infection of the coronavirus. But this gesture did not touch the camp of Hungarian ultras, who tossed a load of glasses at the English player with.

There is a good chance that the Hungarian national team will have to play several world matches qualifiers behind closed doors. The national team already has a 2 + 1 match UEFA penalty for incidents during the European Championships that occurred in Hungary.

Hungarian chief of diplomacy Péter Szijjártó recognized the fact that there had been racism at the event but asked not to generalize.

Casino concession in Budapest gets extended until 2056

Long before their expiration in 2024, casino concessions in Budapest were prolonged until 2056 without a tender.

The company, which operates the most valuable domestic casinos, the Las Vegas brand, received concession rights until 2056. The owners are István Garancsi (60%) and Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky (40%), the husband of the government spokesman Alexandra Szentkirályi.

According to Telex, the five casinos operated by LVC Diamond Games Casino Operations Ltd. generate an annual profit of 10 billion forints.

In the past, casino operations became a priority of national economic interest, but it was also possible for the minister or central body responsible for state supervision of gambling to reallocate the concession at the half of the expiration date of the previously concluded concession contract.

The news portal recalled that the whole sector is essentially close to government: the circle that now has a concession will take five casinos in Budapest, Gábor Szima is the main owner of the casinos in Debrecen and Nyíregyháza; Zoltán Rákosfalvy's establishment are in Győr, Pécs and Miskolc; there is also an Austro-Hungarian mixed-ownership casino in Sopron, 51% owned by Casino Austria and 49% by István Garancsi.

The decision was made essentially in complete secrecy, and Telex's attention was drawn to it only by a letter from a reader, who spotted the announcement on the website of the National gambling watchdog.

According to opposition prime minister-candidate Gergely Karácsony, "the government of greed, selfishness, cynicism would fill the pockets of his oligarchs with the casino concession with 30 million forints a day (!) For 35 years. I warn you today: we will also take it back."

He called on István Garancsi and Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky not to plan with this revenue because the new government would take back this casino concession.

"This government is clearly afraid of losing, and while packing it would also pack up what is not his. Little by little, they literally took over the whole country..."

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Authorities give partial approval to Budapest Mayor’s referendum questions

“Do you agree that the National Assembly should repeal Act LXXXI of 2021 on the Fudan Hungary University Foundation and on the transfer of assets to the Fudan Hungary University Foundation?”

This is the question that was unanimously accepted by the National Election Commission (NVB), one of five initiated by Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony. It seems that voters will be able to give their opinion on this subject in a referendum if Karacsony and his allies manage to collect two hundred thousand signatures demanded by the law.

The other question allowed by NVB concerns unemployment benefits:

"Do you agree that the maximum duration of unemployment benefit should be 270 days?"

The three other referendum questions were dismissed by NVB. One was about the concession planned by the government concerning the Hungarian highway network:

“Do you agree that the operation of motorways in Hungary should not be entrusted to a company under a concession contract?”

There would also have been a question about the European Public Prosecutor's Office:

"Do you agree that Hungary should join the European Public Prosecutor's Office?"

Lastly, Karacsony would also have voted for free coronavirus tests for the elderly:

“Do you agree that all Hungarian residents over 60 years of age should be entitled to a free SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody test?”

Gergely Karácsony said he would appeal against the decision in the case of the three refused questions.

On July 21, Karácsony initiated a referendum as an individual citizen on the five issues following a lift of a ban on referenda due to the emergency situation introduced because of the covid pandemic.

Immediately after the lifting of the ban, Prime Minister Orbán announced his referendum initiative on “child protection” issues, with five questions that have already been given the green light by NVB at its July 30 meeting, although Karacsony submitted his questions the same day as Orbán.

The referendum could take place in January or February at the latest.

Budapest general assembly moves to revoke its approval for hosting the 2023 Athletic World Championships

The majority of the capital's general assembly - controlled by the opposition - accepted the proposal of mayor Gergely Karácsony, on the possible veto of the 2023 Athletics World Championships.

According to the accepted resolution, the capital city will only support the organization of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest if the government does not transfer land to Fudan University in the area where the Student City was originally planned, and the support is also conditional on the government fulfilling its financial promises to improve healthcare in the capital.

Despite its earlier decision, the government had not yet started negotiations on the transfer of the funds allocated to the capital's healthcare this year, although the deadline for doing so had long expired.

Following the 2019 municipal elections, the new leadership attached conditions to its approval of hosting the major sporting event, on the premise that it would be the biggest one ever held in Hungary.

One of those terms was the Student City project, aimed at providing accommodation to some 8,000 students in the 9th district (also flipped by the opposition in 2019). But the government chose the same site to build China’s Fudan University, at the expense of the Student City

Since the building plots in question have not yet actually been handed over to the Fudan University Foundation, there is still a theoretical possibility that the original bargain will be fulfilled

Viktor Orbán paid to attend the Roman Catholic meeting

The organizers of the event held in the Italian capital confirmed to local news portal hvg.hu that their invitation was also addressed to the family members of the participants, but did not cover their costs.

Participation fees had to be paid by those who attended the “International Meeting of Catholic Legislators”, according to hvg.hu.

The news portal contacted the Austrian organization after it turned out that in addition to the minister in charge for families Katalin Novák, Viktor Orbán also took part in last week's event, and the prime minister was accompanied by his family.

The head of government was photographed on the terrace of a Roman restaurant by one of the readers of 444.hu.

The International Catholic Legislators Network (ICLN) confirmed that the invitation did extend to the family members of the participants.

“We can confirm that our invitations to our annual meeting also include family members. As Christians, we value the family, and we don’t want family members to be separate from our meetings unless absolutely necessary. Many of our participants bring them along, ” they wrote.

The secretariat also informed that all their participants would pay the “modest” conference fee themselves.

On Monday, news portal 24.hu wrote that the military aircraft used as a government plane, the Dassault Falcon 7X, picked up several Fidesz politicians who showed up in Rome last week.

The paper said that the plane of the Ministry of Defense took off from Kecskemét at noon last Thursday to fly to Budapest in a circle that also affected Lake Balaton. Presumably from Liszt Ferenc Airport, it left with Katalin Novák and the delegation at 4 pm to fly to Croatia, as pointed out by Ákos Hadházy, an independent Member of Parliament. The plane began to descend in front of the island of Brac, then turned off its beacon. Hadházy says it took the prime minister and his family aboard at that location.

The assumption is confirmed by the fact that the black Volkswagen minibus, which has been used by Viktor Orbán for a long time, was parked right in front of the airport in Brac when the plane arrived on Thursday.

Hadházy and opposition parties accuse Orbán of misappropriation of government property, as the cost of such a trip with a private jet amounts to some 9 M HUF.

Orbán’s press officer Havas dismissed the accusation and said that the head of government - as always - paid for its own expenses.

According to his declaration of personal assets, the Prime Minister has no savings.

New anti-pedophile law spawns seven times as many complaints as before

Since the adoption of the controversial anti-pedophile law packed with homophobic clauses, complaints sent to the media authority NMHH by citizens have multiplied: NMHH received 69 complaints in the two months that passed since the adoption of the law, of alleged violations of provisions for the protection of minors.

Presumably, the anti-pedophile law also plays a major role in the fact that NMHH has received far more notifications than before. Independent local media Magyar Hang asked NMHH how many reports were received during this period, concerning different potential violations of the provisions of the Media Act concerning the protection of minors.

Between 15 June and 25 August, according to NMHH, 69 such notifications were received, an increase of almost seven fold, as only ten notifications concerning the protection of minors were made in the same period last year.

According to Magyar Hang, complaints can be filed not only by the NMHH, but also to the authorities overseeing consumer protection as well as to the police.

In the anti-pedophile law adopted in June, Fidesz introduced amendments to the paragraphs that melded homosexuality with pedophilia and prohibit those under the age of 18 from depicting or promoting homosexuality and gender change, among other things.

There have been strong criticisms of the law that showed many similarities with a Russian law earlier adopted by the Putin regime.

Despite strong criticism both from Hungary and from abroad, including top EU officials and an infringement procedure launched by the Commission, President János Áder signed the law which came into effect. According to Háttér Társaság, an NGO set up to defend LGBT rights, the number of homophobic incidents and crimes have risen in Hungary.

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Hungary’s exit from the EU yet again on the table

"The time has come for us to seriously consider our possible exit (from the European Union),” political analyst Tamás Fritz wrote in the pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet over the weekend, causing quite a stir, as the national support for EU membership in Hungary is still among the strongest within the EU, even amongst Fidesz voters.

“In July 2021, the time has come to seriously consider our possible withdrawal from a union of states which bleeds from many wounds, which is showing symptoms of imperial grandeur, and which is treating the countries of Eastern and Central Europe with spectacular arrogance,” Fritz developed.

“The globalist financial elite and the EU institutions they control - the Commission, the Parliament, the Court, and partly the European Council - are really committed to punishing Hungary,” according to Fritz.

Similar eurosceptic messages have been reiterated in recent months, by several members of the Hungarian government, including Finance Minister Mihály Varga.

Two weeks ago, he told commercial television channel ATV that he would still vote for Hungary's EU membership today, but "by the end of the decade, when we believe that Hungary will have become a net contributor to the EU, the issue could get a new perspective.”

Justice Minister Judit Varga compared the EU to an intellectual morgue at the end of July: “In Gauweiler's word - Peter Gauweiler, a politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria - this EU is no longer a lender of last resort, much more an intellectual morgue, a "bunker of thought."

"There is life outside the EU," said Viktor Orbán more than once, most recently he made this blunt comment after Britain left the EU last year. The Hungarian leader expressed the very same opinion in 1999, years before joining the EU. Although the context was different, his whole political discourse illustrates that he never looked at the EU as a marriage of love, but rather as a prearranged union defined by common economic interest.

Besides its weakening Euro-Atlantic side, Fidesz has always had its eurosceptic voice in the past, and the current statements might serve only political communication, but opposition leaders were fast to condemn even the idea.

Klára Dobrev, a candidate challenging the Prime Minister, from the opposition party Democratic Coalition, argued that the article was commissioned by Viktor Orbán, and according to her, the stake in the 2022 elections is whether Hungary will remain in the European Union.

Budapest city mayor Gergely Karácsony - another candidate to become Orban’s main rival - also raised his voice, assuring that he would not allow Hungary to leave the European Union: “The precondition of Hungary's European future is guaranteed by the change of government.”

MFA vows to evacuate every Hungarian from Afghanistan and reiterates its strong opposition to welcoming refugees

"The government will get home every Hungarian from Afghanistan: safe and sound,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Tuesday night in a statement.

The statement was published after local business weekly HVG published information about at least 26 Hungarians remaining in Kabul, despite the MFA saying every Hungarian had been evacuated.

“In addition to the 26 people, in the meantime, other Hungarian citizens also contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are in constant contact with them, and we cannot disclose their exact number nor the details of their whereabouts for security reasons, ” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade acknowledged following HVG’s report.

The 26 Hungarians were part of the security staff guarding the embassy of the Netherlands in Afghanistan, according to HVG.

On Wednesday, the 26 Hungarians in question left Kabul with a C17 cargo jet, according to Magyar Hang, who spoke with a relative of one of the guards.

By Wednesday evening, they were in Tashkent, waiting to return to Budapest.

Assessing the situation in Afghanistan, the Hungarian government also restated its very firm anti-immigration position.

“When the Americans announced the pullout, the Hungarian government said this process had to unfold in such a way that Afghanistan could not once again become a hotbed of international terrorism and a source of mass migration,” State Secretary of the MFA Levente Magyar said.

In one case, however, Hungary makes an exception: the government is seriously considering how it could help those who have worked for the Hungarian teams as translators, interpreters or in other capacities over the past twenty years. We are in contact with these people and an evaluation is underway on how we could help them, Magyar added.

Human rights NGO Hungarian Helsinki Committee pointed out that Poland issued humanitarian visas to Afghan citizens who have assisted Polish and EU missions in Afghanistan.

“We will not forget the Allies, especially those in greatest need,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Hungarian government is "exploring the possibility" of being able to help those who have worked for Hungarian teams as interpreters or in other capacities for the past twenty years, the NGO recalled.

“In our view, the Polish decision is exemplary in such a crisis situation. Those who have risked their lives working with our patriots are our allies and now they need our protection,” according to the NGO.

Newly appointed management of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) deplores the exodus of its students

Sunday, the new management of SZFE - loyal to the government, but rejected by students and teachers - deplored the massive leave of old SZFE students and accused the Freeszfe Association to “lure” the students away.

SZFE’s campus building had been occupied for months by students last fall, when they protested against the government for their university’s autonomy.

SZFE leaders resigned en masse at the end of August 2020 in protest over a new government-imposed management model which saw the university's democratically-elected senate stripped of its powers, and replaced with a board of directors full of government appointees.

The leaders argued that the restructuring occurred without any consultation with the university, and that the government had rejected all the university's nominees to the new board of directors.

On Saturday, the Freeszfe Association - launched by the teachers and students who wanted to preserve the original spirit of SZFE - announced that the film departments of SZFE, which started in 2019, would leave the university with almost full staff

They will continue their studies from September with the Freeszfe Association. When asked why the students made this decision, Judit Veszprémi, an employee of the association, explained: “These were all individual decisions. Students leaving SZFE continue their studies in the Freeszfe Association's Emergency Exit program. This means that foreign universities accredit their legal status, but training is provided by us.”

“We are not surprised, but we note with great sadness that a self-educating association irresponsibly lures SZFE students in a course that does not allow them to issue a state-recognized degree without a higher education accreditation,” SZFE said in a statement.

"This deprives them of the training opportunities of the state-accredited higher education institution, SZFE, which is renewed in all its elements and now provides an outstanding educational technical background."

Hungary's GDP jumps 17.9 pct in Q2

Hungary's gross domestic product (GDP) jumped 17.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2021, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said in the first reading of data on Friday.

"The gross domestic product of Hungary increased by 17.9 percent according to raw data and by 17.7 percent according to seasonally and calendar adjusted and reconciled data in the 2nd quarter of 2021 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year," KSH said.

"Compared to the previous quarter, the performance of the economy grew by 2.7 percent in the 2nd quarter. The main contributor to the increase was industry," KSH added.

Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said in a message posted on Facebook that the fresh data show the economic recovery in Hungary was moving forward at a pace that was "among the fastest in the European Union (EU)”.

“The structure of growth is healthy, as it extends to a large range of economic sectors, he added.

Now our goal is to preserve the growth advantage the Hungarian economy enjoys compared to the EU, with pursuing an economic policy based on tax cuts, workplace creation, investment incentives and family support," he concluded.

Last year, the pandemic put a strong restraint on economic activity, with whole branches of the economy, mostly the service sector, coming to a halt.

Hungarian authorities managed to lift the majority of the most severe restrictions in April, thanks to a relatively high inoculation rate of the population against COVID-19, which it managed to do thanks to the use of Chinese and Russian vaccines.

Sectors that came close to a standstill such as catering and tourism were able to restart.

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Orbán gives interview to Fox News’ anchor Tucker Carlson in Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave a long interview to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson in Hungary, a feat that attracted more attention in the US than in Hungary.

Carlson conducted a roughly fifteen-minute interview with Orbán in the library room of the Carmelite Monastery - home of the Prime Minister’s Office - located in the Castle district.

He introduced Orban to conservative American news consumers by saying that the Hungarian prime minister had succeeded in "angering the liberals." Tucker Carlson also recalled that President Joe Biden called Orban a “totalitarian dictator”.

The first part of the interview dealt with the 2015 refugee crisis and asked the Hungarian leader why he said no to admitting refugees.

“That was the only reasonable behavior,” Orban said. “If somebody without getting any permission on behalf of the Hungarian State crosses your border, you have to defend your country and to say “Guys, stop!” And if you would like to cross or you would like to come, there’s a legal procedure,” he added.

Carlson did not ask what happened to the refugees who tried to follow the legal path.

Orban also spoke in length about the negative effects of mixing muslim and christian communities, calling it “very risky”, with a chance of being “very bad.”

“Each nation has the right to take this risk or to reject this risk. We, Hungarians, decided not to take that risk to mix up our society,” Orbán underlined.

The Hungarian Prime Minister also explained in length that his vision of Christian conservatism in Hungary contributed to a successful society, envied by the West, and that he could very well imagine westerners immigrating to Hungary, seeking refuge from the societies that have become far too liberal: “We can’t exclude the future of the European history when there will be a new migration from the West to the East.”

“Democratic thinking has lost two major international supporters. And the opponents came into power. This is a totally new circumstance around Hungary. For me as a politician, it’s a strong challenge, how to handle it,” Orban lamented at the end of the interview, speaking of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Before the interview, Carlson gave a speech in the northern town of Esztergom, in which he praised Hungary, or rather its government, for its strong stance against migration - he even traveled down to the border with Serbia to inspect the famous fence erected by the Hungarian government following the 2015 migration crisis.

Carlson also witnessed as two refugees were sent back to Serbia: he reminded his viewers how efficient and clean the whole procedure was, and said he did not see all the trash and human suffering characteristic of the American border.

He failed to mention that Hungary had abolished the transit zones at its border only after a decision of the European Court of Justice, and if the anchor had visited earlier, he would have seen something completely different, and much less humane.

Also, the way in which refugees were turned back in front of his eyes remains illegal to this day according to the European Court of Human Rights.

Hungary very satisfied with its performance at the Tokyo Olympic Games

“The Hungarian team, which returned home with twenty medals, performed extremely well at the Tokyo Games, which ended on Sunday,” Krisztián Kulcsár, President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) said in a press conference Wednesday.

Kulcsar underlined that the MOB managed to totally reach its preliminary target set up before the Games, recalling that there were only 13 medals in their professional prognosis back in 2019.

“All in all, the Covid epidemic had no influence on the Hungarians' performance. Outperforming Rio, we won medals in nine Olympic sports and earned Olympic points in 12 sport discipline, with 70 of our Olympics athletes finishing in the top six," Kulcsár added.

Sports director László Fábián summed up the Tokyo Games as "twenty-twenty-twenty", referring to the original year of the Games, postponed because of Covid, and to the number of Hungarian medals.

He also emphasized that Finland was the first in the number of golds per million inhabitants before this year's Olympics, but now Hungary took the top place of the perpetual rankings.

Since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the Hungarian delegation has not won as many medals as in 2021 in Tokyo.

The result of 6 golds, however, is two less than five years ago in Rio. In the last five Olympics, the number of gold medals won by Hungarian athletes was 8, 8, 3, 8, and 8. Tokyo gave 6 golds in four Olympic sports compared to 8 golds in Rio in three disciplines.

The 20 medals in Tokyo were obtained in nine disciplines, a great increase from the four that brought the 15 medals of the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Third jab against Covid-19 available to Hungarians

From August 1, Hungarians who have been vaccinated with the second dose at least four months ago can also receive the third dose of the vaccine.

“It is quite clear that the frequency of infection is also increasing among those who have been vaccinated twice, which means that the third vaccination must be pre-arranged and started, ”Miklós Kásler, the Hungarian minister responsible for Health said in a video message posted on his Facebook page before the start of the campaign.

“We are not world leaders in the third vaccination, this is already happening in the rest of the world, I would mention Canada as an example, which has perhaps the best health system in the world,” he added.

Kásler also explained that Hungarian professionals preferred the administration of a third dose of vaccine that differed from the first two.

Meanwhile, the free antibody test organized by the Budapest Municipality has been completed. Its objective was to examine whether the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine produced enough antibodies against the coronavirus in the body of volunteers in Budapest over the age of 60.

The results of a total of some 14,000 tests show that 26 percent of those over 60 years of age vaccinated with Sinopharm do not have sufficient antibodies.

The government, without officially recognizing a lack of efficiency of the Chinese jab, included elderly people vaccinated with Sinopharm’s product among the people to be vaccinated for health reasons.

Thus, health authorities — which have repeatedly claimed that the Chinese vaccine was as effective among the elderly as the others — have taken into account data from recent weeks.

As of Thursday morning, some 75,000 people received their third jab in Hungary, out of the 83,000 who have registered.

In Hungary, FB advertising does not count as political advertising

Commenting on the massive use of Facebook ads by a Fidesz candidate in a by-election last November, the Hungarian State Audit Office (SAO) argued that “Social Media advertising did not count as political advertising according to the current local regulations.”

The State Audit Office did not find any irregularities in Zsófia Koncz's - MP of Fidesz - campaign last year, even though she spent more money on Facebook ads alone than she could have spent altogether, according to a report by RTL News.

The Hungarian law on elections puts a limit of 5 million HUF as the total sum allowed to be spent on advertisements, but Koncz broke that ceiling, by paying 5.6 million on Facebook ads alone.

But the SAO said, in its report, that Zsófia Koncz went by book, and kept her expenses under the legal threshold.

Fidesz MP Zsófia Koncz, who won a seat in the Borsod parliamentary by-election, took an oath at the plenary session of the Parliament on November 2, 2020.

She took the eat of her late father by defeating the common candidate of the opposition parties, in an important vote, as her seat meant that the government kept his qualified majority of two-thirds of the MPs in the Parliament. A two-third majority is imperative for the ruling parties, as it allows them to modify the Basic Law and important legislation requiring a qualified majority.

Several organizations, including K-Monitor, have also reported to the SAO, but according to the latter, they can only check what the candidates are accounting for, and advertisements in social media do not count as political advertisements.

According to the report, the SAO acknowledges the fact that more and more political ads have been launched in social media, it has also indicated last year that the rules should be changed, but “no party or NGO has responded so far”.

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Hungary rebukes Oslo’s revocation of HUF 77 billion grant and promises legal action

“Hungary does not accept Norway’s position, the organization responsible for the disbursement of the Norway Grant has to be chosen with a consensus, according to the agreement between the two countries,” the Office of the Prime Minister informed Wednesday, following a statement from the Norwegian foreign ministry that stated the funds was lost for Hungary.

“Norway is violating the resources from EEA membership, so the government will take legal action", the Hungarian government said in a statement, without giving further details on the legal proceedings.

Earlier in the week, Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide issued a statement explaining why no agreement has been reached with the Hungarian government

The seven-month deadline for the government, the Norwegian Fund and the EEA Fund to agree on the implementation of the HUF 77 billion civilian part of the grant has recently expired. No deal has been reached.

“The donor countries and Hungary failed to agree on how the funding for civil society was to be administered. Therefore no funding will be provided to Hungary for the implementation of programs during the current period, and Hungary loses access to the approximately NOK 2.3 billion allocated to Hungary under the EEA and Norway Grants scheme,” the Minister wrote.

The chief of Norwegian diplomacy added that donor countries in all 15 member states concerned expect the provider of civilian aid to be independent of the government and the state.

In the statement, Ine Eriksen Søreide also mentions that since 2016 they have been trying to negotiate with the Hungarian government on how to provide subsidies to Hungary for social inclusion, health, education, transport and local development, as well as Roma integration.

The donor countries, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, have been united in the process and remain committed to the principle that the best qualified candidate must be appointed.

Despite the lack of agreement, the Hungarian government wanted to continue negotiations with Oslo, but the Norwegian foreign ministry made it clear that the grant was not delayed but lost for good.

"The resources of the Norwegian Fund for 2014-2021 are no longer available to Hungary," the Oslo Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday, making it clear that the grant of a total of HUF 77 billion would neither be delayed, nor temporarily jeopardized, but would be lost permanently.

The blunt statement of the Norwegian foreign affairs is significant because the Hungarian government was giving the impression that the money could still be saved.

Last Friday, the Prime Minister's Office wrote: "the Hungarian side has proposed a new deadline for the resumption of negotiations".

The animosity surrounding the distribution of the Norway Grant goes back to 2014, when Ökotárs Alapítvány (Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation) director Veronika Móra has been taken into custody by local police,

The move came after Hungary’s Office of the Prime Minister under Chancellor János Lázár falsely accused the Norway Civil Fund administrator Ökotárs of channeling funds to opposition party “Politics Can Be Different”, and calling for the suspension of payments to Hungarian NGOs.

National Election Commission gives green light to Orban’s referendum

The National Election Commission (NVB) has accepted the referendum questions submitted by Viktor Orbán in the middle of the Pegasus scandal, referred to as "child protection” by the head of government.

Thus, it will be possible to hold a referendum on all five issues. The questions are:

• Do you support the organization of sexual orientation sessions for minor children in public education without parental consent?
• Do you support the promotion of gender reassignment treatments for minor children?
• Do you support the availability of gender reassignment treatments for minor children?
• Do you support the unrestricted presentation of sexual media content to minors that affects their development?
• Do you support the display of gender-reassignment media content to minor children?

On July 21, Orbán announced that he would initiate a so-called “child protection" referendum, following that, as he put it "Brussels clearly attacked Hungary over the child protection law in recent weeks."

Orbán referred to a so-called “anti-pedophile” law passed with homophobic modifiers in which the government banned the "promotion or portrayal of homosexuality."

The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Hungary in connection with the law, arguing that it restricts the right to free speech, while the government is unable to explain why and how LGBTQ content adversely affects children's development.

Orbán interprets the Commission’s move as an attack and tries to create legitimacy for the already adopted law through a referendum. The Prime Minister has already stated that it was no problem if the referendum would turn out as not valid.

At the same time, the NVB refused to discuss Gergely Karácsony's referendum questions submitted the very same day.

The mayor of Budapest wanted to ask questions about free covid tests, the Fudan University, and the privatization of the operation of the freeway network, among others.

Hungarian healthcare workers demonstrate for better conditions and bigger salaries

Hungarian healthcare workers - left out from a recent general wage increase reserved for doctors - staged a demonstration on Saturday, demanding the restoration of their legal status as civil servants, in the Heroes' Square in Budapest, organized by the Hungarian Chamber of Health Professionals (MESZK).

Zoltán Balogh, the president of the chamber, said that the government had “slapped them in the face” with the new law on healthcare status, which came into force in March in the midst of the third wave of the pandemic in Hungary.

As a result of the new law, thousands of healthcare employees quit their jobs due to amendments to their contracts.

The new law gave doctors a big rise in salaries but only with strict conditions. The new law grants a 120% salary increase to doctors in three steps, reaching its maximum in January 2023.

The law also criminalizes handouts offered as bribes and sets a limit on the value of non-cash gifts from patients to doctors at five percent of the monthly minimum wage. This practice has been widespread in Hungary for decades. But nurses were left out of the package.

From the very start, the MESZK was against the new regulation, Balogh recalled, adding that during the preparation of the law, the position and proposals of the experts were not accepted: “There were no substantive consultation on the legal material, in which - serious contradictions and injustices were observed.”

As a result, four thousand health workers, including three thousand professionals, did not sign their new contract, which is a tremendous loss for the Hungarian healthcare system.

The main demands of the demonstrators were the restoration of the civil service status of health professionals, and a minimum of 30 percent wage increase, starting from September 1.

“Priority should be given to improving the living and working conditions of primary healthcare workers,” he stressed.

Gyula Kincses, President of the Hungarian Medical Chamber (MOK), who spoke at the event assured healthcare workers of their support and said that it was outright “impossible to cure without specialists.”

“The coronavirus epidemic has proven that even if there is available medical equipment, but there is no proper human care, then our mortality data will be as it is,” he said. He hinted at the more than 30,000 victims of the pandemic in Hungary, one of the worst of the world per capita.

Miklós Kásler, the minister in charge of healthcare, sent a letter to the demonstration, acknowledging the efforts and the work of the specialists during the epidemic, adding that in the future, his office would continue to count on the opinion of the chamber.

But participants of the demo just booed and shouted, demanding the resignation of Kásler.

The event was joined by several health professional and non-governmental organizations as well as trade unions, and many opposition party leaders.

F1 champions criticize Hungary’s homophobic law

“To all in this beautiful country Hungary. Ahead of the Grand Prix this weekend, I want to share my support for those affected by the government’s anti-LGBBTQ+ law. It is unacceptable, cowardly and misguiding for those in power suggest such a law. Everyone deserves to have the freedom to be themselves, no matter who they love or how they identify. I urge the people of Hungary to vote in the referendum to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ community, they need our support more than ever. Please show love for those around you because love will always win. Sending you positivity.”

Lewis Hamilton sent a message of support to the Hungarian LGBTQ community in an Instagram story, before the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend.

A day later, his competitor, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel went to the Hungaroring racetrack in a rainbow mask and rainbow t-shirt.

The German Formula One driver gave his opinion on the Hungarian homophobic law on Friday, making a clear comment at a press conference before the Hungarian Grand Prix:

“Everyone should be free to choose what they want to do with their lives, that would be the point. I find it depressing that a country in the European Union passes such a law. ”

Hungarian minister of justice Judit Varga reacted quickly to the critic on her Facebook page.

“The protection of Hungarian children remains the task of Hungarian parents and not of foreign racing drivers,” she said.

“I myself learned the rule of the road from textbooks and not by following the media,” she added.

“Let me recommend Lewis Hamilton to read the Hungarian Child Protection Act before saying nonsense. Let the cobbler stick to his last and F1 driver to his race. Good luck with the Hungaroring race!,” Varga concluded.

Finally, neither Vettel, nor Hamilton won the race, but French driver Esteban Ocon from Alpine won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, his first Formula I race win, while Hamilton took second place in a dramatic race that started twice due to crashing in wet conditions.

• Geza Molnar, an international correspondent reporting from Budapest over the last two decades, is taking over Insight Hungary from August.

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Some 1,000 demonstrators gathered on Monday at Budapest's House of Terror museum to protest the government's alleged use of spyware to monitor critical journalists, businesspeople and politicians.

The protest, organized by several opposition political parties, brought supporters of Jobbik, Momentum, Dialogue, MSZP, Democratic Coalition, Everyone's Hungary Movement and the New Start party.

Many demonstrators and some organizers demanded the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over the spying scandal, which was revealed nearly two weeks ago through an investigation by an international media consortium led by Paris-based press organization Forbidden Stories.

Hungarian officials have refused to confirm or deny whether the government purchased or used the Pegasus spyware, produced by Israel-based firm NSO Group, but have insisted that all covert surveillance activities in Hungary are done in accordance with the law.

The investigation found that individuals had been targeted for spying in Hungary, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Azerbaijan, India, France, and other countries.

Forensic analysis of several mobile devices in Hungary found that Pegasus had been used to break into the smartphones of at least five journalists, including those of Szabolcs Panyi and András Szabó of investigative reporting outfit Direkt36, which participated in the investigation.

In announcing Monday's demonstration, Momentum chairman András Fekete-Győr called the Pegasus spying scandal "the darkest case of the last ten years, which must cause the government to fall."

In an interview with The Guardian, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony called for the resignation of Justice Minister Judit Varga, who, according to Hungarian law, may sign off on secret surveillance without judicial oversight.

Earlier on Monday, Fidesz delegates on parliament's national security committee boycotted an emergency session called by the committee's opposition members, preventing an official inquiry into the case.

Committee chairman János Stummer of the right-wing Jobbik party told 444.hu that the opposition members of the committee would conduct in investigation into earlier procurement requests brought before the commission to determine whether the government had purchased the Pegasus software.

But the key question, Stummer said, is not whether the spyware was purchased, but if it was used to spy on Hungarians on a political basis. He has called the national security committee to convene on the first day of the autumn parliamentary session, he said, when the Fidesz delegates will not be able to prevent a quorum.

Arriving to a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Interior Minister Sándor Pintér was questioned about the Pegasus case by commercial broadcaster RTL Klub. Pintér said he could only speak about the matter to the national security committee, and that doing otherwise would violate the law against revealing state secrets.

Pintér warned that the RTL Klub reporter could face legal consequences for asking the minister to reveal such secrets.

Amateur programmer targets "national consultation" page with simple algorithm, government files criminal complaint

Hungary's government announced on Monday that it would launch a criminal complaint over an "IT attack" against its official national consultation website.

The announcement came after 444.hu first reported that a YouTube user uploaded a video showing a program automatically filling out the online questionnaire, which was also sent in paper form to every adult in Hungary.

According to the designer of the program, Gergely Tomanovics, the purpose of the action was "exclusively to demonstrate the standard of the governing party's IT capabilities." His program filled out more than 3,100 questionnaires with randomized answers in 12 hours using randomly generated names and email addresses.

National consultations, a form of informal survey regularly used as a campaign tool by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, have been heavily criticized for containing leading questions with the only rational answers being those that support the government's point of view.

The methodology for tallying responses to the consultation questions is not made public, and critics have argued the online version of the questionnaire can be easily abused, as demonstrated by Tomanovics's action this week.

During the last national consultation in September, a similar video was uploaded to YouTube showing a program automatically filling out some 10,000 questionnaires. The designer of the program, who described himself as a Budapest resident around 40 years old, told Telex.hu that he was an amateur hobby programmer, and that only the most basic programming knowledge was necessary to create the bot.

The creator of that bot was charged with a crime by the cybercrime division of the National Bureau of Investigations in May.

Hungary gets two month extension to address recovery plan concerns

The European Commission has granted Hungary a two month extension to address problems with its EU pandemic recovery plan, further delaying payment of the billions in recovery funds, Commission spokesperson Veerle Nuyts said on Tuesday.

The extension came after the Commission earlier indicated that Hungary's plan to use the HUF 2.5 trillion (~ €7 billion) recovery package failed to satisfy the Commission's requirements related to anti-corruption and judicial reform. The Commission delayed payment of the funds and called on Hungary to make the required changes to its plan.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reacted to the delay by arguing that the Commission was using the recovery package to wage a political attack on Hungary over recent legislation barring the depiction of homosexuality to minors that many critics in the EU described as an assault on LGBT rights. (The Commission has emphasized that holding up the recovery package is only related to anti-corruption and judicial independence.)

On Friday, the government articulated its viewpoint in an official decree, saying it would only accept an agreement on a recovery plan that does not include requirements placed on Hungary that do not apply to other member states.

However, Commission spokesperson Nuyts said on Tuesday that Hungary's government had demonstrated that it was open to working constructively with the Commission to resolve problems with the plan.

The deadline for completing negotiations on the recovery plan is September 30.

Third vaccine doses available from Sunday

Third doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be offered to some people in Hungary beginning on Sunday, targeted first at the elderly and those with chronic conditions and the immunocompromised.

The booster doses will be made available to those who had received a second vaccine dose at least four months prior. Registration for the booster may be done online or through general practitioners.

On Tuesday, chief medical officer Cecília Müller said that those who received their first two doses with a virus vector vaccine, like Sputnik, should receive an inactivated virus or mRNA vaccine for their booster dose and vice versa to provide the highest level of increased protection.

The National Healthcare Center recommended the following combinations of vaccines:

• AstraZeneca: Pfizer, Moderna and Sinopharm
• Janssen: Pfizer, Moderna, Sinopharm
• Moderna: Sinopharm, Janssen, AstraZeneca
• Pfizer: Sinopharm, Janssen, AstraZeneca
• Sinopharm: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen
• Sputnik-V: Pfizer, Moderna, Sinopharm

The government's decision to allow third vaccine doses came after significant pressure to address concerns that some elderly recipients of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine do not develop adequate antibodies after receiving a second dose.

The city of Budapest conducted free antibody testing on some 20,000 residents, and in the non-representative results it released, found that Sinopharm showed the weakest antibody response in elderly people among all of the six jabs used in Hungary.

A study released last week also showed that a quarter of people over the age of 60 and half of people over 80 did not develop adequate antibodies after receiving two Sinopharm doses.

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Hungary's government this week aimed to contain fallout over revelations that some 300 Hungarian citizens were targeted for surveillance by powerful spyware that targeted the mobile devices of journalists, politicians, lawyers and others.

Use of the Pegasus spyware, produced by Israel-based firm NSO Group, was uncovered through an investigation by an international media consortium led by Paris-based press organization Forbidden Stories. The investigation found that individuals had been targeted for spying in Hungary, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Azerbaijan, India, France, and other countries.

Forensic analysis of several mobile devices in Hungary found that Pegasus had been used to break into the smartphones of at least five journalists, including those of Szabolcs Panyi and András Szabó of investigative reporting outfit Direkt36, which participated in the investigation.

The phone numbers of opposition politician György Gémesi and Hungarian Bar Association president János Banáti were also found on a leaked list of potential Pegasus targets, but their phones were not able to undergo forensic examination to confirm that they had been breached.

The malware is able to gather an array of data from mobile devices, including emails, text messages, photos, videos and text documents. It is able to retrieve messages even if they are sent via mobile applications with end-to-end encryption, and can activate the phone's microphone or camera.

While the investigation did not show conclusively who had deployed the spyware against the targeted individuals, numerous signs suggest that the Hungarian government directed the spying operation.

NSO Group insists that it only sells Pegasus to governments and state agencies, and Direkt36 sources including a former Hungarian intelligence officer and a former employee of NSO said that Hungary's government had indeed purchased and used the spyware.

While no officials have explicitly denied that the government purchased and used Pegasus against journalists and political opponents, all who have spoken on the matter insist that covert surveillance in Hungary occurs only in accordance with relevant laws.

But Hungary's laws regulating covert surveillance offer the government exceptionally broad authorization, requiring only ministerial approval for such actions. The same minister that approves the surveillance is also responsible for evaluating whether it was conducted lawfully.

Speaking to Népszava in Brussels, Justice Minister Judit Varga (who herself would have to sign off on any covert surveillance), would not confirm that Hungary had purchased the Pegasus spyware, but said, "Let’s not be ridiculous, every country needs such tools! It’s an illusion if anyone tries to make an issue out of it."

In a press conference on Thursday, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said that the Pegasus scandal was not discussed at a cabinet meeting the previous day, and that the government has no plans to conduct an investigation into the spying allegations.

Gulyás added that he supports the convening of the national security committee to examine the issue if there is genuine evidence that surveillance was conducted illegally.

However, opposition members of parliament's national security committee earlier this week called for an emergency session to question Hungary's intelligence services and Interior Minister Sándor Pintér on the alleged use of the spyware.

But Fidesz's majority on the committee signaled it would not appear at such a session, saying the allegations were "baseless" and served only to "stir up political passions." (Fidesz members of the committee regularly block sessions called by opposition delegates in cases that are potentially sensitive to the ruling party.)

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has yet to react to the allegations.

Orbán calls for referendum amid mounting political pressure

In a video on Facebook Wednesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that the government will initiate a referendum on what it calls its child protection measures, but which critics argue stigmatize and discriminate against LGBTQ people.

The unexpected announcement - which immediately followed a government decree allowing referenda, which had been previously disallowed because of the Covid-19 pandemic - came as Orbán faces increasing pressure in Hungary and the European Union over his government's adherence to the rule of law, and heightened scrutiny over a major international spying scandal.

As we reported last week, the European Commission launched two separate infringement proceedings against Hungary for its treatment of the LGBTQ community, including a law passed in June that prohibits the display or promotion of content to minors that depicts homosexuality.

Days later, the Commission issued its 2021 Rule of Law report which pointed to several areas of deficiency in Hungary's adherence to democratic standards. The report states that "the implementation of the anti-corruption strategy is ongoing but its scope remains limited." It also referred to shortcomings regarding "political party financing, lobbying and ‘revolving doors’."

The report also warns of "risks of clientelism, favoritism and nepotism in high-level public administration as well as risks arising from the link between businesses and political actors."

The rule of law report, which was introduced in 2020 in reaction to concerns over developing autocracies in Hungary and Poland, was slammed by Hungarian officials, who accused its authors of bias.

In a Facebook post, Justice Minster Judit Varga claimed that "the latest report of the European Commission focuses on the Hungarian Law on Child Protection," though the report makes not a single mention of Hungary's anti-LGBT legislation.

In the wake of the report's release, the European commissioner of justice, Didier Reynders, told several media outlets that the Commission had rejected Hungary's application for billions of euros in Covid-19 economic recovery funds. Those funds would not be awarded, Reynders said, until Hungary implements judicial reforms and strengthens its anti-corruption frameworks.

It was amid these mounting pressures that Orbán announced the referendum, leading some opposition politicians to call for a boycott of the vote. Independent MP Ákos Hadházy said the referendum was a "distraction and a lying campaign ploy," while Péter Jakab, chairman of the right-wing Jobbik party, said it was a "clear diversion" from the spying allegations facing Orbán's government.

Responding to the referendum announcement, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told Der Spiegel that “we should hold a referendum in the EU on whether we still want to tolerate Orbán.”

“I am convinced that the result would be a clear no,” Asselborn said.

Budapest mayor calls for referendum on Fudan University, antibody screening

Hours after Orbán called for a referendum, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony held a press conference where he announced he would initiate his own poll featuring five questions.

1. Do you agree that the Parliament should repeal the law transferring assets to the Foundation for Fudan Hungary University?
2. Do you agree that a private company should not be allowed to operate Hungary's highways through a concession contract?
3. Do you agree that all residents of Hungary over 60 should have access to free Covid-19 antibody screening?
4. Do you agree that Hungary should join the European Public Prosecutor's Office?
5. Do you agree that the maximum duration of unemployment benefits should be 270 days (instead of 90)?

The questions represent political issues that Karácsony and the united opposition have recently used as points of critique of Hungary's government under Fidesz.

Budapest's government has sparred with the central government over the construction of a large campus of the Shanghai-based university in the capital, arguing it takes scarce resources away from Hungarian students and indebts Hungary to China.

Budapest also initiated its own antibody testing program for city residents over 60 in an effort to get the government to address reports that the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine showed insufficient antibody response in some older recipients. (The most recent results of those tests show that 24 percent of Sinopharm recipients over 60 had not developed adequate antibodies. Among the oldest age group of those 80 and older, 38 percent did not show antibodies.)

The questions must be approved by the National Election Committee before a referendum can be scheduled.

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The European Union's executive arm announced on Thursday that it would launch two separate infringement procedures against Hungary over policies that it says unlawfully violate the fundamental rights of LGBTQ people.

The first procedure concerns a law recently passed by Hungary's parliament that forbids the depiction or promotion of homosexuality and sex reassignment to minors under 18 - something the commission will argue violates the right to freedom of expression and information, as well as European directives governing media and commerce.

"Europe will never allow parts of our society to be stigmatised," the commission wrote in a Tweet on Thursday.

A second procedure was launched in response to a government office in January ordering a Hungarian publisher to place a disclaimer on books that "display patterns of behavior that differ from traditional gender roles." That order came after the publisher, Labrisz, released a collection of fairy tales featuring LGBTQ and non-white characters.

The requirement equates to restricting the right to freedom of expression and the right to non-discrimination, the commission wrote, adding that both laws violate human dignity and the right to respect of private life.

According to a press release, Hungary's government has two months to respond to the arguments put forward by the commission. If it does not, the Commission may decide to send them a reasoned opinion and refer them to the Court of Justice of the European Union, it wrote.

"Hungary restricts the freedom of expression of authors and book publishers, and discriminates on grounds of sexual orientation in an unjustified way. In particular, Hungary failed to justify the restriction of these fundamental rights, nor has it provided any justification as to why exposure of children to LGBTIQ content would be detrimental to their well-being or not in line with the best interests of the child," the commission wrote.

A poll released this week by Zavecz Research showed that 56 percent of Hungarians accept homosexuality, with women (62 percent) being more accepting than men (48 percent).

Only 38 percent of those over 60 years of age said they "support those living in non-heterosexual relationships," while those living in villages were found to be less accepting than those in cities.

Nearly a quarter of respondents in the 1,000-person representative survey reported personally knowing someone that is homosexual.

Orbán to announce whether third vaccine dose will be offered

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is expected to respond on Friday to multiplying reports that the Chinese-produced Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine does not produce sufficient antibodies in some elderly recipients.

Calls for the government to provide a third vaccine dose to some individuals reached new proportions this week after the results of two testing programs were released showing lower antibody response in some recipients of the Sinopharm vaccine.

At a press conference on Thursday, Orbán's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said the government and Emergency Task Force had discussed the possibility of providing a third vaccine dose, but did not provide details.

On Tuesday, the city of Budapest released initial results of a free antibody testing campaign it launched for elderly residents. The voluntary, non-representative sample examined 1,760 tests.

"In the case of those over 60 years of age who participated in the test and reported receiving the Sinopharm vaccine, 23.90 percent had insufficient levels of IgG-type neutralizing antibodies in their bloodstream," the city wrote in a statement. "For other vaccines, the proportion of those who do not have adequate antibody levels is significantly lower. ”

The following day, Semmelweis University released data showing that Sinopharm recipients produced antibodies in fewer patients than among recipients of any other vaccine.

Of the 1,195 applicants who had previously tested negative for antibodies, 88 percent showed positive results in the Semmelweis test.

“Based on the rate of positive results, all five two-dose vaccines can effectively induce antibody production,” the university wrote.

However, of the 881 tests administered to Sinopharm recipients, 143 produced negative antibody results, a rate of 84 percent effectiveness at producing antibodies. This gave Sinopharm a 10% lower rate of antibody efficacy than Moderna, the next vaccine in line, with 94 percent.

Furthermore, 18 percent of subjects over 60 years of age did not produce antibodies after receiving Sinopharm, also the lowest among all other vaccines.

On Thursday, Gulyás rejected claims that certain vaccines in Hungary are less effective, and argued that other kinds of protection can develop even if antibodies do not.

In a radio interview this week, Minister of Human Resources Miklós Kásler said there is data to suggest that a booster vaccine with a heterologous vaccine, i.e. with a different type of vaccine than received in the first two doses, dramatically increases protection.

Kásler said it is advisable to provide a third vaccine shot after six months, primarily to those over 60. He said the government would soon provide detailed guidance on possible third doses.

Immunologist Anna Erdei, Deputy Secretary General of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview this week that “it is now clear that about one-third of people over 60 vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine do not have antibodies."

Erdei pointed out that the vaccine's Chinese manufacturer only recommended the vaccine to people under 59 "because no studies have been performed on the elderly."

“As an immunologist, I dare say that if there are no antibodies in one's body, there is no protection," Erdei said, adding that she urges a centralized antibody testing campaign to determine the level of protection of vaccinated individuals.

Hungarian government makes offer to purchase Budapest Airport

Hungary's government has made a non-binding offer to purchase the Budapest International Airport, the facility's largest stakeholder confirmed to Reuters, the next step in the government's effort to nationalize the regional hub.

The offer was delivered to Budapest Airport Zrt. by Innovation and Technology minister László Palkovics last week, but press reports indicated that the company considered it to be below market value. Still, it did not insist as it has before that it does not intend to sell the airport.

AviAlliance, a Germany-based airport operator and Budapest Airport's largest stakeholder, said it had not solicited the offer from the government, and that it hoped to retain a long-term investment stake in the facility.

“We can confirm that the Hungarian government has made a non-binding offer to the shareholders of Budapest Airport. For the sake of our co-owners and for legal reasons, we are obliged to consider possible offers,” AviAlliance said in an email to Reuters.

On Thursday, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said that the government's goal was to bring the airport "under the ownership of the state, or at least Hungarian ownership," adding that it was a matter of "national security."

Szijjártó: Hungary to allow more foreign workers at international companies

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Wednesday announced that international companies would be permitted to employ foreign citizens representing up to 20 percent of their workforce, up from a previous 10 percent limit.

In a video on Facebook, Szijjártó said the increase would encourage companies to continue investing and expanding in Hungary and prevent them from leaving the country, preserving jobs for Hungarians.

"Giving the opportunity for foreign-owned companies to raise the number of their foreign employees from 10 to 20 percent gives us the ability to ensure jobs for Hungarian workers," he said.

Szijjártó announced several other economic measures following a government cabinet meeting Wednesday.

• The state will support a Hungarian construction material production company with HUF 5.5 billion (€15.3 million) in an effort to bring down the increasing prices of building materials.
• Hungary's Eximbank will provide preferential investment loans to Hungarian companies worth HUF 100 billion (€278 million), with the interest rate for SMEs set at 0.1 percent.
• A development and investment loan program will be launched for micro-companies, of which there are some 4,000 in Hungary. A micro-loan program will also provide HUF 50 billion (€139 million) over the next ten years with interest rates of 0.5 percent.
• The government will introduce a uniform tendering process, reducing the preliminary investigation period for tenders from one month to five days.
• The government will provide location-finding services for companies wishing to invest in Hungary, allowing them to quickly find favorable sites for their investments.
• Hungary's Eximbank will hold a €400 million agricultural land capital fund to ensure a stable supply of raw food materials.

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Numerous European politicians have recommended cutting EU funding to Hungary in response to recent legislation widely seen as limiting the rights of Hungary's LGBT community.

Germany's interior minister Horst Seehofer suggested this week that cutting Hungary's access to EU funds could be a suitable response to the law which prohibits the display to minors of content depicting homosexuality or gender reassignment.

Seehofer, who had previously defended Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's policies on issues such as treatment of refugees, said that the law had "gone too far," and "violates central values of the European Union."

"We must not and will not accept this,” Seehofer told German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine.

On Wednesday, Clément Beaune, the French Minister for European Affairs, told RTL Radio that he too supported sanctioning Hungary over the law, but added that like French President Emmanuel Macron, he would not support the expulsion of Hungary from the EU - something Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte suggested last week.

In a joint letter Thursday, four groups in the European Parliament wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling on the Commission to reject Hungary's draft plan for use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), a €672.5 billion package of loans and grants meant to assist member states in post-pandemic economic recovery.

The four groups - the Greens, Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe and The Left - recommended withholding Hungary's funds "in the light of serious concerns and the ongoing deterioration of Rule of Law in Hungary."

Directly referencing the recent law affecting LGBT people, the letter called on the Commission "to carefully assess every measure...to guarantee that the Union spending for the implementation of the Hungarian RRP would not lead in any case to the Union actively contributing to any breach of fundamental rights in Hungary."

On Wednesday, European Commission vice-president Vera Jourová expressed her wish that the Hungarian law will not be put into effect, adding that it discriminates against LGBT people based on their sexual orientation and also damages freedom of expression. However, she said, the EU's rule of law conditionality mechanism could not be used to withhold funds from Hungary, because it was designed to apply only to policies that affect the EU budget.

Opposition prime ministerial candidates send joint letter to EU leaders assuring Hungary's future in the bloc

Five opposition candidates for prime minister authored a joint letter to the heads of European Union states on Tuesday, asserting their "strong, united determination to keep Hungary in the family of European nations."

In the letter, Klára Dobrev (Democratic Coalition), András Fekete-Győr (Momentum), Péter Jakab (Jobbik), Gergely Karácsony (Dialogue) and József Pálinkás (Új Világ Néppárt) wrote that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had "made it clear that he intends to lead Hungary out of the European Union” at a meeting of the Council of Europe last week.

“Viktor Orbán has no mandate to drive a wedge between our country and the European Union, and he cannot make senseless proposals to dismantle or paralyze our common European institutions in the name of our people," the candidates wrote, adding that the majority of Hungarians are in favor of EU membership.

The candidates promised EU leaders that if the six-party opposition coalition defeats Orbán and his Fidesz party at elections in 2022, Hungary will immediately join the European Public Prosecutor's Office, be a loyal member of the EU and NATO, "end discrimination against minorities", and put an end to "hate campaigns."

Orbán earlier outlined his vision for the future of the EU, saying in a speech that the European Parliament should consist of delegates from national parliaments, that national governments should be able to suspend the EU's legislative process, and that the phrase "ever closer union" should be deleted from the Treaty of the European Union.

Hungary updates digital vaccination certificate to EU standards

Hungary on Wednesday introduced a new digital Covid-19 certificate that will be accepted by all 27 members of the European Union and ensure free movement within the bloc for people that have been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the disease.

The EU-compatible certificate was introduced on the last day allowed by the European regulations, and now displays the type of vaccine received and the dates of vaccination.

Hungary's government previously pushed for all people vaccinated in the country to be considered protected by the EU regulations, but currently, member states are only required to admit people who have been inoculated with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Those nearly 1 million Hungarians vaccinated with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and 900,000 who received the Russian Sputnik jab - neither of which have been approved by the EMA - may not receive the EU digital Covid-19 certificate, and may thus be subject to national regulations including travel restrictions or denial of access to certain services or venues in other countries.

On June 25, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told reporters at an EU summit in Brussels that Sputnik "was unable to obtain EMA permission and may never do so" since the jab's manufacturers did not provide required data by the June 10 deadline. Sinopharm has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is being accepted in several European countries.

Fidesz spends €185,000 in six weeks on YouTube campaign ads

For the last month and a half, YouTube users in Hungary have met with political ads placed by the ruling Fidesz party on nearly every occasion that they open the video streaming site.

The ads depict former Socialist prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány as the mastermind behind Hungary's six-party opposition coalition that seeks to defeat Fidesz and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in national elections in 2022. The ads, with titles such as "The Gyurcsány Show" and "Karácsony = 99% Gyurcsány," portray opposition prime ministerial candidates like Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony as puppets of the former prime minister.

Telex.hu reports that according to statistics on YouTube political ads kept by Google, Fidesz spent more than HUF 65 million (€186,800) in six weeks on the ads. Records on political advertising on the site have been kept since March 2019, since which time 2,601 Hungarian-language political ads have been placed at a total cost of HUF 114 million.

According to the data, the recent Fidesz ads account for more than half of all YouTube political ad spending in Hungary in more than two years.

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Reports in German media emerged Wednesday morning that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would not travel to Munich as planned to view the Euro 2020 match between Hungary and Germany, where he likely would have received a cold welcome over his government's passage of a law seen as limiting the rights of LGBT people.

Instead, Orbán travelled to Brussels where he met with far-right politician Giorgia Meloni, leader of Italy's post-fascist Brothers of Italy party.

"Families and nations: this is the future of Europe," Orbán wrote on his Facebook page of the meeting alongside a photo of he and Meloni.

Government spokesman Bertalan Havasi told Hungarian news agency MTI that Orbán and Meloni exchanged views on changes in European politics and parties, and expressed their commitment to uniting the European right-wing and actively participating in the debate on the future of Europe.

They agreed that right-wing parties must strongly represent the interests of the many millions of European citizens who believe in the traditional family model, a strong Europe based on strong nations, and our common cultural and religious roots, Bertalan said.

The meeting with Meloni could be the latest sign of Orbán's effort to consolidate Europe's right-wing forces into a new political formation after his Fidesz party left the center-right European People's Party (EPP) in March.

In April, Orbán hosted his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki and former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini in Budapest to discuss a potential alliance on the European level. Fidesz is still without a group in the European Parliament.

Meloni is the head of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), a nationalist grouping of parties that also includes Poland's ruling PiS, Spain's Vox and, formerly, the United Kingdom's Conservatives.

Meloni told journalists on Wednesday that Orbán does not want to bring Fidesz into the ECR at the time being, but that the party would be welcome if he did. Foreign newspapers wrote on Tuesday that while in Brussels, Meloni would also hold a joint meeting with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Hungary's anti-LGBT law draws international criticism ahead of Euro 2020 match

Hungary's 2-2 draw with Germany at Wednesday's Euro 2020 football match in Munich was a significant achievement for the Hungarian team, but tainted by an international uproar over Hungary's passage of a law widely seen as targeting Hungary's LGBT community.

Last week, Hungarian lawmakers approved the controversial bill that human rights groups condemned as an attack on LGBT rights. Initially billed as a way of cracking down on pedophilia, the law bans the "portrayal or promotion of homosexuality," and forbids the display of any content portraying homosexuality or sex reassignment to children under 18.

Hungary's president, János Áder, signed the law on Wednesday. It will go into effect 15 days later.

While government figures from Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó to Prime Minster Viktor Orbán defended the law as merely intended to protect children, it was widely condemned as a limitation of LGBT rights and a conflation of homosexuality with pedophilia.

High-ranking European politicians slammed the legislation. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday called the law "a shame," saying it "clearly discriminates against people based on their sexual orientation. It goes against the fundamental values of the European Union: human dignity, equality and respect for human rights.”

She said the commission would examine whether the legislation contravenes EU law, and vowed to "use all the powers of the commission to ensure that the rights of all EU citizens are guaranteed."

Hungary's government clapped back against Von der Leyen's statement, saying it was "based on false allegations" and a "biased political opinion without a previously conducted, impartial inquiry.”

Also on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said to Germany's parliament that “this law is wrong, and it’s incompatible with my idea of politics -- if you allow homosexual, same-sex partnerships but restrict information about them elsewhere, that also has to do with freedom of education and the like.”

Additionally, 17 of the EU's 27 member states signed a joint statement condemning the law, writing it "represents a flagrant form of discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and hence deserves to be condemned." The leaders urged the European Commission to take the law to the European Court of Justice.

The uproar extended all the way to the mayor and city council of Munich - the host of Wednesday's Euro 2020 match between Germany and Hungary - which asked UEFA, European football's governing body, for permission to illuminate the city's Allianz Arena in rainbow colors in a sign of support for LGBT rights. The UEFA denied the request, saying it was directed at a decision taken by Hungary's parliament and therefore too political.

Arriving at a meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Thursday, Orbán told reporters that Hungary's law is "not about homosexuality, it’s about the kids and the parents.”

“I’m was a freedom fighter in the Communist regime. Homosexuality was punished and I fought for their freedom and their rights,” he said. “I am defending the rights of homosexual guys but this law is not about them.”

Karácsony: Budapest will provide free antibody tests to older residents

Budapest's mayor plans to offer free antibody testing to older residents of the capital after some vaccine recipients have reported they failed to develop antibodies following two doses of a jab.

"In light of the serious doubts about the effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine and the many inquiries that we've received, the capital city will launch a free antibody testing program to protect our elderly compatriots and increase confidence in vaccines," Mayor Gergely Karácsony told website Azonnali on Thursday.

Many Hungarians have had themselves tested at their own expense at private laboratories to monitor whether adequate protection from Covid-19 has developed in their bodies following vaccination.

But a significant number of those tests have shown little to no antibody development, leading to the foundation of a Facebook group dedicated to sharing information and experiences among those who test negative for antibodies after receiving China's Sinopharm vaccine.

With around 5,500 members, the group demands the government provide a third dose of an mRNS vaccine, such as Pfizer or Moderna, to Sinopharm recipients older than 60.

In a press release, the Mayor's office wrote that 19,000 tests will be made available to Budapest residents older than 60, but did not mention the Sinopharm vaccine.

"The capital wishes to offer the opportunity to those aged 60 and over to map their established immunity," the office wrote. "A number of NGOs have appealed to the government and the press after certain vaccines were administered and no antibodies were detected in the blood of their members. Similar problems have led several countries to order a third vaccination."

Mask restrictions to be lifted as Covid numbers tumble

The wearing of masks will no longer be required in Hungary once 5.5 million people have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás told a government press conference on Thursday.

Once that threshold is reached, likely within a week, Hungarians may visit hotels, restaurants, spas and beaches without an immunity card, Gulyás said. However, sporting events, concerts, festivals, and other entertainment venues will continue to require the card proving the bearer has been vaccinated or recently recovered from the disease.

Border controls at internal Schengen borders have also been lifted, Gulyás noted.

Only a single Covid-19 death was recorded in Hungary on Thursday, the lowest daily total since September 11, 2020, while the number of those being treated for the disease in hospitals dropped to 215, also a record low since last September.

A daily average of around 10,000 first-dose vaccinations are being administered, a plateau showing that most Hungarians who wish to receive a vaccine have already gotten one.

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by Kinga Rajzák

In August last year, the Hungarian government announced it would suspend rolling supplementary aid to some of the country’s most prominent foundation-run schools, which offer education to minorities and marginalised communities in poverty-stricken rural areas where mounting social disparities stymie equal access to quality education.

“The timing was curious,” said Nóra L. Ritók, founder and director of the Igazgyöngy Alapítvány (Real Pearl Foundation), which runs six art centers and offers extracurricular activities for about 600 disadvantaged children each year. “The decision hit organizations that see education as a great equalizer that can lift children from poverty. That’s why it was startling that the authorities, in the eleventh hour, put a dent in our yearly budgets.”

The government has cited the coronavirus pandemic as a major reason for its decision to discontinue financial support for these institutions. Coming on the cusp of the new school year, the move affected the Real Pearl Foundation, the Hungarian Evangelical Brotherhood (MET) and the Dr. Ámdékar School, each of which would receive either half of the previously awarded supplementary grants, or nothing at all.

These institutions are at the forefront of educating children in some of the most geographically isolated and cash-strapped areas in Hungary, where many students drop out or do not study beyond the obligatory school attendance age of 16, thus becoming posterchildren for the generational achievement gap.

All three organizations operate in rural regions or urban outskirts where most residents are Roma — Hungary’s largest ethnic minority — and live below the poverty line. Infrastructure is poor in these areas: there is often a lack of properly paved roads, schools and community buildings, and many of the homes are dilapidated and overcrowded, often without electricity or potable water.

“It is no surprise that they picked on us,” said reverend Gábor Iványi, the founder and chairman of MET, which runs over 20 school networks across the country for around 3,000 students each year. “It is easy and convenient to find excuses for cutting this grant, but we know that in the background lies the government’s disinterest in helping this strata of the population.”

In addition to poor infrastructure and poverty, factors like domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health issues lead to shortcomings in basic reading and mathematics proficiency levels among those students that make it past elementary school. Furthermore, many families make their children do odd manual jobs or seasonal labor in order to make ends meet, and don’t have extra cash to pay for commutes to nearby schools.

“The segregation of these communities starts with such a simple thing as a bus ticket,” Iványi said. “If you cannot afford to travel to school then you will fall behind. Ironically, education will thus become an unlikely source of inequality that will fortify the widening gap between the socially and economically disadvantaged and the middle-class.”

János Orsós, an educator and founding member of the Roma Buddist foundation Dzsaj Bhím which runs the Dr. Ámbédkar School, offering high school education to Roma students, says stereotypes also foster a belief that education cannot lead to a better life.

“When you hear left and right that a Roma person is good for nothing but the fields, then it is easy to accept that your destiny is manual labor, not white collar work,” Orsós said. “These days it is harder than ever to get out of the slums. If you are told you can make as much as your parents at 16 [by going to work], then you will make a rash decision and drop out of school which has long term consequences. Though I am a living, breathing example of the fact that education offers a ticket out of the rural ghetto.”

One step forward, two steps back

In 2011, Hungary implemented a series of policies aimed at promoting inclusion and equal employment opportunities for Roma communities, such as the National Strategy for Roma Integration Act for the 2011-2020 cycle. Additionally, in an effort to prepare children for school and reduce the dropout rate, a 2013 law made it mandatory for children aged three and up to attend kindergarten for four hours a day, five days a week.

However, the National Education Act of 2011 reduced the mandatory minimum age for school attendance from 18 to 16, leading to a rise in early departure rates and indirectly undoing previous measures meant to address disadvantages among the Roma.

Following the law’s passage, school attendance among disadvantaged students dropped sharply, from the all-time high of 20,126 in 2011 to 6,022 in 2014. Orsós said that the government’s action was a clear move to restrict access to higher education and push the majority of Roma students into early manual labor or vocational schools.

In Hungary, the tracking of school performance begins in elementary school and determines where a child can continue their secondary education. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the tracking measures are particularly harmful for disadvantaged children who may underperform in school and thus do not make the cut for quality secondary education.

As a result, around 85 percent of Hungarian students (compared to the OECD average of 45 percent) are admitted to schools based on their performance or recommendations from feeder schools, which hinders equal learning opportunities for the disadvantaged and leads to lasting socio-economic disadvantages and disparities in certain communities.

“The system is designed to privilege the middle-class,” said Orsós, who used to teach about 300 high schoolers at the Dr. Ámdékar school, a number which shrank to about 100 after 2011.

Foundation-run schools educate the disadvantaged

Schools run by foundations are approved and accredited by the government, then relegated to the oversight of either the Ministry of Human Resources or the Ministry of Innovation and Technology. The schools are entitled to a government subsidised sum to cover staff salaries, paid for by the Hungarian Treasury. How much each foundation receives depends on the number of children enrolled at their schools.

However, the subsidy alone is not enough to keep a school afloat: supplementary grants are an important source of additional funds to cover costs like rent, school supplies, travel and other student needs.

Real Pearl’s annual operations are funded by 51 million forints (€146,000) in state grants for staff salaries, and a 17 million forint (€48,800) supplemental grant. While the foundation charges only 1,500 forints (€4.5) per month for classes, only 30 percent of the students can cover this fee.

Ritók says that her foundation even provides clothing for some particularly disadvantaged students, and also extends emotional and intellectual counselling.

“We basically do what the government should be doing: attempting to provide psychological support to mitigate the debilitating effects of poverty and inequality many of these helpless, innocent children face,” she said.

The foundation is overseen by the Ministry of Human Resources, and since 1999 has been one of the most important organizations in Hungary assisting the poor. The state initially supplied it with a supplementary grant on a multi-year basis, but after the passage of a new law in 2017, it must now apply for the grant annually.

Last summer, Ritók received a call from the State Secretary of Human Resources, Zoltán Maruzsa, who summoned her to Budapest to discuss her school.

“The secretary said that the pandemic forced the government to tighten their belts,” Ritók said. “They were considering cutting our aid.”

Within a few weeks, Ritók had learned through the media that her organization’s supplement had been cut in half for the year, and eliminated completely for the 2021/2022 school year.

“I find it maddening that the government has hundreds and thousands of millions to fund hunting conventions and build soccer stadiums, but somehow has no budget to eradicate poverty and create equal opportunity for the most vulnerable,” said Ritók, who has managed to raise enough funds through donations to secure this school year and the 2021/2022 fall term.

The rise of religious schools

As some of these foundation-run schools had their budgets slashed, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Reformed and Greek Catholic schools receive generous government endowments and cultivate good relations with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has argued multiple times that his administration aims to restore Hungary’s decency through education which, according to him, has been undermined by liberal influence.

In 2020, at the inauguration of a Christian school’s new building, Orbán said that the church and the government were partners in furthering public education, and that public funds were best spent on religious schools. Orbán also quoted Endre Gyökössy, a reformed priest and writer, saying that “the duty of Christian freedom is...to raise our [children] to be homo christianus.”

During the early 2000s, religious schools made up only about 6 percent of Hungary’s national educational system, but this number had grown considerably by 2010 when it hit about 20 percent. After Orbán began his second term that year, the number of religious schools ballooned: there were 50,680 students in church-run primary schools in 2010, but by 2020 that number had exploded to more than 111,000.

The Fidesz government has done a lot to contribute to this burst in popularity. Prior to Orbán’s second mandate, religious schools were less popular than secular ones among affluent parents who sought private schools for their children. But by 2015, legal provisions such as the 2010 government-led privatization of church-run schools made them more appealing for wealthy parents. By 2020, religious schools had overtaken state-funded schools in terms of preference.

Religious primary and secondary schools cluster toward the top of annual rankings, and have an excellent track record for getting their students into top universities in Hungary or abroad. However, these religious schools tend to have an economically homogeneous student body with most of the pupils coming from middle-class families.

“The nexus of racial and economic segregation has been fortified by our educational system,” Iványi said. “There are just as many great talents born in the rural shantytowns as on Rózsadomb (Budapest’s most affluent district), but those in poverty will never be given the platform to succeed.”

According to a 2016 sociological study by Zoltán Hermann and Júlia Varga, while religious schools present themselves as morally and ethically engaged in combating discrimination, in practice they do not function as engines for social mobility. Even in rural areas, religious schools tend to sideline students from low-income families and show a preference for middle-class students unless the school is in a segregated area.

In addition to their tendency to serve children from more affluent families, religious schools also enjoy favorable treatment from the government. Religious organizations recognized by the state are not overseen by any government entity, but receive ample financial support for their schools via government endowments and other perks.

For example, Catholic schools are entitled to an annual endowment of about 230,000 forints (€700) per child following a 1997 agreement with the Vatican. They can also collect charitable donations given by individual taxpayers, and are entitled to receive further government subsidised grants for building maintenance and the upkeep of monuments, libraries and archives, and also get supplementary aid for innovative projects and other expenses.

“Of course schools run by religious organizations do not have to fear that they will lose their endowments from one day to the next, even though they do not foster the education of the disadvantaged as we do,” said Ritók, adding that she believes “elitist” religious organizations “have no room for poor Roma children in their midst.”

MET and Dr. Ámbédkar both follow a religious philosophy and were previously registered by the state as religious institutions, but were among hundreds of churches stripped of that designation in 2011 after a new law narrowed the number of religious denominations across Hungary, affecting hundreds of church-run schools.

“They took away our religious title first, and now have their eye on our measly supplementary aid,” said Iványi, who has been embroiled in litigation with the government over the lost designation since 2011. “They are set on destroying us.”

Iványi said he came into Orbán’s crosshairs when he chose not to stand with him on various issues during his first mandate in the 1990s, and after he returned to power in 2010. Orbán was angered by Ivanyi’s rejection and didn’t hesitate to exclude MET from the 2011 law that affected religious entities, he said.

“I officiated Orbán’s wedding and baptised two of his children,” said Iványi, who got his church approved in 1981 and operated until 2011 without any serious obstacles. “I didn’t change, Orbán did. He gradually came to think that progressive ideas were the devil’s work, so we naturally clashed.”

After losing its religious title, MET brought the case to Hungary’s highest court, which called on the government to reinstate its status and reimburse the organization’s lost endowments from 2011. Orbán’s answer was to twist the constitution so that the highest court could not make rulings on religious organizations, which prompted MET in 2014 to seek justice at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. While MET won that case and received over a billion forints (€2.8 million) in damages from the Hungarian government, it still hasn’t had its religious designation reinstated to this day, causing it to spiral into debt.

“We built a robust infrastructure to help the poor as we knew that our status would mean we would always receive sufficient funds to function,” Iványi said. “Obviously, losing it implied we would amass great debt towards the state through unpaid bills such as gas, electricity and such.”

Last August, State Secretary of Human Resources Zoltán Maruzsa told Iványi that MET’s schools were not producing enough benefits for the common good, and that its supplementary grant would thus be slashed from 190 million forints (€545,000) to 95 million (€272,000) for the 2020/2021 year, and suspended entirely for the following one.

The only foundation that was told it would receive no supplementary grant for the 2021/2022 period was the Dr. Ámbédkar School.

“The supplementary grant was one of our lifelines,” said Orsós, whose Miskolc-based school was set to lose 30 million forints (€86,000) from the Ministry of Human Resources - which is in charge of elementary and secondary education - unless it agreed to be brought under the oversight of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, responsible for secondary vocational schools.

This move would mean Dr. Ámbédkar would be forced to become a vocational school if it hoped to continue receiving supplementary grants.

“We said yes, but I made it clear to Secretary László Palkovics that we would join only if we could still continue with our current class of high school students,” said Orsós. “We obviously couldn’t say no to the merger, because otherwise we would have been financially wrecked and would have had to give up our school to the state.”

...

Despite the controversies, Hungarian authorities often laud the government’s Roma-friendly policies, even as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has referred to the Roma population pejoratively on numerous occasions. In 2015, he said that “Hungarians have to learn to live” with the Roma, implying that they were not Hungarian citizens.

“There are multiple examples that show segregation is deep-seated in the system, which is why Roma children often don’t meet any white kids until later in life,” Orsós said. “When they come to our school, we try to get them to meet their white peers at other schools and meet university students, and we even take them on a trip to our sister school in Innsbruck which helps them to realize, ‘Wow I can have a different life, there are opportunities, there is a way out.’”

Iványi said that he is convinced equal treatment is not a priority for Hungary’s government, but that this makes his organization’s work all the more important.

“We must eradicate these injurious stereotypes and work to become a better society in which everyone has equal rights and opportunities,” he said. “This is the only way we can grow as a nation.”

---

The Ministry of Human Resources (Emberi Erőforrások Minisztériuma) did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

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This article is published as part of a project to promote independent digital media in Central and Eastern Europe funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and coordinated by Notes from Poland.

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The European Council late on Monday made a quick decision to impose sanctions on Belarus over that country forcing a landing of a RyanAir flight from Greece to Lithuania on Sunday, putting to rest concerns that divisions among EU leaders would result in a fragmented response.

The flight from Athens to Vilnius was instructed to make an emergency landing in Belarus' capital of Minsk in response to an alleged bomb threat, and intercepted by a Belarusian fighter jet. Upon landing, Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich, a prominent opponent of the country's authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, was removed from the flight and detained by Belarusian authorities, as was his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen.

The EU demanded the immediate release of the two detainees and that their freedom of movement be guaranteed, and urged a ban on Belarusian airlines from using EU airports or flying in EU airspace. It also urged EU-based airlines to avoid flying over Belarus.

Some observers said the grounding of the flight amounted to state terrorism or piracy.

The quick passage of the sanctions came despite speculation that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could block a consensus response by the European Union, something he has done repeatedly in recent months.

Just last week, Hungary blocked a common European Union statement urging an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the only of the bloc's 27 countries not to get behind the position. The week before, Hungary blocked a common EU statement criticizing China for restricting democracy in Hong Kong, a decision Germany's foreign minister called "absolutely incomprehensible."

Last August, Hungarian officials neglected to comment on the brutal crackdown on protests in Belarus following a highly contested presidential election which according to the official count saw Lukashenko re-elected with 80 percent of the vote. Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó then urged the European Union "to pursue dialogue with Belarus and avoid ostracizing it."

On Tuesday, Szijjártó told reporters in Dublin, Ireland that the forced grounding of the plane was "unacceptable," but did not mention the detention of the journalist Pratasevich and his girlfriend.

"Everything that the Belarusian authorities have done is unacceptable and must be rejected. I am pleased that the European Union has finally acted swiftly, decisively, and with sufficient vigor and unity on this issue. We are pleased that a response has been reached quickly," Szijjártó said.

Election campaign kicks off with attacks on Gyurcsány

Wednesday provided a taste of what voters in Hungary can expect from the election campaign leading up to the national vote next spring, with prominent governing party and opposition politicians trading jabs at one another on social media over an attack on former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán posted a video to Facebook Wednesday of an excerpt from the infamous "Őszöd speech," a leaked recording of then-Prime Minister Gyurcsány acknowledging in a May 26, 2006 closed congress of the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) that the government had lied and failed to achieve meaningful political or economic progress.

The speech, which was laced with profanities, set off a political crisis and led to days of protests and riots by anti-government demonstrators and a brutal crackdown by Hungarian police. Fidesz, then in opposition, demanded that Gyurcsány resign. Nearly 400 police officers and 326 demonstrators were injured in the unrest, and the scandal led to a permanent collapse in the popularity of the Socialist Party.

In his post, Orbán wrote, "It happened 15 years ago. Where were you when you first heard the Őszöd speech?" The invocation of the speech followed weeks of Fidesz communication alleging that Gyurcsány is the mastermind behind opposition parties' efforts to unite to defeat the governing party in 2022 elections.

In a comment beneath Orbán's video, Gyurcsány wrote, "Where were you when Fidesz looted the country?", and later posted a video of his own accusing Orbán of nepotism and corruption.

Also on Wednesday, the trailer for an upcoming feature film about the Őszöd speech and subsequent events premiered online. According to Index.hu and Origo.hu, a pendrive containing the trailer was delivered by motorcycle courier to the websites' headquarters. Gyurcsány called the upcoming film "the most expensive campaign film ever," and alleged that it was created with HUF 800 million (€2.3 million) of public funds. (Films produced in Hungary are entitled to state support in the form of tax credits.)

Twelve protests planned against Fudan University, skirting public gathering rules

A protest scheduled for June 5 against government plans to establish a Budapest campus of an elite Chinese university will be split into 12 separate events in order to ensure compliance with limitations on public gatherings.

The demonstration, organized by political group Szikra Mozgalom (Spark Movement) and prospective opposition parliamentary candidate András Jámbor, is titled "For the Student City, Against Fidesz," and will involve a march from Budapest's Heroes' Square to the Hungarian Parliament.

While many pandemic rules were lifted last weekend as 5 million people received at least a first dose of a vaccine, outdoor events are still limited to 500 participants. To get around this obstacle, which Jámbor called "absurd," organizers registered 12 separate demonstrations with police to ensure all demonstrators could legally participate.

The demonstrations will depart Heroes' Square from differing locations and at differing times, and merge on Kossuth Square for a large protest, where only holders of an immunity certificate may enter. Smaller demonstrations under 500 people will be held in the vicinity, which can be visited by anyone, organizers say.

According to the demonstration's event page, the protest was called in defense of plans to establish a Student City along the Danube river in southern Budapest, a project which has been brought under threat by government plans to establish a large campus of China's Fudan University on the site. You can read more of our coverage of Fudan University here, here and here.

Pace of vaccination slows as hesitancy remains high

"Given the number of registrants, it's not impossible that the number of vaccinated people could reach six million, but it really depends on the people now, so it's their individual decision and responsibility to take the vaccine," Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a radio interview on May 14.

Hungary's vaccination campaign, using jabs procured from Russia and China as well as through the European Union, has given it the second-highest rate of vaccination in the EU: as of Thursday, 5,056,262 people had received at least a first dose, representing over 52 percent of the population and well exceeding the EU average of 36.3 percent.

But the pace of vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks as most people who wish to receive a vaccine have already been inoculated. While Orbán predicted in April that 7 million people would have received a jab by the third week in May, more recent statements from government officials suggest reaching even 6 million might be difficult to achieve.

"We can get to five and a half, or if we're very optimistic, six million vaccinations," Orbán's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said in a press briefing last Thursday. Experts estimate that 6-7 million fully vaccinated people will be necessary to reach a level of social immunity that could effectively protect against possible coronavirus mutations.

Early this month, the government approved HUF 16 billion (€46 million) for an information campaign aimed at increasing the number of vaccinations. While nearly all people who have registered to be vaccinated have already received a jab, polling by the Central Statistical Office shows that around 65 percent of Hungarians would possibly or definitely receive a vaccine, about 13 percent above the current level.

It is hoped that government-issued "immunity certificates," which provide holders with access to indoor dining rooms, sporting events, hotels, spas, concerts, museums and other recreational venues, will provide an incentive for people to get vaccinated.

Meanwhile, with unused vaccines piling up, Gulyás announced last week that Hungary would not participate in the EU's next round of vaccine procurements, arguing that there are enough doses already in stock or under order to ensure supplies of a third booster shot should the need for one arise.

Pandemic indicators this week dropped to levels not seen since early October, and the percentage of positive tests has dipped below the 5 percent recommended by the World Health Organization. The seven day rolling average of coronavirus deaths currently stands at 39, down from a high of 269 in mid-April.

InsightHungary will be on a summer break for the next three weeks. Please check back on June 24 for the next weekly newsletter, where we'll continue bringing you the most important stories from Hungary.

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Hungary on Tuesday blocked a common European Union statement urging an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, the only of the bloc's 27 countries not to get behind the position.

At a video conference of European foreign ministers Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for an end to the violence which has seen Israel's military bombard Gaza with aerial strikes killing at least 227 Palestinians including children, and rocket attacks into Israel by Hamas which have killed at least 12.

Hungary, a staunch ally of Israel, declined to endorse the statement, preventing a common EU position since unanimity is required for adopting policy decisions or statements.

Hungary's foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, later told news agency AFP that he thought such statements are "one-sided."

"I have a general problem with these European statements on Israel," Szijjárto told AFP in an interview. "These are usually very much one-sided, and these statements do not help, especially not under current circumstances, when the tension is so high."

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas criticized Hungary's decision to veto the common EU statement, telling German news program ZDF Morgenmagazin, "The most important thing now is that the weapons are silent and that there are no more casualties. Only Hungary saw it differently, for whatever reason."

“To be honest, I find it hard to understand" Hungary's objection, Maas added.

Hungary has been the lone dissenter in a number of joint EU resolutions in recent months. As we reported last week, Hungary blocked a common EU statement criticizing China for restricting democracy in Hong Kong, a decision Maas then called "absolutely incomprehensible."

“This is not the first time that Hungary has broken away from [the EU’s] unity when it comes to the issue of China...I think everybody can work out for themselves where the reasons are,” Maas said, alluding to Prime Minster Viktor Orbán's increasingly close ties to China exemplified by the Budapest-Belgrade railway, the Fudan Hungary University investment, or Hungary's purchase of 5 million doses of the expensive Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine.

Hungarian news agency MTI later quoted Szijjártó as saying it was "pointless" to issue another statement or resolution on China, since of the eight statements issued so far, "none has brought change or positive progress."

Last month, Hungary also did not comply with calls by the Czech government to expel Russian diplomats in response to an explosion at a Czech munitions depot blamed on a Russian military intelligence unit, making it the only country in the Visegrád 4 not to do so.

Budapest mayor enters race for prime minister

Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony announced Saturday that he will enter an autumn primary race that will determine a joint opposition candidate to challenge Prime Minster Viktor Orbán in national elections next spring.

"I have one life and one country, and I made this decision because I feel that my country is in big trouble...Hungary feels less and less like our common country, because it is extremely divided,” Karácsony said in a video posted to Facebook. “I want to help reunite Hungary,” he added, saying that he would serve the “99 percent, not the privileged one percent” if he is elected prime minister.

Karácsony's candidacy is supported by his own green party Dialogue, the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and green party Politics Can Be Different (LMP). He will face Klára Dobrev (Democratic Coalition), András Fekete-Győr (Momentum), Péter Márki-Zay (Everyone's Hungary Movement) and Péter Jakab (Jobbik) in the two-round primary, the first round of which will be held in all of Hungary's 106 voting districts between September 18 and 26.

If no prime ministerial nominee receives an absolute majority plus one vote in the first round, a second round will be held between October 4 and 10.

According to the most recent polling by Médián from the beginning of April, Péter Jakab is the most popular opposition candidate for prime minister, closely followed by Karácsony and then Dobrev. The poll was conducted before Karácsony formally announced his candidacy.

Fidesz has firmly criticized the liberal opposition parties for forming an alliance with Jobbik, which until recently was known for its radical-right politics, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma rhetoric, and association with the right wing quasi-paramilitary group Magyar Gárda.

Later on Saturday, Karácsony announced that he would launch the "99 Movement," a political grouping he said would "represent the interests of 99 percent of the country instead of the richest 1 percent."

"Instead of a country arranged around today's most privileged, we are creating a homeland that offers everyone a chance, a future and a happy life," the movement's website reads.

Fidesz to push for public registry of convicted pedophiles

Fidesz caucus leader Máté Kocsis announced on his Facebook page Tuesday that his party would submit a series of "anti-pedophile" draft proposals next week, one of which would aim to create a searchable registry of those who have committed sexual offenses against children.

"This could prevent pedophiles in many cases from getting near children again," Kocsis wrote.

On Wednesday, he provided further details on the legislative package, writing that Hungary's criminal code would be amended to include four new classifications of crimes that could be punished with sentences equal to those meted out for murder. These included:

• repeated infractions
• crimes committed against children under 12 years of age
• crimes committed with harassment or violence, and
• crimes committed by officials (a provision Kocsis called "lex Kaleta")

The latter provision refers to former Hungarian ambassador to Peru, Gábor Kaleta, who was convicted last year on possession of more than 19,000 images of child sexual abuse. A judge suspended Kaleta's sentence for two-and-a-half years, and ordered him to pay a fine of Ft 540,000 (€1,500). If the former ambassador does not commit a crime within that time period, he will serve no time in prison.

"Those who create, distribute or use pornographic images of children should get ready for the worst allowed by Hungarian law," Kocsis wrote.

Covid update

Hungary's Covid-19 indicators continue to improve, reaching low levels of deaths, hospitalizations and new infections not seen since last October. On Thursday, 51 people lost their lives to coronavirus-related causes, bringing the seven day rolling average to 59, the lowest since November 1.

The number of patients being treated in hospitals was 1,836, the lowest number since October 18, and the rate of positive tests was the lowest it's been since September 4, just above the 5 percent recommended by the World Health Organization.

The improving situation appeared thanks in part to Hungary's vigorous vaccination campaign which has provided at least a first dose of a vaccine to 4,829,595 people, approximately half its population. At a press briefing on Thursday, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás predicted that vaccinations would reach the 5 million mark over the weekend, and that a new round of relaxed pandemic restrictions would follow.

Gulyás said that there are currently more vaccines available in Hungary than the number of those registered to receive one, and that those who register can choose which vaccine they would like to receive. In addition to the option to make appointments to receive the Chinese Sinopharm and Russian Sputnik V vaccines, the government reintroduced online appointments for the Pfizer jab this week.

Hungary has concluded bilateral agreements with several countries, including Serbia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Georgia, Mongolia and Bahrein, on mutually accepting one another's immunity certificates for those who have been vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19. However, some countries have indicated they will not accept certificates of those who received jabs not approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), like Sinopharm and Sputnik V.

Austria this week announced that only those in possession of an immunity card showing they had received an EMA-approved vaccine would be permitted to visit indoor dining rooms, theatres, hotels, beaches and other recreational venues. (In a Facebook post Wednesday, Prime Minster Viktor Orbán wrote that more than half of the 15-member cabinet of ministers had received the Sinopharm vaccine.) Germany earlier announced that only those who have received EMA-approved vaccines will be exempt from quarantining when entering German territory.

Meanwhile, the parliament on Tuesday voted 128-57 to approve a bill extending the state of emergency until 15 days following the first autumn parliamentary session, ensuring that all decrees established since the introduction of the special legal order last March will remain in effect until late September or October.

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A bill submitted late Tuesday by a Fidesz lawmaker would amend Hungary's housing law to allow for state-owned or council apartments to be purchased by tenants at huge discounts, a move that could largely eliminate existing social housing stock while primarily benefiting wealthy renters and investors.

The proposal would allow tenants who have had a rental contract since at least December 31, 2020 to purchase council housing at only 30 percent of the property's market value. An additional 1 percent discount would be added for every year the tenant has been in the property up to 15 years, meaning some tenants could pay only 15 percent of market value.

Further, those who can purchase the property in a single payment must only pay 70 percent of the discounted price, giving some tenants the opportunity to purchase apartments for 10.5 percent of their market value.

The changes would bring the greatest benefit to wealthy tenants of valuable council properties in Budapest's Castle District, where earlier district leadership concluded highly discounted rental agreements with numerous government-tied figures. Minister of Innovation and Technology László Palkovics, for example, rents a 64-square-meter apartment in the Castle District for HUF 55,000 (€154) per month.

Under the provisions of the bill, the tenant of an apartment worth HUF 50 million (€140,000) could purchase it for a single lump sum of HUF 5.25 million (€14,700).

Mayor of the Castle District, Márta V. Naszályi (Dialogue), said the changes would entrench housing poverty in Budapest and take away assistance from those who need it the most.

“This law would eliminate the municipal housing stock, making it impossible for districts and cities to help people who would never have access to housing otherwise," she said. "From now on, local governments will have no interest in building homes and renting them out to those in need, because the government can take them away at any time.”

Other critics said that poorer tenants would likely seek to purchase apartments using their savings or by taking out a loan, but would have no additional funds for renovation or upkeep, and would soon have to re-sell the properties for low prices to real estate speculators and investors, permanently shifting poor people out of the social housing system.

"This is the most damaging housing policy decision of the last decade," András Pikó, mayor of Budapest's 8th district wrote on Facebook. "This is the launch of a new robbery of privatization which will eventually result in an army of [government-tied figures] gaining access to downtown and other valuable properties at depressed prices."

Hungary's government poised to force through Chinese university plan

Two draft bills submitted to Hungary's parliament late Tuesday validated fears by opposition politicians that the Fidesz government plans to force construction of a Chinese university campus in Budapest at the expense of earlier plans to build a students' quarter.

According to the proposal, the first Chinese university campus in Europe, Fudan Hungary University, will be constructed on 26 hectares of state-owned land along the Danube River which was previously set aside for a "Student City" which would provide affordable housing and recreational facilities for up to 12,000 university students. The plan for the Student City was earlier agreed to by the government's own Budapest Development Center, Budapest City Hall and political leadership in the city's 9th district.

But the new draft proposal, which will almost certainly be passed by the Fidesz-KDNP supermajority in parliament, contradicts earlier promises by governing party politicians that the Student City could still be built at its planned proportions alongside the Fudan campus. The university will occupy nearly the entire area, and the Student City will be shrunk to one-fifth its original size.

Similarly to an earlier move that placed many of Hungary's public universities under the control of quasi-private foundations, the law would create a new foundation to run Fudan Hungary University and endow it with state assets including the 26 hectare property along the Danube previously planned for the Student City. A Norwegian planning firm was earlier enlisted to develop detailed plans for the sustainable, modern student district, but these plans will have to be thrown out if Fudan is awarded the territory.

The bill would also designate the project "an investment of high public interest," exempting it from numerous construction regulations and making it impossible for the city or district to influence what is built on the site. This would also place obstacles before plans to hold a local referendum on the construction of the university, something 9th district mayor Krisztina Baranyi said will still take place despite the legislation.

According to an investigation by Direkt36, the government estimates the cost of building Fudan University at €1.5B (HUF 540 billion). The project would utilize largely Chinese building materials and Chinese labor, and would be primarily financed with a loan from a Chinese bank. The land for the site will be provided free of charge by the Hungarian government. The investigation also raised concerns over potential national security risks posed by the establishment of the campus.

Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony, who has vocally opposed the plans to build the Fudan campus, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that his administration would not allow the plans to go forward, and that "we won't let go of a single square centimeter of the Student City."

Hungary blocks EU statement criticizing China on Hong Kong

Germany's foreign minister on Monday slammed Hungary for what he called its "absolutely incomprehensible" decision to block a joint European Union statement criticizing China for restricting democracy in Hong Kong.

“This is not the first time that Hungary has broken away from [the EU’s] unity when it comes to the issue of China,” Heiko Maas said after a Monday meeting of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council, which failed to pass the resolution after Hungary's veto.

It was the second time in several weeks that Hungary blocked approval of an EU statement on China's implementation of its National Security Law in Hong Kong. In mid-April, Hungary blocked an earlier version of the resolution, saying the EU "already has too many issues with China," according to a senior EU diplomat.

The latest version of the statement, which requires unanimous support for approval, was watered down in an effort to garner Hungary's support after its previous veto, according to Politico.

“I think everybody can work out for themselves where the reasons are — because there are good relations between China and Hungary,” Maas said, referring to warming ties between Budapest and Beijing within the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative and the 16+1 investment initiative which includes 16 Central and Eastern European countries including Hungary.

On Tuesday, Hungarian news agency MTI quoted Hungary's foreign minister Péter Szijjártó as saying it was "pointless" to issue another statement or resolution on China, since of the eight statements issued so far, "none has brought change or positive progress."

In between the two meetings of the EU's foreign ministers, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the two leaders emphasized their commitment to friendly relations and bilateral trade. Orbán later wrote on Facebook that he had accepted an invitation from Xi to Beijing, but did not provide details on when he would make the trip or what would be discussed.

In March, the EU passed sanctions against several Chinese citizens and entities over human rights abuses against the country's Muslim Uyghur minority. Following the passage of the sanctions, Szijjártó called the move "pointless, pompous and harmful," and accused the EU of attempting to draw attention away from "the real problems, such as the botched vaccine procurements."

Vaccination drive slows as "immunity certificate" holders gain privileges

The pace of Hungary's Europe-leading vaccination campaign has dropped dramatically in the first two weeks of May as the number of available vaccines now exceeds the number of those registered to receive one. On May 3, the seven day rolling average of first-dose vaccinations was 67,000, but dropped to less than half that one week later.

This phenomenon is common among countries that have vaccinated a relatively high proportion of their populations: as more of those adults that are eager to be vaccinated receive jabs, those that are left are more difficult to reach. In Hungary, 51 percent of adults have registered for vaccination, and polls by the Central Statistical Office show that 67 percent of adults say they will or probably will receive a vaccine.

In an effort to maintain the growth in the number of vaccinations and use up growing reserves, Hungary's government has allowed residents to make online appointments to receive either Sputnik, Sinopharm or AstraZeneca vaccines. However, appointments cannot be made to receive the two most popular jabs, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.

The inoculation of 16 and 17 year old minors will also begin this week, and vaccination has begun of foreign residents of Hungary, both steps that will increase total inoculations.

Still, at the current rate, it could be months until Hungary reaches the 70-80 percent immunity thought by some scientists to be the key to ending the pandemic. One method of increasing vaccine acceptance has been the introduction of an "immunity certificate" for those that have received at least one vaccine dose or recovered from Covid-19.

Holders of the plastic card may enter indoor dining rooms and visit hotels, sporting events, museums, spas, cinemas, theatres, zoos, libraries and other recreational venues. Hungary's government has also concluded bilateral agreements with seven countries on mutually accepting each others' vaccination cards, allowing travel to and from those countries. As the number of privileges for card holders increases, those who have not received a vaccine may find the incentives outweigh their reservations.

However, some early signs indicate that travel with Hungary's immunity cards could face complications. After completing a bilateral travel agreement with Croatia, that country's officials indicated that Hungarian visitors must present both their plastic card and a paper certificate received from the doctor that administered the shot. Additionally, the country will only permit those to enter for whom 14 days has elapsed since receiving their second dose.

Furthermore, Germany's health minister Jens Spahn announced this week that only those who could prove they'd been vaccinated with a jab approved by the European Medicines Agency could enter Germany without quarantine. This would affect the millions of Hungarians that have received Russia's Sputnik V or China's Sinopharm jabs, neither of which have received EMA approval.

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Hungary will not comply with calls by the Czech government to expel Russian diplomats in response to an explosion at a Czech munitions depot blamed on a Russian military intelligence unit, making it the only country in the Visegrád 4 not to do so.

Slovakia, Poland and Czechia, all V4 members, have expelled diplomats from their countries in response to reports that the 2014 explosion which killed two people in Vrbetice, a small village near the Slovak border, was carried out by agents of Russia's GRU. Czechia last week urged its European Union and NATO allies to, in an act of solidarity, expel any "Russian intelligence officers" from their countries.

Hungary's foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, told reporters on Wednesday that Hungary had expressed its solidarity with Czechia by issuing a joint declaration condemning the Russian operation, and by assisting the country in temporarily overseeing its consulate in Yekaterinburg after Russia expelled 20 Czech diplomats.

"So there can be no question of any kind about our solidarity," Szijjártó said, adding that "we do not plan any other steps at this time."

The Hungarian government's response to the diplomatic row has reinvigorated questions over the country's posture toward Moscow, with which Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has established close ties.

Reports on Tuesday indicated that Orbán objected to an original version of the V4's joint declaration condemning Russia's role in the explosion, and that it was toned down at Orbán's insistence. The first version, drafted by Poland, reportedly called for the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and voiced strong support for Ukraine and Belarus.

Last year, Hungary broke with EU allies and remained silent on elections in Belarus, which were widely seen as fraudulent, and the subsequent violent police crackdown on protesters. Orbán has opposed sanctions on both Belarus and Russia.

An investigation by Bellingcat has found that two GRU officers posing as diplomats may have travelled to Budapest in the days ahead of the explosion and joined four other officers in Czechia to carry out the operation.

Last week, Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia expelled a total of four Russian diplomats in solidarity with Czechia, and this week, Hungary's neighbor Romania expelled the Russian embassy's deputy military attaché.

Universities put under control of foundations enriched with state assets

Hungary's parliament voted on Tuesday to place 11 universities under the control of what the government calls "public trust foundations," and granted some of them endowments worth billions of euros in state assets.

The move was seen by critics as an attempt by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party to consolidate control over Hungary's higher education and cultural institutions, and to make much of the state's valuable assets available to Fidesz loyalists even if the party loses competitive elections next year.

"This is the organized theft of the assets of the Hungarian people," said opposition MP Gergely Arató (DK) during the parliamentary debate. Following the vote, independent MP Bernadett Szél called the move "Fidesz theft."

The foundations will take ownership of the universities and their properties and assets for free, and will have broad authority to make management and administrative decisions including appointing the universities' rectors. The endowments include castles, palaces and other valuable real estate, farmlands, and shares in partially state owned companies like pharmaceutical firm Gedeon Richter and Hungarian energy company MOL.

The foundations are led by government-appointed boards of trustees, largely composed of current or former ministers, MPs or state secretaries of the governing party. After their initial appointment, the boards are granted the right to appoint any new members, eliminating future oversight of their composition by Hungary's parliament.

Only hours after Tuesday's vote, pro-government website Mandiner released a list of officials slated to receive positions on the boards, including István Stumpf, the government commissioner in charge of the higher education reforms, who will become chairman of the board of Tokaj-Hegyalja University.

Additionally, finance minister Mihály Varga will chair the board of Óbuda University, and former justice minister and current Fidesz MEP László Trocsányi will be on the board of Szeged University of Science, according to the list.

Only four current rectors of the 11 universities received positions on the new boards of trustees, and only five universities in Hungary remain under state ownership.

On Monday, a dozen European lawmakers sent a letter, obtained by Politico, to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, urging her to block EU funding to Hungary that could end up being siphoned off to the foundations.

"The Hungarian government uses these opaque funding structures to better access EU funds, whilst at the same time further destroying academic freedom," the lawmakers wrote.

In an opinion column earlier this month, 444 writer Péter Magyari analyzed the government's efforts to outsource the functions and wealth of the state to quasi-private foundations:

"Fidesz is demolishing the state, fearing that they may lose control. In this way, they can retain positions of power, but in the end they are weakening the Hungarian state and undermining the possibility of democratic control.”

Scientists and politicians decry government's vaccine efficacy chart

Hungary's government on Sunday released a chart purporting to show the results of a study on the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines, but scientists and politicians blasted it for being inaccurate and misleading.

The chart, which appeared designed to increase trust in Russian and Chinese vaccines, shows the number of infections and deaths recorded among people who have received a second dose of a vaccine.

According to the presented data, Russia's Sputnik V is the most effective at preventing Covid-19 illness and death after two doses. The chart also claims that more deaths occurred in those that received a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine than with any other jab.

The chart was sent by email to all those who have registered to be vaccinated and agreed to digital correspondence, and the government promoted it on Facebook with a paid ad.

But scientists and politicians decried the data as misleading and based on flawed scientific methods. In a letter to the Emergency Task Force, the Chamber of Hungarian Doctors said the data "are not suitable for determining differences in efficacy between individual vaccines," and criticized the "unknown processing methodology." The Chamber also argued the data had not taken into account the age or underlying conditions of those thought to have gotten sick or died after vaccination, or made adjustments for how much time had elapsed after receiving a second dose.

Katalin Karikó, the Hungarian-born biochemist whose research was instrumental in developing mRNS technology which led to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, said the data was "completely misleading," and criticized the chart for failing to indicate that the Sputnik and Sinopharm vaccines were put into use later than western jabs, and were not used on those suffering from chronic health conditions, distorting the data.

Independent MP Bernadett Szél on Monday said that she would file a complaint against the Hungarian government for "fearmongering," a criminal offense introduced by the state of emergency ostensibly to combat misinformation about the pandemic.

"The government has adjusted data on the efficacy of vaccines to serve propaganda purposes, which could inhibit...the success of [pandemic] defense," Szél wrote.

Blinken calls on Hungary to ensure press freedom

U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken said in a press discussion that the United States is concerned about the state of human rights, democratic institutions and press freedom in Hungary, and is committed to achieving progress in those areas.

"We have real concern that is shared by international press freedom advocates and many Hungarians over the decline of media pluralism in Hungary," Blinken said according to Telex.hu, which was present for the online discussion. "Diversity of independent voices and independent opinions is the fabric of democracy. We would certainly urge the Hungarian government to promote an open media environment.”

Blinken called it "ironic" that Hungary had been liberated from Soviet domination only for its citizens to be newly subjected to repression of freedom of expression and press pluralism.

The secretary said that Central Europe is a center of geopolitical competition, and that Moscow and Beijing are working against integration and seeking to undermine the democratic will of many Central and Southern European countries.

"The United States and our administration are committed to working to find ways to strengthen our relations with Hungary, a NATO ally, and also advancing our commitment to supporting democratic institutions and the rule of law. These things should not be incompatible," he said.

The U.S. State Department invited eight journalists to the online discussion from countries "where press freedom is under attack." Other participating journalists were from Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Turkey, China, Egypt, Pakistan and Kazakhstan.

A report released Wednesday by Freedom House, a U.S. government-funded non-profit organization, said that antidemocratic practices in Hungary had caused a further decline in its democracy. For the second year in a row, the "Nations in Transit" report lists Hungary as a "Transitional or Hybrid Regime."

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The Hungarian government this week announced it would amend or repeal two earlier legislative changes that caused widespread controversy and resulted in European court rulings declaring them unlawful.

Reports emerged Monday that a 2017 law on higher education, known as lex-CEU, would be modified after a ruling last year by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that found it violated European Union law. The law resulted in Central European University (CEU) - one of Hungary's premier higher education institutions - moving the majority of its operations to Vienna. The European Commission earlier launched an infringement proceeding against Hungary over the law.

In a statement, CEU responded to the planned amendment, saying it "changes nothing for CEU."

"We believe the government has no intention of creating the conditions in which international institutions like CEU can operate freely in Hungary. Under the new draft legislation, it remains a political decision—certain to be taken at the highest level—whether to allow foreign universities to operate. The government has already made it perfectly clear how it proposes to use its powers."

The university wrote that it would remain in Austria, "a country where basic standards of academic freedom are respected," but that it would maintain its research presence in Budapest.

"We will not subject ourselves again to the political whims of one man and his regime," the university wrote.

On Wednesday, another draft bill was submitted which would repeal Hungary's law governing the operation of NGOs that receive funding from foreign sources.

That law, also passed in 2017, requires all NGOs receiving foreign support over a certain amount to register themselves with authorities as "foreign-funded organizations", to disclose their donors, and to indicate on all publications and websites that they receive foreign funding. The legislation sparked mass protests in Budapest that year, as did lex-CEU.

However, a provision of the new draft bill would designate those NGOs with annual budgets of more than HUF 20 million (€55,000) as "civic organizations engaging in activities likely to influence public life," and require that Hungary's State Audit Office (ÁSZ) audit those organizations annually and publish a public report.On Wednesday, 19 civic organizations belonging to the Civilization Coalition released a statement saying the retraction of the NGO law was an "important step," but that designating them "civic organizations engaging in activities likely to influence public life" was misleading.

"In a healthy democracy, the public discourse is formed by free and active citizens - we all have the right and responsibility to address the problems and issues affecting us," the organizations wrote.

Also reacting to the draft bill, human rights organization Transparency International Hungary pointed out that the ÁSZ, which is chaired by a former Fidesz MP, ordinarily only regulates the management of public funds, but is now being directed to oversee thousands of NGOs that operate on private money.

"Without this new law, ÁSZ would have nothing to with the accounting and management of Transparency International Hungary, since we do not receive state support and state-owned companies do not donate a single penny to us," the organization wrote.

As we reported in June, the ECJ ruling on the NGO law found that it "introduced discriminatory, unjustified and unnecessary restrictions on foreign donations to civil society organizations, in breach of its obligations under...the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union." The court found that “the measures...are such as to create a climate of distrust with regard to those associations and foundations.”

Critics of the "NGO law" argued that the rules stigmatize civil organizations, restrict free speech and the right to free association, restrict the free flow of capital and violate rights to privacy and data protection. In 2017, the European Commission launched an infringement proceeding against Hungary over the law after twice calling on the government to withdraw it.

Opposition plans primary, Fidesz mayor asks them to stand down

Six opposition parties have concluded plans for how they will conduct a primary election process ahead of national elections in 2022, Debreciner reported on Friday.

According to the information, which has since been confirmed by members of the opposition:

• Candidates must register by July 26 and indicate which caucus they intend to join
• Candidates may collect forms for signature gathering in support of their candidacy after August 23
• Those forms must be submitted with the required number of signatures by September 6
• The first round of the primary will be held in all of Hungary's 106 voting districts between September 18 and 26. The opposition nominee that receives the most votes in a given district will be run as the joint opposition candidate in national elections in spring 2022. Primary voters will also be able to vote for an opposition candidate for prime minister. If no prime ministerial nominee receives an absolute majority plus one vote in the first round, a second round will be held between October 4 and 10.

The six parties have set up a National Primary Committee, which will coordinate the primary process. Committee delegates are: László Sebián-Petrovszki (Democratic Coalition), Gábor Szabó (Jobbik), Gábor Hanák (LMP), Zsolt Molnár (MSZP), Miklós Hajnal (Momentum) and Olivio Kocsis-Cake (Dialogue.)

Days after the announcement of the primary process, Fidesz mayor of Kecskemét, Klaudia Szemerey Pataki, asked the opposition parties to refrain from holding primaries in the city.

"Kecskemét shouldn't be a battlefield!" she wrote on Wednesday. "In our current critical situation, our city does not need a primary campaign, but calm and responsible politicking."

Hungary drops further in press freedom report

An annual report released Tuesday by international journalism organization Reporters Without Borders saw Hungary drop two positions in press freedom rankings to 92nd in the world, one place above neighboring Serbia.

The report said that the Hungarian government had used the coronavirus pandemic as a "handy pretext" for "extend[ing] its hegemony over the Hungarian media landscape." Hungary's state of emergency gave the government "almost unlimited powers to handle the crisis [and] threatened journalists with prosecution on charges of disseminating fake news," the report continued.

"This would-be information police state at the heart of Europe forced many journalists and their sources to censor themselves, although articles critical of the government and revealing reports were often still published," the report reads. It also points to major disruptions at liberal commercial broadcaster Klubrádió and critical online news outlet Index.hu as examples of a further decline in media freedom.

Hungary has dropped 36 places in the yearly rankings since 2013, and is now behind other countries in region like Albania, Moldova and North Macedonia.

State of emergency could be extended until autumn

A draft bill was submitted Tuesday which would extend Hungary's Covid-19 pandemic state of emergency until the autumn.

According to the bill, the state of emergency, which is currently set to expire on May 23, would be extended until the 15th day following the first autumn session of the national assembly. The government may end the state of emergency before that date if deemed necessary, it continues.

"New [virus] variants are spreading across Europe and are present in Hungary as well, which is why increased protection is essential," the bill reads, adding that "quick and effective decision-making" is necessary to protect Hungarians' health and the economy.

Hungary's state of emergency passed in March 2020 caused an international uproar as critics argued it allowed the government to "rule by decree." The extraordinary legislation allowed the government to implement resolutions without parliamentary approval which would remain in force until the end of the state of emergency. New laws included in the bill made it a criminal offence to inhibit the government's efforts to combat the coronavirus, and disseminating false or otherwise alarming information about the pandemic could be punishable by up to five years in prison.

Gulyás: terraces to open Saturday

Outdoor terraces at restaurants and bars will likely reopen beginning Saturday after 3.5 million people have received at least a first vaccine dose, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said at a press briefing Thursday.

Terraces will be permitted to remain open until 9:30 p.m., and the start of an overnight curfew will be extended one hour to 11 p.m., Gulyás said, adding that Hungary is likely to reach 4 million vaccinations next week and 4.5 million only days later.

As of Thursday, 3,419,450 people had received at least a first dose of a vaccine, or nearly 35% of Hungary's population. This gives the country the second-highest vaccination rate in the European Union.

The Emergency Task Force announced this week that 600,000 doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine are set to arrive this weekend ahead of a ten-day vaccination campaign in which the government plans to inoculate all people 45 and older who are registered for vaccination.

On Thursday, Hungary reached 26,000 coronavirus-related deaths, surpassing Czechia for the most total deaths per capita of any country in the world.

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Budapest city leadership is opposing government plans to build a large campus of a Chinese university in the capital, arguing it takes scarce resources away from Hungarian students.

The government announced last year that the top-tier, Shanghai-based Fudan University would open its first European campus in Budapest in 2024. The campus would serve five to six thousand students and employ five hundred professors.

But according to an investigation by Direkt36 published on 444.hu last week, the government plans to construct the 520,000 square meter campus in an area of Budapest's 9th District previously set aside for the construction of a "Student City," which would provide accommodation for 8-10,000 students and faculty of Hungarian universities.

On Monday, Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony told RTL Klub that if the government goes through with plans to build Fudan University on the site, he would withdraw the city's support for hosting the 2023 World Athletic Championships in a stadium currently being built nearby. The political leadership of Budapest and the 9th District earlier said that construction of the Student City was a condition for them agreeing to host the event.

"It doesn't matter if the government says it wants to build the Student City if in reality the Chinese university will crowd it out because of its size," Karácsony said, adding that if the Student City is not built, the championships would not take place in Budapest.

Viktor Orbán's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said at a press briefing last week that construction of the university would not preclude the opening of the Student City, adding that Fudan would only further justify construction of the student's quarter.

In an Thursday press conference, state secretary for Budapest development Balázs Fürjes and director of the Budapest Development Center Dávid Vitézy (both representatives of central government bodies) said there had been a "misunderstanding," and that Fudan University would be built on a nearby site and would not affect the construction of the Student City.

But city planner and chief of staff to mayor Karácsony, Samu Balogh, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday that the claims were "the latest bluff" from the government, and that published plans show that Fudan will be built on areas earlier set aside for student dormitories.

"The government's true intentions can only be clarified by publishing the relevant government decision," Balogh wrote.

According to the Direkt36 investigation, the government estimates the cost of building Fudan University at €1.5B (HUF 540 billion). The project would utilize largely Chinese building materials and Chinese labor, and would be primarily financed with a loan from a Chinese bank. The land for the site will be provided free of charge by the Hungarian government. The investigation also raised concerns over potential national security risks posed by the establishment of the campus. It is available here in English.

Schools to reopen amid opposition from some teachers, parents and students

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced in a Facebook video Wednesday that kindergartens and the first four grades of primary schools would resume in-person education on April 19, and that all other grades would return on May 10.

The decision was a step back from earlier plans to allow all primary school grades to return to schools after 3 million people had received at least a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine - a threshold set by the government for when pandemic restrictions could be gradually loosened.

But many of Hungary's affected teachers, parents and students have opposed the plans to reopen schools, arguing that the current state of the pandemic could put their health at risk. Teachers have argued that schools should only reopen two weeks after educators receive a second dose of a vaccine, the time necessary to develop full protection from the virus.

A survey of of 9,529 teachers found that 87 percent opposed the reopening of all schools on April 19, as originally planned. Most respondents said they would support reopening after Hungary's infection rate drops below 100 per 100,000 people (the current rate is 398.)

The Hungarian Chamber of Doctors said plans to reopen businesses and schools had come "too early," and were "not based on health or epidemiological justifications," and the Hungarian Doctors Union sent an open letter to Orbán asking for the opening of schools to be postponed.

The group pointed out that a British variant of the coronavirus could put young, healthy adults and children in a serious or even life-threatening condition, and that post-Covid syndrome could cause lifelong health damage.

In a radio address on Friday, Orbán said that 27 children under the age of 14 were currently being treated in hospitals with Covid-19, and that two of them were on ventilators.

The Democratic Union of Teachers (PDSZ) released a statement saying the reopening of schools was akin to "playing Russian roulette with teachers and students," and argued that some teachers had not yet received a first dose of a vaccine.

Additionally, several labor union umbrella organizations demanded that digital education be maintained in schools alongside optional childcare services.

A students union released a statement demanding that digital education remain in place until all teachers are fully protected with a vaccine, and urged high school students not to return to classes on April 19. (The government later announced high schools would only reopen on May 10.)

Government will not offer third dose of Sinopharm vaccine

Some doctors are urging the government to conduct evaluations of the immune response generated in people who receive the China-produced Sinopharm vaccine after some reports from other countries indicate low response in a limited number of recipients.

At a government press briefing Thursday, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás dismissed claims that a third dose of the Sinopharm vaccine could be required in some cases to produce maximum protection from the virus, and alleged that the jab was more effective than some vaccines produced in the west.

“We can clearly see that after more than half a million people have received the second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine, their level of protection is no worse, and is actually even better, than for those who received the Pfizer vaccine,” Gulyas said, but provided no evidence to support the claim.

In the United Arab Emirates in early March, Sinopharm's distributor announced it would offer third doses of the vaccine to a small number of people who had not developed adequate immune response to the virus after receiving a second dose. Reports from Serbia, where Sinopharm is in use, also indicate that third doses may need to be given to some patients.

No detailed efficacy data of Sinopharm’s vaccine has been publicly released. But the World Health Organization (WHO) in late March said interim analysis of clinical trial data "demonstrated safety and good efficacy against symptomatic Covid-19 disease," and that the vaccine could receive emergency use listing by the end of April.

The WHO added that more data and research is needed to determine the vaccine's safety and effectiveness for different age groups and those suffering from chronic conditions.

Virologist Miklos Rusvai told Index on Wednesday that a third dose of the vaccine may be necessary in some cases since “there are certain people who do not develop an adequate level of antibody response."

Rusvai recommended conducting antibody tests on those who have received second vaccine doses to determine the level of immune response. Biochemist and professor Balázs Sarkadi also suggested that "research be launched urgently in Hungary to investigate the antibody-based and cellular immunity of patients vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine."

On Wednesday, rector of Semmelweis University, Béla Merkely, told newspaper Népszava that his institution could initiate research on the immune response of vaccine recipients some time in the autumn.

Terraces of restaurants and bars to open next week

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced in a Facebook video Wednesday that the terraces of restaurants and bars could open once 3.5 million people had received at least a first dose of a vaccine, which he predicted would occur in the middle of next week.

"We will once again get a piece of our old life back," Orbán said.

A statement on the government's website said that terraces could be open from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Guests will not be required to wear masks, but service staff will, the statement reads.

Restaurants will not be required to pay the customary usage fee for occupying public areas with terraces, Orbán announced. Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony later wrote that he welcomed the decision.

The opening comes as Covid-19 death and infection rates remain high, but show signs of peaking. The number of daily new infections, hospitalizations and those being treated on ventilators have declined modestly in the last two weeks. As of Friday, 24,762 people had died of coronavirus-related causes in Hungary, giving it the second worst cumulative death toll per 1 million people in the world after Czechia, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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After weeks of urging by teachers' unions, the Hungarian government last week announced that educators would be prioritized for vaccination ahead of a planned reopening of schools, even as prominent politicians took swipes at the profession.

A government decree was published Saturday which allows for students to return to schools on April 19, nine days after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán projected that all teachers who register will have received a first dose of a vaccine.

In a Friday radio interview announcing that teachers would be prioritized for vaccination, Orbán praised the importance of the work of educators, but also appeared to stoke resentment of their profession.

"We know that some people criticize teachers on account of their extended summer holidays, and so not everyone in this country is well-disposed to them," Orbán said. "The situation now, however, is that if we want to allow our children back in school – which is important – we must vaccinate teachers. I ask everyone to accept this – including those who may have reservations about teachers."

A day later, Orbán's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, criticized the Democratic Union of Teachers for "imagining themselves to be an opposition party" after the union expressed dissatisfaction over the April 19 opening date, arguing that it didn't allow enough time for their first vaccine doses to take full effect.

"There are many who, like teachers, meet a lot of people people every day because of their work, but do not get prioritized for vaccinations," Gulyás wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the government's official coronavirus information website twice declared that the vaccines necessary to inoculate teachers could only be secured "be reallocating vaccine kits intended to go to the elderly," a distinction that was not emphasized when soldiers, police, politicians, border guards, public transit and critical infrastructure workers were earlier prioritized for vaccination.

Orbán to host Polish PM and Italian right-wing leader in Budapest

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will host his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, and former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini in Budapest Thursday to discuss a potential right-wing alliance on the European level, Orbán's press secretary confirmed Tuesday.

Orbán announced on March 19 that he had been in contact with the Eurosceptic politicians following Fidesz's resignation from the center-right European People's Party the previous day, leading to speculation that a new far-right political force was in the making.

Now without a caucus in the European Parliament, Fidesz is seeking alliances on the European level, and Orbán's meeting with Morawiecki, of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, and Salvini of Italy's Lega, could signal the beginning of an effort to draw those parties into a new right-wing caucus in the EU legislature.

Currently, Poland's ruling PiS is the largest member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), a nationalist grouping of parties that also includes Brothers of Italy, Spain's Vox, and, formerly, the United Kingdom's Conservatives. Salvini's Lega dominates the hard-right Identity and Democracy, whose caucus includes Germany's far-right Alternative für Deutschland and France's National Rally under Marine Le Pen.

The two European groupings have been divided over a number of issues, most notably their differing approaches to relations with Russia. While anti-Russian parties from Central Europe dominate in the ECR, Salvini and Le Pen maintain close ties to Moscow and have been accused of taking Russian money to fund their campaigns. Furthermore, Orbán has in the past rejected the prospect of working with Le Pen.

However unlikely, if the European Parliament delegates of the ECR (61), ID (76) and Fidesz (12) were to join into a single caucus, it would make them the second-largest in the legislature with 149.

Website for confirming vaccine registration crashes, government claims cyber attack

Hungary's government last Thursday launched a webpage where individuals may check whether they have successfully registered to receive a Covid-19 vaccination, but many users found the site unresponsive for several hours which officials later attributed to a cyber attack.

The site was launched amid uncertainty among some Hungarians over whether their online vaccine registration had been successfully submitted. Upon registering, users do not receive an email, text message, or any other confirmation that they have been recorded in the system. Many reported finding that they did not appear on their doctors' list of patients to be vaccinated despite having registered, and elderly Hungarians, who were given the option to register by mail, have also reported problems.

Following the crash of the new website, the Emergency Task Force announced that the page had been the target of "more than 600,000 cyberattacks" from Hungary and abroad, making it temporarily unavailable.

"It is not in the interests of many people for the Hungarian vaccination program to go well," the government's Covid-19 Facebook page wrote on Friday.

The National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary, which operates the page, has launched a complaint with investigators.

Two weeks ago, 444 spoke to several IT experts concerning the vakcina.gov.hu registration website, each of which said that "first-year computer science students receive more complicated homework assignments" than the design of the page.

European Commissioner for Human Rights blasts Hungary for undermining media freedom

"It is high time for Hungary to restore journalistic and media freedoms," the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, wrote in a memorandum published Tuesday.

The document, which condemned Hungary's government for having "systematically undermined independent and professional journalism," was the product of online consultations with the Hungarian authorities, national human rights structures, and representatives of Hungary’s civil society and media community held between 29 January and 4 February 2021.

A summary of the memorandum can be read here.

Mijatović wrote that the government's distribution of state advertising in media outlets was "based on political allegiances," and that "the Hungarian Media Council, whose members are all chosen by the ruling party, have dismantled the level playing field for the media and curbed freedom of expression in Hungary."

"The effects are noticeable across Hungarian society, including in relation to academic freedoms and culture," she continued, a reference to recent government efforts to reshuffle the leadership structure in Hungary's largest universities by placing them under the control of government-appointed committees.

The Commissioner also criticized the professionalism of public service and pro-government media, and the "growing obstructionism and targeted interference with the work of the independent media and investigative journalists." She called on authorities to recognize the threat hate speech against journalists represents to society as a whole and to publicly condemn all incidents of it.

The state of emergency called in response to the coronavirus pandemic, she wrote, "led to a striking chilling effect on judges and public officials, on civil society organizations engaged in the defense of human rights, and on marginalized groups.”

In a lengthy response, the Hungarian government wrote that it was "disappointed that the memorandum is based on presumptions and allegations instead of facts," and alleged that the document "extensively relies on a handful, but well known government critical NGOs’ analysis and online news portal articles, which raise doubts with regard to the objectivity of the memorandum."

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Hungary's governing party on Wednesday pulled itself out of the European People's Party's caucus in the European Parliament, the deepest fracture to date in its conflictual relationship with the conservative European political family.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a letter on Wednesday to the EPP Group's chairman, Manfred Weber, announcing that Fidesz lawmakers would quit the group. The letter came minutes after the EPP Group passed changes to procedural rules that allow for entire parties, rather than individual lawmakers, to be expelled from the Group with a two-thirds vote, paving the way for Fidesz's expulsion which was supported by many EPP lawmakers.

"The amendments to the rules of the EPP Group are clearly a hostile move against Fidesz and our voters," Orbán wrote. "Limiting our MEPs' ability to carry out their duties as elected Members of the European Parliament deprives Hungarian voters from their democratic rights. This is antidemocratic, unjust and unacceptable."

The EPP's rule change passed with an overwhelming majority of more than 84% in favor. Fidesz politicians earlier argued the change was "tailor made" to sanction the party, and threatened to leave the Group if it passed.

Fidesz's departure from the EPP Group is the latest in its long series of conflicts with the center-right political family over the rule of law and democratic values. The EPP suspended Fidesz's membership in 2019, and officials have long hinted that it would soon hold a vote on expelling Fidesz permanently once pandemic conditions allow for an in-person meeting.

In December, the EPP Group voted to suspend the head of the Fidesz delegation Tamás Deutsch after he compared Weber's stance on the rule of law to the gestapo and Hungary's communist-era secret police.

Also in December, Fidesz MEP József Szájer resigned from the European Parliament, and later from Fidesz, after police caught him escaping from a Brussels sex party in violation of Belgium's pandemic rules. Reacting to the scandal, EPP president Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter, "What else should Fidesz do for all of you to see that they simply don’t fit in with our family?"

Orbán has criticized the EPP for abandoning its Christian-conservative values, and some observers have speculated for more than a year that Fidesz could seek a place with the European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) alongside Poland's right-wing Law and Justice party, or with the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group which contains Italy's Liga party, led by Orbán ally Matteo Salvini.

In a statement on Thursday, Orbán slammed the EPP for "indulging itself in power games within the bubble of bureaucrats in Brussels," and offered hints on what direction Fidesz might take after its break with Europe's Christian democrats.

"Our task is clear. Now – without the EPP – we must build a European democratic right that offers a home to European citizens who do not want migrants, who do not want multiculturalism, who have not descended into LGBTQ lunacy, who defend Europe’s Christian traditions, who respect the sovereignty of nations, and who see their nations not as part of their past, but as part of their future," Orbán wrote.

Opposition parties agree to hold primaries ahead of 2022 elections

Six opposition parties have agreed to hold primaries in all of Hungary's 106 voting districts to determine who will run for parliamentary seats in 2022 elections on behalf of the united opposition.

The leaders of the Democratic Coalition, Momentum, Jobbik, MSZP, Dialogue and LMP announced that the primaries would begin in mid-August, and that unaffiliated civil candidates would also be permitted to run if they signal which party's parliamentary caucus they would join in case of a victory. Candidates for individual districts will be choses in a single-round primary process, while selection of a joint prime ministerial candidate will occur in two rounds.

Candidates in individual districts must gather 400 signatures of support to run in the primary, and prime ministerial candidates must gather 20,000. The primary will be open to all voters who will be 18 years old by April 2022.

Several opposition politicians have confirmed their intentions to run in the primary for prime minister:

• Momentum president András Fekete-Győr
• Jobbik president Péter Jakab
• Hódmezővásárhely mayor and president of the Everyone's Hungary Movement Péter Márki-Zay
• József Pálinkás, an academic and former education minister in the first Orbán government
• Former vice-chairman of the Socialist Party (MSZP) Tibor Szanyi, who resigned from the party in January 2020, saying it was "not left-wing enough."

Additionally, Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony is considered a favorite if he decides to run: he was the most popular potential candidate in a February poll, and earlier said he would not be a candidate for prime minister if there was no primary, which has since been announced.

Klára Dobrev, a Democratic Coalition MEP and wife of former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, is also considered likely to run for the post, as well as co-chair of the neo-fascist party Mi Hazánk, László Toroczkai.

Momentum has emerged as one of the strongest opposition parties going into 2022 elections: it was announced in February that popular independent MP Ákos Hadházy would run for Momentum in the Budapest district of Zugló. Additionally, Momentum will support independent MP and former prime ministerial candidate Bernadett Szél's campaign in Pest County district 2. (Szél lost the race for that district by only 296 votes in 2018.)

The opposition's unity strategy, which includes running only a single joint candidate against Fidesz in all 106 voting districts and authoring a common political platform, is aimed at unseating Fidesz from power and precipitating what they call a "change in system." Since Fidesz's resounding victory in the 2018 parliamentary elections, the opposition has had several chances to experiment with joining forces against the governing party. In October 2019 municipal elections, the strategy delivered major opposition victories in Budapest and half of the country's largest cities.

But numerous potential hurdles remain between the coalition and election victory. Amendments to election law, passed in an accelerated procedure by Fidesz's supermajority in parliament in November, limit the opposition's options for mounting party lists, and earlier changes place restrictions on the formation of parliamentary caucuses.

Additionally, potential infighting and ideological differences could threaten the unity of the six parties. When Ákos Hadházy announced he would run in the Zugló primary against sitting representative Csaba Tóth (MSZP), Tóth reacted by sharing a video on Facebook that was critical of Hadházy and was first posted by a Fidesz mayor.

Vaccination strategy changed amid third wave of pandemic, new restrictions imposed

Hungarian health officials have changed vaccination procedures in an effort to provide initial doses to as many people as possible amid the rapidly worsening Covid-19 pandemic.

State secretary István György announced on Tuesday that doses of vaccines that were until now set aside to be administered to patients receiving their second jab will now be freed up for use as a first dose. The vaccines approved for use in Hungary have all been shown to substantially reduce the likelihood of becoming infected with Covid-19 after a single dose, and to reduce the severity of illness.

The new strategy will make it possible to provide a first dose to all of the 2.6 million people that have registered so far to be vaccinated by April 11, György said, adding that 479,800 people will receive a first dose in the next seven days.

The waiting time between receiving doses has also been extended for two vaccines in an effort to stretch supplies, from 21 to 35 days in the case of Pfizer-BioNTech and from four to 12 weeks in the case of AstraZeneca.

While accelerating the vaccination program is likely to produce favorable results in the coming weeks, current pandemic trends show that the number of deaths, hospitalizations and patients on respirators is likely to surpass record highs set during the peak of the second wave in December. On Tuesday, Hungary surpassed the United States in the number of Covid-19-related deaths per million inhabitants at 1,572, the 9th worst rate in the world.

The average age of Hungarians being admitted to hospitals with Covid-19 is decreasing, with more 40 to 50-year-old patients with no underlying conditions being hospitalized, Dr. János Szlávik, chief infectologist with the South Pest Hospital said this week. Szlávik added that a variant of the virus first detected in South Africa has also been found in Hungary.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, announced a set of new restrictive measures aimed at gaining control of the pandemic. Beginning on Monday, businesses will be closed until March 22 with only grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations remaining open. Kindergarten and primary school students must transition to online education until April 7, and masks must be worn in all public areas. Additional border controls will also be introduced, Gulyás said.

Public media avoids mentioning political nature of knife attack

A woman was attacked on a public bus in the Budapest district of Csepel last Thursday, suffering cuts to her face after a man brandished a knife in response to a mask the woman was wearing which expressed support for students and faculty of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SzFE).

The woman was treated for minor injuries in a Budapest hospital, and the man was later detained by police. In a statement to law enforcement, the man acknowledged that he had attacked the woman because of her mask, which became a symbol of solidarity with SzFE after its leadership resigned in August and students occupied campus buildings in opposition to government-led restructuring efforts.

Police announced that they had launched an investigation in a suspected case of "violence against a member of a community," Hungary's legal equivalent of a hate crime. While news spread that the attack, by the perpetrator's own admission, was political in nature, Hungary's public media avoided mentioning its connection to the victim's mask. (Hungary's national news agency, MTI, reported on the suspect's admission and on police statements indicating the crime was politically motivated.)

The suspect has a criminal history and has been involved in other cases of politically-motivated violence. In 2018, the man assaulted a journalist after being photographed ripping campaign posters off the walls of a Budapest metro station. He bit the journalist in the hand and followed him onto a tram, where he threatened to kill him.

In 2019, the man attacked a group of MSZP activists collecting signatures on a Budapest square. He sprayed a 60-year-old woman with a red liquid, and attacked the leader of MSZP's youth wing after he tried to intervene, biting him and attempting to strangle him with his coat.

The suspect faces 11 years in prison for committing an act of armed violence against a member of a community and for an attempt to commit serious bodily injury.

Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony (Dialogue) and Csepel's district mayor Lénárd Borbély (Fidesz) condemned the act of violence. Borbély wrote on Facebook,

"I would like to point out that I most strongly condemn all acts of violence against any member of our community, regardless of gender, race, religion or political persuasion. The essence of our democracy is precisely that everyone has the right to express their opinion. I wish the injured person a speedy recovery!”

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The chairman of parliament's National Security Committee, János Stummer (Jobbik), posted a video on Facebook Tuesday in which he purported to reveal classified information on government plans to build a secret tunnel worth HUF 2 billion (€5.5 million) underneath the Puskás Ferenc athletic stadium in Budapest.

"Yesterday morning, I was given a paper stating that Viktor Orbán wanted to build his own tunnel in Puskás Stadium worth HUF 2 billion. This plan came into my hands because they wanted to classify this investment for many years through the National Security Committee, avoiding the scandal that this news could cause,” Stummer said.

The politician said he tried to prevent the plan by not allowing it to be placed on the Committee's agenda, but that committee vice-chair János Halász (Fidesz) informed him that the rules of the session would be changed to allow for the plan to be heard. The Fidesz majority on the Committee then "voted to approve this secret tunnel for their boss," Stummer said, adding that he expected to be removed from the Committee and taken to court over revealing the information.

Puskás Arena responded to the news on Facebook, writing that a 50-meter long tunnel would be built to allow for "protected persons" - such as foreign or domestic politicians, performers or other special guests - to be safely transported into the stadium without disrupting pedestrian and motor traffic during events. The Arena argued that the details of the tunnel's construction, such as the locations of emergency escape routes and surveillance stations, needed to be classified to prevent them from falling into the hands of malign actors.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday, the prime minister's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said the tunnel was necessary to ensure the safe arrival of international heads of state and sports figures to the stadium. There is no need to remove Stummer from the National Security Committee, he said, since there is nothing secret about the plans for the tunnel.

Germany's Deutsche Welle to launch Hungarian-language programming

German public service broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) will begin producing Hungarian-language programs in an effort to provide "real stories" to Hungarian audiences, the network's director Peter Limbourg said on the German RBB media podcast last week.

The state-owned international network will reportedly focus on topics it says are infrequently covered in Hungarian media, including human and minority rights and LGBTQ issues.

"This is a European country where media plurality is in danger, and the independent, critical press is under pressure," Limbourg said. "So we thought Deutsche Welle has a place here, as in Poland."

DW earlier produced a Hungarian-language radio program from the 1960s to the 1990s, and currently produces news programs in dozens of languages, according to Szabad Pécs, which broke the story.

Limbourg said DW would first begin producing videos in Hungarian, and would launch a YouTube channel by late March. The network could possibly work together with local media outlets, he added.

DW does not seek to be the voice of the opposition, he said, but he expects that the expansion of media plurality in Hungary will not please everyone.

Indeed, news of the decision was not well received by the Hungarian government's international spokesman, Zoltán Kovács, who called it an act of "German cultural imperialism," and claimed that "the market determines media and press relations in Hungary."

"What kind of content will Deutsche Welle produce in Hungarian? Programs on European 20th century history, perhaps? No. A look back at the era of colonialism in Africa? No. Profiles of Marx, Engels and other modern German disruptors?" Kovács wrote on his blog. He later posted a meme on Facebook suggesting DW's decision was an attempt to interfere in 2022 parliamentary elections.

Vaccinations begin with China's Sinopharm vaccine

Doctors on Wednesday began administering the first shots of a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine developed by state-owned company Sinopharm, the start of a vaccination campaign government officials say could inoculate 368,000 people within the week. General practitioners around the country received an average of 55 doses each, and were instructed to administer them to elderly patients.

Hungary is the first country in the European Union to use a Chinese vaccine, and the bloc's medicines regulator, the European Medicines Agency, has not approved Sinopharm for use. Hungary expects to receive 5 million doses of the jab across the next four months, enough to vaccinate 2.5 million people. But polling shows that Hungarians trust the Chinese vaccine the least among the five now available in Hungary (Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Russia's Sputnik V.)

Uncertainty about Sinopharm, which has not yet released detailed results of phase 3 clinical trials, could result in disruptions to the vaccination program: one doctor in Budapest called 168 patients before finding 55 willing to receive the Sinopharm vaccine, among whom several later changed their minds.

The use of vaccines not approved by the EMA could result in some Hungarians facing limited travel opportunities in Europe as countries enact policy on immunity certificates. Poland's health minister announced on Wednesday that beginning on Saturday, only travellers with a negative coronavirus test or proof of having received two doses of an EMA-approved vaccine would be permitted to cross into the country from Slovakia and Czechia. All others must enter 10 days of mandatory quarantine, including those who have been inoculated with a non-EMA approved vaccine like Sinopharm or Sputnik V.

Hungary's decision to use Sinopharm on elderly populations comes as China is using the vaccine only on patients up to 59 years of age. Less than 1 percent of those participating in the vaccine's clinical trials were over the age of 60, and potential risks and side effects on the elderly are unknown. Similarly, clinical trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine contained few elderly subjects. Hungary as a result decided to administer that vaccine only to those 59 and younger, while allowing the Sinopharm jab to be used on elderly patients.

Pandemic restrictions extended as Covid-19 cases rise sharply

Current pandemic restrictions, in place since November 11, will be extended until at least March 15 as a "third wave" of the Covid-19 pandemic hits Hungary, Gergely Gulyás said at a virtual press conference Thursday.

"We hope that we are in the last phase of these restrictions...But now the opinions of pandemic experts are very clear: the third wave has reached Hungary. All forecasts indicate that the numbers will get dramatically worse in the next one or two weeks," Gulyás said, adding that restrictions could be lifted within a month depending on the results of the national consultation launched last week.

In a Facebook video on Wednesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that while more vaccines were arriving in the country, "the third wave is threatening Hungary," and the easing of restrictions cannot currently be discussed.

The steady decline in cases and deaths that began in Hungary in December has reversed course in recent weeks, and a particularly sharp rise in new cases was recorded this week: on Wednesday, there were 70 percent more new cases in the previous seven days than in the prior seven-day period, by far the most rapid rise in Europe. Deaths are also on the rise, with 120 recorded in the last 24 hours, the highest since January 12.

While Hungarians were asked to provide their opinions on reopening the country through the national consultation, the government is unlikely to lift pandemic restrictions even if responses indicate a popular desire to do so. The deadline for returning the online consultation was extended from March 1 until mid-March, and it is unclear what purpose the survey will serve now that the pandemic's third wave has convinced government officials that lifting restrictions is off the table.

The government's strategy appears to be keeping restrictions in place while increasing the rate of vaccinations, made possible by the quick approval last week of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. State Secretary Dr. István György said during a press briefing of the Emergency Task Force on Tuesday that 368,000 vaccinations could be given this week, bringing the total to over 800,000. György urged Hungarians to trust in the Sinopharm vaccine and Russia's Sputnik V.

"Every vaccine available in Hungary is safe and can provide protection against virus infection. This is also true of the Eastern vaccines despite all rumors to the contrary," he said.

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Hungary's government has launched its newest national consultation on the lifting of pandemic restrictions, giving Hungarian citizens the chance to guide its pandemic policy.

The online consultation will seek Hungarians' opinions on:

• whether pandemic regulations should be gradually phased out or eliminated simultaneously at the end of the pandemic
• whether the nighttime curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. should be lifted
  
• whether restaurants, hotels and sports facilities should be allowed to reopen
• whether receiving an immunity certificate attesting to one's protection against the virus (vaccination or having already recovered from infection) should afford document holders special exemption from pandemic restrictions, such as attending concerts, festivals, sports matches and other events
• whether to allow only foreign nationals that can prove they have been vaccinated or have recovered from the virus to enter Hungary until the end of the pandemic.

National consultations, typically conducted through a printed questionnaire sent to every adult Hungarian through the mail, are used by the government ostensibly to measure public opinion on certain current political topics. The results of the expensive, non-scientific questionnaires (which often contain leading questions to which there is only one reasonable answer) are invariably used by the government as a mandate from the people to support its legislative policies.

For example, the last national consultation, conducted last summer on "the coronavirus and restarting of the economy," was used by the government to justify decisions not to introduce new pandemic restrictions even as new cases, hospitalizations and deaths began rising dramatically in September. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán then said his government would seek to avoid imposing pandemic restrictions, adding, "The country must function."

According to data obtained through a freedom of information request, the government spent HUF 11.5 billion (€32 million) on that consultation as the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic crisis heated up, most of which went to advertising. Pollsters and social scientists have criticized the consultations as lacking genuine polling value.

First shipment of Chinese vaccine arrives in Hungary

The first shipment of a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Budapest on Tuesday, making Hungary the first European Union member state to receive a vaccine produced in China.

The jet from Beijing delivered 550,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, enough to treat 275,000 people with the two-dose shot. Hungary has purchased 5 million total doses of the jab and expects the shipments to arrive across the next four months.

With the single shipment, there have now been nearly the same number of doses of Sinopharm delivered to Hungary as of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, which began arriving in December. But doctors may not begin administering the jab until it has been assessed and approved by the National Public Health Center (NKK), which is likely to take 2-3 weeks.

While the delivery of more than half a million doses significantly increases Hungary's stock of vaccines, the quantity was smaller than initially expected. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó published a video on Facebook where he said that "more vaccines from China are arriving earlier than promised."

But a month ago, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview that Hungary could "tomorrow morning, with little exaggeration...make more than a million Chinese vaccines available." The next day, Orbán's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás told a press conference that the first shipment of Sinopharm vaccines could contain 1 million doses.

Other questions arose when liberal daily Népszava reported that the Sinopharm shipment did not contain the proper documentation, which the NKK is required to examine alongside vaccine doses to ensure they are identical. At an online press briefing Wednesday, Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller denied Népszava's report, saying documentation had arrived with the shipment and was being examined by the NKK. Foreign Minister Szijjártó later told television network ATV that Hungary had received the Sinopharm documentation in December.

Recent polling of 1,000 Budapest residents shows that of those willing to receive a vaccination, only 27 percent would choose a Chinese vaccine, compared to 43 percent for a Russian vaccine and 84 percent for a jab developed in Western countries.

European People's Party to change rules making it easier to expel Fidesz delegates

The European People's Party (EPP), a center-right political caucus in the European Parliament of which Fidesz is a member, plans to change party rules to make it easier to expel its members, according to information gathered by 444's Péter Magyari.

Sources indicated that the rules change is designed specifically to clear the way for expelling the entire Fidesz delegation from the party after a series of heated conflicts between Fidesz members and EPP leaders.

The new rules would allow the caucus to expel the entire delegation of a member party with a single vote. According to current rules, party members may only be voted out on an individual basis. It remains unclear whether a simple majority vote could expel an entire delegation or if a qualified majority would be required.

At the urging of 39 EPP MEPs, the party caucus met in December to discuss the possible expulsion of Tamás Deutsch, the head of Fidesz's EP delegation, after he made comments comparing EPP leader Manfred Weber to the gestapo and Hungary's communist-era secret police. The EPP voted to strip Deutsch of his rights to speaking time in plenary sessions and to remove him from any positions within or on behalf of the EPP Group, but declined to expel him.

The party also slammed Fidesz for violating EU values, including European integration, the rule of law, judicial independence, free media, support for civil society, protection of human rights and protection of all minorities.

Fidesz has been suspended in the EPP since March 2019, but group leaders have repeatedly declined to hold a vote on expelling the party, most recently referring to the impossibility of such a vote because of pandemic concerns.

Sources say that the EPP will hold a vote in early March on whether to expel the Fidesz delegation.

Value of assets of MPs grows 786 percent since 2010

The average net worth of Hungarian Members of Parliament grew by 20 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year, and by 786 percent since 2010, according to an analysis by economics website mfor.hu.

In 2010, the year that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party returned to power, the average assets of MPs were valued at HUF 3.1 million (€8,600). Last year, that figure had increased to HUF 28 million (€78,000), nearly eight times higher. The calculations were made according to the asset declarations of sitting MPs that have been in office since 2010, and included securities, investments, cash and accounts receivable, but do not include real estate holdings or other valuables. MPs' debts were subtracted from the value of their assets to determine their net asset holdings.

Those MPs in office since 2010 had net assets valued at HUF 3.5 billion (€9.7 million) last year, according to the analysis, while in 2019 that figure was HUF 2.9 billion and HUF 401 million in 2010. Since then:

• the value of MPs' securities grew by 21 percent to HUF 2.4 billion
• their savings accounts grew by 587 percent to HUF 997 million since 2011
• their cash holdings grew to HUF 303 million, up 89 percent since last year and 29 percent since 2011
• their other accounts receivable grew to HUF 1.5 billion, 4 percent higher than in 2019 and three times higher than in 2011.

In terms of real estate holdings, the MPs in question owned 512 properties in 2011, a number which grew to 682 by 2020.

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A joint letter condemning violence against protesters by Russian police and security services was signed by 26 of the European Union's 27 member states, with only Hungary abstaining.

Szabad Európa reports that the EU would have presented its joint statement to a Thursday meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, but the lack of Hungary's signature prevented it. The United States will raise the issue at the meeting instead, the outlet reports.

The letter condemned Russian law enforcement's "disproportionate use of force" and detention of more than 3,800 individuals during Saturday's nationwide protests in support of jailed opposition politician, Alexei Navalny. The letter also condemned the more than 50 cases of obstruction of journalists' professional activities, including violence, arbitrary detention and intimidation.

The letter closes urging the Russian Federation to immediately release those who were arbitrarily detained, and reiterated calls by the EU to set Navalny free.

When asked by Euronews about the violence against protesters by Russian police, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó reiterated that Hungary supports the EU's common position on the Navalny case. As we reported last week, Hungarian officials have made no statement concerning Navalny's detention or the violent suppression of protesters.

A Russian court on Thursday denied an appeal by Navalny, ruling that he must remain in jail. More protests have been called for Sunday.

On Saturday, as tens of thousands were protesting in more than 100 cities across Russia, a small gathering of Russian citizens gathered in front of their country's embassy in Budapest to express solidarity with Navalny. Police had earlier rejected a request to hold the protest citing coronavirus concerns.

Police were waiting at the embassy when eight demonstrators arrived, and after calling additional officers, instructed the protesters to leave. The protest organizer, a Russian university student, asked whether she could remain alone in front of the embassy, but police refused and threatened her with arrest.

The police followed the group as they marched to other sites in Budapest before going home. A separate demonstration in front of the Russian embassy was also broken up by police.

Varga: tech giants must be regulated

Hungary's justice minister announced on Tuesday that she would submit a bill on regulating big tech companies in Hungary over what she called " deliberate, ideological" manipulation of social media sites.

In a Facebook post, Judit Varga said the Ministry of Justice would propose a law to Parliament this spring meant to ensure the "legal, transparent and controllable operations" of tech giants, which she believes "limit the visibility of Christian, conservative, right-wing opinions."

Varga earlier claimed she had been the victim of "shadow banning" by Facebook, which she said had altered its algorithms to deliberately limit the reach of her posts on the site.

"The power groups behind global tech companies can even decide elections," Varga alleged. "In digital imperialism, it no longer matters whether one is an average user or the democratically elected president of the world’s leading power, since it has become clear that both can be silenced at the touch of a single button."

Facebook told HVG that it had not altered Varga's Facebook profile or limited the reach of her posts.

The plan to regulate social media sites comes after government officials in Poland said they would introduce legislation to prohibit tech companies from removing posts that do not violate national laws. The proposal came after Twitter and Facebook permanently banned U.S. President Donald Trump after his supporters violently stormed the U.S. capitol on January 6.

Fidesz email address behind popular meme page

An email address belonging to the Fidesz party appears to be behind a popular Facebook page that regularly posts primitive memes attacking Hungary's opposition and in support of the ruling party.

The page, "Elég," has nearly 153,000 followers on Facebook and was created in 2011. In 2019, the page published a video taken from news site Azonnali without permission, and the site filed a criminal complaint over infringement of copyright law after it was unable to determine the page's publisher.

After a year-and-a-half long investigation, the tax authority suspended the case, saying it could not determine the identity of the individual responsible for the post. The authority did, however, find that the email address registered to the Facebook page was

kapcsolat@fidesz.hu, an address which belongs to the Fidesz party headquarters in Budapest.

Elég plays an important role in spreading social media content centrally ordered by Fidesz, as a 444 investigation before national elections in 2018 found. One member of Fidesz's "virtual army" described how each of the party's MPs and parliamentary candidates had a "virtual colleague" responsible for managing the Facebook pages of party officials and forwarding centrally-generated content, including memes, to party activists to be spread on the platform.

These virtual colleagues were also tasked with directing activists to like Facebook posts by Fidesz members and to make derogatory comments on the posts of opposition figures. They were also trained on how to create memes, which are then distributed to Facebook pages created for sharing Fidesz's content.

One recent meme, published by Elég on Tuesday, illustrates the type of content typically published by Fidesz's centrally-directed meme network.

Health experts did not recommend approval of Sputnik V

External health experts asked to assist Hungary's pharmaceutical agency in assessing a Russian vaccine did not recommend its approval, according to reports by 444 and Telex.

At a conference last Tuesday convened by the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGYÉI) - which last week approved the Russian vaccine Sputnik V for use in Hungary - health experts warned that missing or contradictory data was contained in the documentation provided by the vaccine's developers, and requested further clarification of the missing data points.

But the OGYÉI unexpectedly approved Sputnik V the following day. The institute's director, Mátyás Szentiványi, said that all the questions the institute posed to the Sputnik V developers had been satisfactorily answered, and than an on-site inspection of the Russian factory where the vaccines are produced satisfactory results.

444 reports that several health experts on the OGYÉI vaccine committee have chosen not to continue their work there. The OGYÉI said it could not comment on reports of dissent among its experts, pointing to non-disclosure regulations relating to the work of the committee.

On Monday, the Gamaleya Center, which participated in the development of Sputnik V, amended the vaccine's instructions for use, cautioning its application in patients with malignant tumors. Russian media reported that side effects of the vaccine in cancer patients had not been fully researched, and the Gamaleya Center has expressed uncertainty over potential side effects in patients with a number of other chronic conditions.

Hungary's government has sharply criticized the European Union's vaccine procurement program, blaming Brussels for the slow delivery of doses. Last week, OGYÉI approved both Sputnik V and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, neither of which have been approved by the EU's medicines regulator. Hungary argued its domestic institutions could be trusted to approve safe and effective vaccines.

On Thursday, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said at a virtual press conference that any vaccine that has been administered to more than 1 million people could be used in Hungary, appearing to downplay the need for even the OGYÉI to issue approval to vaccines before use.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repeatedly pressured the OGYÉI to approve a vaccine produced by Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm, despite a lack of sufficient documentation sent to Hungarian health authorities. While the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was accompanied by some 27,000 pages of documents, authorities received around 600 pages from the developers of Sputnik V and 100 pages from Sinopharm.

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A Hungarian punk band says video of a live performance it gave as part of a government program to support musicians during the coronavirus was censored of all political content, and that a band member was beaten by unknown assailants days after the concert.

Hétköznapi Csalódások, the band from the southern city of Pécs which has been active for three decades, performed in October as part of the Raktárkoncert (Warehouse Concert) series, a government initiative to financially support performing artists who lost income due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Disclosure: The author of this article also performed as part of the Raktárkoncert program.)

Prior to the performance, concert organizers wrote to the band - known for its government-critical lyrical content - asking for several politically-oriented songs to be removed from the setlist, according to the band's manager. One such song, Viktor, is critical of prime minister Viktor Orbán.

At the concert, filmed on a temporary stage in a warehouse with no audience, the band performed the song anyway. It was later edited out of the final video along with Abszurdistzán, anti-Nazi anthem Ostoba and the Fidesz-critical song Geciország.

Lead singer Ferenc Megyeri wore a t-shirt at the performance with the word "SOROS" written on the front, which organizers asked him to remove. He refused, and the final cut of the video was edited to ensure that the message was largely illegible.

Also missing from the video were appearances by actor András Borbíró, who delivered satirical government-critical monologues between songs while dressed as an evil clown.

Two days after the concert, Borbíró alleges he was attacked by three men waiting for him in front of his apartment building. The men approached the actor and asked, "Are you that actor guy?", and proceeded to beat him, he said.

"I can't prove that this definitely happened because of the concert, but I can't imagine any other justification," Borbíró said, adding that he and other band members were required to provide their names and addresses upon arriving at the concert studio.

Critics of the Raktárkoncert program, which dedicated HUF 4.5 billion (€12.5 million) in state aid to some 100 bands that were scheduled to perform at Hungarian festivals in 2020, say that companies with ties to the Fidesz government were awarded contracts for organizing the concerts.

Some fans of Hétköznapi Csalódások argued the band should not take part in the program due to perceived corruption issues and its ties to Fidesz.

In a Facebook post, the band wrote, "The state is not Fidesz, and state aid is not Fidesz's money. In a normal world, these decisions shouldn't have anything to do with politics."

Hétköznapi Csalódások plans to release an uncut recording of their set, featuring the clown, "to compensate for this unfair and profoundly anti-democratic process," they wrote.

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The Budapest Government Office on Tuesday ordered a Hungarian publisher to place a disclaimer on books that "display patterns of behavior that differ from traditional gender roles" after the publisher released a collection of fairy tales featuring LGBT and non-white characters.

The office claimed that the Labrisz Lesbian Association, an advocacy group for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, had committed "dishonest commercial practices" by failing to inform potential readers of the contents of its book, "Wonderland is for Everyone."

"Consumers may thus unknowingly encounter content that goes beyond the usual content of fairy tales, and may decide to purchase the book on the basis of misleading information," the office argued.

Labrisz called the decision "discriminatory" and unconstitutional, and said it would challenge it in court.

The book, which sparked controversy in September after a neo-fascist politician fed it into a paper shredder during a press conference, re-tells traditional fairy tales using what the publisher called characters from "stigmatized or minority groups." In one story, a prince marries another prince, and in another, a doe is granted a wish to become a buck. Other stories feature Roma and disabled characters.

Speaking about the book in an October radio interview, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán equated homosexuality with pedophilia, saying that Hungarians are "patient and tolerant" of homosexuality, "but there is a red line: leave our children alone."

In a statement on its website, Labrisz encouraged readers to report other well-known children's tales to the consumer protection authority for depicting non-traditional gender roles.

"Were you shocked that you had to watch two men, Timon and Pumba, provide a safe family background for Simba without prior notice? Are you outraged that Sleeping Beauty grew up in a loving household created by three women? Maybe another tale blew your fuse? Then your time has come! Turn to consumer protection!” the group wrote.

Labrisz has filed a defamation lawsuit against the publisher of pro-government newspaper Magyar Nemzet, as well as the author of an article published there which accused the organization of pedophilia.

"We must judge the book 'Wonderland is for Everyone' as we judge pedophilia, and judge Labrisz ... as we judge a pedophile organization, because that's what this is about," the article's author, György Németh, wrote in Magyar Nemzet.

Russian vaccine approved by Hungary's medicines regulator

Hungarian authorities on Wednesday approved the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the director of the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGYÉI) told state television station M1.

Mátyás Szentiványi said the organization had given six-month emergency authorization to the Russian vaccine, which could be extended by another six months. The OGYÉI now awaits a decision by the National Public Health Center on whether the vaccine can be rolled out, which could take several weeks.

Neither Sputnik V nor the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved by the European Medicines Agency, but member states are permitted to issue temporary emergency authorization to vaccines produced by companies with which the European Union has not concluded contracts.

The EU has agreed to purchase 2.3 billion vaccine doses from manufacturers Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Sanofi-GSK and CureVac. Hungary may therefore conclude its own agreement for purchasing Sputnik V, but must wait for the European Medicines Agency to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Around 1.5 million people have been inoculated with the Sputnik V vaccine in Russia so far, and Russian authorities submitted it for examination by the European Union this week, which will reportedly begin in February.

If Sputnik V is approved by the National Public Health Center, Hungary will be the first EU country to use the Russian vaccine. Serbia has already begun administering the vaccine.

As we reported last week, Hungary has concluded an agreement with the Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, which produces the first vaccine approved for use in China. Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister's chief of staff, announced last week that up to 1 million doses of the vaccine could soon arrive in Hungary.

On Tuesday, a virology research group at the Pécs University of Science wrote on Facebook that preliminary data on the Sinopharm vaccine shows that it is 79.34 percent effective, significantly lower than the 95 percent reported by the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines currently being distributed in Hungary.

"It is important to note that reports indicate this vaccine provides 100 percent protection from severe illness!" the group wrote, and called the vaccine "promising."

If the vaccine's third phase of tests produces similar results, and EU and Hungarian authorities approve it, the researchers said they would "definitely" recommend its use in Hungary.

In a Friday interview with public radio, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pressured Hungarian authorities to approve the Sinopharm vaccine.

"There is a Chinese vaccine that we can acquire in large quantities. The channels are open. Now all that is needed is for the Hungarian health authority to say that it is in order," Orbán said.

Unused vaccine doses being thrown out - Átlátszó

An unnamed doctor told investigative reporting outlet Átlátszó that unused doses of the coronavirus vaccine are being thrown out at vaccination centers when patients do not appear for scheduled inoculations.

"There's no visible vaccination plan, and whoever is better informed gets access to a vaccine," the doctor said. "In our ward, for example, we learned that vaccinations were beginning when we heard that they were vaccinating in the neighboring building."

In the vaccination centers they clearly don't know what to do at the end of the day with the vaccine doses of people who didn't appear as planned. We would have liked to administer these leftover doses to patients in our ward, or to the family members of hospital workers. But we couldn't do either, because the people working at the vaccination centers are afraid of retaliation if they dare to deviate from the instructions, even if it means throwing out multiple doses of the vaccine," the doctor said.

At a press briefing of the Emergency Task Force on Wednesday, chief medical officer Cecilia Müller said she was "shocked" at a reporter's question regarding wasted vaccines.

"We know that the vaccine nowadays is worth its weight in gold. Such a thing surely cannot happen," Müller said.

As of Thursday, around 134,000 people had been vaccinated in Hungary, according to the Emergency Task Force. Just under 100 coronavirus-related deaths were registered on Thursday, bringing the rolling 7-day average to 92, the lowest since November 14. The number of hospitalized patients and those on ventilators continued to drop.

So far, 11,703 coronavirus deaths have been recorded.

Hungarian officials remain quiet on detention of Alexei Navalny

Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was arrested by Russian authorities Sunday evening after flying from Berlin to Moscow, sparking widespread condemnation across the world as leaders urged his release.

Heads of government and foreign ministers in Czechia, Slovakia and Poland - all members of the Visegrád 4 along with Hungary - gave statements condemning Navalny's arrest and urging Russian authorities to release him, but neither Prime Minister Viktor Orbán nor Hungary's foreign ministry have reacted.

In a response to 444's questions on Hungary's position on the case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade wrote, "Hungary has also joined the joint EU declaration on the matter, the text of which therefore also reflects Hungary's position."

The EU declaration condemns Navalny's detention and demands his immediate release, and also condemns "in the strongest possible terms the assassination attempt through poisoning using a military chemical nerve agent" which left Navalny hospitalized for several weeks.

Russia's security service the FSB is thought to have poisoned Navalny in August, and he became gravely ill as he flew from Tomsk to Moscow. He later was evacuated to Germany where he recovered in hospital.

Navalny has been ordered to remain in custody for 30 days before a parole hearing, which could send him to prison for years. He has called for mass protests on Saturday.

Hungary's conspicuous silence on Navalny's detention recalled a similar scenario last summer, when the government made no comment on elections in Belarus that were widely decried as fraudulent. Tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Minsk for months, and police used brutal repression tactics and arrested demonstrators and journalists.

Many leaders of EU countries issued statements condemning the election and police violence, and the EU issued a joint declaration demanding a fair election in Belarus.

When 444 asked the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its perspective on the events in Belarus, it wrote, "Hungary has also joined the joint EU declaration, which covers this issue, among other things. The joint EU statement thus clearly reflects Hungary's position as well."

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Hungary's pro-government and state media reacted to last week's storming of the United States Capitol by far-right supporters of U.S. president Donald Trump by spinning conspiracy theories and shifting blame to alleged antifascist provocateurs and Black Lives Matter activists.

A January 7 video report by state-funded public television station M1 concluded that "Joe Biden's presidency brings chaos," despite the fact that the Democratic winner of the presidential election will not be inaugurated until January 20.

Pro-government website Origo, also seemingly unaware that Biden has not yet been inaugurated, claimed that "Joe Biden's presidency brings total chaos," and falsely asserted that "Donald Trump continually asked the protesters to be non-violent and for the demonstration to be peaceful."

Origo repeated baseless and disproven claims by Trump and other Republicans that the November election was fraudulent, and appeared to justify attacks on media workers and their equipment by pro-Trump rioters by claiming that "the mainstream media did not report on steady evidence that fraud may have been committed...to favor the Democrats."

Extreme-right tabloid site Pesti Srácok mimicked conspiracy theories originating in far-right circles in the United States, declaring that "more and more proof is appearing on social media that antifa/BLM provocateurs provoked and led the crowd" during the assault. (The FBI announced two days after the riots that there is "no indication" that antifascists disguised themselves as Trump supporters to storm the Capitol.)

László Földi, a "security policy expert" that often appears in pro-government media, told state radio that the assault on the Capitol was "an organized provocation" meant to discredit Donald Trump" by associating his presidency with violence. Földi also asserted that rioters could not have succeeded in entering the Capitol without "internal assistance."

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán first reacted to the events in a weekly interview with state-run Kossuth Rádió on Friday, but did not mention Trump by name.

"We don’t like being judged, and in consequence we don’t judge other countries; and neither will we interfere in what’s happening in America now," Orbán said. "That is for Americans to deal with. We’re rooting for them, and we sincerely hope that they’re successful in solving their own problems."

Orbán appeared to lay responsibility for the Capitol riot on "the left," and equated the events with an anti-government protest in Hungary in December 2019.

"We’re immediately reminded of how the Left tried its hand at violence in Hungary, too. I remember the siege of the Parliament building here. I remember how the police had to defend the Hungarian Parliament building from a violent left-wing mob, which included opposition politicians," he said.

Orbán was referencing András Fekete-Győr, the president of opposition party Momentum, against whom a court proceeding is ongoing. Fekete-Győr is charged with "violence against an official" for throwing a smoke bomb between lines of police at a December 2019 protest in front of the Hungarian Parliament. Prosecutors have recommended one and a half years in prison suspended for three years for the centrist politician.

The newspaper Magyar Nemzet published a piece titled, "Two years ago, András Fekete-Győr also wanted to break into the Parliament," equating Fekete-Győr and the Hungarian opposition with the far-right rioters at the US Capitol.

State news agency photographers report political pressure and censorship

Photographs published by Hungarian state news agency MTI are carefully curated and censored according to political criteria, according to a report by the Hungarian-language branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The report by Szabad Európa draws on interviews with several anonymous photographers at MTI that detail increasing pressure on photographers to present a picture of reality that comports with the ruling party's desired narrative.

One photographer reported that MTI's lead photo editor was removed from his post last March after a photograph was published depicting a pair of discarded rubber gloves on the floor of Szent László Hospital in Budapest. The photograph was deleted, the site reports, because it did not depict a suitable picture of defense against the coronavirus pandemic.

Other photographers said a turning point came at MTI during the 2015 refugee crisis, when they were instructed not to take photographs of female refugees or children "because they wouldn't be published anyway."

"It was a clear instruction that we should only photograph vigorous men," one photographer said.

Use of the word "refugee" was also prohibited in text accompanying the photos. Terms like "illegal immigrant," "migrant" and "border violator" were used instead.

Political bias was also apparent in MTI's photographic reporting during election campaigns. In last year's by-election in Tiszaújváros, in which a victory for the opposition candidate László Biró would have resulted in Fidesz losing its two-thirds majority in Parliament, MTI published 40 photographs of Fidesz candidate Zsófia Koncz at meet-and-greet events, charitable events and dedications, while not a single photograph was published of the opposition candidate. Koncz ultimately won the election.

Opposition politicians and government-critical demonstrations are also avoided by MTI photographers, and photo descriptions of such people and events are frequently distorted or lack information and context.

Photographs of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have also been limited in recent years, photographers said. In many cases, MTI publishes photos taken by the Prime Minister's Office and does not include the names of other people in the photos, diminishing their historical and archival value.

"From the beginning at MTI, it was important to archive everyday life so that a picture of the conditions of a given time period would be preserved for posterity," an MTI photographer told Szabad Európa. "MTI created value, the archive is a national treasure and important source since the 1950s."

The photographer said the news agency no longer performs this function, and social themes have been essentially removed from the photographic record.

"Now there's only handshakes and propaganda," the photographer said.

Chinese vaccine likely to arrive soon in Hungary - Gulyás

Shipments of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine are likely to arrive soon in Hungary, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said at an online government press conference Thursday.

The government has concluded an agreement with the Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, which produces the first vaccine approved for use in China. Preliminary data shows that the vaccine is 79.34 percent effective, significantly lower than the 95 percent reported by the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines currently being distributed in Hungary.

The Sinopharm vaccine, approved in China in late December, must be approved by the National Pharmacology and Food Health Institute before deliveries commence, Gulyás said, adding that up to 1 million doses of the vaccine could soon arrive.

The United Arab Emirates approved the Chinese vaccine in December and has already received 3 million doses, according to a subsidiary of Sinopharm. Bahrain and Pakistan have also approved the vaccine.

More transmissible coronavirus variant appears in Hungary as vaccinations rollout

The first three cases of a new and more easily transmissible coronavirus variant that originated in Great Britain have been detected in Hungary, chief medical officer Cecilia Müller announced on Wednesday.

"It was clear that Hungary would be unable to avoid this variant," Muller told an online press briefing, and warned that the mutated virus was up to 60 percent more transmissible than the original strain of the coronavirus.

The announcement came eight days after Hungary lifted a ban on passenger flights arriving from the United Kingdom, which the government had imposed two weeks prior in an effort to keep the new variant from spreading.

At an online government press conference Thursday, the prime minister's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said 96,100 people had received vaccinations in Hungary so far, approaching 1 percent of the population. This places Hungary among the most-vaccinated countries in Europe per capita.

As we reported last week, confusion over vaccination protocols and vaccine skepticism among some healthcare workers appeared to lead to an initial slow rollout. However, the pace of inoculations picked up throughout the week, and officials have blamed the European Union for the low number of vaccine doses being delivered.

A 444 report this week showed that some Hungarians have been able to receive vaccinations even though they do not have an appointment or qualify as members of a priority group (healthcare workers, or workers and residents of elderly care homes). Some readers reported receiving vaccines without having to identify themselves or provide proof that they were eligible.

However, given that the shelf-life of defrosted Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines is only five days, it is possible that - in an effort to avoid letting them spoil - doses intended for recipients that then miss their appointments are being administered to unscheduled recipients that show up at vaccination points.

On Friday, Prime Minister Orbán announced that restrictive pandemic measures, including the overnight curfew, would be extended until at least February 1.

"We should have a successful system of restrictions, and until we have enough vaccines, we should maintain these frameworks and settle into a life in which we can live within them," Orbán said on Kossuth Rádió.

On Sunday, minister of human resources Miklós Kásler said that restrictions would remain in place "until the population has been vaccinated to a sufficient extent," which he described as 50 percent or above.

As of Thursday, 11,066 people had died in Hungary of coronavirus-related illnesses. The seven-day rolling average of deaths was at its lowest since November 25. The number of coronavirus patients being treated in hospitals was 4,689, the lowest number since November 2.

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Vaccinations against the coronavirus proceeded slowly in Hungary this week as signs indicated a lack of sufficient planning and organization to administer greater quantities of the vaccine as they become available.

Deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine continued to arrive in small quantities, with a new shipment of 39,000 doses arriving on Tuesday. Nearly 160,000 doses of the vaccine have been delivered to Hungary so far, enough to inoculate around 79,000 people with the two-step injection. As of Wednesday, 21,000 healthcare workers had been vaccinated since December 26 at the country's 25 injection sites, a relatively low number one prominent infectious diseases expert said could be due to the high level of vaccine skepticism in Hungary including among healthcare workers.

Recipients must undergo a second injection three weeks after first being inoculated in order to ensure total immunity from the virus. Authorities are storing the second-round of injections to administer to those that have already received the first dose.

While the number of doses available in Hungary remains relatively low, questions have arisen over whether the government has developed adequate plans to begin mass vaccinations once more shipments arrive.

In late November, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared that a vaccination plan had already been completed, and that the government had settled on 13,000 sites where vaccinations would be administered. But in a Wednesday letter sent to doctor's offices, the government sought to determine which offices fulfilled minimum requirements to be one of the 5,000 vaccination sites it hopes to establish, suggesting that the work on establishing such sites has only just begun.

A vaccination action plan that appeared on the website of the National Public Health Center last week gives no information on how mass vaccination will be rolled out, and in places appears to contradict previous government communication on registering for vaccination on a newly-launched government website.

The plan prioritizes groups to be vaccinated as follows:

1. Healthcare workers (including pharmacists)
2. Providers and recipients of social care (nursing homes)
3. Persons over 60 years of age
4. Law enforcement personnel that come into direct contact with the public
5. Persons 18-59 with underlying conditions or comorbidities
6. Critical infrastructure workers
7. Persons 18-59 not falling into the above categories

The plan discourages social care recipients and law enforcement personnel from registering to be vaccinated, but recommends those younger than 60 with pre-existing conditions to do so, "though it is unknown how registration can be linked to underlying condition data." (There is no option for indicating underlying conditions on the vaccine registration page.)

It remains unclear whether the plan, described on the site as a recommendation from the National Public Health Center, has been approved or adopted by the government.

President of the Hungarian Chamber of Doctors, Gyula Kincses, told ATV on Tuesday that the plan lacked a strategy for practical application, and that his colleagues in the health field remain unsure of how to apply to be vaccinated and do not sense that the vaccination effort is well-organized. Kincses recommended prioritizing high-risk segments of the population, and urged efforts to increase the low level of willingness to receive the vaccine.

In a Sunday radio interview, Orbán said he was not satisfied with the pace of vaccines arriving to Hungary, but that inoculations would take place in healthcare centers and voting locations if a large quantity were to arrive at once.

Orbán also indicated that lockdown measures currently in place would not be lifted until an adequate supply of vaccine is available.

The Union of Teachers issued a statement Monday expressing dismay that the vaccination plan did not include separate protocols for vaccinating teachers, and demanded that educators be prioritized since they are in daily contact with the public and thus qualify as "front line" workers. The Union also questioned Orbán's statement that voting sites would be used to administer vaccinations, since many schools and daycare centers are traditionally used during elections.

Hungary has ordered around 4.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the government says that with other developers it has secured rights to more than 17 million total doses.

On Monday, Foreign Minster Péter Szijjártó announced that 6,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V had been delivered to Hungary, and that health experts would make a decision on how to administer them.

But in the Sunday interview, Orbán suggested that Hungary would not go through with its long-standing intentions to administer Sputnik V, citing a lack of adequate production capacity in Russia.

"We know that the Russian vaccine is good, but there isn’t enough of it and there probably won’t be, because the production capacities over there are limited," he said, adding that "the Chinese vaccine" appears promising and that Hungary will be able to access larger quantities sooner from China.

"In an ideal scenario one would be able to choose whether one wants to be vaccinated with a vaccine from the Western world or with the Chinese vaccine," he said.

In December, Orbán claimed that with enough vaccines Hungary could inoculate its entire population in a weekend.

As of Thursday, 10,325 coronavirus-related deaths were recorded in Hungary, representing more than 1 out of every 1,000 inhabitants in the country.

Opposition parties agree on six points for coalition governance

The leaders of Hungary's six major opposition parties signed an agreement Tuesday outlining their plan for coalition governance in the case of their victory over Fidesz in 2022 parliamentary elections.

Ferenc Gyurcsány (Democratic Coalition), András Fekete-Győr (Momentum), Péter Jakab (Jobbik), Timea Szabó and Gergely Karácsony (Dialogue), Erzsébet Schmuck and Máté Kanász-Nagy (LMP), and Ágnes Kunhalmi and Bertalan Tóth (MSZP) agreed on six points that they would follow as fundamental governing principles:

• A nation at peace with itself
• A democratic rule of law state
• Governance looking toward the future
• A thoughtful society
• A fair economy
• A European Hungary

The parties have committed to coordinating their candidates in each of Hungary's 106 electoral districts to have a single joint candidate face off against each Fidesz opponent. They also announced in December that they would field a single nationwide list after the Fidesz supermajority in Parliament passed election law amendments that increased the burden on parties that wish to form their own lists.

Speaking at an online conference from Parliament after the signing of the agreement, Jobbik chairman Péter Jakab said that if victorious, the opposition parties would establish social peace and reunite the nation. The fact that the parties were able to overcome their political and ideological differences to unite against Fidesz represents a guarantee that the coalition can achieve those goals, Jakab said.

"We consider everyone as part of the nation, and we will represent everyone who identifies as Hungarian regardless of their origin, who they vote for or where they live in the world...We won't be a government of six parties, but of 15 million Hungarians," Jakab said.

Orbán criticized for condescending language toward female developer of Covid-19 vaccine

A biochemist that played a key role in developing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine has become a subject of debate after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán referred to her using an antiquated term for women.

Katalin Karikó, the Hungarian-born vice-president of BioNTech which paired with US-based Pfizer to create the vaccine, pioneered research on the genetic code RNA that was used to develop the first coronavirus vaccine approved in the West.

Commenting on Karikó's achievement in a radio interview on Sunday, Orbán said that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is "actually a Hungarian vaccine...Most of the researchers or those managing the research are Hungarians. With a little exaggeration we can say that this is a Hungarian vaccine in which there is American money and Hungarian brains. We can be proud of our scientist woman, who as I am told is an ‘asszonyság’ from Kisújszállás.”

Orbán's use of the term "asszonyság" - which several linguists have said is a condescending term for a simple, uneducated woman of low social status - sparked outrage, including among female opposition MPs Bernadett Szél, Timea Szabó and Anett Bősz.

Szabó said in a Facebook post that Orbán's comments represented "everything the entire government thinks about women and science."

Karikó studied at the University of Szeged but immigrated to the United States in 1985 after being laid off at the Szeged Biological Research Center. In an interview, she said she'd have become a "complaining, mediocre researcher" if she'd remained there. Karikó's achievements in developing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have placed her in the running to receive a Nobel Prize.

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Women should not believe they must compete with men for equal positions or equal pay, according to a video featuring family affairs minister Katalin Novák released Monday on the website Axióm.

In the video, titled "How can a woman be successful?", Novák instructs women what not to do:

"Don't believe that we women must always compete with men. Don't believe that at every moment of our lives we must compare ourselves to others, and have at least the same positions and level of salaries as others."

In 2019 in Hungary, the average salary for women was around 15 percent less than for men.

Novák, who in September was named minister without portfolio for family affairs, is tasked with pushing Fidesz's conservative family policy, including efforts to increase Hungary's birth and marriage rates and so-called "family protection" measures that restrict the rights of LGBTQ individuals.

In the video, Novák says that women should not believe they must choose between having children and engaging in "serious professional work," or that they cannot be fulfilled as a "mother of many children."

The minister praised women's abilities to "bear the burdens of others," and encouraged female viewers to "dare to take responsible decisions," "not give up our privileges in a misinterpreted struggle for emancipation,” and to experience "the beauty and opportunities that arise from the harmony of differences between men and women." (Here the video depicts a man handing an item to a woman from a tall shelf she cannot reach.)

"We should be glad we were born women, that we can give life, and that we were given the beauty of love and caring for others," Novák said.

After the video drew criticism, Novák appeared Tuesday on HirTV where she claimed her words had been "deliberately twisted and distorted," and denied that she believes women should be satisfied if they receive lower salaries than their male counterparts.

Constitutional amendment bans gay adoption

The Fidesz-KDNP supermajority in Parliament passed an amendment to Hungary's constitution on Tuesday effectively barring same-sex couples from adopting children, and other bills were passed that alter the definition of public funds and change election law to disadvantage opposition parties.

The constitutional amendment, which passed with 134 yes votes, 45 no votes and five abstentions, adds language that alters the legal definition of the family. The vote was boycotted by Democratic Coalition MPs in protest.

"The basis of the family is marriage and the parent-child relationship. The mother is a woman and the father is a man," the constitution now reads following its ninth amendment since its 2012 adoption by the Fidesz-KDNP supermajority.

Since same-sex marriage has been constitutionally prohibited in Hungary since 2012, the amendment coupled with a separate law passed Tuesday which stipulates that only married couples may adopt children effectively prohibits same-sex couples from doing so.

Dávid Vig, director of rights group Amnesty Hungary, said the decisions represented "a dark day for human rights."

Another change enshrines a religious conservative conception of gender, and endows the state with the responsibility of instilling national and Christian values in children. It reads, "Hungary protects the right of children to self-identity according to their sex at birth and provides an upbringing in accordance with the values based on Hungary's constitutional identity and Christian culture.”

Other legislation passed Tuesday changes the definition of public funds, allowing for public foundations run by government allies to avoid scrutiny over their use of public money. Public endowments given to foundations set up by the government may now lose their legal status as public funds, allowing such foundations, many of which are run by ruling party figures and their allies, to use public money as they please without accountability to taxpayers or public scrutiny.

The law also requires a two-thirds vote in Parliament to create, liquidate or change the operation or staffing composition of any such public foundations, ensuring that in the case of a change of government, existing foundations run by Fidesz-connected actors would retain control of their assets and leaders.

A change to election law was also approved Tuesday which will increase the burden on parties that wish to field their own national voting lists. The government has argued that the changes are necessary to prevent fake parties from abusing campaign funds provided by the state, but critics have accused Fidesz of attempting to tilt the scales in its own favor in 2022 national elections.

Read more about the new legislation here.

EPP declines to expel Deutsch after gestapo comments

The European People's Party's caucus in the European Parliament met on Wednesday to discuss the possible expulsion of Tamás Deutsch, the head of Fidesz's EP delegation, after he made comments comparing EPP leader Manfred Weber to the gestapo and Hungary's communist-era secret police.

The EPP voted 133-6 to strip Deutsch of his rights to speaking time in plenary sessions, and to remove him from any positions within or on behalf of the EPP Group. Deutsch will retain his membership in the EPP despite a call by more than 30 EPP MEPs from 12 countries demanding his expulsion.

In an official statement adopted Wednesday, the EPP emphasized that the rule of law "lies at the heart" of the group, and called the rule of law mechanism built into the latest EU budget "an historic agreement that we all should be proud of." Hungary and Poland held up passage of the €1.8 trillion budget and economic recovery package over their staunch opposition to the rule of law provisions.

The statement condemned comments Deutsch made in two interviews in November where he said a statement by EPP leader Weber was reminiscent of the gestapo and ÁVÓ, Hungary's communist-era secret police. Deutsch apologized repeatedly for the comments, but the EPP's statement said they were "in clear contradiction to European Christian Democracy and to EPP values," and that "such behavior has no place in our family."

The group slammed Fidesz for violating EU values, including European integration, the rule of law, judicial independence, free media, support of civil society, protection of human rights and protection of all minorities. The statement called on Fidesz to reflect on whether its values are still compatible with the EPP Group, and called on the EPP's party to make a decision on Fidesz's membership as soon as pandemic conditions allow.

The EPP's decision is only the latest to delay definitive action on Fidesz's membership in the group. Fidesz has been suspended in the EPP since March 2019, but group leaders have repeatedly declined to hold a vote on expelling the party, most recently referring to the impossibility of such a vote because of pandemic concerns.

Writing on Twitter, Momentum MEP Anna Donáth compared the EPP to an abused girlfriend who believes her cheating boyfriend will change "if he gets one more chance."

"I stopped counting how many ‘red lines’ Fidesz crossed long time ago, but this is a new low," Donáth wrote.

Poll shows united opposition with more support than Fidesz

A new poll suggests that Fidesz's chances in 2022 elections could be under threat if opposition parties maintain their strategy of total unity and mounting a common party list.

The November survey, conducted by Publicus Research and commissioned by Népszava, showed that Fidesz would lose an election against the united opposition by four points if it were held this Sunday. The governing party has lost some 200,000 voters in recent weeks, the survey showed.

While Fidesz remains easily the most popular party with 29 percent support, the cumulative support for the Democratic Coalition, MSZP, Momentum, Jobbik, Dialogue and LMP exceeds support for the ruling party by four points, more than the survey's margin of error.

The survey also shows that some 240,000 voters would only be willing to vote for an all-opposition coalition. Some 37 percent of respondents said they are unsure of who they would vote for.

On Sunday, Momentum president András Fekete-Győr expressed his support for an initiative to allow teenagers that will be of voting age by the time of the election to participate in a primary process the opposition parties have agreed they will use to select candidates to run in individual constituencies.

Going further, Jobbik vice-president György Szilágyi announced on Monday that his party had proposed a constitutional amendment to drop the legal voting age from 18 to 16.

Insight Hungary will be taking a break for the holiday season. There will be no newsletter for the next two weeks, but be sure to keep an eye out for our next edition on January 7. Thank you for reading, and have a safe and happy holiday.

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• By Kinga Rajzak

Over the past decade a growing narrative has gained traction in Hungary, calling on women to embrace their fate as homemakers and caretakers as Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the self-appointed defender of Europe’s Christian values has steered the country towards a conservative, in his words “illiberal democracy.”

“It is an undisputed truth that the world belongs to those who populate it,” said Laszlo Kover, speaker of the National Assembly in October, as he pleaded with women to follow their calling as mothers for the nation’s survival. “Those who don’t want children choose a path of self-annihilation.”

Kover’s remarks came on the heels of Hungary’s co-sponsorship of the Geneva Consensus, an informal declaration that has pledged to protect life from its conception, thereby condemning abortion. Other notable proponents of the symbolic manifesto included the United States as a fellow co-sponsor and Poland, the latter being the only other European signatory.

Critics say that backing the treaty is a bold political move that contradicts public sentiment, and points to a larger problem at the heart of Hungarian politics.

“Research shows that anti-abortion measures have no public support,” said Rita Antoni, chair of Nokert Egyesult (For Women Organization), a women’s rights lobby group. “Orban knows that limiting access would deal a blow to his rule, yet here we are.”

According to a 2013 poll, 53 percent of those surveyed were content with Hungary’s abortion law, while additional 18 percent said that they would even ease restrictions around it. Only 13 percent wanted to see abortion overturned.

“It is just another move to chip away at women’s rights,” said Gyorgyi Toth who is a life-long activist and volunteer trainer at NANE, Nok a Nokert (Women for Women) organization that offers support to victims of domestic violence. “Not that it was ever great to be a woman in this country.”

Toth says that the number of women in leadership positions, particularly in politics is a good indicator of a nation’s health in terms of gender equality.

“You would have thought that after the Soviet regime fell, we were going to see more liberal women’s rights initiatives, and altogether more women across the social and political spectrum, but clearly that was a pipe dream.”

Leading up to the fall of Communism, Hungary, like the rest of the Eastern Bloc seemed progressive from a feminist standpoint with female representation in the parliament at 30 percent, projecting a growing gender equality only to be exposed in the ‘90s as a mere masquerade.

Once the Iron Curtain crumbled in 1989, and deceptive quotas vanished, women disappeared from politics almost overnight.

Like Hungary, neighboring post-Communist countries saw a sharp decline in the number of women in office but have worked on getting more women into public life ever since. While others progressed, Hungary has fallen behind, and to date has the lowest number of female MPs compared to its post-Soviet peers.

In an international survey Hungary was at the bottom of the list as well.

The 2019 global data for national parliaments ranked Hungary at 153 for having only a handful of women – 12.6 percent – in public office.

“You need to look at the context to understand how we got here,” said Toth. “After the Iron Curtain fell, everyone wanted something new, but they didn’t know exactly what.”

It was at this time that Fidesz (Alliance of Young Democrats), founded by Orban and a group of progressive hopefuls appeared on the political stage. They promised to do away with post-Communist demons and make Hungary more liberal, following pro-Western values.

In 1990, Orban said, those who interfered with women’s reproductive rights “were not human beings but monsters,” echoing his ally, Laszlo Kover who said, suspending abortion access would be equal to enforcing religious observance onto citizens.

“Soon after the Communist regime crumbled, it became obvious that there wasn’t going to be a sweeping political change that would benefit women,” said Toth who joined NANE in 1998, at the time when Orban won his first mandate. “Those politicians who sympathized with women’s rights didn’t offer feasible programs that would have led to gender equality.”

She says, the biggest most obvious rhetorical shift came with Orban’s second mandate in 2010, when he won parliamentary majority with the Fidesz- KDNP (Christian Democratic People's Party) ticket.

Orban’s alliance with the Christian democrats foreshadowed an ideological about-face and the emergence of a more conservative mindset.

“Orban sniffed out that Hungarians wouldn’t vote for progressive measures, as it was incongruous with our past,” said Antoni. “He might have changed ideologically, but it is more likely that he wanted to secure a political power grab.”

Antoni says that Orban’s use of sexist, homophobe, transphobe rhetoric can be attributed to his desire to shore up support among those who feel threatened by minorities, yet the PM’s offhand chauvinism targeting women is harder to understand.

“It makes no sense to suppress women when half of your population is made up by them,” said Antoni. “But in his world, women have no say or place in public life, since they belong in the kitchen.”

In 2020, Hungary ranked 27 for gender equality in the EU, four places down from 2013.

The pro-Western liberal ideals once embraced by Orban have morphed into adverse abstractions; ‘gender,’ as a word itself becoming the focus of much dispute some twenty years later.

In 2018, the government suspended gender studies at colleges, and this spring, banned changes to a person’s sex recorded at birth, thus boycotting transgender rights. In November, the legislature also proposed a constitutional amendment that stipulates that children must be raised with the “Christian interpretation of gender roles” and their “gender identity at birth must be protected.” The bill also states that family means that “mother is a woman and father is a man.”

“We don’t use the word gender in Hungary,” said Orban in Brussels this fall, as he buckled down to explain his gripe with the term, subsequently starting a lengthy debate with EU lawmakers. “People are born either female or male.”

The PM noted that ‘gender’ was an ideologically overloaded word, something of “western export” that had an underlying agenda to destabilize decency and lead to queer identity categories.

Toth says that the government’s latest measures undermine the rights of women and minorities and make it harder to challenge gender stereotypes and patriarchy.

“I don’t deal with women’s issues,” quipped Orban when journalists demanded answers for Reka Szemerkenyi, former US ambassador’s demotion who was replaced by Orban’s ally, Laszlo Szabo.

Critics were quick to point out that Orban had directed multiple jabs at women over the years, calling into question their acuity to serve in office, and saying that women were too sensitive to cope with the cut-throat atmosphere in politics.

“Women don’t have the posture to withstand the character assassination that goes on here,” said Orban in 2015.

The Chair of the Hungarian Women’s Lobby, Reka Safrany disagrees.

“Politics is artificial, not a dog-eat-dog realm by nature, so it is only hostile if we make it so.”

Safrany spearheads an umbrella organization that is inclusive of women’s rights non-profits. She says, they get a lot of messages from women from around the country about all sorts of issues, which they pass on to NGOs that start a public conversation and push for new laws. Over the past decade, however, women’s rights initiatives are coming up short, if not ignored by the government.

“Orban has consciously moved towards creating a macho country that permeates every tenet of life from the social to the political,” said Safrany.

The obvious problem, according to her, is with the government’s masculine swagger from glorifying and pouring orbital sums into soccer, to always looking for enemies let it be migrants, Soros or Brussels; simultaneously in this system women are passive actors, having no say, after all they are seen as second-class citizens with one type of calling, giving birth.

“I’d like to have an agreement with the Hungarian ladies, and their role in the nation’s future,” said Orban in 2018, as he ruminated on Hungary’s fate. “Child-bearing is a private matter, but also a very public one.”

As Hungary’s neonatal numbers have dropped and demography has plummeted, the government has called on women to do their job for clan and country. But Safrany says, this shouldn’t be the reason to view women as “machines,” destined to bear children.

“The fact is, it takes two to tango, and nobody talks about the men as fathers and their role in raising kids.”

A 2018 EU study revealed that in Hungary, 41 percent of men interviewed thought that work-life balance was hard to reconcile with child-raising, and only a third of them said that they would opt for a paternity leave if given the choice. Meanwhile, the very same percentage of people also thought that any hiatus from work would negatively impact their careers. However, 49 percent said it was easier for women to give up their professional pursuits and stay home.

Over the past years, the government has introduced a slew of tax incentives and beneficial, competitive mortgage rates that are available to married couples who decide to have multiple children.

Those families who have one child can apply for an interest-free 10 million Ft (30,000 EUR) government subsidized loan which doesn’t have to be paid back if the couple goes on to have three kids. Married women can altogether give up paying personal income tax if they have more than four children. Then there is a mortgage for expecting families called ‘Babavaro hitel,’ and an array of other offerings, including a non-reimbursable 2.5 million Ft minivan aid for large families.

But there is a catch, says Safrany.

While these various benefits sound attractive, only those families who earn enough will make the cut and qualify for the loans, so by proxy these measures benefit the middle-class, not poor people or minorities.

A 2018 Pew Research put Hungary at the third place in the world for guaranteeing the longest paid parental leave – 70 weeks – which Safrany says is great for cementing the mother-child relationship, but a real hindrance if women want to return to the job market.

Then there are other problems.

Domestic violence is rampant in Hungary, yet authorities are not doing enough to protect women.

The reason is self-evident, said Safrany. “In a Christian conservative patriarchal society, it is undecipherable to come to terms with the father, the breadwinner being the abuser.”

Antoni said that one would assume that the government’s plea to women to have more kids meant that the country “rolled out the red carpet” for them, providing protection, respect and institutional support, but this was not the case.

In May 2020, at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, Hungary announced it would not follow the EU and 35 other countries in ratifying the Istanbul Consensus, a de facto gold standard providing a plan and legislative guidance to protect women against domestic abuse.

“It was one thing that we signed it previously,” said Toth. “We would have had to ratify it, and keep ourselves to it as well, which in this toxic climate would have been difficult.”

Toth says, a record number of women call NANE’s hotline at any time seeking help, and the coronavirus pandemic has made things worse as victims find themselves wedged between four walls with their abusers.

Judit Varga, Minister of Justice and a faithful Orban ally said that the Istanbul treaty reeked of murky liberal language that offered protection to migrants – personae non gratae in Hungary – and drew on the word ‘gender,’ a dubious term that potentially promotes homosexuality.

She said that the country had enough safety nets for women and didn’t need another one just to be policed by Western powers.

“You shouldn’t fear being killed by your partner,” said Toth, and pointed to the government's lax attitude to deliver comprehensive laws to fix the problem.

“Victim blaming is the most obvious response, that’s why most women don’t report the abuser or simply bleed out trying to seek justice.”

But there are exceptions, and Erika Renner’s story is a good example.

“I had to go through the legal ordeal, not only for myself, but for other victims.”

• The story of Erika Renner

On a Tuesday morning in March 2013, Erika Renner was getting ready to take her dog for a walk. Her teenage children just left for school. It was 7:30 am.

She opened the door and was about to step out when a figure, clad in black wearing a bicycle helmet leaped forward and pushed her back into the apartment.

Before she knew it, she was tied up on the bed and intravenously sedated. The perpetrator then removed her clothes, put her in the bathtub and poured acid over her genitalia. He then carried her back to the bed, untied the unconscious Renner and took the batteries from her phones, scooped up her laptop and made for the door. As he left the apartment and hurried down the stairs, he bumped into a neighbor just as he unbuckled his helmet gasping for air.

It was Renner’s ex-boyfriend, Krisztian B., pediatric burn specialist and director at Irgalmasrendi Hospital.

Shortly after the crime, Renner was found by her ex-husband who took her to the hospital with permanent genital tissue damage caused by three-degree burns. The very same day police arrested the perpetrator and found a syringe in his car laced with the sedative used on Renner. Evidence was brought forward, and prosecution began by the authorities.

Then a strange thing happened.

Given the identity of the perpetrator whose brother was a high-level official in the Fidesz government, the chief prosecutor wanted to stop the case. He cited lack of proof as hard evidence was left out from the deposition. Renner then had to hire a private lawyer and appeal. It took her over seven years to see justice. The discovery was delayed as investigators tried to discredit her words and downplay her injuries.

“The genital burns were categorized as minor and machine-related, as if I got them in a factory,” said Renner. “Despite the expert medical opinion and hard evidence, the truth was inconvenient for the prosecutors, because to them, a well-connected man in a suit with an IQ over 150 had to be innocent.”

During the litigation the defendant was free and allowed to practice medicine. He had been released just after three months following his arrest.

“He destroyed my life,” said Renner. “For months, I had to wear a diaper. I knew, I would not have a healthy, normal sexual life anymore, and there he was, walking around as if he had done nothing.”

As the court case dragged on, the defendant started to stalk Renner again, so authorities assigned a 24-hour security detail, still she didn’t feel safe.

In 2019, after years of endless litigation and multiple guilty verdicts, Hungary’s supreme court, the Curia affirmed and amended the ruling by the lower chamber and sentenced the defendant to 11 years without the possibility of appeal.

Parallel to the criminal investigation, Renner also filed a civil lawsuit demanding that the defendant pay 25 million Fts for her surgeries, psychological counselling and legal defense that had set her back 17 million Fts. The defendant, however, has signed over his wealth to friends and family, so Renner needs to start litigating again if she wants to see the money.

“The whole ordeal cost me a lot, ironically I had to pay up to see justice,” said Renner. “But throughout the whole case, I kept thinking that I’m also doing everything for the nation, for other victims. That my case will set a precedent.”

According to the latest EU survey, about 75 percent of the population in Hungary thinks that domestic violence is a widespread issue, but over 60 percent believes that the country has adequate laws to protect women against abuse.

“The legal system is fraught with contradictions,” said Gabor Kuszing, psychologist and a counsel for victims of domestic violence. “We are one of the worst countries in the EU for domestic abuse.”

He says that most of the time, women don’t even try to seek justice because of the legal odds of succeeding.

“Renner’s case is fairly common as per the psychological and physical abuse, but the fact that she fought in court is very rare.”

Over the course of his practice, Kuszing has discerned that there is an underlying problem with male attitude towards women.

“In the Renner case, the ex-boyfriend used violence to ascertain his power to show that he still had the upper hand. It was a story of a typically wounded male pride, a man who couldn’t swallow the consequences of his ex-girlfriend’s rejection.”

He says, the biggest issue is with traditional, sexist thinking that affects both young and old generations.

“There are many men who feel privileged and entitled to specific things down to their sex, so honestly, I don’t see anything positive for the future.”

He thinks that the government’s rhetoric is not helping.

“The Christian conservative narrative is dangerous, it clearly benefits men.”

This article is published as part of a project to promote independent digital media in Central and Eastern Europe funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and coordinated by Notes from Poland.

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A Fidesz member of the European Parliament has admitted to being among those present at an illegal party in Brussels last Friday, which Belgian media reports indicate was a sex party where illegal drugs were recovered.

Fidesz MEP József Szájer released a statement Tuesday afternoon confirming he had been at a house party last Friday in Brussels, and that he had been issued a verbal warning by police.

"There was a report in the Belgian press today about a private party in Brussels on Friday which I attended. After the police asked for my identity- since I did not have ID on me – I declared that I was a MEP. The police continued the process and finally issued an official verbal warning and transported me home," Szájer wrote.

Belgium's most popular newspaper HLN reported on Tuesday that Brussels police had charged 25 people, including an MEP and an unnamed number of diplomats, after discovering a sex party attended by mostly men above a café in central Brussels. The MEP allegedly tried to escape through a window but injured himself in the process and was detained by police, and reportedly attempted to invoke European Parliament immunity.

Illegal drugs were also found at the scene, HLN reported. Participants were charged for breaking Belgium's pandemic rules prohibiting gatherings of more than four people.

Tuesday's reports indicated that the European Parliament member was MEP Szájer. HLN described the MEP as a leading member of Fidesz who was a party leader in the Hungarian Parliament before joining the European Parliament.

The paper also alleged that the MEP announced his resignation from the European Parliament on Sunday, which Szájer did, writing, "The strenuous give-and-take of participating daily in the political struggle has become an ever-greater burden, and those who are on the battlefield must be fit for combat."

Reports that Szájer was participated in the illegal sex party suggest his resignation two days later was motivated by an impending scandal rather than the strenuousness of his parliamentary duties.

In his statement, Szájer did not confirm the nature of the party, and denied using drugs.

"I didn’t use drugs, I offered to the police on the spot to have an official test done, but they didn’t do one. Police said an ecstasy pill was found. It’s not mine, I don’t know who placed it or how. I made a statement to the police about this," he wrote.

However, a Tuesday press release from the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Brussels noted that "a passerby reported to police that he had seen a man flee down the drainpipe; he could point out this man. The man had bloody hands, he may have injured himself in the flight. Narcotics were found in his backpack. This man could not provide any identity documents. He was escorted to his place of residence, where he identified himself on the basis of a diplomatic passport as S. J. (° 1961) ... An official report was also prepared of drug law violations for Mr. S.J. The procedure is ongoing." (József Szájer, whose initials may be indicated in the prosecutor's press release as "S.J.", was born in 1961.)

Szájer was a founding member of Fidesz and one of the chief architects of Hungary's new constitution adopted by the party's supermajority in 2011. He claimed to have written much of the document on an iPad. The constitution included new passages that define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Critics of the constitution said it enshrined Fidesz's conservative Christian worldview into Hungary's laws, and made references in its preamble to the "nation-preserving role of Christianity" and the protection of Hungary's Christian culture.

Following his resignation on Sunday, the Fidesz-KDNP delegation to the European Parliament thanked Szájer "for playing a crucial role in enabling Hungarian civic conservatism and Christian democracy to take their rightful place on the European political scene."

"I am sorry that I have violated the rules on social gatherings, it was irresponsible on my part and I will take the penalties for that,” Szájer closed his statement.

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Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki met in Budapest Thursday to discuss the European Union's €1.8 trillion seven-year budget and coronavirus recovery package, which hit a roadblock after the two countries vetoed its adoption in Brussels last week.

The leaders affirmed that they will continue to oppose any provisions of the budget plan which would link the disbursal of EU funds to rule of law criteria. The Hungarian government has argued such conditions are arbitrary and would require amendments to EU treaties, and made spurious accusations that they are an attempt to force Hungary to accept immigrants.

According to a joint statement by Orbán and Morawiecki, they propose a "two-track process" to limit the scope of budgetary conditionality while holding negotiations in the European Council on whether a such a link should be established.

"We have decided to align our positions on these issues. Neither Poland, nor Hungary will accept any proposal that is deemed unacceptable by the other," their joint statement reads.

In an interview with German weekly Die Zeit published Wednesday, Orbán accused the European Parliament of retroactively adding the rule of law conditions following a July budget agreement he said didn't include them. (Rule of law linkage was included in the EP's July budget agreement - ed.)

Orbán said decisions on the rule of law should be postponed until after the budget and recovery package were settled.

But some European leaders insist that the rule of law mechanism is non-negotiable. On Wednesday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Hungary and Poland should end their veto of the budget and take their complaints to the European Court of Justice. The rule of law provisions only apply to cases that threaten the EU budget, she said, adding, "It is very difficult to imagine anybody in Europe who would possibly have anything against that principle."

Orbán's decision to veto the economic package was also met with resistance in the European People's Party, the European conservative political family of which Fidesz is a suspended member.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the EPP, called Poland and Hungary's veto "irresponsible," and denied claims that the rule of law mechanism would be used as a tool of political pressure.

On the weekend, Weber told a Belgian newspaper that were it not for the coronavirus pandemic, the EPP would have already voted Fidesz out of the party family. EPP members are increasingly impatient over Orbán's veto of the budget, which has cost him a loss of support within the group, Weber said. (Fidesz was suspended from the EPP in March 2019 over violations of the party family's democratic values.)

Hungary and Poland are the two largest net beneficiaries of EU cohesion funds, and the only two EU member states to have Article 7 proceedings launched against them for breaches of democratic standards.

Amendment to election law could further burden opposition parties

The parliamentary justice committee voted 8-4 on Tuesday to approve an amendment to election law that would further narrow the path to victory for Hungary's opposition parties in 2022 elections.

If passed by the Fidesz supermajority in Parliament, the proposal, submitted by independent MP János Volner (formerly of Jobbik and the Mi Hazánk Movement), would increase the number of constituencies where parties must field candidates in order for them to form a national party list.

Currently, parties must field candidates in at least 27 of Hungary's 106 constituencies to form a party list. But the proposed changes would increase that number to 71 constituencies, and bump the minimum number of counties where candidates must be fielded from nine to 14.

The proposed changes come after a similar bill was submitted at one minute before midnight on November 10 by Justice Minister Judit Varga, which proposed raising the minimum number of constituencies to 50.

Government officials have argued that the changes are necessary to clamp down on fake parties taking advantage of state subsidies for electoral campaigns, but it is unclear why two amendments were proposed.

If passed, the measures would force the six largest opposition parties to form a single national list. The opposition has already committed to coordinating candidates in each of the 106 constituencies to ensure that only one opposition candidate runs against the Fidesz candidate. But the multiparty negotiations have been accompanied by internal disagreements over whether to present a single common list.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said at a press conference on November 12 that the changes had "nothing in the world to do" with the opposition's strategy to unite against Fidesz in 2022 national elections.

Human rights commissioner urges Hungarian parliament to delay vote on draft bills

The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner has urged Hungary's Parliament to postpone a vote on several draft bills - including constitutional amendments - submitted last week by governing party officials, arguing they "could have serious adverse effects on human rights in the country."

Dunja Mijatović said on Friday that a vote on the measures should be delayed until after the coronavirus state of emergency is lifted, and following broad consultations on the legislation with the Hungarian public.

“I fear that several proposals contained in the complex legislative package, submitted without prior consultation and relating to matters including the functioning of the judiciary, election law, national human rights structures, scrutiny over public funds, and the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people, could serve to undermine democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Hungary,” Mijatović said.

(Read about the contents of the draft bills in our article from last week by clicking here.)

The commissioner said she was "alarmed by the apparent escalation of the stigmatisation of LGBTI people and the manipulation of their dignity and rights for political gain." She criticized the proposal to disallow single people or same-sex couples from adopting children, and the mechanism for exceptional authorization which would be held by Minister for Family Affairs Katalin Novák.

Mijatović also raised concerns over a proposal to merge Hungary's Equal Treatment Authority into the office of the Ombudsman. While member states have some discretion to organise their national human rights structures as they see fit, it is crucial that in doing so they respect fundamental principles agreed on at the international level, especially the need to guarantee and respect the independence and effectiveness of such bodies, she said.

Hospitalizations, deaths increase as lockdown enters third week

The number of hospitalizations and coronavirus patients on ventilators continues to increase, each breaking records on Wednesday when 7,718 people were being treated in hospitals and 656 were on ventilators. Those figures dropped slightly on Thursday.

A major jump in new cases was registered on Thursday with 6,360, the second highest number of daily new cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The difference between new cases registered on Wednesday and Thursday was the highest two-day jump yet, and came even as the number of tests decreased between Wednesday and Thursday, continuing a downward testing trend. (Later on Thursday, the government's official coronavirus webpage quietly added nearly 14,000 tests to the daily data. This brought the number of daily tests to 31,879, a record - ed.)

Updated statistics from the Central Statistical Office showed a sharp increase in total deaths in Hungary during the last week of October. Between October 26-November 1, 3,027 people died in Hungary, an increase of 641 deaths (27%) over the five-year average of previous years.

On Saturday, 121 coronavirus-related deaths were confirmed by the emergency task force, the highest since the start of the pandemic.

A regulation went into effect Tuesday providing seniors aged 65 and over with a two hour daily window to do their shopping at grocery stores, pharmacies and drugstores.

Shopping will be restricted to elderly patrons from 9-11 a.m. on weekdays and 8-10 a.m. on weekends. In announcing the new measure in a Facebook video on Monday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the elderly may shop at other hours of the day, but would have exclusive use of stores during the relevant period.

"It's clear from the pandemic statistics that the age group of our parents and grandparents continues to be the most at risk," Orbán said. "We must primarily protect them."

The new measures were the first to be taken since lockdown restrictions went into effect two weeks ago. While the average number of daily new cases has stagnated in recent days, the number of daily tests has also seen a decrease, potentially distorting the number of new cases.

George Clooney spars with Hungarian government, Soros suspected

Several rounds of verbal sparring between the Hungarian government and American actor George Clooney reached the news this week after Clooney made a brief criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

In an interview with the American GQ magazine, Clooney described the filming of his post-apocalyptic film Midnight Sky and made mention of Orbán as a purveyor of hate and anger.

“We weren’t in the middle of a pandemic when it happened, but there were still all these other elements, these elements of how much hate and anger all of us are experiencing in this moment of history, all over the world," Clooney said. "Go to Bolsonaro in Brazil, or Orbán in Hungary. Look around. Lots of anger and hate.”

Clooney's comments sparked a considerable backlash: a news report by the public broadcaster alleged it was well-known that Clooney was "a close friend of the Soros family." As evidence, the broadcaster published a photograph of Clooney and George Soros' son Alex taken at the World Economic Forum.

Some pro-government commentators suspected that Clooney's criticism of Orbán was nothing more than the actor pushing Soros' pro-immigration agenda.

"There has been a dispute over immigration between Soros and the Hungarian government for years. Soros uses every opportunity to attack the Hungarian government, and it is rather disappointing that there are people, even non-political people, who execute Soros' political intentions,” spokesman for the Government Information Center Örs Farkas told the public broadcaster.

Even government ministers wouldn't let Clooney's words go unanswered. Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó said that while "we like George Clooney as an actor," his "historical and political knowledge is somewhat limited."

Justice Minister Judit Varga invited Clooney for a coffee, where she offered to "inform him about the real situation of Hungarian rule of law."

Clooney denied charges that he was close friends with Soros, and said he had only met the Hungarian-American billionaire once.

"The Orbán propaganda machine is lying, full stop," Clooney wrote. “I would be ashamed if I were not on record for speaking out against the kind of authoritarianism (typical of) the Orbán regime.”

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A series of sudden and transformative legal changes were proposed late Tuesday as Hungarians waited for the government to provide details on the strictest pandemic lockdown measures yet imposed.

Parliament passed a bill Tuesday extending a state of emergency for 90 days and enacting new lockdown restrictions, which include an overnight curfew after 8 p.m.. moving high schools and universities to digital education, limiting restaurants to home delivery and closing shops at 7 p.m. (Read more details on the restrictions in our previous article here.)

Cities of over 10,000 may also mandate mask-wearing in public places as part of the measures. The lockdown will be in force for at least 30 days.

While the bill passed Tuesday afternoon with support from the opposition, details on the new rules were not published in the Magyar Közlöny, the government's official gazette, until 10:30 p.m., 90 minutes before they went into effect.

As Hungarians waited for information on what changes were coming to their lives the following day, Justice Minister Judit Varga submitted a proposal to amend Hungary's constitution, known as the Fundamental Law, in an apparent attempt to curtail the rights of LGBTQ people and to exempt public foundations run by government allies from scrutiny over their use of public funds.

Then, at one minute before midnight, Varga submitted another bill which would alter Hungary's election law, making it more difficult for opposition parties to enact their strategy of uniting against Fidesz in 2022 elections.

Here's a breakdown of the proposed changes and what they could mean for Hungary if they are passed, as expected, by Fidesz's supermajority in Parliament.

Constitutional amendments on family, gender and public funds

The draft bill proposing what would be the 9th amendment to the Hungarian constitution, written in 2011 by the second Orbán government, would enshrine religious doctrine in matters of marriage, gender and childrearing. The first paragraph of the constitution would retain a passage defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but would add language amending the legal definition of the family.

"The basis of the family is marriage and/or the parent-child relationship. The mother is a woman and the father is a man," the bill reads.

The passage would effectively bar same-sex couples from marrying or adopting children, and represents an unprecedented incursion into the nature of family life by the Hungarian government. (A separate bill submitted by Judit Varga on Tuesday would make changes to Hungary's laws on adoption, requiring that only married couples may adopt children unless granted personal special permission by Minister for Family Affairs Katalin Novák. This law could potentially prohibit not only same-sex couples but also unmarried individuals and unmarried straight couples from adopting children.)

Another change would enshrine a religious conservative conception of gender, and endow the state with the responsibility of instilling national and Christian values in children. It reads, "Hungary protects children's right to the gender identity they were born with and ensures their upbringing based on our national self-identification and Christian culture.”

In justifying the amendments, the draft bill states that “the ‘modern’ set of ideas which relativizes all traditional values, including the creation of two sexes (a woman and a man), is cause for increasing concern.” The text can thus be read as a constitutional rejection of non-conforming gender identities.

In an article for 444 on Thursday, Eszter Neuberger outlined how these legal changes serve only to further marginalize sexual minorities in Hungary, and represent a culmination of recent anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legal maneuvers by government figures.

Additional amendments would redefine public funds as the revenues, expenditures and claims of the state, a narrow conception of public money which could allow for its misuse. If passed, the amendment could lead to public endowments to foundations set up by the government losing their legal status as public funds, allowing those foundations to use the money as they please without accountability to taxpayers and exempting them from public scrutiny or regulation.

Many such foundations, including the Matthias Corvinus Collegium Foundation (MCC) and numerous foundations of the Hungarian National Bank, were set up and run by figures connected to the governing party (and in some cases, government ministers and state secretaries), and have received massive endowments from the state. They are also in possession of major stock shares (such as 10% of shares of the state-owned energy company MOL and pharmaceutical company Richter, in the case of MCC) and substantial real estate assets.

Numerous universities have also been put under the control of foundations created by the government, including the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SzFE). The quasi-privatization led to a strike by professors and a 70-day blockade of the university by students.

The amendment would also require a two-thirds vote in Parliament to create, liquidate or change the operation or staffing composition of any such public foundations, ensuring that in the case of a change of government, existing foundations run by Fidesz-connected actors would retain control of their assets and leaders. These amendments would effectively constitutionalize the transfer of public wealth to the hands of recipients chosen by the governing party and eliminate any means for transparency or redress.

The timing of the proposed changes - one minute before new pandemic rules went into effect amid record-setting COVID deaths and hospitalizations - was criticized by opposition parties and other observers.

In an email to InsightHungary, a government spokesperson wrote that "the timing for the submission of the amendment is unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic."

But on Tuesday, Minister for Family Affairs Katalin Novák wrote on Facebook that "the constitutional amendment became necessary because of the coronavirus pandemic."

Changes to election law

At one minute before midnight on Tuesday, Justice Minister Judit Varga submitted a draft bill which would amend Hungarian election law to drastically disadvantage opposition parties in executing their strategy of unifying against Fidesz in 2022 elections.

The bill stipulates that only those parties which run a candidate in at least 50 of Hungary's 106 constituencies may field a national party voting list. While the official justification for the changes is prevention of pseudo-parties from running in elections, the move appears designed to hinder the opposition parties' declared intentions to unite behind a single joint candidate in each individual constituency.

If the law passes, this would force the parties to either abandon their strategy of running a single opposition candidate against each Fidesz candidate (a strategy which showed signs of effectiveness in 2019 local elections and at a by-election in February), or to unite in fielding a maximum of two party lists.

Still, the logistics of holding primaries to choose a candidate in each of the 106 constituencies and other election regulations would make fielding two lists nearly impossible. The bill, if passed, would therefore essentially force the opposition parties to overcome their ideological differences and mount a single national list in 2022, itself a task fraught with potential pitfalls.

The proposed changes to the law were seen by some observers as an attempt by the Orbán government (which itself authored the election law in 2011) to further tilt the playing field to its own advantage. In recent months, Viktor Orbán was said to have predicted a "near tie" in the 2022 elections, and electoral successes by the opposition last year may have led to broader anxiety within the governing party over a potential opposition win.

In October, Orbán's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás told reporters that the government did not plan any "significant changes" to the election law before 2022.

In a joint statement reacting to the draft bills, the opposition parties wrote,

"One of Orbán's desperate steps was to submit a draft proposal on changing the election law - without consultations, a year and a half before Parliamentary elections, and in a completely anti-democratic fashion. This too goes to show that Orbán doesn't feel safe even in the election system which he himself wrote for his own benefit ... Viktor Orbán has once and for all become unfit for his office. We demand that he withdraw the draft bills, and spend the rest of his time in office without stealing or dirty tricks."

Additional pandemic restrictions

In addition to the new lockdown rules Viktor Orbán detailed in a Facebook video on Monday (read about them here) the official legal order contained several other details:

• those present in a public area after the 8 p.m. curfew must prove with a written declaration signed by their employer that they are either working or commuting to or from work. Dog owners may walk their pets after 8 p.m. within a 500 meter distance of their homes, and professional athletes may attend training sessions within the curfew period.
• all businesses except pharmacies and gas stations must close at 7 p.m., and may re-open no earlier than 5 a.m.
• all events are banned, including cultural events and Christmas markets
• religious services may be held according to the decisions of the congregation, and participants are asked to observe mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines
• individual outdoor sports are permitted
• Use of recreational facilities is forbidden, including gyms, indoor swimming pools, museums, libraries, cinemas, zoos and skating rinks

The Hungarian army will assist police in enforcing curfew regulations and will patrol public areas. Infractions of mask-wearing and curfew rules or limits on gatherings can result in a fine of between 5,000-500,000 forints (€14-1,400).

Businesses which violate regulations can receive fines between 100,000-1 million forints (€280-2,800), and be closed for between one day and one year. Fines may not be appealed.

Public transportation will be free for healthcare workers and for medical students participating in the pandemic defence effort.

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Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó addressed American presidential candidate Joe Biden in a video to social media Saturday, chiding the Democratic politician for comments he made at a town hall event last week suggesting Hungary was a "totalitarian regime".

In the video, Szijjártó called Biden's words "unfair and unworthy," and urged him to address recent unconfirmed allegations that Biden's son benefitted from his previous status as the U.S. vice president to secure a well-paid position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

"You see what's happening in everything from Belarus to Poland to Hungary and the rise of totalitarian regimes in the world and this president embraces all the thugs in the world," said @JoeBiden at his town hall event last night pic.twitter.com/Ix8R8bhQNc

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 16, 2020

"It would be good if Joe Biden would answer some questions that have been hanging in the air for some time before he begins dealing with Central Europe again," Szijjártó said, suggesting that Biden had used his political influence as vice president to further his son's corrupt business dealings.

Szijjártó also demanded answers for "why [Biden] put pressure on the Ukrainian government...so that it would dismiss the Ukrainian chief prosecutor," referencing a theory embraced by U.S. President Donald Trump that Biden forced the firing of the prosecutor in order to bring an end to corruption investigations involving the company where his son worked.

The foreign minister also condemned Biden's time spent as vice president in the Obama administration, saying it had placed Central Europe under "constant accusations and attacks," and that members of the United States' foreign mission in Hungary had expressed "extremely one-sided, politically biased opinions" to attack the government and support the opposition.

The minister's rebuke reflects the governing party's belief that Trump will win U.S. elections on November 3. Prime Minister Viktor endorsed Trump in September, and in an interview expressed his optimism that Trump would be re-elected, saying he had "no plan B".

Szijjártó's allegations of corruption came after he was photographed in August vacationing aboard a luxury yacht owned by an oligarch that is a frequent beneficiary of lucrative government contracts. Szijjártó refused to answer questions related to whether he had paid for use of the yacht or received it as a gift, insisting it was a "private matter".

Hungary could be at Czechia's heels as coronavirus deaths break records

Coronavirus-related deaths continue to rise rapidly in Hungary as a record 48 people died of the virus on Wednesday and 46 on Thursday. More Hungarians have died since September 28 than during the entire period of the pandemic up to that point, and those being treated in hospital rose to 2,023, doubling the highest number from the spring's first wave.

Daily coronavirus deaths and total cumulative coronavirus deaths

Despite deteriorating conditions, the Hungarian government has not introduced any major new restrictions to contain the virus, even as its neighbors in the region impose strict measures.

On September 26, Viktor Orbán told TV2 that he "doesn't really understand Czechia, where conditions have gone wild and the numbers are somehow out of control." At that time, Czechia had 1,976 new daily cases and ten deaths (numbers for which the Czech health minister resigned), far fewer than the number of daily deaths registered in Hungary for the last two weeks.

With the exception of the decision to close Hungary's borders to most foreign travellers (with an allowance for citizens of Czechia, Slovakia and Poland) and the closure of bars and restaurants at 11 p.m., the government has taken none of the measures imposed by neighboring countries to slow the spread of the virus. In Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Slovenia, national governments have:

• closed theatres, cinemas, restaurants and spas, and banned mass gatherings
• initiated digital education in schools
• closed sporting events to spectators
• introduced mandatory mask-wearing in public areas, instituted curfews, and limited the size of social gatherings to 6-10 people

Czechia, where the pandemic situation is among the worst in Europe, has closed schools, restaurants and clubs and suspended cultural and sporting events. The country also ordered all non-essential shops and services to close until November 1, and has requested the assistance of foreign doctors and nurses in its overburdened hospitals.

The number of weekly deaths in Czechia was at Hungary's current levels during the first week of October, and has since risen to as many as 100 per day, suggesting Hungary could be around two weeks behind the country if no additional action is taken.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Orbán told opposition MPs that their criticisms of the government's pandemic policy amounted to "attacking the epidemiological experts and doctors" that advise the government.

But the government's advisers have routinely called for additional restrictions and an increase in testing. A permanent board of healthcare professionals urged a tightening of restrictions in mid-August, but Orbán refused. The head of the government's coronavirus research group, virologist Dr. Ferenc Jakab, has consistently warned that failing to impose more serious prevention measures would result in drastic increases in infections and deaths.

Speaking to 444's Dániel Pál Rényi, an analyst at a government-tied think tank described the relationship between the government and epidemiological experts as having become "cynical" in recent weeks, and politicians are said to have begun ignoring scientists during meetings of the Emergency Task Force, causing tensions.

In his speech opening Parliament's autumn session, Orbán said, "Who believes doctors and mathematicians and how much is a matter of taste," referring to worst-case-scenario projections by the government's own epidemiological advisors.

Investigation launched over Chinese company gathering data on Orbán, other leading politicians

A Chinese company with connections to the Chinese government gathered data on hundreds of Hungarians, including Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, one of his daughters, previous Hungarian prime ministers, and leading Fidesz and opposition politicians and their families, Szabad Európa reports.

The database, which leaked in September, contains mostly publicly-available data on around 2.5 million people worldwide, of which around 10 percent could be analyzed by an Australian company. Of those 250,000 names, more than 700 are Hungarians, including two dozen current politicians including Viktor Orbán, Justice Minister Judit Varga, Fidesz national party director Gábor Kubatov, Fidesz communications director István Hollik, Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi, MSZP co-chair Ágnes Kunhalmi, MSZP party director and member of the national security committee Zsolt Molnár, as well as several current and former diplomats, current and former heads of state companies and institutions, and others.

RTL Klub reports that police have launched an investigation into the data collection, and the National Bureau of Investigations has begun a procedure over misuse of personal data. Military intelligence will report on the matter before the National Security Committee on Tuesday.

Telex reports that while there is no proof the Chinese company was working directly for the state, it may have been collecting the data in an attempt to sell it to the Chinese government and intelligence services.

October 23 celebrations cancelled, protests scheduled

Official celebrations of the 64th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution on Friday will be limited to a ceremonial flag-raising on Kossuth Square in Budapest and the awarding of state honors. Citing coronavirus concerns, the government has asked state bodies and local governments to avoid holding mass gatherings.

Two protests will be held on the national holiday, including a march organized by students of the University of Film and Theatre Arts (SzFE), who have occupied the university since late August in protest of government-imposed changes to its leadership structure. The march will begin on the Műegyetem Rakpart on the Danube and proceed across Szabadság Bridge to the SzFE campus on Vas Street.

A blockade of the headquarters of state media conglomerate MTVA, proposed in September by independent politicians Bernadett Szél and Ákos Hadházy, is also planned for the national holiday. The MPs initially hoped for 100,000 participants at the protest, where they said they would demand the abolition of paid government advertisements in media and the appointment of an MTVA chairperson suitable to the opposition.

But ATV reports that none of the opposition parties plan to officially participate in the demonstration, with some referring to coronavirus concerns and others saying they plan to attend the SzFE march.

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The internet connection in two campus buildings of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SzFE) in Budapest was cut on Tuesday as students, who have occupied the university since late August, held a student forum.

The move came after the university's newly-appointed chancellor, former military Colonel Gábor Szarka, issued a statement declaring that the university's government-appointed leadership considers the occupation and ongoing teachers' strike "finished", and threatened to cut off infrastructural and financial resources to the campus. On Wednesday, Szarka said in an interview that he personally cut the internet connection to the campus, and that it will remain off between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. each day.

All students and faculty will be required to sign a statement on whether they are willing to work with the university's new leadership, the statement continues.

In a separate communiqué, Szarka wrote that he has "banned all cooperation with university occupiers and their supporters," and threatened university employees with firing if they do not distance themselves from the protesters. He also prohibited the use of audio and video recording devices on the campus.

"I will go as far as I can to bring an end to this kind of internal anarchy," Szarka said.

SzFE teachers and students consider the chancellor and government-appointed board of directors to be illegitimate, and have demanded the reinstatement of the university's democratically-elected senate and guarantees for its autonomy. The student blockade has not allowed any members of the new leadership to enter the campus buildings since the occupation began on August 31.

Attila Vidnyánszky, the chairman of the new board of directors, said on Tuesday that classes and administrative tasks would be moved to another location if students do not end the blockade.

Students called a protest march for October 23 to begin on the banks of the Danube at Műegyetem Rakpart, the site of a student demonstration which kicked off the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

"On October 23, 1956, brave university students mobilized for what they believed," the students wrote. "They stood up for the freedom of the individual and the community. Let us remember that we can achieve anything if we act together."

Fidesz retains supermajority with victory in by-election

The governing Fidesz party retained its two-thirds majority in Parliament on Sunday when Zsófia Koncz, Fidesz's candidate in a by-election in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, won the contentious race against the candidate of the united opposition.

Koncz, 30, who was running for the seat left empty by her father after he died in a motorcycle accident in July, took 50.87 percent of the vote, defeating the opposition candidate László Bíró who received 45.9 percent. Turnout was near 45 percent.

Both Fidesz and the opposition parties campaigned heavily in the region as the governing party sought to maintain its mathematical supermajority in Parliament. The race was viewed as a testing ground for the opposition's strategy of uniting behind a single candidate to run against Fidesz, a method which produced significant gains for the parties in municipal elections last year.

Biró, a member of the right-wing Jobbik party, ran as the joint candidate of MSZP, Momentum, Democratic Coalition, Dialogue and LMP. Jobbik was unable to nominate Biró as its candidate after Fidesz filed a complaint over an administrative technicality that ultimately reached the Curia, Hungary's highest court.

Biró was criticized for anti-Semitic comments he made on Facebook two years ago, and was denounced by Roma activist Jenő Setét for making anti-Roma remarks. Fidesz officials and pro-government media frequently criticized the liberal opposition parties for supporting Biró in light of his comments. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, as well as the presidents of Jobbik, Momentum and MSZP campaigned in the district on Biró's behalf.

Following the election, independent MP and anti-corruption specialist Ákos Hadházy revealed that Biró was implicated in a corruption scheme involving misused EU funds. The revelation angered opposition leaders, and MSZP vice-president Ágnes Kunhalmi said Hadházy was "weakening us against Fidesz." Biró has denied the allegations.

Numerous government ministers and other high-ranking officials campaigned for Koncz, including Justice Minister Judit Varga, minister of family affairs Katalin Novák, Viktor Orbán's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás and Fidesz caucus president Máté Kocsis. Her campaign reportedly spent more than HUF 5 million (€14,000) on Facebook ads alone, exceeding total spending allowed for all campaigning. Opposition politicians supporting Biró also complained that Fidesz gave out sacks of potatoes to voters and held a discount food market in the days before the election.

Koncz was previously vice-president of Fidesz's youth wing Fidelitas, and worked since 2017 at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Hungary passes 1,000 coronavirus deaths as rate of testing remains low

Record-breaking coronavirus deaths were registered on each of the last three days as 29 people lost their lives to the disease on Thursday, a daily record. A total of 1,052 Hungarians have died of coronavirus-related causes since the beginning of the pandemic.

Nearly half of total deaths have come in the last six weeks as new cases, hospitalizations and positive test rates dwarf spring numbers. While Hungary's death rate per 1 million inhabitants remains relatively low when measured from the beginning of the pandemic, more recent figures indicate that the virus is spreading uncontrolled: Hungary has the fourth worst daily rate in Europe behind Czechia, Romania and Spain since September 1, the beginning of the "second wave".

The total number of deaths in Hungary surpassed those in Austria on October 3, and has continued to climb at a sharply higher rate than the neighboring country.

The true number of confirmed cases is likely significantly higher than the official count due to continued low levels of testing. Recommendations by the World Health Organization to keep the rate of positive tests below 5 percent have not been met since September 11, reflecting insufficient testing. The rate of positive tests has moved between 10 and 14 percent since the end of September.

The number of weekly tests has declined since September 20, something epidemiologist Beatrix Oroszi said was likely due to Hungary's testing capacity having reached its limit. The number of confirmed daily cases is no longer a reliable indicator of the spread of the virus since the rate of testing is only capable of discovering 800-1,200 cases per day, she said, adding that wearing masks, social distancing and limiting physical contact are the only options now available for slowing the virus' spread.

But the government has been reluctant to introduce restrictions like banning mass events or introducing distance learning in schools, even as several teachers have died in recent weeks.

Budapest district prohibits construction of permanent housing for homeless

The district council of the Budapest neighborhood of Soroksár passed a resolution on Tuesday prohibiting the construction of a three-unit apartment building meant to provide permanent housing for homeless people.

Construction of the small building would have taken place on an empty lot purchased this year by the From Streets to Homes Association, a housing rights group that assists homeless persons move into permanent housing. The three units would have housed 5-7 people, and the organization took steps to ensure the building fit the district's aesthetic character.

Leaflets distributed in the district by an unknown organization suggested a homeless shelter was being planned for the site, while the Streets to Homes Association's founding mission is to provide permanent housing for the homeless rather than relying on shelters.

The Soroksár district council justified its decision to block new construction in the area surrounding the planned development by referring to a "disturbing effect on the suburban residential environment" which could have "unpredictable health and hygiene consequences”.

Members of the press, as well as Streets to Homes Association founder Vera Kovács and other group representatives, were told by security guards that they could not attend the district council's Tuesday session due to coronavirus concerns. The organization has signalled it would negotiate with the council on the terms of an exchange for the purchased lot, saying it no longer considers it safe for tenants to move into the property "since strong tensions were fomented against our organization."

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A 39-year-old teacher at a primary and secondary school died on Saturday from complications arising from a coronavirus infection, but has still not appeared on the government's official list of deceased persons.

The victim first experienced symptoms on September 17, and several days later was placed in a hospital where he tested positive for the coronavirus. He was put in intensive care in the hospital's coronavirus ward, and was later placed on a ventilator. The man died on October 3, 12 days after arriving in hospital.

The patient's final medical report gives his cause of death as respiratory and multiorgan failure induced by SARS-2 COVID, the disease caused by the coronavirus. However, as of Thursday, the death has not been registered in the government's daily official tally of the deceased.

Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Müller said at a daily press conference on Thursday that the Emergency Task Force was aware of the teacher's death, but that identifying the man's cause of death was still "in process".

"We really try to give only valid, adequate information to you all," Müller said, adding that the Emergency Task Force would request the patient's final medical report and death certificate in order to determine his true cause of death and any underlying conditions. If the death can be attributed to the coronavirus, she said, "it will obviously be placed on the list among the other deaths."

The National Teachers' Trade Union issued a statement on Thursday expressing its sympathy with the teacher's family, and demanded that the government take immediate action to ensure the health and safety of educators.

"It's clearer now than ever that the government has left public education institutions and their workers on their own, sacrificing them because it wants to push the economy," the union wrote. "Still, in many cases, it has not created the conditions for working safely."

The number of coronavirus deaths in Hungary broke springtime records three days in a row this week, peaking at 24 on Wednesday and bringing the total number of deaths to 898. The percentage of positive tests moved between 10 and 14 percent for most of the week, dropping to 8 percent on Thursday, still well above the 5 percent recommended by the World Health Organization. The high rates are due to inadequate testing.

EU Court of Justice: Lex CEU violated European law

The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that amendments to Hungary's law on higher education made in 2017, which forced the Budapest-based Central European University (CEU) to move most of its operations out of Hungary, are incompatible with EU law.

The decision came as the U.S.-chartered university has already spent some €200 million moving most of its operations to Vienna despite widespread public outcry and a drawn-out conflict with the Hungarian government over its right to remain in the country. The university's founder, Hungarian-born American billionaire George Soros, said that while the decision requires that the legislation known as lex-CEU be abolished, “We cannot return to Hungary, because its prevailing laws don’t meet the requirements of academic freedom.”

CEU rector Michael Ignatieff said at a press conference in Vienna on Tuesday that while the university considers the Austrian capital its new home, its Budapest campus would be used to host programs including the CEU Democracy Institute.

In its ruling, the EU court declared that conditions imposed on foreign higher education institutions by the 2017 legislation did not live up to Hungary's commitments to agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as European agreements including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The law violated rules on academic freedom, freedom of establishment and the free movement of services, the court wrote.

In response to the ruling, Hungary's governing Fidesz party issued a statement declaring that the "Soros network and the pro-immigration Hungarian left wing are using every forum and means against our homeland". Justice Minister Judit Varga reacted by saying the decision was "unacceptable", and that laws cannot be passed that give the "Soros university" advantages over Hungarian institutions.

The government will carry out the European Court's ruling "in accordance with the interests of the Hungarian people," Varga said.

The timing of the court's decision drew criticism from some observers who argued the European Union had acted too late to save CEU from expulsion, and that it should have issued an injunction against the legislation while the court considered the case. Hungarian MEP Katalin Cseh told Euronews that the court's decision was "too little, too late", adding, "Justice delayed is justice denied."

SZFE students prevent newly-appointed chancellor from entering blockaded campus

Students of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SzFE) in Budapest blocked the university's new chancellor, military officer Col. Gábor Szarka, from entering the campus Thursday morning after the chancellor issued an ultimatum for ending the students' weeks-long blockade.

Szarka, a mechanized infantry officer and former Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defense, was appointed chancellor in early October by the university's recently installed board of directors, which students and professors have rejected and consider a government attack on the university's autonomy.

On Monday, Szarka offered pay raises to striking professors and impunity for students who have occupied the campus since late August in exchange for ending the strike and blockade by Wednesday at midnight. His offer also stated that failure to comply with the deadline could result in the suspension of the academic semester.

Students rejected the offer, saying they considered it an ultimatum by a governing body they consider illegitimate, and vowed to maintain their blockade and not allow any members of the university's new leadership to enter the campus until their demands for autonomy guarantees are met.

In an interview with Magyar Narancs, student representatives said that "we will probably have to be ready for more and more people trying to enter the building" following the expiration of the chancellor's ultimatum. They maintained their demand to negotiate with the Minister of Human Resources, adding that the university's government-appointed board of directors was selected "anti-democratically and illegitimately."

The chancellor has said he must enter the campus in order to pay salaries for some 150 university workers, but the university's payroll accountant told Telex.hu that Szarka's statement was "absurd", and that he could send wages from outside the campus.

In an interview with state radio on Tuesday, Szarka said that "violence and threats of violence" will not be used as a means to end the blockade, but that "protesters are terrorizing people inside [the campus], and debates are escalating to shouting, there is no unity at all." The colonel also wondered whether the student blockade had become "a dictatorship."

Pro-government newspaper accuses district mayor of planning corrupt contract with deceased father

"András Pikó would renovate district rental flats using his father's company."

That headline appeared in pro-government newspaper Magyar Nemzet on Tuesday in reference to a statement made by Budapest District VIII mayor András Pikó at a district council debate on anti-corruption strategy. At the meeting, the mayor accused Fidesz council members of a "culture of corruption" wherein oligarchs and family members of politicians are enriched through government contracts.

To illustrate his argument, Pikó said, "Let's say my father is a construction entrepreneur, he's the best, he could come here and renovate these [district properties]. You think there would be no problem with that, just like you think there's no problem with Viktor Orbán's father hauling rock from his own mines to build a highway." (An investigation has revealed that a company owned by Orbán's father provided stone for the expensive state-funded M4 highway construction project - ed.)

Magyar Nemzet later published Pikó's rhetorical comparison as a statement of fact, writing that the mayor intended to award a government contract to his father's construction company. In response, Pikó wrote on his Facebook page that awarding such a contract would be difficult since his father was a gardener and had been dead for several years.

"The other problem is that the culture of corruption that characterizes the ruling party is simply unthinkable in our political community," Pikó wrote.

Following Pikó's response, the newspaper changed the headline but did not issue a correction, writing instead, "András Pikó's words misled the press and everyone who observed the meeting. We published Pikó's words directly. If this hurt anyone, we're sorry."

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Russian president Vladimir Putin proudly announced on August 11 that a Russian laboratory had developed the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, which he said would provide effective and lasting immunity against the coronavirus.

Western news outlets reacted with scepticism, stressing that the treatment had not undergone clinical trials and that proof of its efficacy had not been demonstrated. But pro-government news outlets in Hungary began heralding the accomplishment, trumpeting claims by Putin and Russian state media that the vaccine had been proven effective and safe to use.

In the days that followed, dozens of articles in Hungarian outlets celebrated the breakthrough, proclaiming that world leaders like Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, Alexander Vucic of Serbia and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan were lining up for access to the Russian vaccine.

Social psychologist Dr. Péter Krekó, director of the Budapest-based think tank Political Capital, thinks the credulity of Hungary’s right-wing media toward Russia’s claims fit into a growing tendency to peddle both imported and homespun disinformation to Hungarian media consumers - creating conflicting narratives that disorient the population and lay the groundwork for pushing through authoritarian agendas.

These competing narratives create heightened polarization, a broad distrust in the media and an increasing susceptibility to conspiracy theories and fake news. In some cases, such social degeneration and disorientation is the goal itself of disinformation campaigns.

InsightHungary spoke to Dr. Krekó about modern disinformation in Hungary: its origins, aims, and political and social consequences for a small Central European country wedged between great powers.

Nothing is true, and everything is possible

InsightHungary: What is disinformation exactly, and how is it distinct from propaganda?

Dr. Péter Krekó: Disinformation contains pieces of information that the communicator knows are false, used in a context which creates a totally different picture of reality. It can be based on partially correct information, but uses it selectively to create a misleading picture of an issue. For example, Russian state-sponsored television gives a lot of attention to far-right protests in Europe, making it seem like they are the normal, everyday reality. They overemphasize these events to show their audience that Europe is full of neo-Nazis and fascists, while Russia in fact supports such parties through other means.

Propaganda, on the other hand, can be based on totally correct information. In propagandistic logic, only the outcome matters, not the process. Propaganda can best describe the communication strategy of the 20th century dictatorships. Its purpose is to take one message and beat it into people’s heads like a nail. Contemporary disinformation uses multiple messages at the same time, not to persuade the audience but to confuse them. As [British journalist and author] Peter Pomerantsev said, “Nothing is true and everything is possible.”

IH: So propaganda usually has an ideological root, but disinformation is non-ideological and is not meant to convince people, but to confuse them with contradictory information?

PK: I think everyone who uses disinformation these days is doing so from a post-ideological logic, even states that have their own ideology. I don’t think we can talk about Putin’s regime in Russia as non-ideological, their ideology is becoming more and more conservative. But when it comes to the export of disinformation, they are able to target the radical left, the radical right, anyone on the fringe, but also anyone in the mainstream. They are very flexible in how they are able to shape opinion.

Peter Pomerantsev told us at an event of the Political Capital institute that he had spoken to some Chinese spin doctors who were inspired by the works of Foucault and Derrida and the postmodern worldview where there is not one reality, but multiple realities. There are no facts, only interpretations. Modern disinformation is postmodern in the most extreme sense, not by philosophy but as an instrument of postmodernism meant to confuse the audience.

The West has lost its appeal

On August 20, at a ceremony in Budapest marking the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a speech that the “unquestionable supremacy of the peoples of Europe has come to an end.” Hungary has serious doubts, Orbán said, over whether the West - which believes in “the godless cosmos, rainbow families and the settling of migrants” - would be able to restore the European continent’s leading role in the world.

“In our eyes, the West has lost its appeal,” he said.

Orbán’s consistent condemnation of the liberal West follows a similar logic to Russian disinformation, Krekó says: if the ideals of Western democracy are discredited, then only strong leaders remain to prevent their countries from descending into chaos. Both Orbán and Putin propagate a narrative of disillusionment with Western democratic models - portraying them as floundering in existential decline - while novel approaches to governance like hybrid regimes or “illiberal” authoritarian democracies remain stable and prosperous.

These ‘sharp power’ tactics, Krekó says, undermine the political systems of a target country by calling into question their legitimacy or very existence.

PK: The term ‘sharp power’ is much more useful these days than the term ‘soft power’ because modern Russian disinformation campaigns are rarely about how fantastic Russia is. It’s different from the ridiculous Soviet propaganda of the Cold War era that painted an idealistic picture about how wonderful life in the USSR was. In today’s cynical times, you can confuse your audience into believing that Western politicians are as corrupt as Eastern politicians, that they too will give up their principles for money.

If you relativize and destroy the ideals of democracy, which have been the drivers of systemic change almost everywhere in the 21th century, under what flag can you go against the regime? If you have no competing ideals, the regime can be saved even if it's not popular, because there is no longer any alternative vision.

State-sponsored disinformation exists in the United States as well, but it’s more similar to misinformation. For example, when the U.S. administration spreads the suspicion that the coronavirus is manmade and originated from a Lab in Wuhan, contradicting U.S. intelligence services. Trump is a “conspiracy theorist-in-chief”, so the Western world is not ideal either, especially in its current shape. It does not mean though that Western, democratic countries use state-sponsored disinformation the same way that Eastern autocracies do.

IH: How does Hungary fit into this use of disinformation?

PK: Hungary incorporates elements from both 21st century disinformation methods, which are increasingly coming from the East, and 20th century propaganda logic, like the anti-Soros and anti-Brussels campaigns. Orbán wants to create an authoritarian regime within the Western alliances of NATO and the European Union while enjoying all the benefits of these institutions. He doesn’t want to leave them because he knows he has much more power inside than outside. But he gravitates to the East and receives more ideological inspiration from there. The West only appears in a negative context in his latest speeches.

Orbán always says that the West is basically over and that we are disillusioned with it and doing better than them. This is a similar logic to Russian disinformation: If you destroy the ideals of the West, then [these leaders are] the only ones that remain. His methods for taking over NGOs, political parties, and the media mostly come from Eastern authoritarian countries.

Russian and Chinese disinformation finds its way to the Hungarian public not through their own means but through Hungarian state media. [Outlets like pro-government website] Origo and Hungarian state television are doing a perfect job of spreading those narratives.

IH: Would you say state-funded outlets in Hungary are engaged in disinformation?

PK: In some cases, obviously. If you switch on Hungarian television, the overwhelming majority of news stories are about George Soros and illegal migration to Hungary, which is really a non-topic since the figures are ridiculously low. They sometimes address these issues using obvious fake news pieces, like the Swedish woman who turned out to be a criminal and a liar, or when they spread obvious disinformation about Donald Tusk’s grandfather when they knew it was not true. But of course, they do not correct their mistakes.

Russia Today (RT) is far more entertaining than Hungarian television, which is highly unprofessional and so obviously propagandistic that it becomes extremely boring. Still, it has a huge impact, especially on rural and older populations. Apart from very politically conscious groups, which is a small minority, many people are just digesting what is immediately accessible.

Migration Pandemic

In early March, on the first days following the appearance of the coronavirus in Hungary, the government insisted that a small group of Iranian university students were responsible for bringing the pandemic into the country, and that they had broken quarantine orders while being held in hospital. 13 students were ultimately deported for their alleged infractions, including some who had lived in Hungary for many years. Later decisions revoked most of the deportation orders, and genetic testing showed that the first cases of the virus in Hungary had come not from Iran, but from Europe.

Still, Viktor Orbán and other senior politicians later conflated the virus with illegal immigration, arguing there were “clear connections” between the two. From the beginning, Krekó says, such political framing of the coronavirus crisis received far more emphasis in government communication than healthcare policy solutions.

One example was the decision to close Hungary’s borders to nearly all foreign travelers after September 1- with the exception of Czech, Slovak and Polish citizens that had previously made travel arrangements. Krekó says that decision, uniquely severe in the EU and criticized by the European Commission, reflects Hungary’s anti-immigration ideology but has no real basis in epidemiological defense - especially in light of exceptions granted to football fans and sport hunters visiting the country.

PK: Closing the borders and making the V4 countries an exception are measures that are based on government-fuelled disinformation. Figures are not showing that V4 countries are doing better, so they are taking policy measures that totally contradict reality and fit in with anti-immigration ideology. Orbán wants to make Hungarian society much more closed, hostile to and afraid of foreigners, because this is what can make him strong. In a situation where everyone is afraid, it’s easier to whip up these sentiments. But the government is making so many exceptions that it seems that they do not even take their own decisions seriously.

IH: The government passed a “fake news” provision which made it a criminal offense to spread false or alarming information about the pandemic. How did this play into government communication about the coronavirus?

PK: [The government] had a very controversial coronavirus fear-mongering restriction, which I think could have been used for good. If there are sites that are spreading misinformation about Covid and trying to create a panic, I think there are legitimate arguments for restricting access to them. But the government mostly [sanctioned people] that were spreading fake news and disinformation about the government as well, so these had some political logic behind them. There are many anti-vaccination sites and movements in Hungary - mask deniers, celebrity doctors pushing conspiracy theories about Covid and so on. But the authorities didn't care and don’t care. It seems like it was more important to push the message that if you loudly criticize the government, police can come and take you away, and this was broadcast primetime and I think everyone got the message.

To the government's credit, unlike most right-wing populists like Bolsonaro, Trump, Salvini and many others, Orbán did not go into science denial. The messages are contradictory, but it’s not close to alternative reality that is being built up in the United States. Virus scepticism and anti-mask behavior are not in the political mainstream.

IH: Pro-government media seems very excited about the prospect of a Russian vaccine, which is supposedly complete. What do you think about this?

PK: The Russian vaccine is really widely promoted. It’s incredible but it fits this metanarrative that the West is done and the East is coming up and that Russia will save us. Orbán has been able to use this metanarrative for both the immigration crisis and the Covid crisis as well. The EU [coronavirus] aid package is substantial and we’ve already received a lot of money, but Orbán doesn’t acknowledge it. We also received a lot of gifts from China and the Turkic Council, and [Foreign Minister Péter] Szijjártó and Orbán said this proves our Eastern Opening policy is successful.

This is disinformation because Orbán obviously knows it's not true. He knows he needs EU money, and he knows that trade relations with Eastern countries are miniscule compared to what we have with Germany and other Western countries, but this is the narrative that he wants to build.

Politicians with autocratic tendencies that want to distance themselves from the West in order to be more autonomous ultimately find themselves entrapped by Eastern interests. Being part of the Western alliance gives you more security, which is why Orbán can still go further, but it’s dangerous. Orbán’s intention is to have more autonomy, but looking at the ways he has to defend China and Russia, I’m not sure that he will have the autonomy that he dreamt of.

Tribal myths

IH: You’ve written that populist leaders create political cultures which lead to polarized, tribal political groupings where people are willing to accept lies or distortions if they believe they advance their cause. How does this manifest in Hungary?

PK: The tribal logic appears here in a way that if you believe in the cause and know this is your tribe, then you have to use information as a weapon for the greater cause. It’s the mindset of the propagandist, which is nothing new. But something new in officially democratic contexts is that more and more voters are no longer interested in what the truth is as long as it serves them.

Fake news and disinformation exist because voters themselves, members of a political tribe, feel that they have some advantage: a psychological advantage because it serves their worldview, and a political advantage because it can advance the victory of their side. If there are no established facts and no debates, it eats up all fact-based policy discourse and value-based political discourse. This is not a Hungarian phenomenon, but I think it’s extremely dangerous and can be even more destructive.

In Hungary, George Soros is part of the tribal myth. Some Fidesz supporters know that Soros is not behind every bush, but they believe that this is what needs to be done. You don’t have to blindly believe all this information, and you might even have some scepticism, but you still repeat the same messages because you know it works.

IH: Does this kind of tribalism exist in the media as well?

PK: The idea has been pushed that there is no such thing as independent media, that it can’t exist. The self-definition of pro-government journalists these days is that they don’t even want to be independent because they say that independent journalism is a lie and hypocrisy. For most of them, their understanding of their jobs is that they are soldiers in a war. (The editor-in-chief of a pro-government internet site which receives state funding recently said in an interview, “I am not a journalist…I’m the leader of this community of fighters.” - ed.)

You can more easily be a propagandist with no moral constraints if you think that every narrative has a power background which is rooted in some kind of interest. This is, again, one of the core statements of the postmodernists.

The irony of all this is that postmodern political science, which originally aimed to reveal power structures from a new leftist, anti-globalist, anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian logic, has now turned out to be a deadly serious weapon in the hands of the enemies of freedom on the right.

IH: Has there been an increased susceptibility to conspiracy theories in Hungary in the past years?

PK: Absolutely, and all our polls show that. Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, anti-George Soros conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories are very strong in Hungarian society. Anti-governmental conspiracy theories are also very strong in the opposition camp. It’s a mindset which entraps everyone, though to a different extent.

Of course, if you say it's a conspiracy theory that Russian or Chinese interests come ahead of Hungarian interests in some governmental decisions, as an analyst I wouldn’t be able to totally contradict that.

Not every conspiracy theory is false, at least according to my definition. In increasingly authoritarian environments, you have more malign cooperative actions that are kept in secret between politicians, foreign players and businessmen. If you switch off independent institutions, weaken the constitution, destroy the independent press and attack NGOs, you can use your power in a more conspiratorial way. Conspiracy is part of politics.

This article is published as part of a project to promote independent digital media in Central and Eastern Europe funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and coordinated by Notes from Poland.

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Hungarian embassies in EU states for information related to trips taken to host countries by Hungarian journalists, according to a leaked document acquired by Telex.

The letter, sent in June by MFA deputy under-secretary József Magyar, asked the embassies to provide information on work trips, training courses or study visits by Hungarian journalists, as well as when the trips occurred and "what sort of media outlets' representatives have participated and what sort of local media outlets have they visited."

In response to Telex's questions on why such a list was necessary to compile and what purpose the information would serve, the ministry wrote that it "does everything necessary to avoid foreign influence in Hungarian internal matters, and in our experience, the Soros-network is usually behind such attacks."

In an interview on ATV, MFA state secretary for communication Tamás Menczer acknowledged that such a document had leaked, saying, "It looks like the Minister of Foreign Affairs hasn't fired enough people, because documents are still leaking." Menczer denied that the ministry was compiling a list of journalists, but claimed that "Soros organizations" such as Transparency International were cooperating with embassies in Budapest to organize training courses abroad.

"I was curious, because it's my job in the Foreign Ministry to deal with political issues, and I consider it a political issue if George Soros is financing media courses for left-wing journalists," Menczer said.

Responding to Menczer's comments, Transparency International pointed to its mentor program which provides training opportunities for students interested in journalism. The program, the organization wrote, is in cooperation with the embassies of the United States, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Switzerland, which in some cases support study trips for journalism students.

V4 leaders reject European Commission's migration plan

At a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Thursday, the leaders of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic rejected the migration policy overhaul the commission proposed on Wednesday. (Slovakia was represented by the Prime Minister of Poland at the meeting.)

The commission's plan, which would introduce a system of "mandatory solidarity" for all EU member states, proposes that those countries which do not want to accept a mandatory resettlement quota for asylum seekers could choose to execute and finance the deportation of people whose asylum requests have been rejected.

The plan also called for boosted border security and faster processing of asylum applications.

Following the meeting with Von der Leyen, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that the EU was trying to manage migration rather than stopping it, and argued that no asylum seekers should be allowed to cross into Europe without proper documentation. The EU should build refugee camps outside of Europe's borders, he said, and vowed that he would not accept any common asylum regulations that were not in line with Hungary's position on migration. (International law requires countries to process all applications for asylum submitted at their borders.)

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said he agreed with Orbán, adding that he would not accept a quota for accepting or deporting asylum seekers.

The European Commission said it had negotiated on the plan with all member states before making it public. But in addition to the V4 countries, the governments of Austria, Slovenia and Italy have expressed their dissatisfaction with the plan.

Thousands of fans to travel to Hungary for Thursday's Super Cup match in Budapest

The 2020 UEFA Super Cup will be held at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest Thursday as cases of the coronavirus in Hungary continue to break records and the number of deaths rise.

The football match between Bayern München and Sevilla will be the first UEFA tournament match played before spectators since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe.

Despite Hungary's border closures, 3,000 spectators from each team's supporters will be permitted into the country if they present a negative PCR test and leave the country within 72 hours. Some 2,100 German fans are expected to travel to Hungary for the match, despite the German government classifying Budapest as a high-risk area due to sharp increases in coronavirus cases. Germans returning home from Budapest will be required to enter quarantine.

Sevilla forfeited 2,500 tickets to the match, and said it would only bring 500 supporters.

The head of the Bayern München club Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told SkyTV that the club would cover the costs of PCR tests for fans traveling to Budapest for the match. The club's trainer Hansi Flick said he didn't agree with the decision to allow spectators at the match. "It's the kind of thing you can't completely understand, but we don't make the decisions," he said.

German television stations Sky and DANZ announced that for health and safety reasons they would not send journalists to Budapest to provide live commentary of the match.

The UEFA has decided that 30 percent of the 67,215-seat arena can be occupied by spectators. In a statement, the president of the European football association called the match in Budapest a "pilot test" for bringing spectators back to future playoff matches.

Hungary faces lack of specialists and technicians to operate ventilators, doctors say

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repeatedly emphasised that the government is prepared for the second wave of the coronavirus, saying the country is "armed to the teeth."

While the government purchased some 16,000 ventilators at a cost of €842 million, spending far more than any other European country, there is a serious lack of specialists to operate them and care for intensive patients, doctors say. Estimates by some doctors put the number of specialists at around 2,000.

"It is not the number of beds or ventilators that hinders the healing of seriously ill people, but something that cannot be obtained for all the money in the world: the low number of suitable professionals," Dr. Nóra Máté-Horváth wrote in an open letter.

In a video posted to his Facebook page last week, Orbán visited a hospital where he spoke with the on-duty doctor. Orbán cut the doctor off as he explained that there was no lack of ventilators but of technicians to operate them.

Last week's decision to fix an official price for coronavirus tests at HUF 19,500 (€54) could lead to a decrease in the number of tests completed, as many private clinics discontinue testing to avoid losses. 444 found ten clinics which announced they would discontinue or suspend testing in response to the imposition of the official price fix.

The Hungarian government purchased more than 2 million coronavirus tests at an average cost of HUF 4,689 (€13) per test, according to documents obtained through a freedom of information request by Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi.

Testing has increased substantially in recent weeks from 2-4,000 daily tests completed in summer to 8-12,000 since early September. Still, only around a quarter of these tests are conducted by the state, while the rest are performed by private clinics at the patient's own expense.

Several of the government's advisors on the pandemic have urged increased testing, arguing it is important to assess its spatial and social extent while isolating those infected, breaking the chains of infection. Hungary's chief medical officer Cecilia Müller has argued that mass testing is not necessary since it does not prevent the spread of the virus.

Telex announces staff of 70 journalists after receiving 200 thousand euro donation from Czech media group

A Czech media group said it will donate €200,000 in support of new independent news site Telex, launched by former journalists of Index.hu who resigned from the outlet en masse in July over concerns their independence was under threat.

The donation comes as Telex conducts a crowdfunding campaign to finance the new outlet's start-up costs. More than 33,000 people have donated to the site so far.

Economia, one of the Czech Republic's largest media groups, publishes the financial daily Hospodarske Noviny and weekly magazine Respekt. In a statement, chair of the board at Economia Zuzana Reznickova said, “Telex’s commitment to delivering outstanding journalism, particularly at a time when it is most needed, resonated strongly with us.”

The group will reportedly not hold any stake in Telex in exchange for its financial support.

On Wednesday, Telex released a list of 70 journalists that will work at the outlet. The list of names contains mostly journalists that resigned from Index in July after the firing of the site's editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull.

Telex editor-in-chief Veronika Munk earlier said the new outlet, which will be financed by reader contributions, would not be able to provide work for all of the nearly 90 journalists who resigned from Index.

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The record for the highest number of active coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic was broken on Thursday at 5,571, nearly three times the number of active cases at the peak of the virus' first wave in May. Also on Thursday, 476 new cases of the virus were registered and two elderly patients lost their lives to the disease.

The spread of the virus in Hungary has hastened dramatically in September: this month, new cases were registered in all of Hungary's 19 counties in a 24 hour period, a first. In ten counties, the number of new cases since August 24 has exceeded the total number of cases registered since the beginning of the pandemic.

More than 10,000 tests were conducted in Hungary in the last 24 hours, the second highest number of daily tests since March. The proportion of positive tests was 4.7 percent. Some 7,000 people are requesting coronavirus tests daily, according to chief medical officer Cecilia Müller.

Rector of Semmelweis University Béla Merkely said that the percentage of people visiting doctors with upper respiratory symptoms who test positive for the coronavirus has grown to 20-25 percent, significantly higher than the six percent recorded in March. The majority of new cases are among younger people, he said, adding that community spread of the virus has overtaken congregate spread as the primary driver of new cases. Merkely recommended mandatory wearing of masks in all indoor areas and the cancellation of parties and events, adding that there could be as many as 100,000 carriers of the virus currently in Hungary.

Beginning September 15, the national train and bus companies will use police to enforce the wearing of masks, handkerchiefs or scarves on all transportation vehicles, and those who refuse to comply will be removed, the companies announced. The Budapest Transport Centre (BKK) also announced that passengers that do not wear a mask or do so improperly on public transit vehicles can be fined HUF 8,000 (€22).

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday asking for more transparency between the central government and local governments on pandemic defense measures. Karácsony also recommended that the government:

• increase its testing capacity and provide free coronavirus tests to those who need them
• provide free testing to teachers to contain the spread of the virus in schools, allowing for the continuation of in-person education
• implement a strategy for preventing the transmission of the virus from younger people to at-risk older populations.

In a response to the letter, Orbán wrote on Thursday that the Emergency Task Force does not consider it necessary to impose special restrictions on Budapest, and that all information on the pandemic gathered by the Task Force is publicly available. Orbán also recommended that Karácsony "develop an adequate working relationship with the government's Emergency Task Force."

The only restriction imposed by the government thus far to slow the spread of the virus' second wave was last week's closure of Hungary's borders to most foreign travellers. (Czech, Slovak and Polish citizens that booked accommodations in Hungary before September 1 will be allowed to enter the country if they present a negative coronavirus test no more than five days old.)

Other exceptions to the border closure apply to those entering the country to attend international cultural or sporting events, including the UEFA Super Cup football match, which will be held at the Puskás Arena in Budapest on September 24. Visitors with a ticket to the event and one negative PCR test will be permitted to enter the country, but must leave within 72 hours.

Thousands of demonstrators form human chain to protest takeover of arts university

Thousands of demonstrators formed a human chain that wound through the streets of Budapest on Sunday in protest of what students call a government-led attack on the academic autonomy of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SzFE).

The line of protesters, which included students, professors and supporters, stretched for several kilometers from the university campus in central Budapest to the gates of the Hungarian Parliament. Demonstrators passed a copy of the university's charter - which inscribes its guarantees to academic freedom and institutional autonomy - hand-to-hand down the chain and delivered it to the doors of the Parliament.

After delivery of the charter, some 8,000 protesters gathered on Kossuth square.

The demonstration came amid an intensifying conflict between the university and the government over changes to its leadership and financing structure. SzFE leaders - including the acting rector, deputy rector, and the heads of each of the university's faculties - resigned on August 31 in protest of a government-imposed management model which saw the university's democratically-elected senate stripped of its powers and replaced with a board of directors stacked with government appointees.

Numerous professors also resigned, and students have occupied the university for nearly two weeks, barring entrance to any newly-appointed members of the university's board of directors. On Sunday, a delegation of students announced that the blockade of the campus would continue until the resignation of the government-appointed board and its chairman Attila Vidnyánszky. The university's deputy rector said that the beginning of the academic year would be postponed for a week.

Thousands of people in Hungary and across the world have issued statements in solidarity with SzFE, including dozens of theatres and universities, musicians, actors, writers, directors, academics, trade unions and individuals. An updated list of supporters can be found here.

EPP postpones vote on expelling Fidesz from center-right group

The European People's Party will not hold a vote on expelling Fidesz at its next party assembly on September 28, according to reports from German newspapers Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The outlets report that the chairman of the center-right group Donald Tusk told the EPP that while 14 member parties have filed motions to exclude Fidesz, no vote can be held at the next assembly because it will be conducted via video conference, precluding full participation. The matter can only be addressed at the next physical political assembly, Tusk said, "which will be held as soon as circumstances allow."

Fidesz was suspended from the EPP in March 2019 over rule of law concerns and anti-Brussels rhetoric, and a three-member commission of "wise men" was sent by the EPP to assess Fidesz's compatibility with the group's values. That commission was reportedly unable to reach a consensus on how to proceed, resulting in the indefinite extension of Fidesz's suspension in February.

Radio Free Europe returns to Hungary

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Hungarian service re-launched on Tuesday following a 27 year absence, in response to what it called "the dramatic constriction of the country’s media landscape".

“We are very excited to return to Hungary with state-of-the art programming and RFE/RL’s signature commitment to serving the public interest by reporting the issues that our audiences say matter most,” RFE/RL acting President Daisy Sindelar said.

The news service, which is funded by the United States government, will publish ad-free content in Hungarian on the internet site Szabad Európa, featuring written articles, videos and podcasts. Around ten journalists will constitute the site's staff, led by director Gyula Csák, who worked formerly at BBC and Euronews.

RFE/RL's Hungarian service, called Szabad Európa Rádió, gave its first broadcast in Hungary on October 6, 1950, and provided Hungary with radio transmissions from Munich throughout the Cold War until 1993. Its launch in Hungary marks the third re-entry into an EU member state: services in Romania and Bulgaria were launched in 2019.

In an interview with 444, Csák said that he has not detected any political pressure at RFE/RL after U.S. President Donald Trump appointed conservative filmmaker Michael Pack to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees RFE/RL. In June, Pack terminated the longtime leaders of all USAGM organizations, including at RFE/RL, and appointed leaders which critics said are loyal to Trump.

Csák said that while the outlet is funded by the U.S. Congress, "this is not about us having to serve any kind of American foreign policy goal...Szabad Európa has a legally-defined purpose and task to act as a public service medium in the countries where it is launched...to stand in the middle, impartially, objectively and independently."

Former Index journalists launch crowdfunding campaign for new site

Former staff of Index.hu announced a crowdfunding campaign on Friday to support the launch of a new site, Telex.hu.

The journalists, who resigned en masse from Index at the end of July, wrote that Telex would be "a truly independent, diverse, interesting, entertaining and impartial news site". As of Thursday, the campaign had received contributions from more than 28,000 donors.

Former Index deputy editor-in-chief Veronika Munk will be the head editor of the website which, according to the donation page, is allied "neither with the opposition or the governing party, but simply represents correct, critical and curious journalistic values".

"The free press is in bad shape in Hungary as the number of [outlets] that adequately put a check on power have decreased over the last ten years," the journalists wrote. "There are more and more newspapers, radio and television stations whose owners are connected to politics and politicians", while majority ownership of Telex will be held by "the impartial journalists and editors who will guarantee its independence", according to the support page.

The launch of Telex comes more than a month after nearly the entire staff of Index resigned in protest of the firing of editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull, whose dismissal came amid weeks of shakeups that led to fears that the site was the target of a politically motivated coup.

George H.W. Bush statue to be inaugurated in Budapest

A statue honoring former U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush will be erected in Budapest's Szabadság tér (Liberty Square) in October, the Prime Minister's office and United States Embassy announced in a joint statement on Sunday.

The statue of Bush, the first sitting U.S. president ever to visit Budapest, will be inaugurated on the occasion of "the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe."

According to the announcement, George H.W. Bush "is rightly recognized for the indelible contributions he made over a long career in public service...to ending the Cold War in Central and Eastern Europe and supporting the development of democratic institutions."

The statue's inauguration on October 23 will coincide with the anniversary of the establishment of the Third Hungarian Republic in 1989, and with the national holiday commemorating the first day of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The uprising is considered the first major threat to Soviet control in Eastern Europe.

Bush's statue on Szabadság tér will be located near that of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, symbolizing "the joint fight of these two leaders to defeat, in President Reagan's words, the 'evil empire'", the announcement reads.

Budapest's Szabadság tér is home to a number of controversial memorials: in addition to the statues of Reagan and Bush near the U.S. Embassy, the square also features a monument to the victims of the 1944 German occupation of Hungary and a memorial to Red Army soldiers that died in the Soviet siege of the city in 1944-1945. Also on the square is a private bust of Regent Miklós Horthy, Hungary's Nazi-allied wartime leader.

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Several hundred students of the prestigious University of Theatre and Film Arts (SzFE) in Budapest occupied a campus building on Monday amid a struggle with the government over the university's autonomy.

SzFE leaders - including the acting rector, deputy rector, and the heads of each of the university's faculties - resigned on Monday in protest over a new government-imposed management model which saw the university's democratically-elected senate stripped of its powers, and replaced with a board of directors stacked with government appointees.

The leaders argued that the restructuring occurred without any consultation with the university, and that the government had rejected all the university's nominees to the new board of directors.

Following a demonstration on Monday, around 250 students occupied the university's Budapest campus, saying they would not allow any members of the new leadership to enter the building. The students' list of demands includes:

• guaranteed autonomy for the university
• the revocation of the law which alters their university's management model
• the resignation of the new board of directors
• reinstatement of powers to the democratically elected senate
• rejection of the new method of appointing university leaders and board members
• continued state funding of the university
• that the administrative rights over the university not be transferred to the foundation.

At a press conference in front of the building on Tuesday, a delegation of students said they would only allow current staff and students to enter the building until further notice. According to an internal poll taken by the university's Students' Union (HÖK), 100 percent of student respondents rejected the restructuring, and nearly 70 percent believe its true aim is the "long-term, ideological and political occupation of the institution.”

As a result of the restructuring, key decision-making powers will be exercised by the board of directors of the foundation, including adoption of operational regulations, budgetary decisions and development plans, as well as the selection of the rector and the appointment of department heads. Members of the new board of directors include two executives of the state-owned energy company MOL. The chairman of the board is Attila Vidnyánszky, a former director of the Hungarian National Theatre who has routinely made derisive comments about SzFE and its faculty, and is considered to be a close ally of the ruling Fidesz party.

As we reported in June, university leaders and students have argued that the transfer of ownership of the 155-year-old state-run university to a private foundation is an attempt to place it under political control and centrally dictate its operations and cultural output. Some observers also predict that the quasi-privatization of SzFE and other Hungarian universities will result in further state divestment from higher education while reducing the universities' autonomy.

Citizens of V4 countries may enter Hungary despite border closures

Citizens of three central European countries will be granted exceptional permission to enter Hungary following coronavirus-related border closures that took effect on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday.

Czech, Slovak and Polish citizens that booked accommodations in Hungary before September 1 will be allowed to enter the country if they present a negative coronavirus test no more than five days old. The border closure, which banned entry to nearly all foreign citizens after a steep rise in new coronavirus cases in Hungary, will remain in effect for citizens of all other countries.

The decision came after Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis asked Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at a conference in Slovenia early this week to make a travel exception for Czech citizens. On Monday, the exception was extended to all citizens of V4 countries.

Critics of the decision argued that entering Hungary is now easier for foreign citizens of the V4 than for Hungarian citizens returning from abroad: upon arrival, Hungarians must submit to a 14-day quarantine period which can only be abridged by two negative PCR tests conducted in Hungary at their own expense. (Orbán's chief of staff earlier said that the government does not consider tests conducted abroad to be reliable.) The exception allows V4 citizens to enter with only one test, conducted in their own countries, and does not require quarantine. Similar exceptions were made for foreign participants in Hungarian sporting events.

On Monday, two members of the European Commission wrote a letter to Hungary, arguing the exceptions for V4 citizens threatened "the integrity of the Schengen area and of applying border measures in a non-discriminatory way to all EU citizens and residents."

The government defended the border closures by saying that introduction of the coronavirus from abroad represents the greatest epidemiological risk. However, a pandemic advisor to the government said in an interview Monday that less than 10 percent of new virus cases in Hungary can be attributed to foreign travel.

Recent statistics from the V4 countries raise questions over Hungary's decision to grant travel exemptions to their citizens: daily new coronavirus cases in Czechia, Slovakia and Poland have risen dramatically in recent days with Poland registering six times more daily cases than Hungary. At the end of August, each of the three countries had an exponentially higher rate of cases per million people when compared to Hungary.

Free press organizations call on EU to take action against Hungary's use of funds to undermine media freedom

A group of 16 press freedom organizations has called on the European Union to take action against Hungary for alleged violations of EU state aid rules to undermine media pluralism.

In a letter to EU Competition Commissioner Margarethe Vestager, the organizations wrote that the Hungarian government "has pursued a strategy of deliberately manipulating the media market, bending rules designed to prevent free and fair competition and weaponizing state resources to punish critical media and reward government mouthpieces".

The letter cites two state aid complaints, filed with the European Commission in 2016 and 2018, that concern Hungarian media freedom. The first involved Hungary's public broadcaster "showing deliberate and clear bias in favour of the Fidesz party," while the second presented "extensive evidence around the government’s market-distorting practices" in distributing state advertising in media outlets. The letter claims that the distribution of such advertising "follows no market logic" and is "almost exclusively geared toward propping up pro-government media".

"We are seriously concerned that the Commission’s failure thus far to respond to these complaints perpetuates the Hungarian government’s market-distorting practices and allows for the further decimation of independent media in the country," the letter reads. "The turmoil at Index.hu shows clearly that the situation will continue to worsen. The Hungarian public’s access to sources of balanced news and information is in greater danger than ever before."

Public employees go on three-day strike as government refuses negotiations

• Increased pay grades
• the reimbursement of local governments for pandemic defense expenses
• financial support for protecting the jobs of public employees
• the repeal of government decisions to appropriate automobile taxes and suspend tourist taxes, and
• the abolition of the "solidarity tax" demanded from local governments.

Striking public employees made these demands of the government as they staged a three-day strike beginning on Wednesday. According to the Union of Public Officials, Civil Servants and Public Workers (MKKSZ), 5,358 local government employees across Hungary are taking part in the strike, representing some 17 percent of the sector. Most strikers are not staging total work stoppages, with many engaging in two-hour "warning strikes", the union said.

Union members argue that the government's decisions to cut automobile and tourism taxes - key sources of revenue for local governments - and its appropriation of local monies into a coronavirus "solidarity fund" will combine with the weakened economy to put many local governments in financial jeopardy. This could lead to mass dismissals of public employees, it said.

According to MKKSZ president Mrs. Péter Boros, Interior Minister Sándor Pintér informed the union in a letter that the government would not negotiate with the public workers, arguing local governments had received adequate support from the state.

"A pandemic is not the time to pull apart and inflame tensions," Pintér wrote.

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After two and a half decades of exponential growth, painful struggles, political opposition and perseverance, it took nothing less than a global pandemic to cancel this year's Budapest Pride march.

Now celebrating its 25th year, Budapest Pride can be seen as an ongoing success story for Hungary's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community in many respects: from the first small "Pink Picnic" gatherings outside the city center in the early 1990s, the event has grown into a month-long annual festival that is one of the largest in the country. Featuring up to 100 programs each year, it is capped off with a march attended by 20,000 people that winds through the heart of the Hungarian capital, a march which this year, due to pandemic concerns, will not be held.

The increased visibility brought to LGBTQ Hungarians by Pride has, at times, led to notable increases in social acceptance in Hungary, even during the last decade of illiberal governance under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. But while cultural attitudes show a slow trend of growing tolerance towards the community, social equality on a political level lags behind: same-sex marriage is banned by Hungary's 2011 constitution, and same-sex couples may not jointly adopt children. Lesbian couples are ineligible to receive IVF (in vitro fertilization), and a recent law which bans changing one's name and gender in public records has taken aim at transgender individuals.

These contradictory dynamics have led to what one Budapest Pride organizer, Jojó Majercsik, described as a sort of dual reality for LGBTQ Hungarians: while simultaneously engaged in contemporary debates over, for example, housing insecurity for trans people and gender neutral bathrooms, the broader public discourse on LGBTQ issues in Hungary remains focused on topics that largely lost their currency in the West decades ago: is homosexuality a sickness that can be cured? What are the connections between homosexuality and pedophilia?

These challenges are only exacerbated by a chorus of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric - couched in Christian, pro-family language - ringing ever louder from right-wing political forces in Hungary, Central Europe and around the world. As Budapest Pride has grown from a small, marginalized gathering of a few dozen participants to a major public event, it has also weathered 25 years of repeated attacks, both from individual opponents and from decision makers at the highest levels of government.

An Intimidating Force

In late July, Pride organizers announced they would cancel this year's march over pandemic concerns: instead of the usual month-long festival featuring some 100 events, an abridged schedule of 37 events will be held across a ten-day period in August, without a march.

But the diminished proportions of the festival weren't enough to dissuade some opponents of Pride, and of what government allies have often called "gender ideology", from what has become an annual pre-Pride tradition of targeting the LGBTQ community.

On August 14, the opening day of Pride, football hooligans calling themselves the "Aryan Greens" tore a rainbow flag from the headquarters of Budapest's opposition-led 9th district council, stomping on it and setting it on fire. The group posted photographs of its late-night action to social media, which was applauded by a pro-government website.

Two days later, a co-chair of the neo-Fascist party Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (My Homeland Movement) scaled Budapest city hall with a ladder and removed the rainbow flag placed there - for the first time in the city's history - by Budapest's liberal mayor. As he was questioned by police, the politician ran away with the flag and threw it in a garbage can, claiming it was a "homosexual provocation". (Police later issued him a citation, while several pro-government media outlets praised his action as a "defense of normality" against "anti-family Western madness that is descending into hell and falling into decadence and the celebration of insane perversions".)

Such provocations against Pride and LGBTQ Hungarians are not uncommon, and usually accelerate in the weeks ahead of the festival, said Pride organizer Ádám Csikós, adding that the organization uses such attacks as a means to raise money. Last year, for example, they were able to buy a giant rainbow flag with donations from sympathetic supporters.

While attacks in recent years have mostly been limited to verbal intimidation and disruption of events, Budapest Pride participants earlier endured a period of violent assaults.

In 2013, three men walking home from the Pride march encountered a large group of black-clad counter demonstrators. The group shouted racist and homophobic slurs at the men as they violently assaulted them. In 2016, five men from the group were convicted of violent hate crimes, and it was revealed that they all were members of ethno-nationalist militia group New Hungarian Guard.

Earlier, counter demonstrators routinely attended the Pride march to hurl eggs, bottles, rocks and other objects at marchers. In 2007, after being pelted with projectiles and verbal abuse for the length of the parade, LGBTQ participants incurred 11 physical assaults from right-wing protesters, some requiring hospitalization. The following year, organized opposition to the parade was even greater: police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse anti-LGBTQ rioters who hurled petrol bombs and rocks at marchers and LGBTQ spaces. 45 arrests were made.

After the violence of 2007-2008, Budapest police insisted on cordoning off the entirety of the march route, making it impossible for participants to enter or exit the procession except at the beginning and end. While the stated aim of the cordons was to protect participants from attacks, Pride organizers argued they disproportionately restricted their freedom of assembly and represented a cage around the march.

In 2017, Pride organizers declared that march participants would not be contained within the police cordons. As marchers neared the end of the route, they broke through the cordons and proceeded along open streets, an act of civil disobedience meant to demonstrate their liberation from the barriers. Since then, police have not cordoned off the march, but instead placed barriers around right-wing counter demonstrators. Pride organizers also train their own volunteer escorts to secure the route and other programs and to mitigate potential conflicts.

Successfully putting an end to the cordons was considered a victory by Pride participants, and according to Majercsik and Csikós, far fewer anti-LGBTQ protesters attend the march than in past years. Beyond a small group of hardcore opponents, it has fallen out of fashion among the far-right to heckle the Pride march, they said, partially due to how large it has become.

"They feel that they get lost in this huge crowd," Csikós said. "But if they are able to mobilize ten people to disrupt a program where there are 20 participants, then proportionally they are much better able to create a stir for themselves in the press."

Even in such small numbers, such attacks on Pride programs have not been without their effect on the community, Majercsik said.

“[Attacks] aren't only a problem because they can make a program fizzle out, which is sad enough. Imagine an 18-year-old LGBTQ guy who came to a Pride event for the first time in his life. If he sees a program getting busted up, he might never dare to go to any event ever again, not even to a film screening. There is an intimidating force to this, and that’s why they do it. To make everyone stay at home.”

Claim Back Your Future

One of Pride's aims is to bring issues facing the LGBTQ community into the public eye throughout the year, not only during the festival or when the community faces attacks, Majercsik said. The march brings visibility to the community and the problems it faces, which has led to an explosion of participation among non-LGBTQ people and other sympathisers.

But despite the increased support among certain segments of Hungarian society, the organization still considers Pride to be a political project which pushes for "a world where LGBTQ people are not discriminated against systemically and routinely because of their gender identity and/or sexual orientation", a goal that still seems far off in Hungary.

"At the Pride march, a woman can walk freely with her girlfriend and no one will harm them," Majercsik said, adding that for many LGBTQ Hungarians, the march is the only day of the year when they dare to hold their partner's hand in public. "When you’re walking home from the theatre with your girlfriend in the evening, there’s a secret word you say if there's danger, and let go of each other’s hand. A heterosexual person doesn't know this feeling," she said.

The Budapest Pride manifesto, adopted in 2013, states that the organization is fundamentally anti-racist and feminist. The slogan of this year's festival, "Claim back your future," reflects Pride programs which address issues facing LGBTQ people and other minorities: the housing crisis, climate change, racism within the LGBTQ community, and the erosion of democracy.

This year's festival will also address the latest blow to LGBTQ rights in Hungary, a law adopted in May amid the coronavirus lockdown - and on International Transgender Day of Visibility - which ends legal recognition of transgender people, a step Amnesty International said brought Hungary "back to the dark ages".

The law stipulates that the "biological sex" of a man or a woman is defined by their primary sex characteristics and chromosomes at birth. It does not allow for any other gender categories, and prohibits gender-neutral names. (In Hungary, a list of approved, gender-sorted first names is kept by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.) Transgender people, therefore, may not alter their names or genders in official records, which critics say will lead to increased discrimination and an invasion of privacy, forcing them to reveal themselves as transgender whenever they present official documents.

Csikós, who is transgender, said the law is more strict than similar laws in Russia, and leaves those who earlier successfully changed their names and genders in a state of uncertainty, not knowing whether the state could reverse previously successful alterations.

“Yes, I was able to change it once, but what happens if they single me out one day?" he said. "It doesn’t matter that my voice is deep, that I have a beard, that everybody believes that I’m a man and no one assumes that I’m transgender. I would have to live with this exterior but get back my past, get back my old name, which I really do not want. It’s horrible to think about, and it really is a possibility.”

The law was criticized by the European Parliament, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council of Europe, and Háttér Society, a Hungarian LGBTQ rights organization, which argued it was unconstitutional. Hungary's Constitutional Court could strike down the law, but questions over the court's independence make such a decision unlikely.

An Erosion of Rights

The passage of the law reflects an atmosphere of growing hostility toward LGBTQ people in Hungary, and an erosion of LGBTQ rights within Hungary's legal order.

For example, in 2018, Parliament passed a law banning gender studies programs in Hungarian universities. Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said at the time that the programs "have no business in universities...It's an ideology, not a science."

In 2017, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán welcomed the 11th World Congress of Families, which has been criticized for its fierce opposition to gay rights. The four-day international conference in Budapest came as the Hungarian government was launching a series of costly measures to boost marriage and birth rates in Hungary, which have stagnated for years.

Hungary's major emphasis on family policy (a "minister for family affairs" was appointed in 2014) has gone hand in hand with its hard stance against both LGBTQ rights and immigration. The government has drawn a parallel between its rejection of immigrants and promotion of traditional families, arguing that shutting out immigrants and refugees preserves Europe's Christian identity, and that its family policy aims to remedy demographic challenges through the birth of Hungarian children rather than through migration.

Such legal measures limiting the rights of LGBTQ Hungarians have been accompanied by routine homophobic comments by some government officials and pro-government commentators. In 2019, Speaker of the National Assembly László Kövér compared same-sex adoption to pedophilia, and declared that "a normal homosexual knows how the world works...They try to adapt to this world without considering themselves necessarily equal."

Ahead of last year's Pride festival, the deputy caucus leader of the governing Fidesz party called for Pride to be banned, arguing Hungarian children "must be protected from open sexual aberrations". The same politician later set off a furor after calling for a boycott on Coca-Cola after the company placed anti-prejudice billboards in Budapest featuring same-sex couples. Pro-government media joined in the calls for a boycott, with one outlet writing, “The homosexual lobby is laying siege to Budapest".

A petition to remove the ads received more than 41,000 signatures, and a consumer watchdog later fined Coca-Cola for the campaign, saying it violated a law which prohibits advertisements that "damage the physical, mental, emotional, or moral development of children".

Csikós and Majercsik said such homophobic rhetoric from politicians has likely contributed to a decrease in tolerance of LGBTQ people in recent years: a 2019 Eurostat survey showed that Hungarians were among the least accepting of homosexual and transgender people in the EU, with significant decreases since 2015. In its 2020 LGBTQ human rights survey of 49 European countries, ILGA-Europe, an international LGBTQ advocacy organization, showed that Hungary had dropped from 19th to 27th place in a single year. The survey was conducted prior to the passage of the law on legal recognition of transgender people.

Amid such deteriorating conditions, Budapest Pride has worked to expand its efforts beyond the capital and into the Hungarian countryside. Majercsik said Pride has put an emphasis on supporting not only middle-class gay men in Budapest, but other more vulnerable LGBTQ individuals struggling with poverty and discrimination. The organization collects donations each year to assist smaller local organizations in other Hungarian cities, and on some years, five cities outside the capital have had Pride programs.

The organizers said they are happier now that new liberal leadership has taken office in Budapest. Contrary to the previous conservative mayor of Budapest István Tarlós, who was known for making homophobic comments (he once said of Pride, "the whole phenomenon is unnatural and repulsive to me"), the organizers say they have met for discussions with mayor Gergely Karácsony, who is significantly more open to cooperation.

Still, Csikós said, "The sad truth is that there are almost no LGBTQ issues on the [opposition] parties’ platforms."

“That’s part of why the festival and march are so important," he said. "The message shows that yes, people have to go out on the street and stand up for their interests, because otherwise no one else will.”

This article is published as part of a project to promote independent digital media in Central and Eastern Europe funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and coordinated by Notes from Poland.

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Hungary's six largest opposition parties announced on Thursday that they have begun preparations for a joint effort to unseat the Fidesz-KDNP governing coalition in 2022 elections.

"Today, hearing the will of the voters, the opposition parties began official negotiations...toward preparing for the 2022 parliamentary elections," the parties wrote in a joint statement.

Leaders of the Democratic Coalition (DK), the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), Jobbik, Momentum, Párbeszéd (Dialogue), and Politics Can Be Different (LMP) agreed to run a single joint candidate in each of Hungary's 106 voting districts to face off against candidates of the governing parties.

They also announced they would "create a common platform in the interests of the country", and would use negotiations and primaries to select which individual candidates to run in each district.

In the case of an opposition victory, they wrote, they would jointly govern the country based on the common platform and principles agreed upon by the parties.

The Liberálisok party and the Everyone's Hungary Movement (Mindenki Magyarországa Mozgalom), led by Hódmezővásárhely mayor Péter Márki-Zay, did not participate in the cross-party negotiations. As we reported on Thursday, Márki-Zay predicted a "two-thirds majority...in the new Parliament" if the opposition ran a single candidate against Fidesz in each district.

If the agreement to run joint candidates can hold until 2022, it would be the first time opposition parties have ever done so in a parliamentary election: in 2018, the parties fielded their own candidates in all 106 voting districts.

Based on election statistics compiled by former Index journalist Zoltán Kovács, of the 91 districts Fidesz took in 2018, it received less than 50 percent of the vote in 44 of them. A single opposition candidate in those districts (and perhaps others) could potentially have swung the results away from Fidesz.

Since Fidesz's resounding victory in the 2018 parliamentary elections, the opposition has had several chances to experiment with joining forces against the governing party. In October 2019 municipal elections, the strategy delivered major opposition victories in Budapest and half of the country's largest cities.

At a by-election in Dunaújváros in February of this year, the entire opposition got behind Jobbik candidate Gergely Kálló, who won the election with a solid majority. It was the first time the opposition had run a single joint candidate for a parliamentary seat.

The parties will soon have their second chance to try their coordination strategy on the national stage. They announced on Thursday that they would jointly support László Bíró (Jobbik) to face Fidesz candidate Zsófia Koncz in a by-election in the 6th electoral district of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. A Fidesz defeat in the by-election would result in the party losing its two-thirds majority in the Hungarian Parliament.

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