Despite three days of government-propagated hysteria and accusations surrounding the visit of nine inspectors from the European Parliament to examine how EU funds have been spent in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán can rest easy. The inspectors confirmed that from the perspective of how EU funds were spent on a vintage train, a project that has been the target of […]
After 48 hour of offering no commentary whatsoever on a ruling by the European Court of Justice that dismissed both Hungary’s and Slovakia’s complaints about equitably resettling mostly Syrian refugees among EU member states, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán finally spoke to the issue in his usual Friday morning radio interview. The usually loquacious Hungarian prime minister was frugal with his […]
A growing list of prominent Hungarians, including conservatives, are supporting an initiative to launch a national referendum on the adoption of the euro in Hungary. More accurately, the proposed referendum is actually about Hungary joining the EU’s Exchange Rate Mechanism, which is the first formal step in having the euro replace the forint as Hungary’s currency. (The Fundamental Law does […]
The Hungarian government recently recalled its ambassador to the Netherlands after the Dutch Ambassador to Hungary, Gajus Scheltema, drew parallels between the government’s efforts to “create enemies” and those of the Islamic State group. In an interview Scheltema also criticized Hungary’s treatment of asylum-seekers and the government’s campaign against philanthropist George Soros. Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders distanced himself from his […]
At a weekend picnic of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party and its propagandists within the media world and educational sector, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned: the most important question in the April 2018 national elections is whether the country will be able to defend its border fence against some 60 million migrants that he anticipates will leave Africa and try to […]
After Donald Trump had won the U.S. presidential elections in 2016, the world focused on France and their bet went to the right wing candidate Marine Le Pen and her 44-year-old party, the National Front. Not many people gave one single thought to a newly founded party; not even a year old at the time; and its 39 year-old founder […]
Outgoing Dutch ambassador Gajus Scheltema’s suggestion that the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán creates enemies along the same lines as Islamic terrorists sparked a political firestorm in Hungary. Mr. Scheltema said, as part of a response to journalists from the 168 Óra weekly on the risk of terrorist attacks, particularly after Barcelona: “A car attack can occur anywhere in […]
The newly appointed Hungarian Ambassador, László Szabó, has put the blame squarely on the US State Department for the poor relations between the two countries. According to Ambassador Szabó the State Department has a major problem: “The vast majority of the staff members of the US State Department, where tens of thousands of people work, still have ties to the […]
Hungarians are seeing a major increase in their wages, with the average gross monthly salary now standing at 297,000 forints, or US$1,154. This represents a 14.4% increase compared to 2016 figures released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH). Inflation in Hungary is at just 2.3%. The bulk of the increase is connected to the 15% to 25% rise in the […]
Zsolt Semjén, Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), was asked to comment on an idea that only those who pay taxes should be permitted to vote in elections. The hypothetical scenario was recently raised by Publicus, a major national polling firm, when respondents in a representative poll were asked about whether only those […]
