Post Tagged with: "European Union"

Viktor Orbán speaking in the European Parliament. Photo: MTI.

Viktor Orbán defends his regime in the European Parliament

“This situation is like when someone is accused of murder, he is convicted, yet the murder victim is alive and is pointing his finger at the accused all along,” said a belligerent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during the European Parliament’s special session on Hungary. Mr. Orbán was referring to what the Hungarian leader claims are false accusations leveled against his […]

by · April 26, 2017 · Politics
Csaba Dömötör / MTI.

Stop the European Union! Orbán government launches new “national consultation”

The Orbán government announced that it is turning to the people to help it “stop Brussels” on six different fronts. The ruling Fidesz party is launching another so-called “national consultation,” which is nothing more than a polemical and partisan campaign exercise, using taxpayers’ money, aimed at convincing Hungarians that they are at war with the West, the European Union, with […]

by · March 26, 2017 · Politics
Orbán and Kaczinsky in happier days.

Orbán backstabbed Kaczynski

Polak, Węgier, dwa bratanki, i do szabli, i do szklanki – Poles, Hungarians, two brothers, they fight together, they drink wine together. (Polish proverb) There were few relationships between right-wing political parties closer than the alliance of the ruling Polish PiS and Hungarian Fidesz. Party bosses Orbán and Jaroslaw Kaczynski have pledged to wage a “cultural counter-revolution” and reform a […]

by · March 11, 2017 · East
Sebastian Kurz (left) with Péter Szijjártó (right). Photo: MTI.

Hungary passionately defends Turkey in EU, despite human rights violations

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó is at odds with his Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz, over whether the European Union should suspend all accession negotiations with Turkey, due to troubling human rights violations, especially since July’s failed coup. The Orbán government has been a staunch supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey, and Hungarian foreign policy in general has been pro-expansion […]

by · December 13, 2016 · East
The Greens - EFA

European Parliament’s Green party in solidarity with Népszabadság, condemns autocracy in Hungary

The Greens – European Free Alliance issued a statement on the demise of media freedom and pluralism in Hungary, after Népszabadság, Hungary’s largest print daily, was shut down last Saturday. The statement, written by MEPs Judith Sargentini and Benedek Jávor, notes that Népszabadság was closed without warning immediately after the paper published a cover page piece on Fidesz corruption, suggesting […]

by · October 13, 2016 · Politics
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a helicopter, inspecting the border between Hungary and Serbia from above. Photo: Facebook.

Viktor Orbán: Without Hungary, Europe would have already fallen

Hungary’s largest free circulation print daily, Lokál, published an interview with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, three days before the government’s anti-migrant referendum. Lokál is published by the Modern Media Group, a firm co-owned by the prime minister’s personal adviser, Árpád Habony. Earlier this year, without issuing any tender, the Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK) signed an agreement with the Modern […]

by · September 30, 2016 · Politics
The Hungarian government referendum billboard reads: Let's send a message to Brussels, so that they will understand." Photo: Nyugat.hu

Hungary is free to follow the British road and leave the European Union

Hungarians need to comprehend that their country cannot simply enjoy the financial and economic benefits of membership in the European Union–they must be willing to participate in joint projects and show solidarity in times of crisis, as the EU is not an a la carte menu–writes Remi Piet, assistant professor of public policy and international political economy at Qatar University. Yet the […]

by · September 24, 2016 · Politics
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Photo: MTI / György Varga

Hungary’s foreign minister furious after demand for country’s expulsion from European Union

Hungary’s Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, was visiting Moldova Tuesday morning, when he commented on statements made by Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn, who suggested that Hungary should be expelled or at least suspended from the European Union, for its rule of law violations and the poor treatment of refugees and migrants. Interestingly, Mr. Szijjártó used a line of attack just […]

by · September 13, 2016 · Politics
The logo of the Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party

Plans to sabotage Hungary’s anti-migrant referendum gain steam

It’s time to take the Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party seriously, after they managed to raise more than 15 million forints ($56,000) in just one week to publicize their idea of sabotaging the Orbán government’s looming anti-migrant and anti-EU referendum. Known in Hungarian as the Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt (MKKP), the party which started off as grassroots satire of Hungarian politics, officially registered […]

by · August 23, 2016 · Politics
Government propaganda ahead of the October 2nd anti-migrant referendum. The billboard reads: "Did you know that Brussels wants to settle a city-full of illegal immigrants in Hungary?" Photo: MTI.

No Huxit referendum – Proposed vote on Hungary leaving the EU deemed unconstitutional

Unlike what we witnessed in Great Britain, Hungarians will not be able to vote in a referendum on whether to leave the European Union–often referred to as Huxit–following a decision this week by the National Election Commission (Nemzeti Választási Bizottság – NVB). A populist, right-wing former mayor from the town of Monok submitted a proposed referendum to the NVB, demanding that Hungarians […]

by · August 4, 2016 · Politics