Perhaps nothing sums up the state of the rule of law in Hungary better than the Hungarian State Audit Office’s (ÁSZ) selective enforcement of regulation aimed at penalizing opposition parties (and likely driving one of them into bankruptcy), whilst dismissing the same rules when it comes to the ruling Fidesz party. The head of the State Audit Office is none […]
Gergely Karácsony, the Hungarian Socialist Party’s candidate for prime minister answered questions at Budapest’s venerable Spinóza Ház, a generally liberal-minded club, theatre and coffee house which has welcomed politicians from across the spectrum to sit down with journalist Katalin Rangos. Mr. Karácsony answered questions on a broad range of topics ahead of the April 2018 national elections, but none elicited […]
Inner city Budapest, specifically the area that during World War II served as the Budapest ghetto for as many as 70,000 Hungarian Jews, is today party central for scores of British men on stag weekends and other western European millennials who take discount flights to the Hungarian capital, in search of a cheap getaway. The area attracts some 150,000 to […]
There is no doubt that Jobbik, once a party of the far-right, now appears to be a more palatable choice for moderate conservatives than Fidesz, which today occupies the extreme right in both its rhetoric and policy. Whether the rejection of the far right represents a genuine change of heart on the part of Jobbik or merely a cynical move […]
Jobbik, a party that not too long ago dismissed warnings from liberal or left-leaning parties and intellectuals about the demise of democracy in Hungary as mere “anti-Hungarian” propaganda, is now facing its own possible quietus at the hands of Viktor Orbán’s System of National Cooperation. Jobbik issued the statement below, in English, hoping for the solidarity of the international community as […]
If we take the Nézőpont Intézet’s most recent polling numbers at face value, we see that Jobbik’s support has dropped significantly between July and November, while the Politics Can Be Different party has doubled its base of voters. In numbers released this weekend, Nézőpont found that among decided voters Fidesz support stands at 48%, while Jobbik has dropped to 16%. […]
While a Publicus poll out this Sunday found that 54% of Hungarians want to bring an end to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s rule, the dysfunctional and splintered opposition is further from achieving a change in government than ever before in the last seven years. Among all voters, Fidesz support stands at 27%, with Jobbik in a distant second place at […]
For Gábor Vona, Christmas may have come early this year. Henrik Havas, a colourful media personality, television host and author, is writing a book on Mr. Vona. Mr. Havas mostly uses a somewhat tabloid writing style and has published on a very diverse range of topics, from sex and pornography, to the stories of convicted murders and their crimes to […]
Viktor Orbán’s main concern in April 2018 may not be whether or not he wins a two-thirds majority in parliament, but rather if he can avoid the bad optics of having a veritable one party legislature after next year’s national elections. Medián, one of Hungary’s most prominent polling firms, has Fidesz at 61% support among decided voters–up four percentage points […]
If Tárki’s most recent polling numbers are accurate, the question ahead of the April 2018 elections is whether Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party gains two-thirds of the seats in parliament or three-fourths. With Fidesz support now pegged at 59% in the Tárki poll–representing a 20% increase over the last two years–and in light of single constituency ridings that […]
