Post Tagged with: "Zoltán Balog"

The Orbán regime's newest propaganda campaign.

Fidesz politicians travel to Berlin to secretly mend fences with Christian Democrats

Hungarians who will soon receive a mailed letter from Viktor Orbán attacking Brussels, or who have seen the new anti-Soros and anti-Brussels billboards, which smear fellow Christian Democrat Jean-Claude Juncker, may think that Fidesz is engaged in a clear-cut and “noble” battle with a malevolent foreign power. What Fidesz supporters won’t know is that the ruling regime’s resolve is only […]

by · February 27, 2019 · Politics
Hungarian Minister Zoltán Balog (left) and Mick Mulvaney in the White House.

Mick Mulvaney is Hungary’s new best friend in the White House

I was quite surprised when the Hungarian Government issued an official report that on Friday, February 9, 2018 Zoltán Balog, Minister of Human Capacities, had a one-hour meeting with Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House. According to the Hungarians Mr. Mulvaney was “urging renewal of Hungarian-US relations.” Better US relations with […]

by · April 26, 2018 · Politics
Barna Pál Zsigmond

Fidesz candidate in Budapest warns of looming Muslim takeover

Barna Pál Zsigmond, the Fidesz candidate in the Budapest suburb of Újpest, fears that a Muslim takeover of Hungarian cities is on the horizon and asserted that the only way to stop it is to vote for Hungary’s ruling far-right party on 8th April. Speaking in a brief campaign video filmed in front of a church, and accompanied by somber […]

by · March 11, 2018 · Politics
Zoltán Balog

Washington openly snubs Viktor Orbán’s regime on CEU affair

This week started with embarrassment for Viktor Orbán’s regime and especially for Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog, who experienced a thoroughly public snubbing by Washington DC on the on-going saga of the planned shuttering of Central European University. On Monday, Mr. Balog, whose gigantic and unruly ministry oversees the education portfolio in Hungary, told journalists of the Index news […]

by · May 23, 2017 · Politics
Tibor Navracsics (left) with Kurt Volker - Navracsics is one of Orbán's opponents within his own party.

The enemy within – Orbán’s trouble with his own party

For years Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been able to control his Fidesz party with an iron fist. Sharp exchanges remained within the walls of Fidesz offices while the leadership always showed a unified front to the public. His recent attack on the George Soros-backed Central European University (CEU), and the Lex CEU law which was approved by the […]

by · April 20, 2017 · Politics
Central European University - Budapest.

Hungary’s parliament votes to shut down Central European University

Starting January 1st, 2018, Budapest’s Central European University (CEU) will no longer be permitted to enrol new students in any programs, unless an agreement is reached between the United States government, the State of New York and Hungary’s Orbán government no later than September and unless CEU opens a new campus in the U.S. A total of 123 MPs voted […]

by · April 4, 2017 · Politics
CEU in Budapest, at the corner of Nádor utca.

For embattled CEU, there is life outside Hungary

We have all seen this film before. The Orbán government uses its legislative might to launch an explicit attack against an institution, a prominent group, a principle or an individual. It then lines up its media empire to spread misinformation and heated rhetoric against the new public enemy number one, while successfully galvanizing and transforming its most primitive supporters into […]

by · March 29, 2017 · Politics
Hungarian teachers protest the Orbán government's education policies in Budapest earlier this year. The banner reads: I would teach. The future of our children is at stake." Photo: Népszava

Shambolic public education in Hungary — PISA survey paints grim picture

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, showing a dramatic decline in the scores of Hungarian teenagers and an especially grim picture of just how poorly children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds fare at school. Every three years, PISA assesses the scholastic performance of 15 year old students in […]

by · December 6, 2016 · Focus