Post Tagged with: "Corruption"

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán meets British Prime Minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street on November 9th, 2016. Photo: Viktor Orbán's Facebook page.

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán–the Teflon Man

Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party had, by any standards, a terrible last month or so, yet new polling figures suggest that the popularity of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government did not suffer at all. It was revealed that Ghaith Pharaon, a Saudi businessman wanted by the FBI and Interpol for wire fraud, racketeering and allegedly funding terrorists, conducted business with a company tied […]

by · November 23, 2016 · Politics
The Tuesday vote in Parliament on the proposed constitutional amendment.

Orbán loses key vote in parliament due to “treasonous” Jobbik

Lajos Kósa, Leader of the ruling Fidesz caucus in Parliament, called Jobbik leader Gábor Vona a “traitor,” after the far-right party blocked the Orbán government from amending Hungary’s Fundamental Law to prohibit the settlement of any foreign nationals in Hungary, without the prior approval of the national legislature. Fidesz is just two seats shy of a two-thirds super-majority in parliament, […]

by · November 8, 2016 · Politics
An example of a spoiled ballot provided by the satirical Hungarian Two Tailed Dog Party.

National Election Office: 18 percent of mail-in ballots spoiled in Hungarian referendum

Hungary’s National Election Office has processed 32,254 mail-in ballots for the Sunday  referendum against EU-wide “migrant quotas” and has deemed that 18% of them (5,708) were spoiled by voters. Hungarians living abroad and holding dual citizenship are eligible to vote by mail-in ballot, but thus far only 28% of the 274,573 registered voters have chosen to participate in the October 2nd […]

by · September 29, 2016 · Politics
Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó, standing in front of the banner of the Hungarian National Trading House.

Controversial Hungarian National Trading House to open office in Canada

The Hungarian National Trading House, affiliated with Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has been amassing significant financial losses and is mired in corruption allegations, yet it is now expanding to Canada. The MNKH Hungarian National Trading House Cls. published public procurement and bidding documentation online for parties interested in the “creation, operation and management of a Trading House […]

by · September 19, 2016 · Focus
Mária Schmidt (left) with Desmond Child (right) at the Budapest House of Terror.  Photo: MTI.

Hungary’s recycled Desmond Child song an embarrassing start to 1956 anniversary

American songwriter Desmond Child’s piece Steps of Champions should have been a major media coup for Hungary’s Orbán government. After all, Desmond Child–an American-Hungarian dual citizen who had worked with music legends such as Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Cher, Bonnie Tyler, Ricky Martin and Kiss–had been successfully enlisted by Hungary’s government to write the official anthem of the sixtieth anniversary commemorations […]

by · August 20, 2016 · Focus
János Zuschlag: From Party Headquarters to Prison.

A review of János Zuschlag’s book From Party Headquarters to Prison (Part 1)

János Zuschlag was only 21 years old when he became a Member of Parliament for the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) in 1998 and the country’s youngest MP. Nine years later, he was charged with fraud and received an eight year prison sentence. He spent six years behind bars, before being released in 2013. In the middle of the 2014 national […]

by · August 18, 2016 · Focus
Systemic corruption in Hungary. Illustration: Atlaszo.hu

Poll: Two-thirds of Hungarians think Fidesz is “very corrupt”

Two polls are making headlines in Hungary. One of them examines perceptions of government-sanctioned corruption, while the other one explores the popularity of Hungary’s political parties. The results of the two polls, when explored side-by-side, are paradoxical. Medián’s poll, released today, shows that fully two-thirds of all Hungarians feel that corruption is “very” characteristic of the ruling Fidesz party. In fact, […]

by · July 28, 2016 · Politics
Tamás Pintér (Jobbik). Photo: MTI/Zoltán Balogh

Jobbik to focus attention on systemic Fidesz corruption

Jobbik, the party that is a trying hard to shed its extremist, far-right image, will focus much more attention on the ruling Fidesz party’s unprecedented and systemic corruption spree. Tamás Pintér, the party’s local president in the industrial town of Dunaújváros, will enter parliament in the fall, and will take over the seat of Előd Novák, a founding member of […]

by · July 12, 2016 · Politics
The Ikarus 280 model still runs in Budapest.

Reviving Hungary’s bus manufacturing industry — Confusion, chaos and concerns of corruption

The much needed refurbishment of Budapest’s M3 metro line, which is now potentially a safety hazard for both passengers and the Budapest Transportation Company’s employees alike, is being postponed to November, due to confusion around what type of replacement buses will be used during the two year period when the subway line is out of commission. Budapest officials had earlier […]

by · May 22, 2016 · Focus
György Matolcsy. Photo: AFP.

Fidesz expels journalists from Parliament for asking questions on Central Bank corruption scandal

Journalists associated with some of Hungary largest publications, including hvg.hu, index.hu and Népszabadság, were banned for an indefinite period of time from Parliament, after they videotaped Fidesz and Christian Democratic politicians in the hallway, peppering them with questions about one of the worst corruption scandals in recent Hungarian political history. In one of the videos, a completely silent and clearly […]

by · April 26, 2016 · Politics