Further comments on US visa waiver restrictions

Although the new restriction on visa-free travel to the United States is largely symbolic, the issue has stirred strong emotional reactions in the Hungarian media.

Budapest under construction

A left-wing columnist speculates that traffic jams in Budapest caused by simultaneous major reconstruction works show the downside of centralized decision making. A conservative pundit claims that major urban development is worth a couple of months of nuisance.

President Áder announces election date

The date of the election itself has become a campaign topic, with left-wing commentators suspecting that the President's decision was prompted by political convenience rather than neutral rationality. 

Left-wing alliance to be broadened

The leading leftist daily deplores the main players’ reluctance to revise their electoral pact, and hopes that their announcement has not come too late. The main pro-government daily is less charitable and points out that after so much ado, the leading left-wing candidate for the Premier's post has yet to ...

Arguments against immigrant workforce restrictions in Britain

A centre-right legal analyst thinks the concerns motivating PM David Cameron are understandable, but as a member state of the European Union, the UK has to abide by the common rules.

Azeri axe murderer, and confronting the IMF – last week’s lead stories

The dominant themes in Hungarian politics last week, the extradition of the Azeri murderer and the Prime Minister’s stance on the IMF talks are interpreted along political lines: commentators on the left call Orbán names including “traitor” and “liar”, while the premier's supporters argue that critics on the left have ...

An unnatural alliance – revisited

The main left wing daily Népszabadság revives the idea of an alliance between the left and the far right, in order to defeat PM Viktor Orbán and undo his reforms – despite the fact that an initiative on these lines was rejected as unrealistic and counterproductive by all commentators and possible ...

A common front with a brownish tint?

The debate over the electoral reform proposed by Fidesz continues with an editorial in Magyar Nemzet, which blames the left wing for seeking foreign support in order to oust the present government, rather than winning over  Hungarian voters.

An alliance with the devil?

A green leader's proposal that a “technical election alliance” be established between right and left wing opposition parties in order to revoke recent constitutional changes, finds little sympathy among media commentators, but some do not dismiss the idea out of hand.