Search Results
January 15th, 2015
Népszabadság thinks the government should compensate former tobacconists who lost their licenses after the reform introduced in 2012, after one of them won his case against Hungary at the European Court of Human Rights.
July 15th, 2013
Left-wing and liberal commentators fulminate about the exemption of tobacco shops from the municipal ban on the sale of alcohol after 10 pm. A critical conservative blogger warns against overregulation. A pro-government columnist likens the Democratic Coalition’s initiative to paint the pavement in front of tobacco shops to Nazi practices.
May 21st, 2013
A pro-government daily claims that the tobacco shop scandal and demands to reveal details of the evaluation process of rival bids is simply a trick that helps the MSZP draw up a list of “collaborators” with the present government – with the intention of punishing them later.
May 13th, 2013
Left-wing, liberal and centrist commentators wonder whether Fidesz will try to cover up a scheme in which their local politicians could influence the distribution of tobacco shop licenses according to the political leanings of those who applied.
May 4th, 2013
An independent analyst writes that until the tobacco shop scandal emerged, Fidesz could set the political agenda. But as recent events have shown, it cannot feel safe. This is the kind of issue which can turn many voters against them, even a few days before the elections.
April 29th, 2013
Left-wing and liberal commentators accuse the government of nepotism over changes to the law on selling tobacco products. They believe that the government imposed a monopoly on the selling of cigarettes in order to offer lucrative business possibilities to its own people.
August 11th, 2017
A left-wing political economist believes that in order to boost productivity, the state needs to intervene and boost wages. A left-wing commentator, on the other hand, fears that higher wages would increase first and foremost alcohol and tobacco consumption.
April 30th, 2015
Liberal commentators accuse Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of co-opting the rhetoric of the radical nationalist Jobbik party, by calling for the death penalty to be ‘kept on the agenda’. A pro-party government lawyer believes that the government cannot simply ignore the ‘majority view’ which he believes would support its reintroduction.
November 17th, 2014
As the Hungarian government reveals an aide memoire by the US Embassy’s document on corruption, a conservative columnist accuses the US of trying to pressure the Hungarian government in defense of American business interest. Left-wing commentators accuse the Hungarian government of closing its eyes over institutional corruption.
August 5th, 2014
A left-wing columnist finds it disappointing that politicians across the board twist the rules in order to gain immoral benefits. He believes that unless the Left learns to play by the rules, it cannot credibly accuse the government of corruption.
