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Hungarian party gets into Romanian Parliament

Wednesday, December 14th, 2016

Commenting on the Romanian elections, conservative columnists welcome the good performance of the Hungarian alliance and ponder the implications for Hungarian minority representation in Transylvania. READ MORE

Hungary leaves Open Government Partnership

Monday, December 12th, 2016

Opinions sharply diverge on the government’s decision to withdraw from an international organisation set up five years ago to keep a tighter rein on corruption. Hungary has been often ‘criticised without being heard’, say friends of the government. READ MORE

PISA test scores decline

Saturday, December 10th, 2016

A left-wing commentator accuses the government of purposefully impairing public education in Hungary in order to ‘produce obedient citizens’, while his right-wing counterpart thinks that politicising the debate on education makes proper discussion difficult. READ MORE

Opposition struggles to respond to government’s welfare measures

Friday, December 9th, 2016

A liberal analyst writes that the Left is failing to react to a new series of welfare measures introduced by the government. The main problem, he suggests, is the lack of an overall message. READ MORE

MSZP and Jobbik would ease pension eligibility

Thursday, December 8th, 2016

Népszava carries an angry reaction to parallel proposals from the Socialists and Jobbik which would allow men to retire after 40 or 41 years of service. The 40 year rule was introduced for women at the proposal of the Christian Democratic Party in 2010. READ MORE

Diplomatic row over Romania’s national holiday

Wednesday, December 7th, 2016

Commentators disagree on whether the Foreign Minister was right to ban his diplomats from attending the commemoration ceremony of the Romanian Embassy in Budapest on Romania’s National Holiday that symbolises the transfer of Transylvania from Hungary to Romania in 1918, after World War I. READ MORE

Austrian Green candidate wins presidential election

Tuesday, December 6th, 2016

A pro-government commentator believes that despite the defeat of the anti-immigrant candidate, political trends are the same as last week – people in Austria are increasingly wary of immigration and globalisation. READ MORE

Fidel Castro remembered

Tuesday, November 29th, 2016

A conservative columnist sees the controversy over Fidel Castro’s heritage as an expression of contemporary ideological and sectarian disputes over capitalism and human rights. READ MORE

American-Hungarian spy-thriller around a Saudi businessman

Monday, November 28th, 2016

Two left-wing analysts disagree on whether the scandal of the residence permit granted to Ghaith Pharaon, a Saudi citizen on Interpol’s wanted list, is part of an immoral business game or an episode in a wider plot against the Hungarian government. READ MORE

Debate on a potential MSZP-Jobbik alliance

Monday, November 28th, 2016

A left-liberal author argues for a broad alliance from Socialists to the radical right-wing Jobbik party in order to defeat the incumbent government. A left-wing pundit rejects the idea, while a right-wing analyst thinks it is unrealistic and unfeasible. READ MORE