A pro-government columnist claims that the pro-opposition media is distorting the message of Peace March organizers, because their planned rally is not about the expansion of the Paks Nuclear plant but about support for the government and a foreign policy that looks for balance between the great regional powers. READ MORE
A pro-government author accuses the Socialist leader of pining for revenge, while a left-winger claims that Fidesz applies double standards to hateful remarks and that the scandal is part of a character assassination attempt. READ MORE
Wrangling over the proposed monument to mark the German occupation has taken a new, momentous turn, from a national quarrel to an international scandal, says an opposition daily, due to a statement by Randalph L. Braham. Pro-government commentators, on the other hand, dismiss the issue as fear-mongering and baseless accusations from the left. READ MORE
The headlines in Hungarian weeklies illustrate a growing controversy over the planned addition of two Russian-made blocks to the existing Paks nuclear power station: “The scandal of the year” (168 óra); “Eastern Block” (Heti Világgazdaság); “The business of the year?” (Figyelő); “Hungary hooked by Putin” (Magyar Narancs); “Change of Roles in Kissidonia” (Demokrata); “Paks Vobiscum” (“Paks be with you”; Heti Válasz). READ MORE
A business weekly thinks that aside from the latest interest rate cut by the Hungarian National Bank, the Forint has lost ground over the past weeks because investors have grown increasingly cautious about emerging markets. READ MORE
Left-wing pundits welcome the decision of Corvinus University to keep Karl Marx’s statue on its premises, rejecting a claim that the figure of the “intellectual father” of Communism should not be exhibited in the University’s main hall and serve as a daily meeting point for young people. READ MORE
A left-wing commentator welcomes a statement by the leaders of the Jewish religious communities who are threatening to withdraw from the state commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust, unless the government changes its approach to history and stops implicitly whitewashing Hungarian wartime collaborators. A pro-government columnist accuses critics of denying Hungary’s occupation by Nazi Germany.
READ MORE
A Jewish website reports that anti-Semitism in Hungary has declined since 2010, but is still above the level measured eight years ago. Explaining why “many people have the impression that anti-Semitism is on the rise”, the sociologist who conducted the latest survey on the subject suggests that hard-core anti-Semites may feel encouraged by the presence of a far right party in Parliament and may behave more aggressively than earlier. READ MORE
Népszabadság thinks the government should have known that the Ócsa project was doomed to failure from the very start and should not have taken the hasty decision of building a large compound in the middle of nowhere. READ MORE
Liberal columnists are highly sceptical about a new opposition pact which incorporates Ferenc Gyurcsány into Gordon Bajnai and Attila Mesterházy’s alliance. Some blame leading progressive intellectuals for interfering with the political process. In a lone optimistic column, a political analyst linked to the Socialist Party suggests that all is not yet lost.