A pro-government columnist describes it as highly symbolic that all three vice presidents of the Christian Democratic International are central European leaders, namely prime ministers Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Janez Janša of Slovenia and Andrej Plenković of Croatia. READ MORE
Left-wing and liberal commentators warmly welcome Márki-Zay as the opposition front-runner in next year’s parliamentary election but worry if he will be able to keep the disparate forces of the opposition united during the forthcoming six months. READ MORE
Pro-government film producer Gábor Kálomista’s new thriller on the street clashes and brutal police clampdown before and on the anniversary of the 1956 revolution in 2006 is proving a great success among the pro-government public. 15 years after the controversial events took place with Ferenc Gyurcsány as Prime Minister, remembering those days has been one of the main themes of this year’s celebration of the anniversary on the government side. (For the 2006 riots, see e.g., BudaPost, September 5, 2011.) READ MORE
On the 65th anniversary of the 1956 revolution, a left-wing commentator and his right-wing counterpart draw diametrically opposing lessons for the present from the history of the popular uprising. READ MORE
Critics of both the government and of the opposition parties welcome the result of the opposition primary but wonder what the programme of the centrist candidate for Prime Minister will be and how he will put it through. READ MORE
A conservative columnist believes new fault-lines may appear within the opposition, as their newly elected candidate for Prime Minister asks for civic candidates to be included on the joint opposition electoral list next year. A left-liberal commentator thinks Fidesz is taking the threat of opposition victory in 2022 seriously. READ MORE
Critics of the opposition ruminate on what the government side should do after Péter Márki-Zay, an outsider, managed to defeat opposition party leaders and become Prime Minister Orbán’s challenger in next April’s parliamentary elections. READ MORE
In their first comments after Péter Márki-Zay’s victory was announced late on Sunday night, left-liberal commentators think his unexpected success gives new hope to those Hungarians who want to vote the incumbent government out of office next April. READ MORE
By the time the news broke on Friday that Klára Dobrev will face a single challenger, namely Péter Márki-Zay, in the second round of the primaries to choose the opposition prime ministerial candidate in next year’s elections, the weeklies were already on the newsstands. They could therefore not react to Gergely Karácsony’s withdrawal from the race, but most did comment on Márki–Zay’s surprisingly successful performance. READ MORE
A pro-government daily reads Gergely Karácsony’s decision to withdraw from the opposition primary as proof that he is a failed politician. A left-wing analyst lambasts him for releasing a string of contradictory statements. READ MORE