Now that the European Commission have given the green light for Hungary to start negotiating a credit-line agreement with the IMF, commentators assess the possible consequences of the restrictions announced by PM Viktor Orbán. Both left and right agree that the talks are a step forward, but the country could pay a very high price for the credit-line. READ MORE
By choosing János Áder as his candidate for the presidency, PM Viktor Orbán has shown that he still cares for his one-time co-founders of Fidesz, even if they have sometimes disagreed with him in the past. By implication, he has also accepted the idea that the President will not necessarily support the government on all issues. READ MORE
A leading rabbi and a moderate conservative columnist condemn Jobbik MP Zsolt Baráth for his anti-Semitic speech in Parliament last week and call for civilized dialogue among democrats and joint action against hate speech. READ MORE
A moderate right-wing columnist and a renowned sociologist believe that the former Prime Minister – who would have turned 80 this weekend – was the last old style Hungarian gentleman, while a liberal author remembers him as a dull speaker and a basically inept politician. READ MORE
Whatever their political affiliations, Hungary’s daily newspapers are united in regretting President Pál Schmitt’s refusal to resign, despite being stripped of his doctoral title by the Semmelweis University in Budapest. READ MORE
Commentators from across the political spectrum are trying to make sense of a report released by the fact-finding committee investigating whether President Pál Schmitt was guilty of plagiarism in his 1992 doctoral thesis. Commentators from both the right and the left believe that the President should step down. READ MORE
Looking back at the controversial March 15 celebrations in Budapest, a conservative Polish commentator finds it sad that there are no more non-political national holidays, at least not in Hungary. And the contagion has reached Poland as well. READ MORE
Commenting on the European Commission’s decision to launch infringement procedures against Hungary, left-wing columnists believe that Brussels took a moral stand, while their conservative counterparts interpret the Commission’s decision as an example of the EU’s double standards. READ MORE
Both left and right wing commentators accuse the Governor of Hungary’s Central Bank of waiting too long before making a conciliatory gesture, in a fierce debate with the government over his income. READ MORE
Remembering the victims of the Communist past, conservative intellectuals blame left-wing and liberal elites for trying to relativize the crimes of the Communist dictatorships. A liberal commentator, on the other hand, accuses the right-wing government of only symbolically distancing itself from post-Communism. READ MORE