Making peace with banks?

Commentators in the Hungarian media notice a turn in the government’s economic policy, and urge a compromise with financial institutions. READ MORE

Row over far right theatre appointment amplified

The controversy over the appointment of a far right-winger as director of a Budapest theatre shows no signs of abating. Commentators now ponder the possible consequences of a conflict generated by German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi, who cancelled a Budapest concert to express his indignation over the appointment. READ MORE

Radical right-wingers get their theatre

A popular liberal blogger reacts ironically to the appointment of a radical right wing actor as director of a small Budapest theatre, describing it as a selfless decision in favour of the mentally deranged. A leading moderate conservative commentator cautions against possible negative consequences. READ MORE

Hungarian Olive Tree Coalition in the making

According to a moderate conservative fact-finding journalist, the beleaguered former PM and Socialist Party chairman Ferenc Gyurcsány intends to set up a broad left-wing coalition, with his immediate successor, Gordon Bajnai as PM Viktor Orbán’s challenger. READ MORE

Orbán still without a challenger

Journalists and political analysts of both leftist and conservative inclinations wonder who might emerge as a rival to Viktor Orbán either as prime minister or as right-wing leader. The centre-right governing coalition is losing support, but the opposition parties have failed so far to increase their own popularity. READ MORE

Hungarian Watergate

A pro-government commentator believes that Socialist officials guilty of illegal practices while in government should be jailed, or at least voluntarily withdraw from politics. Left wing analysts don’t believe the latest spy story. READ MORE

Workaday problems on national holiday

Commentaries marking Saint Stephen’s day turn invariably around some of the usual controversies which divide left and right: Hungary’s international image, internal ideological divisions and the economic policies advisable in today’s unfavourable world business climate.

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Under friendly fire

Left wing commentators welcome the unequivocal warnings addressed to the Hungarian government by various Western sources, while right wing analysts deem accusations of anti-democratic tendencies directed at Hungarian leaders unfair. READ MORE

Punishment: a condition of public trust?

It is little wonder that the Hungarian Socialists are in decline, writes the editor-in-chief of Heti Válasz, Gábor Borókai, given the short-sighted policies of their  leaders since the late 1990s. His commentary comes in response to a statement by former MSZP president Ms Ildikó Lendvai and as a contribution to the ongoing debate about making former political leaders accountable. READ MORE

Who is to pay for the debt?

Commentators in Hungary are still arguing on the Parliamentary majority’s plan to find a way to sue politicians responsible for the country’s indebtedness. In the mainstream press there is full consensus on the impossibility of retroactive legislation, but left and right wing commentators disagree on all the rest. READ MORE