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
Weeklies published before the closing of the opposition primary on Saturday assessed the chances of the frontrunners, their prospects in the April general election and the main tasks of the opposition, after the primary. 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 left-liberal author ponders Klára Dobrev’s chances of winning the second round of the opposition primaries, and then of a Dobrev-led opposition defeating Fidesz in April 2022. A pro-government columnist believes that the primary has helped to entrench Ferenc Gyurcsány’s alleged control of the Left. READ MORE
The weeklies ponder what kind of government will take shape after Chancellor Merkel, a key actor in German politics and international relations, leaves the scene after 16 years in office. They also try to weigh the potential consequences for German-Hungarian relations. READ MORE
Two liberal commentators find the government’s decision to keep the loan repayment moratorium in force beyond the 2022 election controversial and potentially counterproductive. READ MORE
The weeklies went to print well before the end of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, which wound up in Budapest on Sunday. Opposition-leaning commentators accuse the government of using religion for political purposes, and contrast it with Pope Francis, whom they describe as an authentic believer. A pro-government analyst believes their criticism is disingenuous. READ MORE
Left-wing and liberal commentators believe that the Afghanistan crisis is the collective responsibility of the West. A conservative columnist think that since Western norms cannot be exported, the creation of multicultural societies in the West is also doomed to fail. READ MORE
Commentators try to make sense of the collapse of the Afghan government and the victory of the Taliban, as US forces have not yet fully withdrawn from Afghanistan. READ MORE