As the Monetary Council lowers the base rate to a historic low and announces the end of the easing cycle, columnists on both left and right acknowledge that Central Banker Governor Matolcsy’s bold and often criticized steps have proven valid. READ MORE
The leading left-wing daily accuses the government of arrogance and the falsification of history, as the monument commemorating the victims of the 1944 Nazi occupation of Hungary is completed. A pro-government columnist, on the other hand, believes that the memorial is a good visualization of the national tragedy caused by the loss of its sovereignty, without whitewashing Hungary of its own historical responsibility. READ MORE
On the eve of the annual Budapest Pride walk, conservative columnists suspect that the gay pride movement has been taken over by a militant core that wants to force its worldview on majorities and silence those who do not agree with them. Liberal commentators accuse conservative religious defenders of traditional values and the family of reframing old style homophobia. READ MORE
As Hungary passes the rotating presidency of the Visegrád 4 cooperation scheme to Slovakia, a conservative columnist finds it disappointing that the V4 group has mostly failed to create a close Central European regional partnership. Another right-wing pundit and his left-wing counterpart, however, believe that the Orbán government is doing its best to improve its ties with neighbouring states, although it does not always succeed. READ MORE
As the European Parliament returns for its first plenary session, a conservative columnist argues that further centralization would entrench the problems of the EU and increase its democratic deficit. A liberal commentator, on the other hand, believes that the success of European countries depends on further integration. READ MORE
A leading pro-government commentator takes up the defence of the agreement on two new nuclear blocks to be built by Russia’s Rosatom at Paks, as an extension to Hungary’s existing atomic power station. He argues that the project will not plunge Hungary into unmanageable debt. Another conservative analyst agrees that there is no other solution to guarantee the country’s long term energy supply. READ MORE
A pro-government daily says the Szárszó meeting shows left-liberal circles lost their way because they are inimical to the concepts of nation and patriotism. The number one left-wing daily draws the conclusion that the Left is not able at present to defy the government or even to compete successfully with Jobbik. READ MORE