Foreign currency (FX) loans to be eliminated

As the government promises to convert FX loans into Forint credit by the end of the year, analysts wonder how the conversion could and should be carried out. READ MORE

Complaints about divisions and incompetence on the Left

Left-leaning pundits complain about the weaknesses of the left-wing opposition parties. One commentator highlights the rivalry among the different parties, while another criticizes their inability to rid themselves of corrupt, discredited politicians. READ MORE

Viktor Orbán’s anti-Juncker promise

Columnists are divided about the PM’s latest remarks on the candidacy of Jean-Claude Juncker to the presidency of the European Commission. READ MORE

Kúria issues guidelines on FX loans

As the Kúria issues a ruling on foreign currency loans, columnists express skepticism on the government’s ability to save debtors.

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Commemorating the anniversary of the reburial of Imre Nagy

As Hungary commemorates the 1989 reburial of Prime Minister Imre Nagy and his colleagues executed following the Revolution of 1956, political commentators try to trace the contemporary relevance of this event, strictly in line with their current political affiliations. READ MORE

Reshuffle on the Left after the EP election

Opinions diverge on whether the MSZP made the right choice in convening its congress for mid-July or if it was the result of a last ditch trick by the failed leadership. Analysts also think Fidesz is putting the Left in an awkward position with the planned new rules for the municipal elections in Budapest. What they do not know is what will enable left-wing parties to attract more voters rather than cannibalising each other. READ MORE

Post-electoral complaints on the Left

A left-wing pundit calls on the Socialists and their rivals on the Left to put an end to their infighting and start preparing for the municipal elections in October. Budapest can still be won, he thinks, if nothing else. READ MORE

Viktor Orbán’s call for autonomy criticized by Poland

A pro-government columnist says Ukraine is not simply a victim of Russian aggression but a battleground between the US and Russia, and Kiev can only keep eastern Ukraine if it agrees to grant autonomy to local ethnic Russian residents. An opposition daily thinks Hungary has a responsibility towards beyond-border Hungarians but Orbán’s call for autonomy and dual citizenship for Hungarians in Transcarpathia was likely to create tensions in Ukraine and was therefore a cynical move. Another opposition columnist asks what consequences the Ukraine crisis and Orbán’s statement may have for the autonomy plans of Hungarian-speaking Szeklers in Romania. READ MORE

Biszku sentenced for war crimes

Left and liberal papers question the wisdom of the prison sentence handed down to Béla Biszku, a former high ranking communist, for war crimes committed after the 1956 revolution. They echo the arguments of the defence that the trial was politically motivated. READ MORE

Monument to mark Nazi occupation nears completion

Left-liberal commentators reject the Prime Minister’s statement, which justifies the controversial statue project as a gesture to remember all victims of Nazi occupation. One even calls the statue a Nazi monument that will be blown up. A pro-government columnist says it is obvious that the monument expresses the condemnation of Hungary’s occupation by Hitler’s army and that the government has expressed its grief over the Holocaust and admitted the guilt of Hungarian collaborators in no uncertain terms. READ MORE