Ever since party leader Gábor Vona set out to re-brand Jobbik as a relatively moderate party refraining from racism – a process which began at the end of 2013 and has recently accelerated – commentators have pondered whether or not the change is genuine or just a face lift. And most importantly, whether Jobbik has a real chance of winning the next parliamentary elections in three years’ time. READ MORE
Tags: Jobbik
Left-wing papers fume against the Kúria (Supreme Court), after it overruled previous verdicts that doomed a Gypsy school in Eastern Hungary to closure, because most of its pupils are of Roma ethnic background. A conservative author welcomes the verdict. READ MORE
Conservative commentators deplore a political statement read out by an actor of Vienna’a Burgtheater in Budapest after a performance of Chekhov’s Seagull at the annual international festival in Hungary’s National Theatre. Left-wing analysts are divided. READ MORE
Tags: culture wars
Népszabadság takes up the defence of FBI director James Corney who said that Nazis and their accomplices in many countries, including Hungary, thought they were doing the right thing. The left-wing daily says leading Hungarian government politicians have amply confessed Hungary’s war time sins. READ MORE
Gábor Bencsik, the younger of the Bencsik brothers, defends András Bencsik’s statement that a pro-government ’Peace March’ could not be organised nowadays, because people are disappointed with the Fidesz government. He calls on the government to listen to friendly criticism. READ MORE
Tags: Fidesz, Peace Walk
A left-wing pundit urges the left to return to its roots, address the burning problems ordinary people are facing and send messages which appeal to the gut feelings of the electorate. Otherwise the far right Jobbik party will monopolise discontent in Hungary. READ MORE
As Jobbik leader Gábor Vona promises to prune out racist elements from his party, columnists wonder if Jobbik can be transformed into a moderate party without losing the support of its radical core. READ MORE
Tags: anti-Semitism, elections, far-right, Jobbik, racism, Roma
A liberal economist criticizes the government for raising the ceiling of public compensation for the victims of recent brokerage house defaults. A pro-government columnist points out that while the Left is demanding full compensation, at the same time it criticizes the government for spending public money on investors. READ MORE
Tags: brokerage
Both a conservative columnist and the leading left-wing daily hope that after losing its two-thirds majority in Parliament, Fidesz will be compelled to follow a more consensual path. READ MORE
Tags: elections, Fidesz, two-thirds
An analyst welcomes the government’s conservative development vision which aims at strengthening the Hungarian middle class. He warns, however, that more investment in education is also required for successful development. READ MORE
Tags: economy, education, liberalism