A conservative columnist contends that the proposed US-EU free trade agreement is likely to serve US geopolitical interests and may not be in line with the wishes of Europeans. A moderate commentator believes that the US is bent on increasing its formal and informal influence in Eastern Europe in order to weaken illiberal regimes which challenge its hegemony. READ MORE
Tags: EU, foreign affairs, Russia, US
A pro-government columnist predicts that the left-wing parties will continue their battle for ideas and leadership as Socialist leader Tóbiás announces plans to distance the MSZP from the liberal opposition parties. A left-wing commentator welcomes his plan to reconnect with poor voters in the countryside who have been lured away by Jobbik. READ MORE
Tags: Democratic Coalition, Gyurcsány, Left, MSZP, Tóbiás
Left-wing liberal columnists contend that the Fidesz victory in the municipal elections is the result of growing defeatism and apathy among voters. A conservative commentator, on the other hand, believes that low turnout is an indication of voters’ confidence and trust in the governing party. READ MORE
Commenting on the results of the municipal elections, the leading left-wing daily calls for a complete overhaul of the Left in order to stop the emergence of what it calls a totalitarian one-party system. The leading pro-government daily points out that the Left managed to increase its support slightly within the new electoral system which it often called illegitimate and biased. READ MORE
Tags: Democratic Coalition, elections, Jobbik, MSZP
Tags: Budapest, Democratic Coalition, elections, Fidesz, Gyurcsány, Jobbik, Left
A left-wing pundit exhorts left-wingers to go to the polls on Sunday, even if the odds are bad, and then start rebuilding the Left from scratch the day after, lest it disappear altogether. READ MORE
Tags: elections, Left, opposition
A moderate conservative blogger thinks the government was wrong to ban a racist conference in Budapest. She praises the US embassy for declining to comment on the detention of the main organiser, an American citizen, and believes the US should display such restrained manners more often. READ MORE
Commentators take it for granted that PM Orbán’s candidate will get his seat in the European Commission. A right-wing analyst believes that Navracsics’s questioning in the Cultural Committee of the European Parliament was meant to gloss over a deal that had been struck well in advance. READ MORE
Tags: EU, Navracsics
Népszabadság thinks the future Hungarian Commissioner is an unprincipled man who dissociated himself from the government he has served for 4 years in order to get a seat in the European Commission. Magyar Nemzet writes that Tibor Navracsics kept his composure throughout the tough hearing. READ MORE
Tags: EU, Navracsics
A left-wing analyst remarks that in its campaign ahead of Sunday’s municipal elections the radical right wing party is using a more moderate tone. He suggests that the softening of rhetoric is not just a tactical weapon but reflects a change in Jobbik’s social background. READ MORE