Ads tax plan under fire
June 4th, 2014
The leading pro-government daily says a proposed new law would endanger media freedom without aubstantially benefiting the budget. READ MORE
Bajnai and Bilderberg – the plot thickens
June 3rd, 2014
A liberal weekly calls recent accusations by right-wing pundits against the Bilderberg Group conspiracy theories, while a pro-government commentator thinks the invitation to Gordon Bajnai this year may signal an intention to interfere in Hungarian domestic politics. READ MORE
Tags: Bajnai
Reshuffle on the Left after the EP election
June 2nd, 2014
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
Tags: Bajnai, Gyurcsány, Mesterházy, MSZP
Mesterházy’s fall
May 31st, 2014
A left-wing analyst appreciates Attila Mesterházy’s decision to step down both as Socialist party leader and as faction leader in Parliament. He writes with disdain about one of Mesterházy’s former supporters who “stabbed him in the back”. READ MORE
Tags: elections, Mesterházy, MSZP
Jobbik triumphalism ridiculed
May 30th, 2014
A passionate pro-government columnist who is often accused of playing extreme right-wing tunes mock Jobbik leader Gábor Vona’s claim that his radical right wing party has become Fidesz’s only challenger as a result of the European elections. READ MORE
Post-electoral complaints on the Left
May 29th, 2014
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
Juncker’s candidacy opposed by PM Orbán
May 28th, 2014
Conservative pundits believe the Prime Minister is now bereft of significant opponents at home as a result of two consecutive elections, and is therefore seeking new battlefields at the European level. This explains, they suggest, why Mr Orbán was the first front-line EU leader to openly defy Jean-Claude Juncker’s nomination for President of the European Commission. READ MORE
Tags: European Parliament, Orbán
A first take of the EP elections
May 27th, 2014
The first analyses following the elections for the European Parliament agree that the Socialist Party was the main loser of the day. The absolute majority of Fidesz was no surprise, given the low turnout, and Jobbik was expected by most observers to come in second. But the poor showing of the MSZP was a shock for left-wingers and a cause for much schadenfreude for the Right. READ MORE
Tags: elections, European Parliament, Gyurcsány, Mesterházy
Hungary’s structural economic dilemmas
May 26th, 2014
Analysts from right across the political spectrum warn that Hungary should focus more on economic sectors with higher added value, for wages and demand to catch up with western European levels. First and foremost, they believe, the government needs to help Hungarian investors and spend more on education. READ MORE
Tags: economy, education, employment, GDP, jobs
Might Jobbik be banned?
May 26th, 2014
A liberal analyst wonders whether Fidesz will ban far-right Jobbik after a prominent politician of the movement was accused of spying for Russia. By banning the far-right party, Fidesz could in the short run increase its own constituency, but it would thereby lose the strategic advantage of claiming the centre of the political spectrum, challenged from both sides. READ MORE