A left-wing commentator doubts whether anyone within Jobbik will learn anything from the story of their MEP who turned out to be of Jewish descent. A right-wing pundit finds the spectacle of MEP Csanád Szegedi trying to bribe the man who blackmailed him with the ethnicity of his ancestors, abhorrent. READ MORE
Tags: anti-Semitism, Jobbik, Szegedi
A centrist commentator emphasizes that the Hungarian Constitutional Court, by invoking Hungary’s ’historical constitution’, found a weapon against the government’s attempts „to govern through constitutional changes.” The pro-government media mostly passed over the July 16th decision, while liberal commentators pointed out that six of the seven dissenting judges were Fidesz-appointees. READ MORE
Tags: constitution, judiciary
Commentators agree that in a dictatorship the charges levelled against former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány would not have been dropped. With just one exception: his long-term aide believes the real reason is PM Orbán’s weakening position. READ MORE
A right-wing commentator suspects that the European Commission intends to protect the interests of big multinational producers with its criticism of the new Hungarian government decree on “Made in Hungary” labels. READ MORE
Far right and left wing observers seem to agree that the prosecutor has put a suspected war criminal under house arrest as a result of international pressure. The former contend that Mr Csatáry’s rights have been infringed, while the latter blame the authorities for not acting sooner. READ MORE
Tags: Csatáry, War crimes, Wiesenthal
In the wake of the murder of a young woman by a Roma man, the internet is swarming with comments urging the reintroduction of the death penalty and with racist comments. A right-wing commentator believes “the Gypsies” should find a solution. Liberal commentators condemn what they see as racist reactions to the tragedy. READ MORE
Magyar Nemzet hopes the IMF will not put forward unacceptable demands, while Népszabadság wants moderation to prevail on the government side. READ MORE
A Magyar Nemzet commentator dismisses as absurd the charges levelled by Senator Ben Cardin (Dem) against the Hungarian government. Népszabadság cautions the right wing against branding the senator an enemy of Hungary. READ MORE
Commentators across the political spectrum ponder possible parallels between the practices of the prime ministers of Hungary and Romania. Those on the left think that although Ponta follows a recipe devised by Orbán, the Romanian PM has not initiated a fully-fledged offensive against democratic institutions. Right-wing pundits, on the other hand, note that Orbán became PM in democratic elections and his government complies with democratic norms – neither of which applies to his Romanian counterpart. READ MORE
Commenting on last weekend’s relatively incident-free gay pride parade in Budapest, Véleményvezér contends that most Hungarians have got used to the public presence of homosexuals, while gays, on the other hand, have also understood that they should not be unnecessarily provocative. READ MORE
Tags: homophobia, Jobbik