Pro-government commentators suggest that the government should not cave in to political pressure from the European Union and the IMF, while opposition newspapers warn that by refusing to accept the rules of the game Hungary’s leaders are taking serious and unnecessary risks. READ MORE
A leading rabbi and a moderate conservative columnist condemn Jobbik MP Zsolt Baráth for his anti-Semitic speech in Parliament last week and call for civilized dialogue among democrats and joint action against hate speech. READ MORE
Tags: anti-Semitism
The main pro-government daily describes the attitude of the European Commission towards Hungary as nonsensical, for it releases only vague statements on what conditions Hungary should fulfil in order to be judged fit to start negotiations with the IMF on a long awaited credit line agreement. According to the biggest left-wing newspaper, on the other hand, the real problem is that Brussels has no trust in Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. READ MORE
While the whole Hungarian political and media scene tries to guess who the next President will be, following Pál Schmitt’s resignation last week, a leading centrist analyst believes that despite some concerns, it would not necessarily be a problem if the choice falls on a party politician. READ MORE
A moderate right-wing columnist and a renowned sociologist believe that the former Prime Minister – who would have turned 80 this weekend – was the last old style Hungarian gentleman, while a liberal author remembers him as a dull speaker and a basically inept politician. READ MORE
Left-wing commentators criticise the police for denying permission for the annual LGBT march in Budapest. They believe that the police by doing so is violating basic human rights. One speculates that the conservative government wants to make sure no gays appear in public. READ MORE
Tags: Fidesz, homophobia, human rights
A centrist analyst wonders what reasons a radical right-wing representative may have had when he addressed the House to request the commemoration of a young girl who disappeared from her village in 1882, and who, according to the old anti-Semitic narrative, was murdered by local Jews. READ MORE
Tags: anti-Semitism, Jobbik
Right-wing commentators in Hungary this Easter alert their readers to the possible consequences of denying Europe’s Christian roots. They fear that without basic Christian values, naked materialism will prevail, and qualities like solidarity, basic human kindness and morality will suffer throughout the secularized continent. READ MORE
Tags: Christianity, Europe, religion