Commentators seem to agree that Hungarians in Slovakia are among the losers of the Parliamentary election there. Some blame what they call the Orbán government’s wrong-headed cross-border policies; others believe the new inter-ethnic party is at fault. READ MORE
Tags: diaspora, Fidesz, foreign affairs, Slovakia
Left-wing commentators are appalled by PM Orbán’s new slogan: “We will not be a colony.” Their right-wing counterparts welcome the presence of the Prime Minister’s Polish supporters at the celebrations on the anniversary of the 1848 Hungarian revolution. READ MORE
A liberal commentator deplores the fact that after almost two years of Fidesz rule, the national holiday of March 15 is being celebrated by a divided opposition, and that opposition groups have still not produced a credible alternative to PM Orbán’s government. READ MORE
Tags: Gyurcsány, LMP, Milla, MSZP, opposition, protests, Szolidaritás
Hungary’s leading business daily warns that the sanctions imposed on Hungary by the European Union are just the beginning of the road, and instead of complaining about being treated unfairly, Hungary had better comply with the recommendations of the European Commission. READ MORE
Analysts were in no doubt that European finance ministers would approve the partial suspension of next year’s cohesion funds for Hungary. What they do not agree upon is who is at fault. READ MORE
Turnout was low at the first anti-government demonstration of the spring season. Népszabadság regrets the absence of young participants; Magyar Hírlap believes the left wing opposition finds it easier to gather support abroad than at home. READ MORE
Tags: opposition, protests
Commenting on the European Commission’s decision to launch infringement procedures against Hungary, left-wing columnists believe that Brussels took a moral stand, while their conservative counterparts interpret the Commission’s decision as an example of the EU’s double standards. READ MORE
Centre-right Fidesz is walking a tightrope, trying to distance itself from the radical right-wing Jobbik party in order to strengthen its democratic and pro-EU image, without alienating radical leaning right-wing voters, a liberal weekly argues. READ MORE
Writing in a right-wing daily, the economist László Gazdag criticizes the austerity measures of past Socialist governments and thereby expresses implicit criticism of the strict fiscal policies pursued by the present government. READ MORE
Commentators from across the political spectrum are upset by the opinion of the Advocate General of the European Court who has suggested that Slovakia did not violate EU law by banning László Sólyom, the President of Hungary from entering Slovakia in 2009. READ MORE