A liberal columnist accuses the British ambassador to Budapest of ‘flattering’ PM Orbán and ‘echoing his populist slogans’. She suggests that Britain needs the V-4 countries in its standoff with Brussels over Brexit, but would not protect Hungary and Poland if EU leaders wanted to strip them of their voting rights. READ MORE
Commentators across the political spectrum speculate on the future of the European Union, the Visegrád cooperation process, and other consequences of the Friday EU summit. They all agree that Hungary will have to make a tough choice if the EU is transformed into a two-speed union. READ MORE
A veteran Népszabadság
A new kind of partnership has emerged in which the countries of the Visegrád Four (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) have a chance to bolster their voice in a divided Europe, proclaims Magyar Idők, while Népszabadság suspects Po
Those who are terrified of the prospect of a United States of Europe should realise that this entity has already come to life: it is governed from Berlin and its leader is called Angela Merkel, a pro-government analyst warns. READ MORE
A pro-government analyst characterises the steps taken to condemn the new Polish government as carbon copies of a series of earlier hearings and infringement procedures launched in Hungary’s case after the right-wing electoral victory in 2010. READ MORE
A libertarian commentator thinks that Hungary’s left wing parties are doomed to insignificance, because they are unable to represent an alternative to the conservative and radical right wing. Just as Poland has followed the Hungarian example by voting the nationalist-conservative PiS
Analysts right across the political spectrum study the Polish Parliamentary elections in search of lessons for Hungarian politics and ponder the prospects of Central European regional cooperation. READ MORE
Commenting on the first round of the Polish Presidential election, a conservative commentator draws a parallel between the situation of the centre-right governments of Poland and Hungary. Another columnist fears that the rise of the populist Law and Justice party may hamper V4 regional cooperation. READ MORE
Commenting on the government’s foreign affairs strategy, most left-wing and liberal commentators accuse PM Orbán of selling out to Moscow. Right-wing pundits, on the other hand, defend what they see as the government’s pragmatic and balanced foreign affairs vision. Some moderate analysts castigate mindless exaggerations and ideologically motivated approaches on both sides. READ MORE