As the Hungarian Parliament votes for Finland’s NATO membership but ‘awaits further assurances from Sweden’, a liberal and a left-wing commentator believe the government side is inconsistent in its attitude towards the plans of the two Nordic countries to join NATO. READ MORE
A pro-government commentator welcomes the Prime Minister’s visit to Ankara as an example of realistic foreign diplomacy. READ MORE
A pro-government columnist finds the Greek reaction to thousands of asylum-seekers trying to cross its borders brutal but understandable. A left-wing pundit suspects that the Hungarian government cannot protect the country either from illegal migration or from the coronavirus. READ MORE
A neoconservative pundit lambasts Hungary for not objecting to the Turkish invasion of Kurdish territories in Syria. A conservative commentator takes up the government’s defence. READ MORE
As Hungary temporarily vetoed a declaration by EU foreign Ministers warning Turkey not to invade north-eastern Syria, a conservative analyst compares the Turkish invasion to what happened to Hungary in 1956.
After the first day of President Erdogan’s visit to Budapest, left-wing outlets complain about the absence of criticism of oppression in Turkey on the part of the government and remark that public demonstrations against the Turkish President have been feeble. READ MORE
A conservative commentator accuses the government of advancing Hungary’s Turkic ancestry out of geopolitical considerations. Another conservative historian dismisses the accusation, and welcomes the inclusion of the nomadic heritage in the Hungarian national identity. READ MORE
As Prime Minister Orbán calls for more trade with Turkey and political cooperation with Ankara, writers critical of the government and its supporters disagree on how Hungary can and should relate to an illiberal but geopolitically important state. READ MORE
A pro-government columnist interprets the success of the Turkish referendum as a sign that Turkey is turning away from Europe. A left-wing commentator thinks Erdogan is doomed to fail because he has divided his country. READ MORE
Commenting on Hungarian official statements on Turkey, a left-wing columnist thinks that there is little leeway for Hungary to pursue its own strategic interests in the complex geopolitical situation of the Middle East. READ MORE