Opposition scraps Fudan university referendum plans

A left-wing commentator lambasts the opposition for giving up their idea of a local referendum on the government’s plan to build a Chinese university campus in Budapest.

Budapest at loggerheads with the government over the Athletics World Championship and the Fudan campus

A pro-government commentator accuses the opposition of using both the planned athletics event and the Fudan campus as political tools. A left-wing pundit thinks that the government will go ahead with the Chinese university project anyway - despite the conditional veto cast by the Budapest Assembly.

Opposition protests against Fudan university

Commentators express strongly opposing views about the planned Chinese university campus in Budapest, and its implications.

Chinese Fudan university to build campus in Budapest

Opinions diverge sharply on the plan to open a Chinese university campus in Budapest in 2024. This will be the first campus the Shanghai-based Fudan University opens abroad. The Hungarian government plans to fund the project from Chinese loans.

Weeklies on the new government

After the swearing-in of the new Cabinet ministers last week, the weeklies try to make sense of the new composition of Prime Minister Orbán’s government. Two left-wing weeklies lament the sad state of the opposition.

President sets election for 3 April

The main pro-government daily calls on its readers to mobilise for the parliamentary election scheduled for the first Sunday of April – the earliest possible date within the timeframe defined by the electoral law.

Crossfire of  accusations of demagoguery

A pro-government commentator interprets Budapest Mayor Karácsony’s threat to veto the Budapest Athletics Championship as a demagogic stunt. A liberal pundit, on the other hand, thinks that what he labels the government’s demagogic economic path is untenable.

Athletics World Championship hangs in the (political) balance

A right-wing pundit accuses the Mayor of Budapest of high treason for his suggestion to withdraw Budapest’s offer to host the 2023 Athletic World Championship. A leftist commentator sees the Mayor’s move as reversible, depending on the destiny of the ‘Student City’ project, competing for the same area with a ...

PM Orbán calls referendum

A pro-government commentator welcomes the Prime Minister’s decision to call a referendum on the controversial child abuse legislation. A liberal columnist interprets the referendum as an act of ‘political paedophilia’.

EU starts legal action against Hungary (and Poland)

Reacting to the infringement procedure launched by the European Commission over LGBTQ issues, a pro-government historian thinks this controversy resembles the clash over asylum-seekers in the late 2010s. A left-wing commentator, by contrast, sees a clear political motive behind the ‘child protection law’ identified as homophobic by the European Commission.