A moderate pro-government weekly is proud of being the target of criticism from a leading Socialist MEP during Wednesday’s debate about the Hungarian Constitution in Strasbourg. It suggests, nevertheless, that Hungary should solve its judicial problems at home. READ MORE
A centrist blogger believes that the PM does not mind criticism from European leaders, but is unlikely to risk punitive sanctions from the European Union. READ MORE
Mária Schmidt accuses Hungary’s foreign critics of applying double standards. The conservative historian suggests that the widespread western criticism of recent legislative developments in Hungary is inspired by left-wing intellectuals who have not yet done their homework. READ MORE
A leading left-wing commentator criticises the Prime Minister’s explanation of the discontent expressed by European officials over recent legal developments in Hungary, while a Fidesz MEP thinks Hungary’s policies are being criticised because they do not fit into “the liberal consensus”. READ MORE
Left-wing pundits furiously condemn a sociologist who said that today’s Hungarian Gypsies are “a product of decomposition.” His colleague argues that rural poverty is not an exclusively Roma problem. READ MORE
Left-liberal columnists describe a case in which a suspect was beaten to death during a police interrogation in a theft case as typical of the insensitive and brutal culture of some precincts. READ MORE
A conservative critic of government policies thinks the new growth-oriented credit scheme announced by the National Bank may help, but only if Hungarian small businesses are competitive enough and banks are ready to embrace the project. READ MORE
A pro-government daily predicts that parties on the left will form some kind of coalition, despite the bitter jockeying for position between them, but whatever shape this coalition takes, it will suffer from the lack of credibility that still haunts the MSZP after its previous terms in government, in alliance with Liberals. READ MORE
A left wing daily pokes fun at the government’s efforts to sort foodstuffs according to their national character, and thinks it would be more useful to label the regional or local origins. READ MORE
A leftist daily welcomes the Prime Minister’s decision to have an anti-Semitic demonstration planned on Holocaust Remembrance Day banned.. Other centrist and left-liberal columnists, on the other hand, call for freedom of assembly for all citizens, including those who oppose freedom itself. READ MORE