President Schmitt mocked

In his sarcastic weekly editorial column, the editor of Magyar Narancs cautions against forcing Hungary’s President to resign. READ MORE

A left-wing take on Orbán’s ”freedom fight”

In his regular lead column in 168 óra, Tamás Mészáros suggests that the Prime Minister’s radical “freedom fighter’s” rhetoric is aimed at keeping his camp together amid the present financial difficulties. READ MORE

A former insider on the race for the MSZP presidency

A prominent aide to former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány finds it strange that both candidates running for the top post of the Socialist Party were State Secretaries under Gyurcsány, yet  are using anti-Gyurcsány rhetoric in their campaign. READ MORE

Can Polish-Hungarian friendship be non-divisive?

Looking back at the controversial March 15 celebrations in Budapest, a conservative Polish commentator finds it sad that there are no more non-political national holidays, at least not in Hungary. And the contagion has reached Poland as well. READ MORE

Liberal lawyer against restoring the old constitution

Is Hungary gambling with the IMF talks?

A conservative critic of the right-wing government fears that Hungary’s rulers think they can get away without an IMF credit line agreement. READ MORE

Will Orbán manage to be tough, and still ready to compromise?

A conservative philosopher believes Prime Minister Orbán should use more diplomatic language in his argument with the European Union, but admits that Brussels gives him little room to make concessions without losing face.

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Speculation about a Merkel-Orbán pact

Rumours about an abandoned Western plan to topple Hungary’s prime minister are interpreted by a leading right-wing commentator as proof that what liberals and left-wingers have always dismissed as radical, paranoid conspiracy theories, were actually true. READ MORE

Verbal duel between Brussels and Budapest over Orbán’s speech

A leading centrist analyst believes that Viktor Orbán has no choice but to use double talk, but advises him to practice this more carefully, while his conservative colleague writes that the EC has over-reacted to the Hungarian PM’s words on March 15^th. READ MORE

Lessons of the Slovak elections

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