A right-wing columnist wonders why the police investigates journalists who identified the policemen beating up protesters during the 2006 riots, instead of prosecuting the violent perpetrators who, she believes, acted on the orders of Ferenc Gyurcsány’s left-wing government. READ MORE
Liberal commentators are divided over the meaning of a handshake with the leader of Jobbik, and the place of the far right party in the Hungarian political landscape. Most left-leaning intellectuals consider any gesture towards Jobbik unacceptable, while others invoke the fact that Jobbik won a place in Parliament democratically. READ MORE
A Marxist philosopher believes that the European Commission’s proposal to suspend 495 million Euros in development support simply reinforces PM Viktor Orbán’s power, and will only serve to help Fidesz win the next general elections. READ MORE
A left wing commentator welcomes a court decision which upholds the validity of a broadcasting license won by the left-wing talk radio, and cautions the Media Authority against filing an appeal. READ MORE
A centrist analyst believes that Fidesz did not embark on a wholesale overhaul of scores of political institutions in order to put an end to democracy in Hungary, but because the party felt that the institutional environment has always favoured its adversaries. Fidesz decided, therefore, to change that environment. READ MORE
A leading conservative analyst fears that the mild sentence handed down in György Hunvald’s trial is bound to strengthen populist stereotypes according to which the small thieves get caught while the bigger ones get away with their crimes. READ MORE
Both left and right wing commentators accuse the Governor of Hungary’s Central Bank of waiting too long before making a conciliatory gesture, in a fierce debate with the government over his income. READ MORE
Remembering the victims of the Communist past, conservative intellectuals blame left-wing and liberal elites for trying to relativize the crimes of the Communist dictatorships. A liberal commentator, on the other hand, accuses the right-wing government of only symbolically distancing itself from post-Communism. READ MORE
Left-wing and liberal analysts blame the government for the European Commission’s threat to withhold hundreds of millions of Euros in subsidies. They suggest that both the government and the public will have to acknowledge the necessity of pro-market reforms. READ MORE
Magyar Hírlap carries a debate on whether leaving the European Union is a realistic option for Hungary, while Magyar Nemzet, which also echoes the displeasure of right-wing circles with the threat of Union sanctions against Hungary, asks if the EU can be successful without respecting national traditions. READ MORE