Pro-government journalists look back on the year since the introduction of the new media law in 2010. They contend that the dark predictions of the left – inside and outside Hungary – about possible censorship have proven unfounded. READ MORE
Magyar Nemzet believes the corruption charges against the CEO of Hungary’s oil giant were part of the Croatian election campaign and will be dropped soon after the elections. READ MORE
A conservative journalist finds the way his German colleagues write about Hungary unfair. He wonders whether they can be dissuaded from their prejudice. READ MORE
A left-wing commentator believes the government wants to bring the judiciary under its own control, while a right-wing columnist thinks the reform will finally put an end to the left-wing domination of the courts. READ MORE
Népszabadság warns the government that its planned electoral reform may spark unprecedented international condemnation. Magyar Nemzet’s commentator, by way of contrast, argues that any charges of anti-democratic tendencies levelled against the government are pointless, as long as Fidesz remains by far the most popular political party. READ MORE
A staunchly pro-government commentator calls upon all leading politicians in the Northern Hungarian town of Esztergom, including those on the right-wing, to step down because they are incapable of cooperating with each other. He believes that the kind of irrational intolerance which they display is a nationwide illness. READ MORE
Left wing papers call for PM Viktor Orbán and National Economy Minister György Matolcsy to resign after Moody’s downgraded Hungary to junk status. There are striking differences of interpretation, meanwhile, between the two pro-government dailies. READ MORE
A moderate right-wing columnist finds the recent guesswork about a possible early election groundless. He believes that Fidesz has no reason to call an early vote, as it can win easily in 2014. READ MORE
A pro-government columnist accuses the left-wing of celebrating the government’s retreat from its previous strategy by turning to the IMF. She believes the current economic hardships are the result of the irresponsible policies of the former governments, whose supporters are now cynically feasting on the failure of Orbán’s strategy. READ MORE
Analysts usually sharply critical of the government’s economic policies suspect that the Hungarian government has no real intention of cooperating with the IMF, but wants to buy time to calm the markets instead. One liberal commentator does not exclude the eventual collapse of the Forint as a result of an American attempt to topple Orbán’s government.