Hungary’s first right wing president since the régime change died at the age of 80 last week, and the otherwise strongly partisan press was unanimous in praise of his merits. Some nonetheless contrasted his approach with that of the present right wing government. READ MORE
Hungary will regulate fast food restaurants, if the Parliament in Budapest passes the bill tabled by János Lázár, the Fidesz floor leader. According to the text of the draft, restaurants offering unhealthy foods with a high fat and sugar content would have to build playgrounds nearby in return, and could only offer kids’ menus with toy presents, if they have a reduced fat content. READ MORE
Prime Ministers of the past thirteen years each blame the increase in the debt on one another. But why is it important in the first place to investigate who is responsible, if all of them acknowledge that the high debt level is a serious problem? A conservative blogger wonders. READ MORE
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has identified debt and unemployment as the twin enemies to defeat, lest we be defeated by them. Left-wing commentators accuse him of waging war with virtually all actors at home and abroad. Right-wing analysts also report signs of social tensions, but blame the hardships on the previous left-wing governments. READ MORE
Heti Válasz carries an angry reaction by András Stumpf to comments by the veteran Hungarian-Austrian columnist Paul Lendvai in the Vienna Standard, on the dismissal of the director of the Budapest Holocaust Memorial Centre. READ MORE
“If Hungary’s President is ever offered a chance to meet the President of the United States of America, he should under all circumstances avail himself of such an opportunity,” warns Tamás Mészáros in his regular editorial in 168 óra. READ MORE
On Thursday (2 June) rumours circulated on the internet that the government was planning to nationalize those private bank deposits which exceed 2 million forints, in order to cut the deficit. Although the rumours proved to be false, left-wing commentators point to the first reactions as proof that people do not trust the government. READ MORE
The smallest party in Parliament (16 seats), Politics Can Be Different (LMP) is planning a referendum to challenge the government’s welfare cuts and the reduction of employees’ rights. Commentators at the liberal webmagazine Hírszerző suggest that LMP wants to distance itself both from the governing centre-right parties and at the same time from the Socialists with whom they share the opposition benches. READ MORE
On the first anniversary of the establishment of the Orbán government, pundits and politicians weigh in to assess the centre-right government’s performance so far, and to outline the possible government strategies of the coming years. READ MORE
Infighting within the Socialist Party is now continuing in broad daylight as party strongman László Puch calls on former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány to leave the Socialists in peace and build his own party.
Mr László Puch is Mr Gyurcsány’s stiffest influential opponent among the Socialists. After a decade spent as party treasurer then a short period as state secretary, he is now running the party’s organizational and financial matters in his quality as party manager. READ MORE