The leading left-wing daily suspects the campaign of the governing party will be dominated by the single issue of energy and utility tariff cuts. A pro-government commentator, on the other hand, finds it strange that MSZP leader Attila Mesterházy missed the opportunity to attend the session and outline a left-wing alternative to the current government in parliament. READ MORE
Wrangling over the proposed monument to mark the German occupation has taken a new, momentous turn, from a national quarrel to an international scandal, says an opposition daily, due to a statement by Randalph L. Braham. Pro-government commentators, on the other hand, dismiss the issue as fear-mongering and baseless accusations from the left. READ MORE
Left-wing pundits welcome the decision of Corvinus University to keep Karl Marx’s statue on its premises, rejecting a claim that the figure of the “intellectual father” of Communism should not be exhibited in the University’s main hall and serve as a daily meeting point for young people. READ MORE
A left-wing commentator welcomes a statement by the leaders of the Jewish religious communities who are threatening to withdraw from the state commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust, unless the government changes its approach to history and stops implicitly whitewashing Hungarian wartime collaborators. A pro-government columnist accuses critics of denying Hungary’s occupation by Nazi Germany.
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The date of the election itself has become a campaign topic, with left-wing commentators suspecting that the President’s decision was prompted by political convenience rather than neutral rationality. READ MORE
Népszabadság thinks the government should have known that the Ócsa project was doomed to failure from the very start and should not have taken the hasty decision of building a large compound in the middle of nowhere. READ MORE
Left-wing pundits maintain that the new alliance is the only possible hope to challenge PM Orbán, albeit a rather slender one. Pro-government columnists consider the deal as proof that the left lacks ideas. READ MORE
Pro-government commentators welcome the nuclear deal between Hungary and Russia, and argue that it will serve the Hungarian national interest. Left-wing columnists, on the other hand, criticize the lack of transparency and the increased dependence on the Russian energy infrastructure which the agreement will cause. READ MORE
A conservative columnist suspects that the Socialists will promise to introduce a guaranteed basic income for all inhabitants, although they know that the project is infeasible. The leading left-wing daily on the other hand deems the idea technically possible, but as it would be disadvantageous for the middle class, no sane politician will dare to endorse it. READ MORE
Liberal columnists are highly sceptical about a new opposition pact which incorporates Ferenc Gyurcsány into Gordon Bajnai and Attila Mesterházy’s alliance. Some blame leading progressive intellectuals for interfering with the political process. In a lone optimistic column, a political analyst linked to the Socialist Party suggests that all is not yet lost.