Hungary downgraded by Freedom House

As the American watchdog organisation brands Hungary a ‘hybrid regime’ rather than even a half-consolidated democracy, opposition-leaning commentators believe their position has been vindicated while pro-government authors suggest that the report is deeply flawed.

Weeklies on the new national curriculum

The debate over the new national curriculum continues in the weeklies. Left-wing and liberal commentators pour scorn on the government and accuse it of brainwashing kids. Pro-government and conservative commentators, on the other hand, find the critics ideologically biased.

22-year-old appointed Assistant State Secretary

Opposition outlets find it abnormal to name a very young woman Assistant State Secretary for Youth, while a pro-government commentator accuses them of duplicity in condemning the nomination.

CEU’s last graduation ceremony in Budapest

As the Central European University bids farewell to Hungary, right-wing commentators liken ideas expressed by CEU representatives  to colonialist and even Nazi and Communist thinking. They consider CEU’s departure as ‘good riddance’. A Marxist philosopher charges the government with the imposition of ideological absolutism.

Further comments on the departure of the Central European University

Left-wing commentators see a litmus test in the government’s handing of the CEU affair; one explains why the Prime Minister feels he cannot compromise on that matter, while pro-government outlets ridicule the protests over the planned transfer of most CEU courses to Vienna.

Ukrainian education law backed by Soros’s local foundation

A conservative commentator finds it surprising that the Ukrainian  subsidiary of a network of foundations financed by American-Hungarian financier and philanthropist George Soros agrees with the new Ukrainian law which bars state owned schools from teaching minority students in their mother tongues.

Further repercussions of the teachers’ demonstration

Commentators on both Left and Right ponder the broader implications of the teachers’ rally against the centralized education administration on Saturday.

Teachers’ rally in Budapest

Following Saturday's mass demonstration, Népszabadság declares what it calls ‘Orbán's educational counter-revolution' a failure, while Magyar Nemzet likens the unshaven protestors to the student movement which gave birth to Fidesz 28 years ago.

Teachers’ demos in eleven cities

A left-wing daily welcomes demonstrations initiated by the teachers of a Miskolc high school as an example of "the courage and autonomy of citizens", while a right-wing webmagazine suggests that the teachers’ “legitimate protest movement” is being used by Soros-funded NGOs.

Spontaneous opposition movements stealing the show

A conservative pundit dismisses the leaders of the new spontaneous anti-government movements as daydreamers, but calls on Fidesz to wake up from what he calls its own self-satisfied dream. A left-wing analyst doesn’t rule out the possibility of a new grassroots political force emerging in Hungary.