In response to a liberal editorial calling on the EU to withhold funds from Hungary in order to promote a regime change, a pro-government daily warns that the EU has contractual obligations and its attempts to meddle in Hungarian democratic politics have already backfired. READ MORE
Commenting on the first round of talks between MSZP leader Attila Mesterházy and his rival and ally, Gordon Bajnai, analysts agree that their alliance is likely to prove an uphill battle until next year’s elections.
A centrist analyst contends that Gordon Bajnai has failed to line the MSZP up behind him, and now the MSZP has the upper hand. A left-wing columnist believes that it is close to impossible to bring the two opposition parties under the same roof. READ MORE
A young alternative left-wing activist accuses the main left-wing parties of betraying Social Democratic principles. He recommends that they adopt the values of the Western anti-capitalist left, rather than sticking to what he calls their current ‘neoliberal’ principles. READ MORE
A pro-government commentator suggests that, weak as the left-wing opposition may seem, it would be too early to take its defeat at next year’s elections for granted. READ MORE
A pro-government columnist describes Gordon Bajnai’s visit to Transylvania as phoney and hypocritical. A Transylvanian news site, on the other hand, suggests Bajnai did not go to chase after votes but to listen to what Hungarians living in Romania had to tell him. READ MORE
An independent conservative commentator condemns the organiser of an informal left-liberal meeting for expelling two critical journalists and suggests that the left-liberal élite represented there is doomed to failure. Népszabadság believes, however that such people are the only team who stand a chance of defeating the governing right wing at the next elections. READ MORE
Commentators remember the former Prime Minister, and agree that Gyula Horn could become a key figure of the transition because he remained a committed Socialist. READ MORE
A left-wing commentator dismisses a report in the leading pro-government daily about an alleged EU-scheme to question the legitimacy of the 2014 election, as a classical conspiracy theory. A conservative pundit, on the other hand, suggests that whatever was actually discussed, meetings of top European politicians and the business elite behind closed doors weaken the democratic image of Europe. READ MORE
On the eve of a new round of left wing opposition talks, a left-wing analyst argues that the two major competing leaders should find a quick compromise. A libertarian commentator describes Mesterházy and Bajnai as locked in a power-struggle, predicting that Bajnai”s best offer, to have joint candidates in individual constituencies but run on separate national tickets, will only show which of the two is the worse candidate. READ MORE