A pro-government and a left-wing columnist ponder the broader implications of the European Commission’s decision to dismiss new EU-wide minority rights measures proposed by a European Citizen’s Initiative. READ MORE
A liberal foreign policy expert agrees with the Prime Minister in expecting the government to come under intense international pressure this year. READ MORE
Commentators try to make sense of the agreement reached last week on rule of law conditionality of EU financial transfers to member states which enabled Hungary and Poland to abandon their threat to veto the seven-year Union budget and the Covid recovery scheme. READ MORE
Commentators on Left and Right ponder the broader implications of the EU’s rule of law conditionality. Most importantly, they try to gauge how and when it could be used against Hungary. READ MORE
Commenting on the EU rule of law conditionality deal agreed on Thusday, a pro-government columnist thinks that the EU misjudged the Hungarian and Polish determination to withstand efforts to curb their national sovereignty. A left-wing pundit likens the dispute to the Battle of Borodino. READ MORE
Commentators across the political spectrum think that the new rule of law conditionality scheme proposed by Germany is a victory for Prime Minister Orbán and the government. READ MORE
A liberal analyst thinks that Prime Minister Orbán miscalculated his chances of success when he opted for a head-on collision with the most influential European governments over plans to make EU financial transfers conditional on respect for the rule of law. A pro-government commentator, on the other hand, believes that Hungary must defend herself against arbitrary rule by Union bureaucrats. READ MORE
The scandal surrounding Fidesz MEP József Szájer barely reached the weeklies before they went to print, but one managed nevertheless to include a first comment into this week’s issue. Another reacted to the fate of the MEP caught at a male sex party in Brussels on its website. READ MORE
As Prime Minister Orbán and his Polish counterpart say they are waiting for a compromise on the debate over the rule of law conditionality of EU payments, commentators on both sides of the political divide ponder the implications. READ MORE
A pro-government and a liberal commentator both find it unlikely that the EU can broker a deal with Hungary and Poland on rule of law conditionality. They also agree that the debate will determine the future of the EU. READ MORE