Entries RSS Feed Share Send to Facebook Tweet This Accessible version

PM Orbán’s pledges to reindustrialize Hungary

Thursday, November 6th, 2014

A left-wing commentator contends that instead of boosting industrial output, the government should help the service sector. A conservative economist on the other hand notes that reindustrialization is in fashion both in the EU and in the US. READ MORE

Hungary’s foreign policy in focus

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

A liberal columnist contends that the US is pressurizing Hungary in order to protect its own geopolitical interests. Centrist and liberal conservative commentators warn of the consequences of diplomatic isolation and call for reconciliation with the US and the EU. A liberal weekly speculates that PM Orbán is already on his way out of the EU and NATO. READ MORE

PM Orbán revokes the net tax bill

Saturday, November 1st, 2014

A few hours after the Prime Minister’s announcement that his government will not introduce the planned tax on internet use, because ”under these conditions it simply cannot be introduced,” the net swarmed with comments on his Hungarian Radio interview. Friends and foes alike admit that he is still flexible enough to react to the public mood. READ MORE

Conservative perspectives on Atlantic integration

Friday, October 17th, 2014

A conservative columnist contends that the proposed US-EU free trade agreement is likely to serve US geopolitical interests and may not be in line with the wishes of Europeans. A moderate commentator believes that the US is bent on increasing its formal and informal influence in Eastern Europe in order to weaken illiberal regimes which challenge its hegemony. READ MORE

Was Navracsics’s tough Brussels hearing a sham?

Thursday, October 9th, 2014

Commentators take it for granted that PM Orbán’s candidate will get his seat in the European Commission. A right-wing analyst believes that Navracsics’s questioning in the Cultural Committee of the European Parliament was meant to gloss over a deal that had been struck well in advance. READ MORE

One ‘yes’ and one ‘no’ for Navracsics in Brussels

Wednesday, October 8th, 2014

Népszabadság thinks the future Hungarian Commissioner is an unprincipled man who dissociated himself from the government he has served for 4 years in order to get a seat in the European Commission. Magyar Nemzet writes that Tibor Navracsics kept his composure throughout the tough hearing. READ MORE

Central European EU-realism

Wednesday, September 17th, 2014

A conservative analyst contends that a new model of ‘Europeanism’ is emerging in Central Europe. Central Europeans are realizing that EU integration is only possible at a slower pace. READ MORE

Hungary is seen as firmly anchored in the West

Monday, September 15th, 2014

Two pro-government pundits agree that it would be foolish of Hungary to hesitate between East and West. They warn against the temptation to overemphasise disagreements with Hungary’s western allies. READ MORE

Navracsics nominated Brussels Commissioner for Education

Friday, September 12th, 2014

The Left considers the post insignificant and an expression of dissatisfaction with the Hungarian government, while the Right thinks the portfolio is of strategic importance. READ MORE

Reflections on new EU leaders

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014

Analysts from both right and left agree that European leaders wanted to send strong symbolic messages through the appointment of Donald Tusk and Federica Mogherini to top EU jobs. A conservative columnist believes Polish PM Tusk’s appointment is good news for Hungary. His left-wing counterpart cautions the Left against harsh anti-Russian rhetoric. READ MORE