Commenting on PM Orbán’s unwillingness to participate in a TV debate of candidates for the premiership, a leading conservative columnist says fair play and reasonable arguments would be prerequisites for a meaningful political debate. READ MORE
Left-wing commentators accuse Fidesz and PM Orbán of cowardice for not willing to participate in a public debate of candidates for the premiership before the April elections. READ MORE
An independent conservative blogger is outraged by an Australian news report depicting Hungary as a country swarming with Nazi-like far-right militias who enjoy the obvious connivance of the Prime Minister. READ MORE
Left-wing commentators view the gaping rift between Russia and the West over Ukraine with apprehension. Népszabadság refrains from criticising the cautious stance adopted by the government, while Népszava suspects that the government’s attitude may be influenced by the recently concluded credit-line agreement to finance the two new nuclear power stations Russia’s Rossatom will build in Hungary. READ MORE
A centrist analyst says Viktor Orbán’s speech was short and dull but he might be playing it safe, rather than stirring up emotions, given his substantial lead just seven weeks before the elections. READ MORE
On the left, Viktor Orbán’s annual Sunday speech is described as “success propaganda” and scaremongering, while pro-government commentators condemn Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Saturday speech as “scandalous” from the man they hold responsible for his country’s demise. READ MORE
A liberal analyst predicts that the Prime Minister will reject the demands put forward by Jewish leaders as pre-conditions for their presence at the government sponsored events of the Holocaust remembrance year. A right-wing pundit, on the other hand blames “uneducated” advisers who led the Prime Minister into a controversy which has proved difficult to handle. READ MORE
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
The headlines in Hungarian weeklies illustrate a growing controversy over the planned addition of two Russian-made blocks to the existing Paks nuclear power station: “The scandal of the year” (168 óra); “Eastern Block” (Heti Világgazdaság); “The business of the year?” (Figyelő); “Hungary hooked by Putin” (Magyar Narancs); “Change of Roles in Kissidonia” (Demokrata); “Paks Vobiscum” (“Paks be with you”; Heti Válasz). READ MORE
A sociologist believes that populism is on the rise in East Central Europe. In Hungary, he argues, the middle class was weakened during the years of transition to the market economy, and is therefore defenceless against the rising tide of anti-market populism. READ MORE