About Hungary beta

Hungary and Ukraine: Here are 5 facts you should know

Even though Kiev has finally withdrawn a bill that would strip dual citizens of their Ukrainian citizenship, we still have some serious disagreements. Here are five facts you should know

Steve Bannon in Budapest: Does the West have the will to survive? The people of Hungary gave us an answer

Stay tuned for more on Bannon’s appearance in Budapest!

Hungary’s FM: Europe hasn’t been this unstable since the Cold War

“We want a Hungarian Hungary and a European Europe,” the foreign minister said

Government Spokesperson pens letter to editor of POLITICO pointing out that Hungary’s civil society is doing just fine

Civil society does not equal the Open Society network

democracy

News in Brief

Ruling party comms director: Everyone must accept the clear outcome of Sunday’s election

Apr 12, 2018

“Everyone must accept the crystal clear outcome” of the election, the communications director of the ruling party said. “When there’s an outcome the Soros brigade doesn’t like, they attack democracy itself,” he added

Blog Prime Minister

Dear New York Times: Hungarians are not stupid

Feb 12, 2018 - Zoltán Kovács

On Sunday, The New York Times published a 2,500-word article on Hungary, “As West Fears the Rise of Autocrats, Hungary Shows What’s Possible.” It even appeared on the front page of the print edition, featured front and center with photos, under a somewhat less subtle title, “Taking an Ax to Democracy as Europe Fidgets.”

News in Brief

Hungarian MEP says trans-national list (TNL) is a bad idea

Feb 07, 2018

Schopflin argues that European citizens haven’t asked to be represented in the TNL way. These ‘floating’ 27 MEPs would sit in the European parliament and be answerable to no one, with no structure for holding them accountable

News in Brief

Soros funded Freedom House takes “politically motivated and biased” swipe at Hungary

Jan 17, 2018

Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said the Freedom in the World report, knowing the organization’s financial background, is an attack against Hungary by another Soros organization

Blog

I know what authoritarian rule looks like. Does Freedom House?

Jan 17, 2018 - Zoltán Kovács

The latest edition of Freedom in the World, an annual survey published by the Soros-funded Freedom House, places Hungary among a group of “states that a decade ago seemed like promising success stories” but are now “sliding into authoritarian rule.”

Blog

The New York Times takes a “road trip” through Hungary, and it turns into a train wreck

Jul 06, 2017 - Zoltán Kovács

A New York Times journalist recently took a “A Democracy Road Trip Through Hungary”. As a piece of journalism, this road trip turns into a train wreck.

Blog

Here’s what’s really behind the debate with Brussels over Hungary’s national consultation

Jun 12, 2017 - Zoltán Kovács

As the government announced last week, preliminary results of Hungary’s national consultation are in, and the number of responses received sets a new record.

News in Brief

CEU is not being singled out, according to the Guardian editorial

Apr 21, 2017

Perhaps CEU should adhere to its own principles and comply with the law, according to an editorial published in the Guardian newspaper.

News in Brief

Hungarian government responds to Freedom House attack

Apr 06, 2017

Press freedom is fully respected in Hungary; in the Hungarian press every shade of political opinion may appear. In addition, the citizens of Hungary exercise their democratic rights in free elections

Blog

The national consultation and why we listen to the people

Mar 23, 2017 - Zoltán Kovács

The national consultation has become an especially useful method in recent years to invite citizen participation in the decision-making process between election cycles

News in Brief

WATCH VIDEO: Hungary's foreign minister says people should know if NGOs are funded from abroad

Jan 31, 2017

The foreign minister said there was a clear demand for politics to be transparent. He argued that in this case transparency should be demanded of all organizations that influence public affairs, including NGOs, “because the people have a right to know whom these NGOs, whom these organizations actually represent”

News in Brief

Hungary is in Trump's corner

Nov 15, 2016

The election of Trump is “expressly good news for the world” since the views of the president-elect on the “export of democracy” are “favorable for the world," Hungary's foreign minister said

News in Brief

PM Orbán: US presidential election proves people can release themselves from captivity of ideological trends

Nov 10, 2016

PM Orbán stated that the world has always benefited whenever it has managed to free itself from the captivity of ideological trends

Blog

The EU’s democracy problem

Sep 27, 2016 - Zoltán Kovács

European citizens are down on the EU, according to a study carried out in 28 member states earlier this year. Revealing a disturbing pessimism about the current and future European Union, it seems that citizens like the EU far less than ever before.

Blog

Q&A on Hungary’s Upcoming Referendum, October 2

Sep 02, 2016 - Zoltán Kovács

With the national referendum slated for October 2nd, Hungary is the only country in the European Union that is giving citizens the opportunity to vote on one of the most significant issues of the day: the mass migration challenging the stability of Europe and, specifically, the EU’s attempt to impose compulsory resettlement of migrants.

Blog

Elections in Hungary: Where are the ‘free but not fair’ critics now?

May 18, 2016 - Zoltán Kovács

A week ago Sunday, something interesting happened on the elections front that went largely unnoticed outside of Hungary. On the 8th, Hungary had a Super Sunday of sorts with nine by-elections taking place in municipalities around the country. Some of the elections turned out as the polls predicted, but others produced a few surprises. Some brought mandates for the governing party, some to the left-wing and right-wing opposition, and a couple of independents were also successful.

Blog

Sunday Shopping Returns to Hungary

Apr 19, 2016 - Zoltán Kovács

Last week, the Hungarian Parliament withdrew the law on the mandatory, Sunday closures for retail shops. The regulation, which provided a guarantee to workers in the retail sector that they would have a day off on Sunday, had been in effect since March 15, 2015. Now Hungary’s retail sector is again open for business on Sundays.