About: Viktor Orbán
The EU must stop funding illiberalism
Last week, we had the dubious pleasure of witnessing the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán team up with his Slovenian counterpart Janez Janša and the Serbian President Alexander Vučić. Their request? Asking to be “left alone”; apparently because they do not wish to be bothered by the European Union’s "cultural Marxism", writes Dacian Cioloș.
Slovenian PM calls for mandatory coronavirus app, against Commission advice
Coronavirus contact tracing applications should be made mandatory as a means of helping the European Union transition out of the public health crisis and open up its borders, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Wednesday (8 July).
Top Hungary news site says independence in ‘grave danger’
The editor of Hungary's most popular news website warned Sunday (21 June) that a planned overhaul would jeopardise its freedom to publish stories critical of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government.
We can’t fall for Viktor Orbán’s masquerade
We should not be fooled by the latest development in Hungary - ending one state of danger, while simultaneously declaring another - represents the actions of an increasingly autocratic state, writes Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield.
Hungary set to end disputed emergency virus powers
Hungary is set to revoke Tuesday (16 June) anti-coronavirus emergency powers that triggered international criticism amid fears of a power grab by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Visegrad leaders call for ‘fair’ EU recovery fund
Four central European prime ministers called for a "fair" distribution of the EU's massive recovery fund on Thursday (11 June), at what has been dubbed the bloc's first major face-to-face political meeting since the coronavirus lockdown.
Visegrad leaders hold first face-to-face talks of virus crisis
Masks and gloves will be the order of the day when the prime ministers of four ex-communist countries on Thursday (11 June) hold the first major face-to-face meeting of European leaders since the coronavirus crisis.
Orbán urges end to EU sanctions on Belarus
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán urged the European Union to drop sanctions against Belarus as he met the ex-Soviet state's strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on Friday (5 June).
Ukraine is getting itself into US election troubles
Ukraine is losing friends: among other mistakes, by playing internal politics, the country’s President has taken sides in the US elections, which may be disastrous for the country in the future, writes Pavlo Fedykovych.
Hungary closes asylum-seeker camps after EU court ruling
Hungary said Thursday (21 May) it would close "transit zone" camps where hundreds of asylum seekers and migrants were held, following a ruling by EU's top court against their detention.
Orbán says prepared to hand back emergency powers at the end of May
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expects that his government will be able to give back to the national parliament at the end of May the sweeping powers enacted during the coronavirus crisis, state news agency MTI quoted him as saying during a visit to Serbia on Friday (15 May).
Tweets of the Week: Hungary Debate, Summer Holidays, Brexit Talks
Orban’s dictatorship makes MEPs mad, summer holidays would make everyone glad, and resumed Brexit talks are going pretty bad.
EPP proposes law to protect small farmers against oligarchs
The European People's Party group called on Wednesday (13 May) for an EU law to prevent oligarchs and land-grabbers drawing on EU subsidies at the expense of small and medium-sized farming businesses. The practice is widespread in countries in Eastern Europe and Italy.
Hungary summons Nordic diplomats over rule-by-decree row
Hungary summoned the ambassadors of four Nordic countries on Monday (11 May) over their countries' criticism of a controversial law that empowers Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to act by decree against the novel coronavirus.
Romanian EPP avoids Orban expulsion letter fearing border backlash
Romania’s National Liberal Party (PNL) has not joined a call of 13 centre-right leaders to expel Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party from the European People’s Party (EPP) fearing a backlash at the Romanian-Hungarian border, EURACTIV.com has learnt.
Hungary’s ‘real test’ yet to come, PM says, as coronavirus cases jump
Hungary needs more ventilators and intensive care hospital beds as part of its efforts to weather the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday (10 April), as the government reported the single biggest daily increase in infections.
Tweets of the Week: Hungary, EU Aid, D.I.Y. Art
Orban’s audacity is right off the chart; an EU support scheme will everyone take part?; and a bored lockdown world makes its own art.
Von der Leyen ‘concerned’ over Hungary virus emergency law
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen expressed "particular" concern on Thursday (2 April) over a coronavirus emergency law in Hungary that has given nationalist premier Viktor Orbán sweeping powers.
Sassoli shows his differences with von der Leyen over Hungary
European Parliament President David Sassoli has asked the European Commission to assess whether the new laws introduced in Hungary under the disguise of coronavirus emergency comply with the most important text of EU treaties, he said late on Tuesday (31 March).
Orbán to rule by decree with new powers to ‘silence critics’
The Hungarian Parliament approved new emergency powers on Monday (30 March) that will allow the ruling Fidesz party the right to rule by decree, without a set time limit, in a move that prompted an outcry from human rights groups.
Coronavirus to father EU’s ‘first dicatatorship’?
A "dictatorship" at the heart of the EU? A draft law to grant anti-coronavirus emergency measures set for adoption by Budapest has alarmed observers who fear it will hand Prime Minister Viktor Orbán unlimited power.
Hungary’s state of emergency law is a ‘blank cheque’ to Orban, critics say
A draft Hungarian law allowing the government to rule by decree during the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic risks staying in place indefinitely, the opposition has warned.
Janez Jansa, admirer of Viktor Orban, to be nominated PM of Slovenia
The centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), led by former prime minister Janez Janša, late on Tuesday (25 February) agreed on a future government coalition with three other parties, the four parties said.