Hungary

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban easily sailed to victory against a coalition of political opponents from the left and right, while Serbian President ...

Zemmour, who has been convicted of using hate speech at least three times, has previously expressed support for Russia, though he condemned its invasion of Ukraine. In Serbia, Vucic has boasted about his personal ties to Putin, the Associated Press reported. In his 12 years in power, Orban has often clashed with the EU over what critics have called his increasingly undemocratic tendencies, such as gaining influence over a majority of Hungary's legacy media and cracking down on the country's LGBTQ population.

The scale of Viktor Orban's win is likely to encourage him to continue to defy EU attempts to enforce democratic norms.

Will Orban feel sufficiently empowered to block further sanctions against Russia, and how does the union respond? He has admitted over 500,000 refugees but blocked arms supplies to the Ukrainian government, insisting that the quarrel was none of Hungary’s business. Despite concerns at his monopolisation of the media and rigging of constituency boundaries, the majority, on a high-turnout, will give him a veneer of legitimacy.

A team of international election observers has said Hungary's election, in which nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a thumping majority, ...

The "absence of debate between the main contestants" further limited "voters' ability to make an informed choice" while the use of government messaging in favour of Fidesz "blurred the line between state and party", the observers said. While polling day passed off peacefully and "voting procedures were largely respected", the mission said "secrecy was often compromised, many polling stations were overcrowded and group voting was frequently observed". They found that while the vote was "well administered and professionally managed", it was "marred by the absence of a level playing field".

The Hungarian government has allocated a HUF 200 billion or €542 million fund to the development of 20 state-owned and private universities as the first ...

Additionally, the number of international students in the country has been on an upward trend since 2009, starting with 14,300 foreign students, recording a year-on-year increase of 131.4 per cent since then. “The aim has been to provide universities with a structure that allows them greater flexibility and autonomy so they can be competitive both at home and abroad. The Hungarian government has allocated a HUF 200 billion or €542 million fund to the development of 20 state-owned and private universities as the first phase of a €731 million scheme, the authorities reveal.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban easily sailed to victory against a coalition of political opponents from the left and right, while Serbian President ...

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The nationalist conservative Fidesz party romped to victory at Hungary's parliamentary elections on April 3, securing a fourth consecutive term in office ...

Poland, he adds, is not set to suffer the same fate. This has many opposition voices inside and outside Hungary complaining that the vote was not free and fair. That this election was democratic and free is, of course, something we continue to dispute.” However, a referendum that was run alongside the vote asking for approval of controversial legislation aimed at LGBTQ rights failed to pass the participation threshold. The six-party United for Hungary alliance flopped badly, winning just 56 seats. However, pundits on both sides of the fence agree that the Hungarian leader will have to adjust his government’s outlook to take account of the new realities that the war has brought. That has sparked worry that further capture of Hungary’s state institutions and conflict with the EU is on the cards. The opposition and many in Brussels accuse Fidesz of having established a network of corruption designed to steal the billions in funds that Hungary receives from the EU. Budapest has also waged a bitter campaign against the “globalist elite” and the European Union, which the prime minister insists is trying to usurp Hungarian sovereignty and European Christian culture. The Hungarian strongman will have to adjust his nationalist conservative government’s outlook, pundits on both sides of the fence say. The Hungarian strongman will have to adjust his nationalist conservative government’s outlook, pundits on both sides of the fence say. “We won a victory so big that you can see it from the moon, and you can certainly see it from Brussels,” Orban said in a bullish victory speech.

After weeks of failing to divide Europe over his war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin enjoyed two diplomatic victories this weekend. Populists in Hungary and ...

However, Poland is arguably the biggest anti-Russia hawk in the EU and it's so far unclear how this will affect the Poland-Hungary axis once the war is over.And since the start of the war, EU officials have quietly been talking about offering Poland carrots to pull closer to the rest of the bloc, rather than treating Poland and Hungary as two delinquents.Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic, pictured after his victory on Sunday, has been placed in a difficult position by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The situation is very different in Serbia in that it isn't a member of the EU or NATO. It is currently going through the process of joining the EU, with negotiations expected to end in the next couple of years. He might provide Putin with some propaganda wins and he might put the brakes on wider EU plans in the future. Hungary is a member of both the European Union and NATO, meaning Putin can claim to have a friend with seats at the top table of two of his most-hated institutions.On Sunday night, during his victory speech, Orban goaded not only the EU but Ukraine."We have such a victory it can be seen from the moon, but it's sure that it can be seen from Brussels," he said, adding that Fidesz "will remember this victory until the end of our lives because we had to fight against a huge amount of opponents." But few believe it will amount to much more than a symbolic victory and do little to affect the EU's resolve on Ukraine.The reality is, Orban was expected to win and the EU has been working around his leadership for years. Included in that list of opponents were Brussels bureaucrats, international media and, pointedly, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.Viktor Orban, Hungary's authoritarian leader and key Putin ally, calls Zelensky an 'opponent' after winning reelectionZelensky has directly criticized Orban for failing to support Ukraine as enthusiastically as many of his European counterparts have over the past weeks.Putin was quick to congratulate Orban on his win. In both Hungary and Serbia, openly pro-Russian parties comfortably won legislative elections, providing Putin with a welcome reminder that despite the international community's firm and largely united response to the invasion, he does have some friends to his west.The most significant victory came in the form of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his nationalist Fidesz party winning a landslide.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban celebrated his farcical victory Sunday, in which his opponent was hamstrung by gerrymandering and all but excluded from state-run ...

Under Mr. Orban, it has gained notoriety for spying on and harassing journalists who have the temerity to do real reporting on government malfeasance; forcing once-independent media outlets and universities to become part of the government’s propaganda apparatus; and twisting voting rules to tilt elections in favor of the governing Fidesz party. It’s also that Mr. Orban’s contempt for the niceties of pluralism, tolerance and democracy, as well as his indulgence of a blood-spattered dictator in Moscow, runs the risk of savaging Hungary’s economy. It’s not only that Hungary has become a semi-pariah state within the European Union or that liberal democracies — the ones whose values Mr. Orban disdains — will tut-tut at his penchant for using immigrants and LGBTQ people as political punching bags. By continuing to antagonize Europe and subvert European principles, Mr. Orban jeopardizes that cash flow. His position has infuriated not only Western European governments but also Poland’s populist leadership, which until recently was closely allied with Mr. Orban, as well as neighboring Central European countries such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Europe, specifically the European Union, has been grappling with the problem of Mr. Orban for years; his victory will give him a fourth consecutive term, and a fifth overall.

Orban's 'unfair' election victory brings potential headaches for Brussels' war response.

It was the third Hungarian election in a row to be described by OCSE election observers as taking place in unfair conditions. He thanked the station for giving “the opposition five minutes to speak in four years”, Hungary Today reported. A string of independent and opposition news outlets have shut down since Orban came to power. Hungary is among the more hesitant states towards sanctions and opposes measures affecting Russian energy imports. Not only had the efforts of six opposition parties to unite under one candidate, Peter Marki-Zay, failed to dislodge Orban, but his Fidesz party had actually increased its majority in parliament. The Chinese foreign ministry offered warm wishes.