Fascinating. Also worth remembering: construction projects were a tried-and-true Orban method for laundering state money give-aways to his construction magnate oligarchs.

Seán Hanley @drseanhanley.bsky.social · 2w ago

theconversation.com/viktor-orban...

"The first comprehensive study documenting the suffering of the Roma in Bosnia was published only last year, focusing on the persecution of Roma in the Podrinje region – which Skocic is part of – between 1992 and 1995."

🚗 BREAKING: Do you remember Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs? He is leaving the Parliament for BYD. It feels less like a career change and more like the final chapter of a very successful marketing campaign. But a bit surprising that he didn’t sign with Gazprom instead.

"According to the author, a Polish edition is expected to follow in the near future, the rights have also been sold to Croatia, and translations into Greek and Romanian are in the works."

ROMEA@romeacz.bsky.social · 3w ago

fcknz.cz/patrik-banga... 🎬📚 Patrik Banga’s autobiography The True Way Out has been selected for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Book-to-Screen project.

Background from Telex.hu: telex.hu/english/2022...

Hungarian counties may be given centuries-old archaic names, and government commissioners will be named after officials representing Hungarian kings of the past

Now the plan was poorly received by the opposition, „Back to the Middle Ages!”, they say.

telex.hu

Erika Schlager@erikaschlager.bsky.social · last mo.

I am intrigued that Magyar has proposed restoring the pre-Orban names of counties.

I am intrigued that Magyar has proposed restoring the pre-Orban names of counties.

Jakub Jaraczewski@jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social · last mo.

🇭🇺⚖️🗳️The proposals to amend the Constitution of Hungary by TISZA have been tabled, and they go much beyond a rule of law restoration process, in places being more of a rule of law decapitation process. Translation by Deepl, so usual caveats apply (no, we Slavs don't understand Hungarian). Thread! 1/

HOW FIDESZ LOST - June 22, 10am ET Join Róbert László (Political Capital), András Léderer @hungarianhelsinki.bsky.social, @viktoriaserdult.bsky.social (HVG), Áron Tímár (De! Action Community), Tom Carothers @carnegieendowment.org & me to draw lessons from Hungary's democratic resistance t.ly/R8zpM

How Fidesz Lost: Cross-Sectoral Mobilization in Hungary’s 2026 Election

Please join us for a conversation with Political Capital’s Róbert László, Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s András Léderer, HVG’s Viktória Serdült, De! Action Community’s Áron Tímár, and moderator Zsuzsa...

t.ly

"...in the spirit of the slogan coined by the Polish anti-communist diaspora, that without a secure and independent Ukraine, there can be no secure and independent Poland."

@visegradinsight.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Nationalism is a topic that keeps resurfacing in various forms, polarising both society and the states themselves. Czech-German reconciliation could serve as a model for overcoming historical traumas, writes @martinehl.bsky.social: shorturl.at/pWEUY

Apropos of the discussion of whether “Felvidék” is an acceptable term to use to describe modern independent Slovakia, there is an AfD figure who insists on using the historic German names for Czech cities. romea.cz/en/world/ana...

ANALYSIS: AfD praises Brno for hosting Sudeten Germans, but far-right Czech politicians won't be telling their voters that - Romea.cz - Everything about Roma in one place

Late last year, it seemed that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's cabinet would not be "throwing a wrench in the works" of the planned Sudeten German congress in Brno - or at least, not officially. T...

romea.cz

Contested histories and national minorities anyone? Courtesy of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. hcnm.osce.org/event/663271

Launch: The Siena Recommendations on Contested Histories and National Minorities

hcnm.osce.org

What if Orban had held elections, but there was no one there to watch? Tom Melia on the election observers. democracyrenewal.substack.com/p/observatio...

Observations about Observers

Firsthand Lessons from Hungary

democracyrenewal.substack.com

Quite concerning developments in Sweden too. "Good behaviour laws" pushed through by the "centre right" in government, with the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats.

Sweden votes to back laws reinforcing its immigration crackdown

So-called ‘good behaviour’ legislation fiercely criticised by opposition politicians and rights groups

theguardian.com

🇭🇺 🇺🇦It was Viktor #Orbán who decided that the #Ukrainian “gold convoy” had to be raided - the action was unfounded and illegal. Even the timing of the raid was determined by the government, to be used in the campaign - reports this investigation #Hungary telex.hu/belfold/2026...

Orbán döntött arról, hogy le kell csapni az ukrán „aranykonvojra”, még a rajtaütés időpontja is a kormányzattól jött

Szakmailag semmi nem indokolta, hogy az ukrán pénzszállítókon rajtaüssenek, az ukáz a legmagasabb szintről jött: Orbán Viktor rendelte meg március elején – árulták el a Telexnek az „aranykonvoj” ellen...

telex.hu

Emigration from Hungary reached a new record in 2024 and remained close to 40,000 in 2025. The number of Hungarians leaving the country in the last two years was more than double the pre-pandemic level, amounting to almost 0.5% of the total population each year. #demography #Hungary #migration

Citizenship is the right to have rights. blogs.loc.gov/law/2026/05/...

Introducing Chew Heong and Chinese Exclusion: A New Story Map from the Law Library | In Custodia Legis

This AAPI month, the Law Library reflects on the legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act from a legal perspective through a new Story Map. Surrounding laws and events, along with a map of anti-Chinese inc...

blogs.loc.gov

More here: www.loc.gov/item/global-...

As promised, Péter Magyar, the new Prime Minister of #Hungary, has just completed his first foreign visit, choosing #Poland as his destination 🇭🇺 🇵🇱 This morning, I discussed the most important conclusions of this visit at @tvpworld.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZbV...

Orban’s Seven Laws for Hungary are etched in glass (bringing to my mind Apple’s famous 1984 advert.) And you will not be disappointed: of course there is a globe with Greater Hungary. telex.hu/english/2026...

A tour inside the emblematic office buildings of the Orbán administration

Viktor Orbán’s iron bed, his chair engraved with a crown and a coat of arms, the palace-like interior of the Ministry of Interior, and the posh design of the Cabinet Office—we toured the former Hungar...

telex.hu

Telex.hu not only conveys the opulence with which the Orbanists surrounded themselves, but conjures images of them as they made key decisions affecting the lives of all Hungarians: “...it was here that…”

First-rate writing from @telexhu.bsky.social (link to English). The open Bible next to the shredder! As it turns out, Karmelita was not just “an ordinary place of work” as claimed by Fideszniks. telex.hu/english/2026...

Telex - friss hírek, hiteles információk

Kíváncsi, korrekt, kritikus. Pontos és friss hírek a nap 24 órájában a politikától a kiscicákig. Riportok, interjúk, elemzések, tényfeltárások és szórakoztató apróságok egy helyen.

telex.hu

"After the election, an analysis carried out by the Roma for Democracy Foundation looked at voting patterns in areas with significant Roma populations and found that Roma votes had appeared to play a role in flipping multiple seats from Fidesz to Tisza." Excellent article.

Stephan Müller@muellerstephan.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Thanks to the @theguardian.com for this article on #Roma in #Hungary after the elections and for quoting me www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m... if you want to read more stephanmueller.substack.com/p/the-repres... stephanmueller.substack.com/p/symbols-of...

Sweden: Parliament Approves New Citizenship Law Requiring Language and Knowledge Tests (from The Library of Congress) www.loc.gov/item/global-...

Absolutely insane amounts of 💰 for minimal work have been paid to foreign pundits, "journalists", "researchers" and Orbán propagandists by Fidesz-aligned institutions. Unsurprisingly, Rod Dreher also appears multiple times in recently released files and has been generously remunerated. 1/

"Estonian actors will read out their conversations"

Szabolcs Panyi@szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 3mo ago

💥🇪🇪 This Thursday I'll be speaking with @holgerroonemaa.bsky.social in Tallinn about investigating Russian influence in Hungary and our joint story on the Szijjártó–Lavrov calls — made even more fun as Estonian actors will read out their conversations. More details: fienta.com/et/fotografi...

Whenever I listen to @kimlanelaw.bsky.social, I learn something new or think about something in a new way. For instance, now I can’t stop thinking about the implications of Orban privatizing the defense sector into the hands of his oligarch friends. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/kim-lane-s...

Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary

Democracy wins big

paulkrugman.substack.com

Just before the Hungarian elections, some voters were registered as a “national minority” without their knowledge or consent, resulting in forfeiture of their right to cast a party list vote. Hungarian Civil Liberties Union looking at possibly “several thousand” cases. lakmusz.hu/2026/04/23/t...

Több ezer olyan választó lehet, akik csak a szavazófülkében szembesültek azzal, hogy nem szavazhatnak pártlistára

A nemzetiségi névjegyzékbe egyetlen módon lehetett úgy felvenni embereket, hogy arról ők ne értesüljenek, és éppen ilyen beadványok érkeztek tömegesen az NVI-hez a választás előtt.

lakmusz.hu

Erika Schlager@erikaschlager.bsky.social · 4mo ago

More evidence Fidesz is making a hard push to acquire a “Roma Representative” through the dysfunctional and discredited “minority self-government” system. (+more people talking to journalists, they see the tide turning) The problems with the "minority self-government" system are legion.

Electoral reform declared preferences meet revealed ones: many supporters of Slovakia's small parties agree with raising the threshold from 5% to 7%.* Incl KDH's, which failed the 5% one in 2016 and 2020 and got 7% in the same poll. SaS (39% pro) got 8%, D (28% pro) got 6%.

Huge congrats to Bulgarian Helsinki Committee & Krassi Kanev on today's win in Strasbourg. The Court found #Bulgaria violated European Convention (art 8). Secret surveillance needs real oversight. Rubber-stamp judicial review & nominal safeguards won’t cut it. Strong addition to the Court’s case-law