Hungary’s economy is likely to suffer from the combined impact of heat, drought and power shortages.
Hungary braced for power cuts amid extreme drought
Record-low water levels on Danube force country’s first shutdown of nuclear power plant
ft.com
Katalin Halmai
@eublogo.bsky.social
Hungarian journalist. News junkie. Former Brussels correspondent. Lives in Leuven. @eublogo on X
European Union regulators on Thursday hit Google with a $1 billion fine for illegally undercutting competition through its dominance as a search engine. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/b...
“Magyar’s authority is subject to few meaningful constraints beyond public opinion, his own popularity & perhaps the EU”, says @danielhegedus.bsky.social. “The success of 🇭🇺 re-democratisation will ultimately depend on the willingness of Tisza & Péter Magyar to exercise political self-restraint.”
The Magyar revolution: Hungary’s new era
What will the dismantling of the Orbán machine lead to?
ft.com
🚗 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.
‼️This is what is currently on the screen of Hungary's public broadcaster: "Public service media must not lie." It apologizes for years of deception and says it is being transformed into an independent, trustworthy public service broadcaster. News broadcasting is temporarily suspended.
Belgium beats, then trolls, the U.S. World Cup team: "Overturn this."
Belgium beats, then trolls, U.S. team on Monday night
Even though it was tied, 1-1, after Malik Tillman scored another goal on a free kick just outside the penalty area, it never felt close.
nbcsports.com
The whole world will be rooting for Belgium now. 🇧🇪⚽ #WorldCup
Politico@politico.com · last mo."Shame on you": Belgium accuses FIFA of caving to Trump ahead of World Cup clash
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte admitted he has no idea how to make Russian President Vladimir Putin engage in peace talks with Ukraine.
NATO’s Rutte: ‘Nobody’ knows what it would take to get Putin to negotiate
“When it comes to the peace process, obviously, you need two to tango,” the alliance’s secretary-general says.
politico.eu
There's a certain irony in the timing. One of the first casualties in the post-Orbán era is an independent, left-leaning newspaper that spent years reporting under increasingly difficult circumstances. 3/1
Katalin Halmai@eublogo.bsky.social · last mo.😢 I was a journalist at Népszava for many years, so this feels especially personal. The newspaper's print edition ended a few weeks ago, but the team continued producing its digital print replica, available online and through the mobile app. Now that chapter has also come to a close. 2/1
😢 I was a journalist at Népszava for many years, so this feels especially personal. The newspaper's print edition ended a few weeks ago, but the team continued producing its digital print replica, available online and through the mobile app. Now that chapter has also come to a close. 2/1
‼️The CEU is set to become a two-campus university again, HUN media reports. While Vienna will remain its main campus, degree-granting programs are expected to return to Budapest once the necessary approvals are completed. A step toward restoring the university's academic presence in Hungary! 2/1
IPI today welcomes the passing of a law by the new Tisza government which overhauls the Orbán-era framework governing the country’s public media and media regulatory bodies as an important first step towards restoring press freedom.
Hungary: IPI welcomes law reforming public media and regulatory bodies – ipi.media
The International Press Institute (IPI) today welcomes the passing of a law by the new Tisza government which overhauls the Orbán-era framework governing the country’s public media and media regulator...
ipi.media
The FT obtained documents outlining the accounts of Farage’s former political group in the European parliament, Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD).
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2mo agoNigel Farage’s Brexit rallies were funded from the EU budget ft.trib.al/9qOoQ4X
🦯 🥕 “There are sticks and carrots in the (migration) pact. So, you get funding, you get money, only if you apply the pact,” Commissioner Magnus Brunner said to @euractiv.com whether the Commission would use “sticks” to bring Hungary into line. PM Péter Magyar is now keeping his options open.
Orbán will also hold a press conference at the headquarters of a Fidesz foundation based in Brussels. I’m curious to see if they’ll let the independent press in. When he was prime minister, they didn’t let them in for about the last ten years.
Viktor Orbán returns to Brussels after election setback
Hungary's former prime minister will return to Brussels next week for the first time since his election defeat in April, attending a gathering of the far-right Patriots for Europe. #EuropeNews
euronews.com
The head of the Integrity Authority said that under the Orbán government he was subjected to politically motivated attacks — as well as being the target of attempted bribes — while trying to probe the public procurement scheme. His wife had been offered a jobbwhich involved high pay for no work.
Prosecute Orbán’s inner circle over ‘stolen’ billions, Hungary’s anti-corruption watchdog says
The head of the Hungarian Integrity Authority claims top officials oversaw a scheme to systematically defraud the public purse.
politico.eu
In Hungary, Fidesz has once again made migration the center of political debate. The party repeatedly demands that PM Péter Magyar distance himself from the EU Migration Pact which enters into force next week. Magyar accuses Orbán of failing to prevent the pact from being adopted in the EU. 2/1
☝️What we’re seeing in multiple recent cases is a broader pattern: once external political pressure eases, institutions begin to correct course on their own. Without direct government intervention, questionable processes get reviewed, restrictions are lifted, and past anomalies gradually unwind.
Tineke Strik@tinekestrik.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe Hungarian prosecutor just dropped the case against the organiser of Pécs Pride arguing that organising Prides is not crime, referring to the EU Court of Justice judgement on HU’s anti LGBTIQ-law. A very encouraging step in the restoration of the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary!
We've been waiting for this for a long time! Great! 👏
All EU members greenlight first step in accession talks, Ukraine PM says
All members of the European Union agreed to open talks with Ukraine and Moldova on the first cluster of issues in their accession talks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said early on Thurs...
reuters.com
Hungary’s Péter Magyar and his Tisza party — already sitting with the @eppgroup.bsky.social in the European Parliament — have begun the process of formally joining the party, two officials told @politico.eu
Nothing to see here, just our favourite former prime minister supporting European extreme right activists' ethnic cleansing plans.
Gabriela Greilinger@gabrielagreilinger.com · 2mo agoThe normalisation of the parliamentary far right is one thing, the normalisation of the extra-parliamentary extreme right and the increasingly open cooperation between far-right parties and extreme-right activists quite another
Few expected Péter Magyar’s government to secure even half of Hungary’s €10bn recovery fund slice. “The Commission’s starting position was €4bn-€5bn. We worked that up to €10bn,” transport and investment minister Dávid Vitézy said. “There were tough rounds of talks in recent weeks.”
Hungary secures more EU funds than it can spend
Budapest has to find projects for €10bn from pandemic recovery fund which lapses in December
ft.com
The @ec.europa.eu is aware of the brewing constitutional row in Hungary and “following it actively,” spokesperson Markus Lammert told @politico.eu. @michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social travels to Budapest today but is unlikely to raise the issue in his meetings, an EU official said.
Katalin Halmai@eublogo.bsky.social · 2mo agoHungary’s new prime minister has pledged to change the constitution to remove from office most appointees put in place by his predecessor Viktor Orbán, including the country’s president.
Hungary’s new prime minister has pledged to change the constitution to remove from office most appointees put in place by his predecessor Viktor Orbán, including the country’s president.
Hungarian PM to remove president and other ‘Orbán puppets’ from office
Péter Magyar to use parliamentary majority against predecessor’s appointees
ft.com
Hungary’s PM Péter Magyar has long been calling on President Tamás Sulyok and the heads of several state institutions—whom he describes as Orbán loyalists—to resign. 2/1
😥 “Népszava”, Hungary’s oldest independent daily newspaper is now fighting for its survival. A 153-year-old paper that survived wars, censorship, bans, revolutions and regime changes is facing an immediate crisis. From tomorrow, the printed edition will not appear. 🧵