The freefall in Hungary’s fertility rate may have ended, or at least paused at a very low level. Still, the number of births has fallen by one quarter over the past five years. #demography #fertility #Hungary
Luis G. Prado
@luisgprado.bsky.social
Author of "Budapest Twilight: Hungary in the Time of Orbán" https://tienda.cyberdark.net/budapest-twilight-hungary-in-the-time-of-orban-n256079.html
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
For 16 years my articles / interviews on gender and illiberalism were illustrated by PM Orban. I hope this is the first and last article of mine with MP Dora Duro.
Entrevisto a Luis G. Prado, escritor español afincado en Budapest, sobre el excepcional el caso húngaro, qué puede aprender España de esa deriva y por qué los nuevos autoritarismos ya no necesitan parecerse a las viejas dictaduras del siglo XX para erosionar la democracia. t.me/javierovichO...
Javierovich
🇭🇺Luis G. Prado: "Todos los intentos de autocracia en Occidente siguen el parámetro de Orban" https://www.elmundo.es/opinion/luces-para-la-constitucion/2026/05/02/69f3974021efa01b5f8b45c5.html “Vivimo...
t.me
Hungary’s foreign ministry has sacked 25 Orbán-era ambassadors, many of them die-hard Fidesz loyalists. But Gladden Pappin, a U.S. citizen, head of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs and friend of JD Vance, was given a graceful exit and allowed to “step down.”
christ if that’s not a metaphor for our times
Népszava hasn't been printed or distributed for a month. On the other end of the political spectrum, Magyar Nemzet is turning into a weekly. And with that, Hungary becomes the only European country without a printed political daily. Others will soon follow. balkaninsight.com/2026/07/30/h...
Hungary Enters Post-Print Age as Political Dailies Disappear
Hungary will become the only country in Europe without a printed political daily when Magyar Nemzet switches to a weekly publication on August 1. Other smaller European media markets are likely to go ...
balkaninsight.com
"Orbán had tolerated “far too much corruption and mismanagement,” Dreher wrote me" 😂 What's the Hungarian for "bad boyars"?
They Gave MAGA a Safe Haven. Now They’re in Retreat.
Will the alliance between MAGA and Hungary’s far right survive defeat?
politico.com
we are approaching assad margins at this point, hell yeah
Europe Elects@europeelects.bsky.social · 2w agoHungary, Závecz Research poll: TISZA-EPP: 74% (+1) Fidesz/KDNP-PfE: 19% (-1) MH-ESN: 6% (+1) DK-S&D: 1% MKKP→G/EFA: 0% (-1) +/- vs. 27 May - 3 June 2026 Fieldwork: 13-20 July 2026 Sample size: 1000 ➤ europeelects.eu/hungary
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
The Austrian 'Falter' reports that ex-Chancellor Kurz was also on MCC's payroll: He reportedly received 10,000 euros per month in consultancy fees from Modul University in Vienna, which is majority-owned by the Orbán-aligned MCC, but returned 110,000 euros to MCC after Fidesz lost the election.
Lina Paulitsch@linapaulitsch.bsky.social · 2w agoLaut dem ungarischen Magyar-Medium "Kontroll" hat Sebastian Kurz 10.000 Euro pro Monat von der Modul Uni bekommen, die dem Fidesz-nahen MCC gehört. Kurz' Sprecher bestätigt eine "Kooperation mit dem MCC". www.falter.at/zeitung/2026...
All Europeans should read a speech Koen Lenaerts, president of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, delivered to law students in Leiden in mid-June, writes Caroline de Gruyter. It is a speech about European values and the fundamental place they occupy in Europe’s legal system.
Europe’s treaties leave no room for dictatorship in a member state – if we actually enforce them
All Europeans should read a speech Koen Lenaerts, president of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, delivered to law students in Leiden in mid-June, writes Caroline de Gruyter. It is a speech about European values and the fundamental place they occupy in Europe’s legal system.
euobserver.com
Hungary investigates deal with BYD after ex-foreign minister takes job there PM Magyar told lawmakers Szijjarto helped BYD while he was in office “with hundreds of billions (of forints) in public money, diplomatic support and state infrastructure”
Hungary probes deal with China’s BYD after ex-foreign minister takes job there
Peter Szijjarto’s announcement that he would take a job at the world’s top electric carmaker prompted accusations of a conflict of interest.
scmp.com
🇭🇺♟️Chess legend Judit Polgár, featured in Netflix’s Queen of Chess, is the ruling Tisza party’s pick for President of Hungary. If she accepts, she'd become Hungary’s first Jewish president, succeeding ousted Orbán loyalist Tamás Sulyok—whose father was actually a Nazi. Quite a symbolic change.
🇺🇦🇭🇺 The second paper in our Hungary–Ukraine Reconciliation Initiative, authored by the excellent Sergiy Gerasimchuk and Illia Yurchyna, examines the securitization of Hungary–Ukraine relations and the corresponding elite discourse in both countries. www.gmfus.org/news/de-secu... @gmfus.bsky.social
De-Securitizing the Hungary- Ukraine Agenda
gmfus.org
Gambits in Budapest and Warsaw? Hungary's National Assembly has 30 days to name a successor for the presidency. Judit Polgár may assume the post instead. In the meantime, Poland's Sejm elected Sylwia Gregorczyk- Abram from as the new Ombudsperson. Check what else is on agenda: shorturl.at/ugIJi
OK I did not see this coming, but it makes perfect sense in the context of the ongoing series of politics as "Absolute Cinema": Péter Magyar supports chess grandmaster Judit Polgár for head of state. www.facebook.com/story.php?st...
facebook.com
Hungarian President Sulyok has signed the 17th Amendment to the constitution therefore removing himself from office. It’s been amazing to watch. Orban's Fidesz has been falling apart before our eyes. 🧵
as you probably do not know or indeed care, hungary currently has no president the previous one, orbán's embarrassing finger puppet ended up signing the change to the constitution that meant his mandate ends so now the search is on for who an appropriate successor, one who represents the country
As Czech PM Andrej Babiš grew closer to Viktor Orbán, his Agrofert empire expanded in Hungary and Romania. It received billions in loans from a bank co-owned by the Hungarian state and Orbán’s childhood friend, and bought into a firm tied to Orbán allies.
Babiš, Orbán, and Agrofert’s Lucrative Business in Hungary - VSquare.org
As Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s friendship deepened, Agrofert secured loans worth billions from a bank co-owned by the Hungarian state as well as by Orbán’s childhood friend.
vsquare.org
Hungary experienced the second-largest population decline in the EU in 2024. Strikingly, all five countries with the sharpest population losses were in Central and Eastern Europe, highlighting the region’s deepening demographic challenges. More on this: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
One photo captures a defining moment in Hungary's political transformation. As the President signs the 17th Amendment to the Fundamental Law, he also signs his own resignation, transferring presidential powers to the Speaker of Parliament. photo by www.facebook.com/forsthoffera...
🇭🇺⚖️ Sulyok does the paradox and signs the constitutional amendment that's removing him from office. He really had no choice; the Tisza majority would do him in one way or another. The coast is clear for Peter Magyar to exercise unrestrained power and demolish the house that Viktor Orbán built. 1/
Reuters@reuters.com · 3w agoHungary's president signs law change ending his term in office reut.rs/4fmrjjA
Tamás Sulyok, the Fidesz-installed Hungarian president signed Tisza‘s constitutional amendment, which aimed at removing him (and other Fidesz loyalists) from office. That means he won’t be the Hungarian president form tomorrow onward. telex.hu/belfold/2026...
“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
The most important skill in politics is to be very clearheaded about whose interests you are there to serve
Dejan Pantic@serbianism.com · 3w agoPéter Szijjártó (Orban's Fidesz) Hungary’s former foreign minister resigned from his parliamentary seat on Wednesday to join Chinese automaker BYD. In 2025, Szijjártó announced BYD would receive 20 billion forints ($63.7 million) in government assistance for investing in Hungary.