Viktor Orbán and the Transatlantic Assault on Democracy - Amb. John Shattuck

Mar 15, 2025

Hungary’s Government Submits Bill to Ban Budapest Pride Event

THE GUARDIAN: Ruling coalition continues its crackdown on LGBTQ+ people under its ‘child protection’ legislation

Hungary’s ruling coalition is continuing its crackdown on the country’s LGBTQ+ community, as members submitted a bill to parliament that would ban the popular Budapest Pride event and allow authorities to use facial recognition software to identify people attending.

The bill, presented on Monday, is almost certain to pass as the coalition has a two-thirds majority in parliament.

It would make it an offence to hold or attend events that violate Hungary’s contentious “child protection” legislation, which prohibits the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to under-18s. » | Associated Press in Budapest | Monday, March 17, 2025

Trump Considers Pulling Troops Out of Germany

THE TELEGRAPH: It is understood that the president is considering redeploying personnel to Hungary, which has maintained a close relationship with Russia

Donald Trump is considering pulling US troops from Germany and redeploying them to Eastern Europe, The Telegraph can reveal.

Mr Trump is weighing up withdrawing some 35,000 active personnel out of Germany in a move that would further sour US-Europe relations.

…

The Telegraph understands that the president is considering redeploying troops from Germany to Hungary, which has maintained a close relationship with Russia. » | Connor Stringer, Deputy US Editor | Friday, March 7, 2025

"Are We Sleepwalking into Autocracy?" Trump Embraces Authoritarian Playbook of Hungary's Orbán

Feb 12, 2025 | Is Trump embracing the authoritarian playbook of far-right Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán? Princeton professor Kim Lane Scheppele walks us through Orbán's sudden rise to power and how the Trump administration's recent actions appear to follow his anti-democratic "blueprint," with Trump "echoing a lot of Orbán's rhetoric," consolidating power in the executive branch and bypassing federal checks and balances. "Trump is trying to break things quickly," says Scheppele, a professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University. She also notes Orbán's involvement in the right-wing Project 2025 initiative and his adoption of the motto "Make Europe Great Again" during Hungary's presidency of the Council of the European Union last year as further evidence of the close ties between the two leaders. As Orbán works to "consolidate this movement of anti-democratic far-right forces" in Europe, warns Scheppele, Trump is tightening his grasp on the other side of the Atlantic.

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In Speech, Orbán Hails Trump Victory and Declares Brussels His Key Adversary

EUROACTIV: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered his annual State of the Nation speech today in which he declared the Trump administration an inspiration for Hungary, the war in Ukraine nearly at its end, and Brussels the only enemy left for his country.

In the speech in Budapest today, Orbán called US President Donald Trump “our comrade-in-arm” and attacked what he claimed the “double standards” of EU politicians.

Ukraine, a “buffer zone” between NATO and Russia

Orbán placed his trust in Trump's push for a peace deal with Russia, and said that with the war in Ukraine now concluding, the issue is now what comes afterwards – and the question, as he put it, of the “territory” of Ukraine, as a “buffer zone ” between NATO and Russia.

The European Union and American liberals would be foolish to believe that Russia would ideally sit back if Ukraine tried to join to NATO, Orbán said. Instead, he said, Ukraine would once again become a “buffer zone”.

He also asserted that Hungary would vehemently oppose EU membership for Ukraine either if joining could harm Hungarian farmers and businesses. "Ukraine will not join NATO, and whether it joins the EU is up to us," he declared. » | Anupriya Datta, Euractiv | Saturday, Fdebruary 22, 2025

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on USAID, Trump, Immigration, NATO, and the Russia-Ukraine War

Feb 14, 2025 | “Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is by far the longest-serving head of state in Europe, and by this point has been vindicated on pretty much everything. So when he says that going forward it’s Ukraine, not Russia, that may be the biggest threat to the West, it’s worth paying attention.” – Tucker Carlson

Hungary PM Viktor Orbán to Meet AfD Party Leader Alice Weidel | BBC News

Feb 11, 2025 | Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is due to meet the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party leader, Alice Weidel, in Budapest.

Weidel's far right party shares Alban’s desire to rebuild their relations with Russia, despite the ongoing Ukraine war, as well as his strong anti-immigration stance.

The meeting comes less than two weeks before a parliamentary election in Germany in which the AfD is expected to come a strong second.

Hungary – The Sick Man of Europe? | The Bottom Line

Dec 4, 2024 | By all accounts, the Hungarian economy is not doing well. The country just slid into a technical recession; the statistics office recorded the biggest slump in investment in 30 years; the Hungarian currency, the forint, is doing worse than its CEE peers; and the government's running a big deficit with access to some of the EU funds available to the country severed.

‘Cautionary Tale’: Trump Wants to ‘Remake America’ — Like This Recession-plagued Country

Nov 26, 2024 | Donald Trump is inspired by Hungary and its leader Viktor Orbán, seeking to remake America using authoritarian policies similar to his, critics say.

Mr Orbán, We Want Our Money Back! No More EU Funds for Hungary! Daniel Freund

Oct 15, 2024

Hungary's Orban Says Corks Will Pop If Trump Wins US Election! MEPs Reply Singing 'Bella Ciao'

Oct 9, 2024

Es redet Putins Marionette! – © Mark Alexander

Orbán's concern for the rights of gays in the EU due to illegal immigration is a bit rich, isn't it? Especially when the rights of gays in Hungary leave so much to be desired. Check out this article by Human Rights Watch as just one example of Orbán’s faux concern for gay rights in the EU!

LGBT Rights Under Renewed Pressure in Hungary: Children Harmed in the Name of Protection »

And this one:

As Governments Demonize LGBTQ+ Rights, Children Lose the Most »

EU Debates: Ursula von der Leyen Attacks Orbán’s Support for Russia in Fiery Speech to European Parliament

Ocy 9, 2024

America and Hungary, a Far-Right Love Affair

Aug 20, 2024 | Matthew Cassel travels to Budapest during Viktor Orban’s reelection to explore why so many right-wing Americans are traveling to Hungary, and what they hope to learn from Central Europe’s most autocratic ruler. This segment is from the show ‘VICE’ which originally aired in May 2022.

Former Estonian President on Why Hungary Should Leave the EU – Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Aug 11, 2024 | Is Hungary stretching the EU’s patience to its limit? Under prime minister Viktor Orbán’s leadership, it has exercised veto rights to block Ukrainian military aid and Russian sanctions, delayed the Nato accessions of Sweden and Finland and shrugged off EU asylum regulations. For the EU, Hungary is a diplomatic headache – and one that may be about to get worse. Do they have a place in the European Union? The Spectator’s editorial manager Lukas Degutis is joined by former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves to explain how Hungary has become a ’nuisance country’ and how concerned the EU should be with Hungary’s relationship to Russia.

What Is Hungary’s Orbán Trying to Achieve with His 'Peace Missions'? | DW News

Jul 12, 2024 | Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to the US state of Florida on Thursday, where he met with former President Donald Trump following a NATO summit in Washington.

The meeting is part of Orbán's self-proclaimed "peace mission" to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is likely to add to frustration among Western allies over similar secret trips he has made to Russia and China in the past few days.

This Is the Super-scandal that Should Bring Down Viktor Orbán – and It’s Far from Over

THE GUARDIAN: Hungary’s president quit over the fallout of a child abuse case, but the ‘pro-family’ prime minister still has questions to answer

Screenshot from the Guardian | Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán at a press conference in Budapest, December 2023. | Photograph: Denes Erdos/AP
After nearly 14 years running Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s regime is crumbling under the weight of its own hypocrisies. The country’s president, Katalin Novák, a close Orbán ally, was forced to resign in disgrace earlier this month for issuing a pardon to a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse case at a children’s home. The former justice minister, Judit Varga, who approved the decision, also quit. This followed a tumultuous week of public outcry and protests in Budapest.

The scandal has not only rocked Orbán’s autocratic government to its core, it has laid bare the phoney nature of his self-declared Christian, family-values agenda. It has also exposed what little power even high-ranking political figures wield under Orbán’s de facto one-person rule: at the drop of a hat, he appears ready to dispose of close allies, even the supposedly independent president of the republic, to avoid accountability himself. » | Katalin Cseh | Saturday, February 17, 2024

EU Agrees on €50 Billion Ukraine Aid Package | DW News

Feb 1, 2024 | Just one hour into the EU's special summit, EU leaders managed to reach a deal that will allow the bloc to send €50 billion ($54 billion) in funding to Ukraine over the next four years, according to European Council President Charles Michel.

The deal had been blocked by Hungary since the previous leaders' summit in Brussels in mid-December. "We have a deal," Michel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine."

Putin Makes Emboldened Speech - as EU Opens Ukraine Accession Talks | Russia-Ukraine War

Dec 14, 2023 | EU leaders have agreed to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova. Hungary's prime minister - Putin ally Viktor Orban - wasn't in the room when the EU voted and said he did not wish to participate in the "bad decision".

Hungary Blocks €50bn of EU Funding for Ukraine | BBC News

Dec 15, 2023 | Hungary has blocked €50bn ($55bn; £43bn) in EU aid for Ukraine - just hours after an agreement was reached on starting membership talks.

"Summary of the nightshift: veto for the extra money to Ukraine," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after Thursday's talks in Brussels. EU leaders said the aid negotiations would resume early next year.

The aid blocking was announced by Mr Orbán shortly after the EU leaders decided to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidate status to Georgia.

Hungary - which maintains close ties with Russia - has long opposed membership for Ukraine but did not veto that move.


Hungary blocks €50bn in EU aid for Ukraine hours after membership talks approved: Viktor Orbán says extra money to Kyiv had been vetoed but talks would resume in the new year »

How Jews from Israel Are Seeking Refuge in Hungary | Focus on Europe

Nov 19, 2023 | Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, a Jewish refugee center in Hungary has been taking in families from southern Israel. It was initially set up in 2022 to house more than 600 Jews who fled Ukraine after the Russian invasion.