EU/North America

With new rules for municipal elections four months before election day Fidesz is consolidating its majority in most city councils. The constitutionality of these changes is questionable, though.

In its attempt to undermine a pluralistic media environment the Hungarian government launched an offensive against the Norwegian NGO Fund operating in the county. It started as a usual political battle, but behind the scenes there is going on much more.

The EP election in Hungary resulted in a clear victory for the governing party Fidesz. The national vote was characterised primarily by an internecine competition on the left and secondarily by a battle between the far-right and the left - an analysis by Tamás Boros.

The upcoming European Parliament elections are overshadowed by the perception of an indecisive European Union ill-prepared to deal with geopolitical challenges. Inferring from that a general indifference towards the European Union or its Parliament, however, is a short-sighted fallacy.

The dominant West European narrative according to which Orbán is seeking to move Hungary to Europe’s political periphery is at least partially flawed. What is missing is not a pro-European policy, but rather a vision of Hungary's role in the EU.

The Ice Hockey World Championship officially kicks off in Minsk on May, 9. Since May 2009. What changes have occurred in the country so far? How is this event perceived by the Belarussians? What lies to the other side of the facade? And what can we expect afterwards?

The EU cannot give up on the project of a unified and free Europe without giving up on itself. This includes the promise that all European nations on the path to becoming a democracy and constitutional state can become a member of the European Community. Ukraine is the touchstone of this promise today.

On 6 April, Fidesz obtained another two-thirds majority in the Hungarian parliament. What will Viktor Orbán want to do with his supermajority, and what are the next four years likely to bring in Hungarian politics and society?

Author György Dalos finds in his analysis of the parliamentary elections that Hungary needs to re-assume its original place among young democracies: with social and democratic political initiatives that can be compelling for voters and non-voters alike and that could contribute in dismantling the culture of hatred.

On 6 April, election was held in Hungary. The winners were Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party but also Jobbik With 20,5 percent, Jobbik is now the strongest extreme right-wing party in the EU. Eva van de Rakt spoke with political scientist Bulcsú Hunyadi about the outcome.