Southeast & Eastern Europe

The office coordinates activities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. The focus is on supporting democratic and constitutional reform processes and strengthening civil society. The office is involved in the areas of gender equality and the advancement of women, historical reappraisal and green climate policy.

Political Capital’s analysis of the relationship between the European People’s Party (EPP) and Fidesz, Fidesz’s suspension, and its consequences in Hungary.

Given how consequential it may be for hundreds of thousands of Poles living in the United Kingdom, the question of Brexit is strangely absent from the public debate just before European elections.

The state cannot expect regular people to respect the decisions made in courtrooms if state agencies themselves ignore them.

The prime minister and his wife attended a show in Milan’s famous opera house, La Scala, on November 15. Coincidentally, one of the airplanes owned by the Hungarian military, which Orban had used several times before for official trips, flew to Milan on the same day.

Three influential businessmen close to Viktor Orbán have interests in almost every sector. Lőrinc Mészáros has almost doubled the number of his enterprises last year, the companies of Garancsi are soaring and Andy Vajna’s wealth grows exponentially.

The Hungarian government is financially supporting soccer wherever it can: new stadiums are being built across the country. Besides professional soccer, there is a huge amount of money spent on junior teams and training the new generations of soccer players as well.

The watchdog NGO Atlatszo revealed in September that Viktor Orban and the political and economic elite close to the government are using a €56-million luxury jet and a €21-million yacht. It decided to build an online tool where anyone can track the yacht and the jet in real time.

This week 476 media outlets became parts of the new Hungarian media holding controlled by pro-government forces. The name of the mammoth is Central European Press and Media Foundation. This infographic shows you what happened!

The Hungarian Government has identified its new target:  Index.hu, the country’s biggest independent news website, is now under the indirect control of government-friendly investors. Their journalists, in the meantime, have promised that they won’t give up without a fight.