Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have underlined their commitment to bilateral relations amidst escalating international tensions stemming from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. This reaffirmation of ties occurred during their recent encounter at an international forum held in China. Viktor Orbán became the first European Union leader to publicly shake […]

An informal European Union summit convened in Granada, Spain, took an unexpected turn when the Prime Ministers of Hungary and Poland blocked a joint EU declaration on migration. The two leaders compelled delegates to omit a passage regarding member countries' views on migration from the carefully crafted declaration that had been in the works for […]

The "crisis situation caused by mass immigration" in Hungary, which was due to expire on September 7, has now been extended again by the government and will remain in place until at least March next year. The government has extended the "Government Decree 41/2016 (III. 9.) on the imposition of a crisis situation caused by […]

The United States tightened visa-free access for Hungarians to its territory amid security concerns stemming from the policies of the Hungarian government. Washington’s move comes after several previous threats that it will limit travel opportunities for Hungarian citizens. Bilateral relations between the United States and Hungary took a turn for the worse after Washington announced […]

Hungarian lawmakers will vote on Sweden’s NATO accession bid after parliament’s summer recess the earliest as the issue has not been put on the agenda of the last session before the summer break. Hungary is the only EU member state not to ratify Sweden’s bid after the latter’s criticism of eroding democratic values and a […]

The Hungarian law forcing migrants to seek asylum abroad is illegal, the EU’s top court ruled. Budapest violated EU asylum laws by forcing people to first go to Hungarian embassies in Serbia and Ukraine before initiating a claim for international protection, the European Court of Justice said. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled this […]

A top Republican senator is blocking an arms deal between the US and Hungary over the latter’s delay of ratifying Sweden NATO accession. The move is testament to the continuous souring of relations between Washington and Budapest due to Hungary’s stance over the war in Ukraine. Senator James E. Risch, the top Republican on the […]

A resolution adopted by the European Parliament questions Hungary’s ability to fulfill the rotating EU presidency in a credible manner given the backsliding of rule of law in the country. Budapest dismissed the non-binding resolution as political pressuring and is convinced that the Hungarian presidency will take place as planned. Hungary is set to assume […]

Hungarian lawmakers adopted changes to the country’s judiciary in the hope of gaining access to billions of euros in EU funds. While Brussels welcomed the reform steps, it indicated Hungary needed further reforms to unlock EU cash. Hungarian lawmakers passed measured related to the reform of the judiciary this week in the hopes of unlocking […]

Hungarian Parliament has authorized the government to extend the state of emergency due to the war between Russia and Ukraine until November 25 this year. Thus, the government can continue to rule by decree for another six months. The amendment to the law “on the prevention and management of the consequences of the armed conflict […]

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Hungary on a three day trip to demonstrate his commitment to building up a more fraternal society in a Europe wounded by war. Immigration and minority rights will also be on his agenda, issues on which the pontiff and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have divergent views. The official visit […]

Hungary’s government announced a ban on the import of grain, oilseeds, and several other products from Ukraine and later expanded the list of banned items, citing market pressures on Hungarian farmers. Budapest called for "progressive" aid from the EU to help move Ukrainian grain through central European countries where farmers are competing with cheaper imports. […]

Hungary’s deteriorating relations with the US took a turn for the worse as Washington announced a series of sanctions against Russia that also affected Hungary. This was the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine that an entity based in Hungary, a NATO and EU member, was sanctioned. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Viktor […]

The Hungarian government initially pledged to complete the most important tasks needed to release the funds withheld by the European Union by March 31, this ultimately failed. Brussels is seeking clarification on several issues related to the judicial reform and Hungary has yet to tackle the conflict of interest rules in the Erasmus case. If […]

Hungarian Parliament was the last but one of NATO member states to give its assent to Finland's accession to NATO late on Monday afternoon, adopting the proposal to ratify Finland's application for NATO membership, which was submitted to Parliament more than eight months ago. Members of the Hungarian Parliament approved the law on the proclamation […]