Since the industrial revolution, a growing number of people have moved to big cities. Hungary has always been behind Western Europe in terms of economic development. Still, during the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Budapest became a large city even by European...

Imagine waking up one day and finding yourself in a different country. You weren’t kidnapped, but your whole city has become part of another state. The official language has changed, your name is pronounced differently and everything you own...

2019 is the anniversary of not one, but three remarkable events of the 20th century: NATO’s 70th anniversary and Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic’s 20th anniversary since joining NATO, the dismantlement of the Iron Curtain and the 30th...

Hosted by Corvinus Matthias Collegium, a pre-eminent extracurricular educational institution in Hungary, a three-day conference on migration was held in Budapest between March 22nd and 24th. Well-known politicians, political experts and philosophers – including former Presidents Nicholas Sarkozy and...

Although many called for Fidesz’s exclusion from the European People’s Party (EPP), the meeting ended in compromise. The party was not excluded; in fact, it asked to be suspended, effective immediately. A committee of three ’wise men’ composed of...

Tensions have been mounting between the EPP and Fidesz for years. Therefore, when at the beginning of 2019 it appeared that the party’s expulsion could simply be a matter of time, it wasn’t exactly a shock. Orbán’s speech on...

Interesting new developments are predicted in the European Parliament, which is expected to undergo major shifts. The Europen People’s Party – represented by a rather colorful fraction comprised of markedly right-wing, centrist and liberal politicians – is the most...

One of the most exciting political questions of the year is how Fidesz’s relationship with the Europan People’s Party (EPP) will develop. Tension has been continually growing between the governing party of Hungary and the European conservative party group....

In his annual state of the nation address, the Prime Minister outlined the extension of the government’s family protection program. Previously, there had been hints that measures of great importance would be unveiled and, indeed, the action plan provides...

Recently, interesting developments have begun to take shape in the Hungarian political scene. Fidesz has claimed a two-thirds majority for three consecutive terms, effectively dominating the political spectrum and hindering any party on the right or left. The opposition...

In December, the Hungarian Parliament passed a bill regulating overtime which resulted in demonstrations all over the country. Some employees and the entire political opposition interpreted the new law as one that would make employees at multinational companies more...

The European Parliament will hold a debate regarding developments in Hungary once again. This time the talks will focus on the demonstrations against the overwork law and the incident opposition MPs were involved in at the national public television’s...

Pope Francis will pay a visit to Romania at the beginning of June. The head of the Catholic Church will attend the Csíksomlyó Pilgrimage in Transylvania, the greatest Catholic event of this sort for Hungarians. The visit deserves attention...

Coming to power in 2010, Orbán introduced a new political culture to Hungary. After Fidesz won with a two-thirds majority for the second time in 2014, he named this new political approach illiberal democracy. In mainstream Western self-reflection, ’illiberal’...

In his article published on Élő Bolygónk, E. Sylvester Vizi, the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of Hungary Foundation and member of the board of the Blue Planet Foundation (Kék Bolygó Alapítvány), analyzes when and how...

With Great Romania established in 1918, the old dream of having all Romanians in one state was fulfilled. The enlarged Southeastern European country, however, can boast just as many failures as successes concerning its past one hundred years. As...