Exclusive: Hungary’s PM and EU’s most isolated leader says he is pursuing ‘friendship with everybody’ – particularly the former US president
Europe’s most isolated leader was beaming.
Standing in a hallway in Brussels, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, spoke excitedly about the politician he hopes will change his political fortunes – Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Andrzej Duda’s visit comes as European leaders prepare for Trump’s possible return to White House
Andrzej Duda, Poland’s conservative president, is expected to meet Donald Trump in New York on Wednesday evening, as some European politicians begin preparing for Trump’s possible return to the White House.
Many mainstream European leaders fear the potential impact of a US that is less engaged on the continent, and less committed to the future of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Former home secretary will rub shoulders with populist right from across the globe, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán
Rishi Sunak is being urged to stop his former home secretary from attending a rightwing convention featuring figures who have been under investigation for extremism, in the latest sign of his waning control of his party.
Suella Braverman, who has been a central plotter against the prime minister since she left the cabinet, is set to be one of the keynote speakers at the National Conservatism (NatCon) conference in Brussels this week.
Continue reading...Péter Magyar building centrist movement that has visibly shaken ruling party he dramatically broke with
A political newcomer who is causing headaches for Hungary’s government has said his experience as a regime insider can help him succeed where other opposition figures have failed, citing his “crazy” rise in the polls and “vision” as signs that change is possible.
Fourteen years after the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, returned to power and put the country on an illiberal path, some Hungarians had lost hope that his hold on power could be eroded.
Continue reading...Former ruling party insider Péter Magyar leads march to parliament building in Budapest
Tens of thousands of people have turned out in downtown Budapest to protest against the government of Viktor Orbán.
Protesters marched to parliament in the unusually warm spring weather, some of them shouting “We are not scared” and “Orbán, resign”.
Continue reading...US president said Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is ‘looking for a dictatorship’ after Orbán met with Trump in Florida
Hungary summoned the US ambassador over comments by the US president, Joe Biden, who said the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, wants a dictatorship.
The Hungarian leader traveled to Florida on Friday for talks with Donald Trump during a visit in which he did not meet with anyone from the Biden administration.
Continue reading...US president told supporters Hungary’s premier was looking for dictatorship
Joe Biden has criticised his election rival Donald Trump for meeting Viktor Orbán, saying the Hungarian premier was “looking for dictatorship”.
Orbán travelled to Florida on Friday to meet his “good friend” Trump. Orbán has frequently expressed hope for the Republican’s return to power.
Continue reading...For Swedes it means a dramatic change of national identity, while the alliance gets greater control of the Baltic Sea
Just a few short months ago, Sweden’s Nato membership seemed a very long way from being a done deal. Having submitted its application to join in May 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it seemed at times as though Stockholm might be left hanging interminably. While Finland, which had applied to join the alliance at the same time as its neighbour, became a member at record speed last April, Sweden got stuck in a diplomatic quagmire.
Last summer a series of Qur’an burnings in Sweden inflamed ties with Turkey, making a “yes” from Ankara look unlikely and at times inconceivable. And as recently as September, Viktor Orbán’s government was embroiled in a public war of words with Sweden over criticism of Hungary’s democracy and teaching in Swedish schools. Late last month, after Turkey’s parliament had given Sweden the green light, the Hungarian prime minister was still pushing for negotiations in a public letter to his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson.
Continue reading...Beijing’s move comes at a time when Budapest’s relationship with its EU and Nato allies is at a low point
China has offered to deepen security cooperation with Hungary, underscoring Budapest’s warming ties with Beijing just as Hungarian officials snubbed a visiting delegation from Washington.
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, met China’s minister of public security, Wang Xiaohong, on Friday.
Continue reading...Hungary remains alone in holding up Stockholm’s accession despite PM’s promises not to be last to ratify
Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party has boycotted a session of parliament called by the opposition to ratify Sweden’s Nato membership, even as a group of western ambassadors arrived in the building to urge a vote.
For months, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, repeatedly promised his counterparts within Nato that the country would not be last to sign off on Sweden’s membership.
Continue reading...Hungarian prime minister, who had vowed to block the funding, relented after series of 11th-hour meetings
A robust and united position among EU member states convinced Viktor Orbán to end his “blackmail” and support a €50bn (£43bn) funding package for Ukraine, European prime ministers have said.
The Hungarian prime minister, who had been vowing to block the funds since December, performed one of the fastest U-turns seen at a leaders’ summit after six weeks of brinkmanship.
Continue reading...Member states hope to persuade Hungary to remove its block on funding at Brussels emergency summit
EU leaders have returned to Brussels for a second showdown in two months with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán over his refusal to sanction a new €50bn assistance package for Ukraine.
A mixture of frustration and anger prevailed in the city as leaders arrived for dinner on Wednesday night on the eve of the emergency summit, with aides lamenting the failure of the Hungarian PM to shift position since December, when he first blocked the funds.
Continue reading...Hungarian ambassador summoned amid national uproar at treatment of Ilaria Salis, accused of attacking neo-Nazis
Italy’s government has said that authorities in Hungary went “too far” in putting in chains an Italian woman who is awaiting trial for allegedly attacking neo-Nazis.
Italian ministers summoned Budapest’s ambassador in protest on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Charles Michel’s decision comes ahead of EU meeting where Hungary’s PM is expected to block Ukraine support package
The president of the European parliament, Charles Michel, has abandoned plans to quit the position early amid fears it could have led to Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, getting the role.
His decision comes six days before a crunch meeting of EU leaders at which Orbán is expected to once again block a €50bn support package for Ukraine.
Continue reading...Hungarian parliament yet to sign off on application despite repeated promises not to hold up process alone
Viktor Orbán has said he will urge the Hungarian parliament to sign off on Sweden’s Nato bid “at the first possible opportunity”, as diplomats said Hungary’s allies were “exasperated” by the country’s foot-dragging.
Sweden applied to join Nato in May 2022, but its accession was delayed as Turkey and Hungary strung out the ratification process.
Continue reading...Vote leaves Hungary as only country still to ratify application made in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine
The Turkish parliament has given its long-awaited approval to Sweden’s membership of Nato, bringing the Nordic country significantly closer to joining the western military alliance after months in limbo.
Three months after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, submitted a bill on approving membership to parliament, MPs voted in favour of ratifying it late on Tuesday night.
Continue reading...Hungarian PM met a who’s who of rightwing leaders on his travels in 2023, as critics point to failures at home
Europe’s pariah prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is jetting across the globe in search of friends.
Hungary, an EU and Nato member that has been backsliding on democratic norms for more than a decade, has become even more isolated in the western club over the past months. Orbán has irritated allies by blocking a much-needed EU financial aid package for Ukraine, while Hungary’s parliament has dragged its feet on ratifying Sweden’s bid to join Nato.
Continue reading...President under fire after announcing he will run for election as MEP in June and will stand down if he wins
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has said he is running as an MEP in June’s European elections and will stand down if elected, sparking a race to replace him or risk the role reverting to Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
“I have decided to run in the European elections in 2024,” Michel told Belgian media late on Saturday. The former Belgian prime minister has served as chief of the EU Council, the group of government leaders of the 27 EU member states, since 2019.
Continue reading...French president accuses Hungarian PM of being dishonest to the public about his reasons for vetoing aid
Viktor Orbán must not be allowed to take the EU “hostage”, Emmanuel Macron has said, after the Hungarian prime minister blocked a €50bn EU aid package for Ukraine in the early hours of Friday.
As leaders of the European Union start working on the details of Plan B to raise the money through cash and loans, the French president said Orbán was being dishonest to the public about his reasons for vetoing the financial package and would ultimately come around.
Continue reading...French president says Hungarian leader told him he would not block aid to Ukraine ‘if rules are met’. This live blog is closed
Albin Kurti, Kosovo’s prime minister, called the EU’s decision to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova a “historic moment” – but also used the opportunity to underscore that enlargement to the western Balkans “is the best way to bolster peace & security across the continent”.
As one of the most democratic & pro-EU states in the region, Kosovo should be granted candidate status w/o delay.
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