While speaking at a public administration conference in Tata, Hungary, Minister for Regional Development and Public Administration Tibor Navracsics spoke of the ‘paradigm shift’ digitalization is bringing to Hungarian public administration. However, he also stressed that digital administration does not mean replacing government offices or the physical presence of public administrations, but rather expanding services.

With the 1960 US presidential race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon being so close, many scholars and commentators believed at the time that it was the first ever televised presidential debate that decided the outcome of the election. As a result, most campaign strategists deemed debating too risky for the candidates, thus no presidential debate took place in the US until 1976, when incumbent Gerald Ford debated Jimmy Carter.

The Supreme Court ruling does not absolve President Trump from all prosecution, since lower courts can still rule on what conduct fell under ‘official acts’ when he was President; and under what conditions his presumptive immunity can be rebutted. However, it does force Special Counsel Jack Smith to restart his case at the trial court level, and it is very unlikely that he can take the case to trial before the 5 November presidential election.

An analytical piece by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network examines the ways Hungary can advance the EU accession of Western Balkan countries while also pointing out possible obstacles to the process as well as the reasons why the Orbán administration has decided to make the issue one of its top priorities.

Political Director for the Prime Minister of Hungary Balázs Orbán talked to the prominent French paper Le Monde. In the piece, he discussed Hungary’s pro-peace approach to the Russo⁠–⁠Ukrainian war, the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as Commission President, and Fidesz’s pursuit of joining a political group in the European Parliament as well.

According to CNN’s own poll, more than two-thirds, 67 per cent of the viewers thought that President Trump had won the debate. President Biden’s odds for re-election plummeted after the event, with bookmakers giving him only about a 22.5 per cent chance for re-election on average. Meanwhile, some in the left-leaning media call on Biden not to stand for re-election.

Donald Trump has expanded his lead over Joe Biden in the national polling aggregate since his conviction. Meanwhile, President Biden’s approval rating by Gallup is at an abysmal 38 per cent ahead of the CNN debate in Atlanta, Georgia tonight, which is not a good indicator for reelection.

Despite being heavy favourites going into the game, Portugal ended up having been beaten by Georgia in the final round of the group stage at Euro 2024. This resulted in Hungary falling out of the top four third-place finishers in the groups, thus failing to advance to the round of 16.

Law professor and legal philosopher Jenő Szmodis appeared on the Glóbusz podcast hosted by Jonatán Nagy-Bato, where they discussed the changing concepts of humanity over the course of history, alternating between individualistic and community-centred ideas.

The Ratha-yātrā Chariot Festival will be held for the 28th time in Budapest this Saturday; it will later merge with the India Festival held in City Park on the same day. The programmes are free to attend.

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) has recently published a book about a new proposed foreign policy approach towards the Russo⁠–⁠Ukrainian war by the US, which was reviewed by Zoltán Koskovics, a geopolitical analyst for the Center for Fundamental Rights in Magyar Nemzet.

Kriszta Mwajas, a woman of Kenyan origin, defeated the long-reigning incumbent Miklós Németh by just one vote. She told the Hungarian tabloid Blikk that she thinks there is no need for party politics in a small town like hers. Instead, she wants to involve everyone who has something to offer to better the lives of those living in Pócsmegyer.

Ambassador Orsolya Zsuzsanna Kovács, who has been serving as the diplomatic envoy of Hungary in Warsaw since 2017, has been awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta Commander’s Cross by President Andrzej Duda of Poland.

Trading first started on the Budapest Stock Exchange on 18 January 1864, but the exchange was dismantled by the communist regime in 1948. After the regime change of 1989, securities trading restarted at last on 21 June 1990, exactly 34 years ago today.

Barna Pál Zsigmond went on Hungarian public media to talk about Hungary’s upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union. He named restoring Europe’s economic competitiveness and advancing the Western Balkan nations towards EU accession as the administration’s two major agenda points for the six-month presidency.

The 35-year-old suspect, apprehended in Vértesszőlős, Hungary never physically handled the drugs, he only acted as a middleman on the dark web, making a profit from a turnover of around 100 million HUF (€250,000), which he used for buying property.

After a 3–1 loss to Switzerland and a 2–0 loss to Germany, Hungary sits pointless at the bottom of Group A at Euro 2024. However, they can still advance to the Round of 16, if they manage to beat Scotland by multiple goals on Sunday.

The famous Hungarian ice cream and gelato chef, winner of the Gelato Festival 2024, runs the Fazekas cake shop in the 16th district of Budapest. He was placed #2 in the same ranking in 2022.

According to the graphic shared by the Prime Minister’s political director Balázs Orbán, Hungary’s slogan will be ‘Make Europe Great Again,’ or ‘MEGA’ for short, for the upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union. This is an obvious allusion to US President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ which he is using for his presidential campaign as well.

Gergely Kovács, the newly elected Budapest 12th district mayor of the Two-Tailed Dog Party, has vowed to remove the statue of the mythical turul bird located in the vicinity of the mayor’s office. He cited the monument’s connection to Nazism as his reason—however, not many other people see that connection.

Péter Szijjártó held a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz this Monday, where they discussed the horrific attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas on 7 October 2023, as well as the subsequent increase in antisemitism in the West.

Ulsan HD and Hungarian National Team striker Martin Ádám has become the focus of international attention for his unusual physique after his brief appearance against Switzerland at Euro 2024. Thankfully, he has accepted his status in good humour, saying that he ‘usually gets a good laugh’ when he sees some of the memes about him.

The New York Times published a profile piece on Hungarian hip hop superstar Attila Baukó, better known by his stage name Azahriah. As the article points out, even Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has claimed to be a fan of the popular artist, despite his conservative views being at odds with some of the themes in Azahriah’s music.

Hungary’s performance greatly improved in the second half, but it was not enough to level the scoreline, which ended 3–1 to Switzerland. In the group’s other game Germany easily beat Scotland 5–1 in the tournament’s opening match last night.

Green and progressive parties suffered major losses in the European Parliamentary elections. According to an analysis by the Climate Policy Institute, this was in part due to the green policies pushed by these parties that put most of the burden of the green transition onto the general populace.

Budapest mayoral candidate Dávid Vitézy argued that the unusually high number of invalidated ballots are grounds for a recount. 24,592 votes were tossed out in the election, while incumbent Gergely Karácsony only won the extremely tight race by 324 votes.

Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, was found guilty in federal court of lying on a form about being a drug addict while purchasing a handgun and of illegal possession of a firearm. Meanwhile, potential juror misconduct could result in a mistrial in President Trump’s case.

Hungary are going to their unprecedented third consecutive European Championship after an unbeaten qualifying campaign. They are regarded as the clear underdogs against Germany, the slight underdogs against Switzerland, and the slight favourites against Scotland in their group by bookmakers. Meanwhile, England have the best chance of winning the tournament according to the bookies, ahead of teams such as France, Spain, and hosts Germany.

President Trump ended the primary with 76.4 per cent of the popular vote, the most ever for a candidate running as a non-incumbent since the binding primary system was established in 1972. The previous record was held by former Democrat Vice President Al Gore, who got 75.8 per cent in 2000.

The far-left Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra coalition got above the parliamentary threshold in Italy last Sunday, and will delegate Ilaria Salis to the European Parliament. Salis was standing criminal trial in Hungary for allegedly taking part in Antifa’s attack on attendees of an event in Budapest in February 2023, but was now granted political immunity and will escape the charges.