In his year-in-review interview with the Hungarian sports daily Nemzeti Sport, the Prime Minister has also made the claim that ‘the time has come when Budapest cannot further develop to any great degree without the Olympics.’

Recent high precipitation has caused river levels to rise all across the country. In Budapest, the Danube is expected to rise above the level of the embankment on Thursday. Preparations and warnings are in place in other parts of the country as well.

Boxing Day football is a tradition in England that goes all the way back to the 19th century. A handful of Hungarian footballers have had the chance to participate in it in the modern, Premier League era. They include Crystal Palace goalkeeper Gábor Király, and West Brom and Fulham midfielder Zoltán Gera. This Christmas, we get to root for Dominik Szoboszlai at Liverpool and Milos Kerkez at Bournemouth.

The press release by the US DOS claimed that the newly established Sovereignty Protection Office of Hungary is a tool ‘that can be used to intimidate and punish those with views not shared by the ruling party’ and therefore it is ‘inconsistent with our shared values of democracy’. In response, PM Orbán stated that the US government should stop lecturing Hungary.

The Roman Catholic Church’s charity organization, Caritas Hungary has provided some four million forints in aid to the families affected by a tragic boarding school accident in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuisesc) in Transylvania. Caritas has also launched a donation drive to further help the victims of the accident.

At the year-end press conference, PM Orbán explained why he chose to veto the €50 billion aid package to Ukraine at the recent EU Summit, how he views the potential Ukrainian and Swedish NATO accession, and what he believes the biggest struggles of 2023 were. He also talked about what hopes he has for the new year of 2024.

In a 4–3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that former POTUS Donald Trump’s name cannot appear on the ballot for the Republican primary election in the state in March, as, according to their interpretation, he engaged in an insurrection in January 2021. The Trump campaign has already announced that they would appeal to the US Supreme Court; and Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó has denounced the decision.

The planned new route is set to connect the city of Zalaegerszeg to the M7 Motorway by converting Route M76 into a 2X2-lane new motorway section.

US First Lady Jill Biden celebrated the upcoming festive season by posting a video of a New York City-based, mostly black tapdancing group in odd costumes awkwardly dancing to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Many people voiced their discontent online over the weird display.

The base interest rate has been cut for the third consecutive time, something that has not happened since 2020. These developments will greatly help eople who are looking to take out a mortgage, a business loan, or invest some money in stocks listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange.

István Schink was originally fired from his post at the II. Rákóczi Ferenc Secondary School in Munkács (Mukachevo), Ukraine in January. An April ruling by the District Court reinstated him, however, he was again removed three weeks later. That was also challenged in court, and the judges sided with Schink again.

Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky announced in a video on his Facebook page that the Hungarian government is partnering with the German automotive and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall in a deal to develop ‘state-of-the-art, latest-generation’ tanks for the defence industry.

While talking to the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, Ákos Bence Gát of the Danube Institute criticized the hectic and unreliable way the withholding and release of funds is ruled on by the EU. He also talked about Ukraine’s potential accession to the Union, which is the main agenda point of the ongoing EU Council meeting.

The Tucker Carlson Network launched this Monday on the former Fox News host’s website. Subscriptions cost $9 a month, and the paid content will feature interviews, documentaries, and analysis; or, ‘facts and honesty every day’, as Tucker Carlson put it.

Famous American political pundit Tucker Carlson interviewed the father of Gonzalo Lira, a Chilean-American political commentator imprisoned in Ukraine for his opinion. The father told Carlson he believes the US State Department is complicit in the plight of his son. Elon Musk himself spoke up in support of Lira after the interview, which prompted Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) to respond as well.

Renowned Hungarian revolutionary and statesman Lajos Kossuth arrived on the shores of the United States on 6 December 1851. He was received by a warm welcome and outpour of enthusiasm, from the highest ranking politicians and the ‘common folk’ alike, who lauded him for his pursuit of Hungarian freedom.

Senator Diana Șoșoacă, who recently had to form her own party after being expelled from her old group, shouted anti-Hungarian slogans while Senator Turos from RMDSZ, the party representing ethnic Hungarians, was making a speech about what the 1 December holiday meant to the Hungarians living in Transylvania.

The Hungarian National Team, going for their third consecutive European Championship in a row, got placed into Group A. They will start their campaign against Switzerland, then face host nation Germany and Scotland, in that order.

The Hungarian-language version of the Brussels-based news site has since changed the title of their article. However, the cached version of their horrible faux pas is still available through a simple Google search.

In Hungary, it costs about half as much to get a driver’s licence as in Austria. Since all EU Member States accept each other’s licences as valid, more and more Austrian citizens are coming over to take advantage of the price difference, bringing a lot of business to driving schools in Western Hungary.

AFP is one of the three major global news agencies. Yet, in their paid photo library service, images of a major march against antisemitism that took place on 12 November in Paris, France are not available (or at least not searchable), but photos of a much smaller event happening on the same day, organized by the left-wing LFI party are. In addition, the results of search keywords related to the Israeli-Palestine conflict also give curious results.

The 76-year-old former Oscar nominee lauded the Eastern European countries for protecting their borders and actually enforcing their immigration laws, unlike his country of the US.

President Biden has to fight off multiple challengers from left-wing third-party and independent candidates, and attempt to turn around a very low approval rating of his economic policies. In light of the most recent polls, even some in his own party are questioning whether he should run for re-election next year.

The editorial staff believes this is an expression of political bias, and was motivated by the upcoming European Parliamentary elections next year. The last piece of their content flagged by Facebook was of a topic covered by all major news outlets in Hungary.

The Liget Budapest project is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. To commemorate this, it will have its own exhibition at the Budapest Museum of Ethnography. The museum quarter of the City Park as a whole e attracted 7.5 million visitors so far.

Musk alleges the left-wing activist group maliciously manipulated his social media site X to show advertisements for major brands next to racist, fringe content, which resulted in significant loss in ad revenue for him. The Texas Attorney General has also announced an investigation of his own into the activities of Media Matters.

The payment would come as part of the Union’s RepowerEU plan, aimed to help Member States transition to green energy, thus would not come from the €36 billion of COVID recovery and cohesion funds suspended over supposed rule of law concerns.

Balázs Hidvéghi, MEP for the ruling Fidesz party in Hungary, pointed out how the European Union treats rule of law concerns completely differently in the case of the left-wing Socialist party in Spain than it does in the case of the right-wing conservative Fidesz party in Hungary.

The populist right-wing PVV party, known for its anti-immigration and Eurosceptic stances, won by far the most seats in the Dutch House of Representatives, 37, and got the largest share of the popular vote, 23.5 per cent, as well in last night’s special election. Party leader Geert Wilders is a long-time ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary.

A four-day humanitarian ceasefire has been agreed upon by Israel and Hamas, as confirmed by both parties and the mediator Qatar as well. The Palestinians agreed to the release of 50 Israeli hostages, mostly women and children, while Israel agreed to set free 150 Palestinian prisoners. However, PM Netanyahu of Israel insists his country is still at war.