Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has urged the European Union to suspend sanctions on Russian energy amid soaring prices triggered by the war in the Middle East. Orbán warned that Europe’s current vulnerability is the direct result of ideology-driven policies that replaced cheap Russian pipeline gas with dependence on volatile global LNG markets.
Organizers of the annual Peace March in Budapest say they expect an unprecedented turnout on Hungary’s national holiday. Leaders of the Civil Unity Forum and Civil Unity Public Benefit Foundation outlined the route and message of the demonstration, which will end with a speech by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Belgian authorities are investigating an explosion at a synagogue in Liége as a possible terrorist attack after a blast damaged the building early on Monday morning. The incident follows a similar explosion outside the US embassy in Oslo a day earlier, raising concerns that the Iran war could trigger a new wave of terrorism across Europe.
Former Momentum leader András Fekete-Győr has asked NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to intervene over alleged Russian interference in Hungary’s upcoming election. The claim is based on a media report lacking any credible evidence and ignores growing concerns about foreign pressure on Hungary from other actors, most notably Ukraine.
Right-wing activist Jake Lang organized a protest against Islamization in front of the mayoral residence in New York City, New York, on the weekend. A larger group of counterprotesters gathered around the event, and two improvised explosive devices were thrown at the protesters.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would push the European Commission to pressure Ukraine into allowing an inspection of the Druzhba pipeline, while backing Hungary in blocking a 90 billion euro EU loan for Kyiv.
Fidesz–KDNP candidate Attila Kaló won Sunday’s by-election in Kazincbarcika, delivering another victory for Viktor Orbán’s governing alliance ahead of Hungary’s April parliamentary election. The result marks the eighth by-election win for Fidesz since the rise of the Tisza party in 2024, further highlighting the growing gap between opposition-aligned polling narratives and actual election outcomes.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sharply criticized Ukraine’s recent actions toward Hungary during a speech at an anti-war rally in Debrecen on Saturday, warning that Budapest will never accept negotiations conducted under pressure. Orbán accused Kyiv of opening a political conflict with Hungary, spoke about energy security and foreign influence, and reiterated that Hungary’s strategic goal is to stay out of the war.
‘The imperatives of technological competition are not new. The modern struggle for AI supremacy is simply the latest iteration of a relentless, historical conflict that has defined state power for centuries. To understand the existential challenge facing Hungary today, one must first examine how past technological shifts have fundamentally dictated the rise and fall of nations.’
Hungary’s election campaign escalated to an unprecedented level over the weekend after an activist of Viktor Orbán’s governing Fidesz–KDNP alliance was shot at while collecting signatures in the town of Szentendre, near Budapest. Government officials blamed the atmosphere of political hatred surrounding the campaign and linked the incident to the increasingly aggressive rhetoric of the opposition Tisza party.
New details have emerged in the case of the intercepted Ukrainian cash convoy in Hungary, with reports indicating that the leader of the seven-member group was former Ukrainian Security Service major general Hennadiy Kuznetsov, a figure linked to several corruption cases.
Protesters gathered outside Ukraine’s embassy in Budapest after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy directed an open threat at Viktor Orbán over his blocking of the €90 billion EU loan to the war-torn country. Demonstrators, joined by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, accused Kyiv of political pressure and interference in Hungary’s election.
Was it the ‘last best chance’—as Donald Trump said—to stop the Iranian regime? Can Iran’s army resist an American–Israeli invasion? What regional and global consequences could a regime change bring? We asked an Iran expert, also a PhD candidate at the University of Public Service in Budapest, about the war’s geopolitical context and the regime’s prospects.
Iranian Ambassador to Hungary Morteza Moradian said Hungary’s concerns about rising terrorist threats linked to the Middle East are not exaggerated, noting that regional crises can affect Europe’s security, migration, and energy stability. He denied that Iran plans attacks abroad and condemned the US–Israeli strike that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
‘Today, Zelenskyy has effectively usurped power in Ukraine. He persecutes his critics, arrests political opponents, and uses mobilization as a tool of repression. People are sent to war where they die, while none of Zelenskyy’s close associates or friends is mobilized or fighting.’
World leaders and politicians have rallied behind Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy openly threatened him over Hungary’s decision to block the €90 billion EU loan to Kyiv.
Hungarian authorities detained seven Ukrainian citizens transporting tens of millions of dollars, euros, and gold through the country in what officials called the ‘Ukrainian gold convoy operation’. Kyiv reacted sharply, warning its citizens against travelling to Hungary and accusing Hungarian authorities of illegally detaining the individuals.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said the European Commission failed to support Hungary and Slovakia in their dispute with Ukraine over the Druzhba oil pipeline, accusing Kyiv of blocking deliveries for political reasons and claiming Brussels was siding with Ukraine and Croatia against the two EU member states.
Foreign actors have entered Hungary’s campaign season alongside domestic political forces, according to the Center for Fundamental Rights’ latest analysis. While Brussels and Kyiv seek to influence developments, recent political events and the Center’s polling suggest the right-wing Fidesz maintains a stable lead over Tisza heading into the parliamentary race.
‘The project is linked to the defence industry developments of the 4iG Group and relies on the manufacturing capacity of Rába in Győr. The initiative enables Hungary to integrate certain elements of the HIMARS system with its own industrial background, while the vehicle platform and a significant part of the assembly are provided by Hungarian companies.’
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused Ukraine’s leadership of ‘bandit behaviour’ and vowed Hungary would resist pressure to abandon Russian energy supplies while warning of rising geopolitical risks.
‘Khomeini and his successor Khamenei stated that the occupation of Palestine by the Jews was part of a satanic plot by the Western powers, first Great Britain and then the United States.’
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said President Trump ‘got the last laugh’ over Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran, who was killed in a US–Israeli air strike in Tehran last week, referring to past Iranian assassination plots against the POTUS. Hegseth also declared that America is ‘winning—decisively, devastatingly and without mercy’ in the war against the Islamist regime in Iran.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte condemned Iran’s ballistic missile strike on Türkiye, intercepted by Turkish and NATO defence systems, as ‘serious and absolutely condemnable’, as the escalating Middle East conflict moves closer to NATO territory. The incident comes amid a wave of Iranian retaliatory attacks across the region and growing international military deployments to protect vulnerable allies.
Hungary has launched the RAVEN satellite project, a strategic initiative aimed at testing space-based 5G and 6G communications and integrating terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
In a recent interview, Viktor Orbán has framed the coming years as a test of Hungary’s ability to remain outside global conflicts, arguing that the country must resist pressure to provide military or financial support as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East intensify.
Bryan Leib has recently sat down for an interview with Hungarian political influencer and TV host Stefi Déri, where he talked about the special relationship between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary.
The ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran could disrupt the supply of key semiconductor manufacturing materials, raising concerns among chipmakers already struggling with global supply bottlenecks.
‘Devoted Mahdists could rise to senior leadership positions within the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], bringing under their control the three principal pillars of Iranian power projection: militias across the region, ballistic missile forces, and the nuclear programme itself.’
Two Hungarian prisoners of war from Transcarpathia have been released following diplomatic talks between Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The discussions also centred on Hungary’s energy security as global markets react to escalating tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine’s blockade of the Druzhba pipeline.