Chinese carmaker BYD has launched trial production at its electric vehicle plant in Szeged, where nearly 1,000 workers have already been hired, Mayor László Botka said, adding that output and employment will rise gradually.

A convicted Islamist terrorist jailed for plotting attacks on Western targets is now seeking elected office in the UK—claiming he is doing so to ‘push back against the far right’. Shahid Butt, imprisoned in 1999 for his role in an Abu Hamza-linked terror cell, is standing for Birmingham City Council in May, raising serious questions about Britain’s democratic safeguards.

Nottingham Forest delivered Ferencváros their first defeat in the Europa League campaign, and it was a hefty one. The 4–0 score to the home side means that Fradi has finished 12th in the league, and will have to compete in the play-off round before the Round of 16.

According to the Center for Fundamental Rights, fully abandoning Russian gas would sharply increase Hungary’s utility costs and end reduced energy prices. LNG imports would be far more expensive, preferential pricing and bargaining power would be lost, and transit revenues would disappear, weakening Hungary’s energy and trade position, the analysis claims.

Liberal-progressive Renew Europe has leapt to the defence of Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony after Hungarian prosecutors charged him over organizing the banned 2025 Pride march. Framing the case as a political attack on ‘European values’, Renew leaders accused Budapest of authoritarianism—escalating tensions just weeks before Hungary’s parliamentary election.

Balázs Csercsa, who ran the religious affairs task force for the Tisza campaign, announced his departure from the party earlier this month. Then, he talked to Index in a tell-all interview in which he claimed that the leaks about the party’s austerity plans are authentic, Tisza is hiding their actual plans from the public, and described Péter Magyar’s leadership style as ‘autocratic’, among other bombshell revelations.

‘Budapest could not finance this without raising taxes and placing the burden of Ukraine’s “reconstruction” on the shoulders of Hungarian families. Financing Kyiv “will destroy the European Union,” commented on these plans Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.’

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has fiercely rejected a POLITICO Brussels report claiming he questioned Donald Trump’s mental health during last week’s EU summit, calling the story a fabrication built on anonymous leaks. Fico said he made no such remarks, accused the outlet of spreading deliberate lies, and warned of a broader effort to discredit leaders pursuing independent foreign policies.

BioTech USA has created 100 new jobs through a 9.5 billion forint investment programme, including a new robotized production plant in Szada, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday.

After weeks of viral growth on right-wing platforms, the Amelia meme has broken into Britain’s mainstream media—prompting panic rather than reflection. The Guardian and LBC now accuse the purple-haired character of fuelling racism, as AI-generated Amelia content spreads globally, spawns copycat characters, and even inspires a cryptocurrency token.

Hungarian prosecutors have filed charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony for organizing and leading the Budapest Pride march last summer despite a police ban, seeking the imposition of a fine, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office said.

Nurse Malinda Rose Cook at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia has posted a series of videos on TikTok in which she calls for others to harm ICE agents in various ways. In one clip, she suggests other health professionals should inject immigration officers with saline or succinylcholine. According to a public statement by her hospital, she is now on ‘administrative leave’ while an investigation is ongoing.

The Brussels Court of First Instance has ruled that the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium unlawfully banned the National Conservatism Conference in April 2024. The ruling affirms that authorities have a duty not only to refrain from censorship but to actively protect freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and is welcomed by the leadership of MCC Brussels.

Kontron Electronics is relocating manufacturing from China to Hungary in a HUF 2 billion investment backed by state support, a move Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó hailed as a strategic win for reindustrialization. The project will create new jobs, protect hundreds of existing positions, and bring high-value electronics production for medical, aviation, and robotics sectors back to Europe.

Brussels is considering admitting Ukraine to the European Union as early as 2027, before accession criteria are met, according to Századvég, whose latest survey finds that three quarters of EU citizens oppose the initiative.

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, US Chargé d’Affaires Caroline Savage joined an immersive augmented-reality experience that transforms Budapest’s former Jewish ghetto into a living historical space. The project, If These Streets Could Talk, uses cutting-edge technology to place visitors inside real stories from the Second World War—an approach Savage described as ‘extremely powerful’.

American actress Sydney Sweeney has been targeted by the X account Zionist Tracker, claiming she is dating ‘fanatical zionist’ Scooter Braun and that she has done ‘zionist propaganda’ for meeting with two released Israeli hostages who were freed from Hamas captivity.

Hungary’s government has announced the launch of a national petition campaign urging citizens to reject EU plans to fund the war in Ukraine, Ukraine’s long-term operation and higher energy costs linked to the conflict.

Viktor Orbán has backed AfD co-chair Alice Weidel’s demand that Ukraine pay reparations for the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, retweeting her speech in which she vowed to make Kyiv ‘repay’ the damage. The intervention follows mounting evidence of Ukrainian involvement in the 2022 explosions and adds to growing pressure on European governments to confront responsibility for the attack.

An amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was passed by the UK House of Lords, which would ban the use of VPNs for citizens under 18. Free speech advocates caution that this could end anonymous browsing, as IDs would have to be submitted to VPN providers, and fear it could lead to a VPN ban for a wider population.

‘Iran’s latest wave of anti-government protests may have resulted in one of the bloodiest crackdowns in the country’s modern history.’

Most Hungarians now consume information primarily online, with algorithms and social recommendations increasingly replacing conscious searches, according to a new study supported by the media authority, which also finds sustained demand for quality content.

Crowborough has become the latest flashpoint in Britain’s migration crisis after locals staged their 12th protest against plans to house 500 male asylum seekers in a former army camp. Residents told broadcasters they fear for safety and say migrants are already ‘hanging around’ town, while Labour insists the policy will replace costly asylum hotels—despite reports the camp will require £5.5 million in extra policing.

The Super Bowl’s culture war is back as the New England Patriots return to the NFL’s biggest stage against the Seattle Seahawks, with Bad Bunny set to headline the halftime show. The Puerto Rican star’s anti-Trump politics—and rumours he may wear a dress as a ‘queer’ statement—have already triggered backlash, while Turning Point USA prepares a rival ‘All American Halftime Show’ built around ‘Faith, Family & Freedom’.

Hungarian and Romanian authorities have carried out a coordinated operation against four young suspects accused of making fake and intimidating emergency calls, including bomb threats and false reports of violent crimes, Hungarian police said on Monday.

‘We have a President of the United States who decided that he will not simply serve out his four years in office, but will get things done. He will solve problems, he will achieve goals,’ Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary said at an anti-war rally in Kaposvár, Hungary, over the weekend. Meanwhile, the first-ever trilateral talks are taking place between Russia, Ukraine, and the US in the UAE.

Hungary’s public transport fleet is undergoing a major renewal as the MÁV Group puts hundreds of new, domestically built buses into service. By the end of March 2026, 120 additional vehicles will enter operation, with further deliveries planned through 2027.

Viktor Orbán has warned that Ukraine is trying to influence Hungary’s election by escalating attacks on his government over EU accession and war funding. After Zelenskyy said leaders like Orbán ‘deserve a smack’, FM Andrii Sybiha accused Budapest of serving Putin and likened Orbán to WWII-era far-right leader Ferenc Szálasi. Hungary says both Brussels and Kyiv are interfering in April’s vote.

‘For more than three decades after the Cold War, deterrence in Europe was largely taken for granted…Security debates focused less on territorial defence and more on crisis management, expeditionary missions, and stabilization operations far from Europe’s borders. That strategic comfort has now decisively ended.’

Hungarian Conservative and POLITICO have obtained an 18-page document shared with the attendees of the EU Summit in Brussels, which propses $800 billion to be raised in public and private grants, debt, and investment to fund the recovery of Ukraine after the war in the next ten years. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary has forcefully spoken out against the plan.