In a recent episode of the Brussels Playbook Podcast, POLITICO’s Chief EU Correspondent Zoya Sheftalovich has explained that the EU leadership is hiding information about Ukraine’s planned accession to help Péter Magyar defeat Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the upcoming Hungarian elections. If PM Orbán does prevail, the EU is even willing to strip Hungary of its voting rights, she also revealed.
‘The rules-based international order fragmenting, uncertainty growing, and conflicts multiplying around the world, this year’s conference is taking place at a fundamental turning point.’
New data from the Kiel Institute reveal a decisive turning point in the Ukraine war: Europe, not the United States, has become Kyiv’s primary military and financial backer. As Washington scales down support under Donald Trump, European governments are assuming the burden—transforming the conflict from a mainly American proxy war into Europe’s own geopolitical and economic responsibility.
At the Budapest Global Dialogue 2026, FM Péter Szijjártó accused Brussels of mishandling every major crisis over the past 25 years, while highlighting that Hungary’s break from EU leadership has led to favourable outcomes for the country. Also, panellists debated a fractured world order, the limits of liberal hegemony, and the growing role of middle powers amidst rising great-power competition.
Hungary was widely mocked a year ago for warning that Brussels planned to fast-track Ukraine’s EU accession. Now, POLITICO Brussels has outlined a concrete roadmap to bring Kyiv into the bloc by 2027—including waiting for Viktor Orbán’s removal or even stripping Hungary of its voting rights—confirming fears once dismissed as conspiracy.
‘All Hungarian political parties are entitled to have representatives present at every polling station nationwide, where they participate directly in the vote count…In addition to this multiparty oversight, independent election observers…are free to move between polling stations on election day to verify the process. These safeguards ensure that election-day results cannot be manipulated.’
The Hungarian governing Fidesz party’s success in a closely watched Balmazújváros by-election offers a symbolic boost ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary elections. By overturning local paralysis and defeating an opposition-backed challenger, the victory underscores continuing support for Viktor Orbán’s party, contrasting sharply with polling that suggests rising strength for Tisza.
Prime Minister Takaichi has secured a crushing victory in Japan’s snap elections, delivering her party a two-thirds parliamentary majority against all polling expectations. Backed by high turnout and growing US support, she now faces rising costs, defence pledges, and mounting tensions with China.
On the third anniversary of the 2023 earthquakes in southern Türkiye, remembrance is intertwined with renewal. While tens of thousands perished and entire cities collapsed, an unprecedented reconstruction campaign has reshaped the disaster zone, revealing both the depth of the tragedy and the extraordinary determination driving the country’s recovery, setting an example for the whole world.
Why are the Czechs wary of Ukraine’s rapid EU membership? What is the secret behind the ANO party’s success? We asked the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic about the future of the V4, the Patriots’ programme, and the ideological state of Europe.
US President Donald Trump gave his enthusiastic endorsement to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary in the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election, in which he called him ‘a strong leader with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results’. Six out of eight candidates or referendum options that have received President Trump’s endorsement outside the US ended up winning their respective elections.
‘…while tensions within the family may carry political implications, young people do not appear to perceive intergenerational political conflict as more salient than disagreements in other domains, such as the use of digital devices.’
Mass layoffs at The Washington Post mark more than a corporate restructuring—they signal the accelerating collapse of legacy media’s authority in American public life. As trust, audiences, and revenues plunge, the upheaval reflects a deeper transformation in how citizens consume information and a growing rejection of outlets long tied to the liberal establishment.
January’s political developments reinforced Fidesz–KDNP’s clear lead ahead of Hungary’s 2026 elections, while the Tisza Party struggled to set the agenda, according to the latest analysis by the Center for Fundamental Rights.
‘While Americans continue to uphold a strong belief in free speech, modern Europe has adopted a more technical approach—one focused on “right” speech rather than free speech; one that censors expression strategically and discreetly.’
The Daily Caller has uncovered that the Minnesota-based organization Headwaters Foundation for Justice has received $3.3 million in funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. The Headwaters Foundation, in turn, has funnelled the funds to 16 progressive activist groups organizing anti-ICE protests.
‘India could have learned a valuable lesson from the dismantling of Europe’s global stature and prestige. The ease with which it occurred was breathtaking.’
Ukraine has agreed with Western partners that repeated Russian violations of any future ceasefire would trigger a phased military response from European forces, backed by the United States, according to officials briefed on the talks.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the EU–Mercosur trade agreement will enter into provisional application despite plans by opponents in the European Parliament to seek judicial review of the pact before the EU’s top court.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is not a legitimate body. To discuss the decision’s implications for Member States soveringnty, Marcin Romanowski, President of the Hungarian–Polish Institute of Freedom, Former Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro of Poland, and Polish constitutional law expert Oskar Kida held a joint press conference in Budapest.
Hungary will initiate legal proceedings against the EU’s REPowerEU regulation, arguing that it unlawfully threatens access to affordable energy and circumvents EU decision-making rules, the minister for EU affairs said on Monday.
‘The European Commission immediately embraced the initiative and began drafting a policy proposal under the same name, with the aim of creating a unified pan-European company structure…However, the member states are likely to be less enthusiastic, as the planned 28th regime would in fact reduce national jurisdiction.’
‘Farage needs technocrats. And since people capable of running nations do not exactly grow on trees, that means he has little choice other than to start raiding other parties for their so-called experts.’
Behind closed doors in Zagreb, the European People’s Party outlined a vision for Europe that would dilute national sovereignty and turn the EU into an increasingly militarized organization anchored to long-term commitments for Ukraine. With Viktor Orbán standing as the main obstacle to this agenda, it is hardly surprising that Brussels is now heavily invested in unseating him ahead of Hungary’s April election.
‘The aggressive push by UN and EU institutions, among others, to impose CSE, a harmful agenda that is neither grounded in nor compatible with international human rights law, on the African continent, represents a striking encroachment on the principle of cultural and development ownership and an affront to the same European values that reject undue interference in the democratic processes of states.’
‘Today, as geopolitical unrest combines with the clear emergence of new right-wing currents across Europe and beyond, our contemporary era increasingly resembles the era in which Rudolf Kjellén (1864–1922) was active. There are, therefore, good reasons to return to the Swedish founder of geopolitics and his views on conservative politics and international relations.’
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the government will cover 30 per cent of households’ January energy costs after extreme cold weather, warning that ending the utility price cap would double or triple bills and threaten energy security.
‘As the latest voting results from the European Parliament demonstrate, neither the climate nor the quest for electoral victory is well served by sacrificing balanced judgment and political realism on the altar of activism and virtue signalling.’
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.
Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is not merely a new diplomatic forum, but a deliberate attempt to replace the United Nations’ paralysed conflict-resolution role. Designed to bypass vetoes and institutional capture, the initiative could weaken China’s leverage at the UN and drive Moscow away from Beijing.