At Brain Bar 2025, Balázs Hankó and Péter Palasics debated whether tradition or innovation should guide Hungarian higher education, the real value of a diploma, and how universities can compete internationally while nurturing talent at home.
Do the Palestinians have a right to form a state? If a one-state solution were implemented, what would happen to the Palestinian population? Why is compromise impossible with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority? We asked the head of the Shomron Regional Council—the de facto leader of the Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria—about the fading prospects of the two-state solution.
At Brain Bar 2025, Katalin Erdei of Richter Gedeon, school psychologist Virág Varga, and Benedictine monk Izsák Baán discussed why loneliness is rising in modern life, and how different communities can help turn isolation into true belonging.
Budapest’s Keleti Railway Station has reopened after technical delays, gradually resuming traffic. Suburban and regional trains are running from Sunday afternoon, while full operations will restart on Monday morning, MÁV’s CEO announced.
‘When…one of Louis Armstrong’s most brilliant musical partners, or as she was referred to overseas, the “First Lady of Song”, Ella Fitzgerald, visited Budapest for the first time on a leap day, 29 February 1968, the traffic chaos did not repeat itself, but people were hanging even from the chandeliers at the concert held at the Erkel Theatre.’
‘Well-documented 18th-century operations shed light on and explain many aspects of the secret of the Hungarian army’s successes in the 10th century: even with limited numbers, a well-organized team can achieve significant success in enemy territory against a numerically superior opponent.’
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary has held a rally for his new Digital Civic Circles (DPK) initiative in Budapest, drawing 11,000 supporters. Positioning DPK as a tool to convert offline strength into online visibility, Orbán framed the movement as a fight for Hungary’s sovereignty against Brussels, social liberalism, and migration, while celebrating Fidesz’s enduring dominance.
In its ‘Beyond the Óperencia’ series, Magyar Krónika is looking at the meeting points of America and Hungary, and at Hungarians in America, from penniless peasants to political emigrants and soldiers of fortune. In this part, let us continue the story of Joseph Pulitzer, who published a series of exposés on dubious transactions surrounding the Panama Canal, for which the federal government sued him.
Bishop Péter Vay was on board the steamship Carpathia when the survivors of the Titanic were rescued.
‘The fact is that Sweden faces a serious problem with extremely violent crime, and children are drawn into it both as victims and perpetrators. Regardless of the exact figures, the collective media and political reaction to Orbán’s fundamentally reasonable criticism looks like dressing up a pig.’
‘Residents, businesses, and even foreign visitors were catalogued, assessed, and placed under surveillance based on their perceived political reliability. This extensive, decades-long system reflects the regime’s pervasive fear of dissent and its determination to control both people and urban spaces.’
‘The Votin family joined the Hungarian community, motivated by learning the Hungarian language and scouting experiences to be provided for their children. The school…was closely linked to the St. Stephen’s Church. The last Franciscan friar, Father Domonkos Csorba, strongly supported them—he kept tuition low and mediated conflicts between the English-speaking and Hungarian-speaking members.’
The founding of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences marked the beginning of one of the most inspiring chapters in our national history—the Reform Era. The Hungarian National Museum’s new exhibition, Magic Power — Knowledge. Community. Academy., is rooted in this period, yet it presents the past in a way that gives the greatest weight to the future.
Ukraine’s security service has blocked 15 outlets from Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and Greece—including Hungary’s Origo and Demokrata—accusing them of spreading Russian propaganda. Demokrata editor-in-chief András Bencsik slammed the move as proof Ukraine has become a ‘rotten, corrupt dictatorship’ that tramples free speech.
Singapore-based Vulcan Shield Global will build its first European plant in Békéscsaba, a 280 billion HUF investment creating 2,500 jobs by 2033. Local leaders hailed the project as the biggest in the county’s history, while the Hungarian government pledged 49 billion HUF support for the high-tech factory.
Hundreds gathered at the US Embassy in Budapest on Thursday night to honour assassinated US conservative activist Charlie Kirk. At the candlelit vigil, Zsolt Bayer, Miklós Szánthó, and László Molnár called his killing a strike against Judeo–Christian civilization, warning that Western culture must not be erased by far-left violence.
‘While the EU promotes green energy…in every possible forum, EU bodies may keep Hungary in complete uncertainty for decades regarding the feasibility and conditions for implementing its investment in the transition to safe and clean energy.’
Donald Trump’s legacy split the stage at Brain Bar 2025, where Zoltán Pogátsa slammed him as an opportunist ‘populist clown’, while Jacob Reynolds hailed him as a disruptor who exposed the failures of globalization and elite complacency. The fiery debate showed why Trump remains the most divisive figure in global politics.
At the 5th Geopolitical Summit in Budapest, hosted by the Danube Institute and The Heritage Foundation, we spoke with a leading policy strategist about the collapse of liberal institutionalism, the rise of sovereign realism, and the future of conservative foreign policy. As global power shifts, how can nations preserve sovereignty in an era of deep uncertainty?
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn has ignited national outrage after telling a Christian man he was ‘not welcome’ and a ‘bigot’ for objecting to a street sign honouring Osama Siblani, local journalist who has glorified Hamas and Hezbollah. The clash, captured on video, has fuelled debate over intolerance, antisemitism, and freedom of speech in America.
Balázs Orbán and Carl Bildt clashed at Budapest’s Brain Bar festival, offering starkly different visions for Europe’s future. While Bildt urged deeper EU integration to confront crises from migration to war, Orbán accused Brussels of centralizing power and undermining sovereignty—echoing Hungary’s longstanding call for new leadership.
The Patriots for Europe face growing scrutiny over alleged ties to €4.3 million in misused EU funds linked to the dissolved ID group. As legal pressure mounts, critics argue the investigation reflects political bias and double standards within EU institutions, raising concerns about the impartiality of oversight bodies in Brussels.
Hungary’s economy may expand by 2.8 per cent next year, according to Equilor Investment Ltd, which sees rising household consumption and easing inflation as key drivers, despite risks from global uncertainty and Europe’s sluggish growth.
‘Globalization is, for me, not a well-defined term…It’s a journalistic word. So I would prefer talking about the differing levels of internationalization of the world economy, which is a legitimate topic. To say that there was an era of globalization and there is a new era of post-globalization is, for me, nonsense.’
Hungary’s Center for Fundamental Rights launched the Just One Bad Choice campaign, warning that migration could undo the nation’s security. Marking the 10th anniversary of the Röszke border clash, leaders stressed that Western Europe’s experience shows how one wrong decision can transform society forever.
Budapest’s municipal government could face insolvency by late 2025, putting public services at risk, according to a new report by the State Audit Office, which highlights mounting deficits, depleted reserves, and rising financial obligations.
A new poll by Donald Trump’s longtime pollster, McLaughlin & Associates, shows Fidesz–KDNP leading Tisza—contradicting weeks of opposition-linked surveys that had placed Péter Magyar’s party ahead. Commissioned by Index, the poll puts Fidesz at 43 per cent, Tisza at 37, with Viktor Orbán still seen as the favourite for prime minister.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned that introducing the so-called ‘TISZA tax’ is part of a Brussels plan to finance war preparations and Ukraine’s EU accession. He pledged that Hungary will resist such pressures and remain on the side of peace.
The blood of Iryna Zarutska and Charlie Kirk is not only on the hands of their killers—it stains the political and cultural establishment that excused, enabled, and even celebrated their deaths. These tragedies are not isolated—they are warnings for conservatives worldwide.
‘The sad truth is that most liberal democracies have had it so good for so long that we’ve forgotten that almost nothing worthwhile comes without effort, that freedom has to be defended, and that often enough the alternative to fighting is surrender. Something that Israel has always known; that the Ukrainians have more recently discovered; that the Taiwanese might belatedly be waking up to…’