Hungary’s highest state honor, the Order of Saint Stephen, was awarded to astronauts Bertalan Farkas and Tibor Kapu on 20 August at the Sándor Palace in Budapest, recognizing their groundbreaking contributions to space exploration and Hungarian science.
A historic Putin–Zelenskyy summit may soon take place in Hungary, US officials confirmed after Trump’s White House meeting with Zelenskyy and EU leaders. The summit, to be followed by a trilateral session with Trump, could mark a breakthrough in efforts to end the war.
Tensions flared between Budapest and Kyiv after Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Ukraine of striking the Druzhba oil pipeline, vital for Hungary’s energy supply. His Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha shot back, blaming Hungary’s reliance on Russia and telling Budapest to address its ‘friends in Moscow’.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó spoke with both Washington and Moscow after the Trump–Putin summit in Alaska, stressing Hungary’s consistent call for peace. As the only EU state briefed by both sides, Budapest now holds a unique insight into Russia’s real intentions regarding a potential ceasefire agreement.
‘Closing the press conference, President Putin addressed Donald Trump in English and invited the American leader to meet “next time in Moscow”. It is an extremely rare occasion to hear the Russian President speaking in English.’
A Newsweek op-ed by Ilya Shapiro and Charles Yockey hails Hungary’s university reform as a template for conservatives, claiming Western campuses have abandoned neutrality for ideological enforcement. They argue the foundation model ensures accountability and academic freedom across the political spectrum.
A Forsa poll shows Germany’s AfD ahead of the CDU, 26 to 24 per cent, the biggest lead since February’s election. The result mirrors a rightward trend across Europe, with Austria’s FPÖ, France’s National Rally and Reform UK also dominating national polls.
This year’s US human rights report on Hungary marks a dramatic break from the Biden years, omitting past allegations on media freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, and corruption. Instead, it commends government action in several areas—a change Budapest calls a return to ‘respect’.
‘Bismarck’s campaign for a “good treaty” with Russia reflected the notion that antagonizing the Russians could be as disastrous as waking a bear from hibernation—an apt metaphor for what the U.S.–NATO expansionist approach eventually did…Bismarck emphasized the urgency of not only respecting Russia’s interests but also recognizing it as a crucial player on the global political stage…’
European leaders’ obsession with the Munich analogy ahead of the Trump–Putin summit is turning history into a political crutch. Leaders warn of appeasement, yet ignore the radically different context of today’s war, risking self-imposed irrelevance in peace talks and handing strategic advantage to Washington and Moscow.