The adience listens to Viktor Orbán delivering his remarks at the 32nd Tusványos Festival on 22 July 2023.

Incidents Avoided at Tusványos Thanks to Romanian Gendarmerie

The PM’s press chief, Bertalan Havasi told MTI that in a letter sent on Saturday, Viktor Orbán expressed his gratitude to Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu for having received him in Bucharest earlier this week, and for having ‘ensured the safety and security of the Tusnádfürdő Free University and making it possible for me to deliver my remarks today in undisturbed and peaceful circumstances.’

Portrait of Ferenc Rákóczi II by Ádám Mányoki (1712)

Kuruc or Labanc? Hungary’s Eternal Fault Line — Part I

Hungary’s place among the nations, and especially in Europe, is one of the most debated issues in Hungarian political thinking. Analysing the so called ‘kuruc–labanc’ dichotomy helps to better understand the present-day disputes between Brussels and Budapest.

Viktor Orbán looks at Biden as the US President extends his hand to him before the group photo at the NATO Summit in Vilnius on 11 July 2023.

Choosing Between the US and China

‘Could Biden’s token [of shaking hands only with Orbán when arriving for the NATO group photo in Vilnius], as some experts suspect, have been an invitation to the Hungarian government to hop on board the US geopolitical bandwagon and forget the Chinese and Russian ones?’

How Can We Win the Next Decade?

After the victorious election, the prime minister made it clear that the Russian aggression against Ukraine was forcing us to partially revise our strategy in foreign affairs, adjusting it to the changed circumstances. It is hardly surprising, then, that proposals and ideas of a strategic nature have increasingly claimed centre stage at in-camera government sessions and in public forums alike.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy giving a press conference during the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on 12 July 2023.

NATO Promises a Shared but Undefined Future to Ukraine

At first glance, the declaration of wanting to see Ukraine in NATO does not seem much more than what the country was already told in 2008. But the truth is that Ukraine is closer than ever to joining the Alliance, which was indicated not only by the unanimous adoption of the closing communiqué, picturing Ukraine’s future within NATO, but also by the fact that Ukraine can skip the preliminary Membership Action Plan (MAP) that every other post-Soviet country had to undergo and negotiate defence issues as an equal partner in the established NATO Ukraine Council.