Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has condemned Brussels’s reported plan to fast-track Ukraine into the European Union by 2027 as ‘an open declaration of war’ against Hungary. He warned that proposals to remove his veto—through electoral change or stripping Hungary’s voting rights—amount to a direct assault on national sovereignty and democratic choice.

MCC Brussels has launched the Democracy Interference Observatory (DIO) to investigate how EU institutions, regulators, digital platforms, and EU-funded NGOs influence national elections. The Observatory will begin its work with the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary elections, examining emerging patterns of regulatory pressure, narrative coordination, and information control across Europe.

From Kurdish self-governance to the UAE’s federal model, speakers at an MCC–Danube Institute conference argued that the Middle East’s minority question demands multiple, locally grounded solutions rather than one-size-fits-all answers.

A transgender teenager who had identified as a woman since 2023 killed ten people and wounded at least 35 in a mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada. Reports that the perpetrator kept guns at home and shared shooting videos on a transgender-themed gun forum are intensifying alarm over the dangers of transgender ideology to young people and society.

Super Bowl LX was viewed by 124.9 million people last Sunday. That is a drop of 2.8 million viewers from last year’s audience of 127.7 million. Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Bad Bunny’s performance was viewed by more people than the actual game. However, that is typical, and it lost even more viewers compared to the last halftime show by Kendrick Lamar, going from 133.5 to 128.2 million viewers.

‘The establishment of stronger institutional checks and balances reflects Kazakhstan’s continued commitment to political modernization and governance reform.’