Europe Hungary The state of emergency introduced in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine has been extended, leaving wider decision-making powers to the Orbán government and to rule by decree, thus also passing laws with no parliamentary procedure until at least May 2025
Europe Hungary Opposition Tisza movement winned by a landslide, ending populist PM Orban’s 16 years in power; Hungary's election set a a record 77,8% turnout in a vote and is seen as Europe’s most consequential election this year
Europe Hungary At the Hungarian-American Friendship Day rally at the MTK Stadium joined by US VP Vance and, briefly by phone, President Trump, PM Orbán depicted the upcoming vote as a historic choice between national sovereignty and submission to foreign pressure
Europe Hungary The “gold convoy” case - the seizure of a Ukraine’s state-owned bank vehicle transporting €80 million in cash and gold from Austria back to Kyiv in a routine interbank transfer - is stirring diplomacy, illegal arms deals suspected behind the affair
Europe Hungary Prosecutors indicted the progressive mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, for his role in organizing a gay pride march last June in defiance of a ban imposed by far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government