Is Victor Ponta applying Viktor Orbán’s recipe?
Commentators across the political spectrum ponder possible parallels between the practices of the prime ministers of Hungary and Romania. Those on the left think that although Ponta follows a recipe...
View ArticleTransborder Hungarians and the Romanian referendum
A right-wing columnist believes that Hungarians in Romania played a decisive role in Sunday’s failed referendum, which intended to remove President Basescu from office. A left-wing pundit, on the other...
View ArticleRomania is taking over as Europe’s black sheep – but no reason for schadenfreude
Hungary should not feel relieved if European criticism is now directed against neighbouring Romania. A pro-government commentator fears that as a result, the whole of Eastern and Central Europe risks...
View ArticleSelf-critical reactions to Sólyom’s speech
In his analysis of the left-wing reception of former president László Sólyom’s recent criticism of government policies, a Marxist philosopher calls his fellow left-wingers intolerant, while a...
View ArticleRevisionist remarks only harm Hungarian minority
Heti Válasz warns that the comments of Fidesz MP Zoltán Kőszegi concerning territorial revision are not exactly a laughing matter, even if the government has distanced itself from his “personal...
View ArticleTransborder campaigning
While right-leaning columnists ridicule the Socialists for their new-found enthusiasm for Hungarian minorities abroad, journalists on the left suggest that Fidesz may have lost hope of gaining all...
View ArticleMSZP outing in Romania sparks controversy
A Hungarian journalist in Romania criticises the panic of some minority Hungarians after the Hungarian Socialist Party held a meeting in Cluj, and warns them that in a democracy, parties do not hold on...
View ArticleBanner war in Transylvania
Commentators agree that tensions around the use of national symbols in Transylvania help to divert attention from the harsh restrictive measures being taken by the Romanian government. Some, however,...
View ArticleBanner war, round two: Szekler flag aflutter on Hungarian Parliament
A pro-government journalist calls the Romanian response to Hungary’s innocent symbolic gesture aggressive and unreasonable. A left-wing daily on the other hand accuses the government of insensitivity...
View ArticleRomanian PM – a guest of the Socialists
A pro-government journalist lists examples of discrimination and arrogance in the record of the left-wing Romanian government and asks how it is possible that such politicians are not rejected by the...
View ArticleVona raises Trianon issue in Romania
Magyar Nemzet acknowledges that Hungarian far-right extremists do proselytise in Transylvania, but dismisses a claim by the Romanian Foreign Ministry that the Hungarian government should dissociate...
View ArticleRomanian President calls Hungary a hotbed of instability
Commentators find Romanian accusations against Hungary out of proportion with the controversial statements made by Hungarian politicians in Transylvania. A left-liberal columnist thinks even far right...
View ArticleTransborder Hungarians on Băsescu’s harsh words
Hungarian commentators in Transylvania paint a gloomy picture of the inter-ethnic landscape in Romania, after President Băsescu called Hungary a hotbed of ethnic instability and threatened to ban...
View ArticleRomanian-Hungarian relations at record low
A left-wing analyst says the protagonists of last week’s angry exchanges all need the conflict to boost their own political plans, but transborder Hungarians in Romania are the ones who will suffer. A...
View ArticleOrbán’s left-wing followers
A young conservative blogger has noticed that left-wing leaders in neighbouring countries tend to emulate PM Viktor Orbán’s “unorthodox” economic policies. On Mandiner, Bence Földi, a young blogger who...
View ArticleRomania 3, Hungary 0 – the political overtones
A pro-government paper criticizes The New York Times for overemphasizing the tension caused by extremist Hungarian fans, or ultras, without reporting on similar incidents on the Romanian side. The...
View ArticleTőkés’s aide suggests moderate approach towards Szekler autonomy
A Transylvanian columnist questions the wisdom of pushing too hard for Szekler autonomy as this could harm other minority Hungarians in Romania. In Heti Válasz Szilárd Demeter warns that the legitimate...
View ArticleProspects of Central European regional partnership
As Hungary passes the rotating presidency of the Visegrád 4 cooperation scheme to Slovakia, a conservative columnist finds it disappointing that the V4 group has mostly failed to create a close Central...
View ArticleEthnic Hungarian vote helped elect Romania’s German president
A conservative analyst argues that the election of an ethnic German and a Protestant as president of Romania is a great novelty for ethnic Hungarians who have often felt being considered by the...
View ArticleDiplomatic scuffles with Romania
A left-wing commentator criticises Hungary’s ambassador to Bucharest, who expressed dissatisfaction with the policies of the Romanian government towards ethnic Hungarians in Romania. In Népszabadság,...
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