Tag Archives: Viktor Orban

Politico Europe reports: The majority of EU countries — including France and Germany — want the European Commission to crack down on Hungary over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s plan to ban upcoming Pride celebrations in Budapest, according to a joint statement seen by POLITICO. The move piles pressure on the Commission to penalize Budapest, just as EU diplomats warn of …

The Associated Press reports: Hungary’s parliament has passed an amendment to the constitution that allows the government to ban public events by LGBTQ+ communities. Legal scholars and critics call Monday’s decision another step toward authoritarianism as the populist government continues to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ communities. The amendment passed along party lines, with 140 votes for and 21 against. …

The Washington Post reports: Hungary announced plans Thursday to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, hours after Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu — who is sought under an ICC arrest warrant that accuses him of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza — arrived there for a state visit. “The government will initiate the withdrawal procedure on Thursday, in accordance …

The Washington Post reports: Under Hungary’s antigay “propaganda” law, bookstores were fined for selling LGBTQ+ themed tomes without sealed plastic wrappers and a museum director was fired for allowing minors into an exhibit with images of same-sex couples. But the autocratic government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban stopped short of targeting the community’s premier event: the annual Pride parade. Until …

Agence France-Presse reports: The EU’s commissioner for equality took aim Tuesday at a Hungarian bill aimed at banning Budapest’s annual pride march, asserting the “fundamental right” to peaceful assembly in the 27-nation bloc. The European Commission, 16 member states and the European Parliament have taken Budapest to court over a 2021 law banning the “promotion” of homosexuality to minors — …

The Associated Press reports: A new anti-LGBTQ+ law banning Pride events and allowing authorities to use facial recognition software to identify those attending the festivities was passed in Hungary on Tuesday, leading to a large demonstration on the streets of Budapest. Several thousand protesters chanting anti-government slogans gathered after the vote outside Hungary’s parliament. They later staged a blockade of …

The Associated Press reports: Hungary’s ruling coalition continued its crackdown on the country’s LBGTQ+ community on Monday, as members submitted a bill to parliament that would ban the popular Budapest Pride event and allow authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attendees. The bill is almost certain to pass, as the ruling coalition has a two-thirds majority in parliament. …

The Washington Post reports: Hungary’s government said Thursday that it would ban a Pride march through central Budapest this summer, as Viktor Orban and his ruling Fidesz party escalate their long-standing push to enact anti-LGBTQ+ policies ahead of elections next year. “The country does not have to tolerate Pride marching through downtown Budapest,” Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said …

The Guardian reports: Hungary’s Budapest Pride should be held in a “closed venue” this year rather than on a city centre avenue as in previous years, the prime minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff has said, citing child protection. The plan, announced on Wednesday, appeared to be part of Orbán’s restrictions on the activities of the LGBTQ+ community as the …

The Associated Press reports: Hungary will be the one to decide whether Ukraine is able to achieve its hopes of joining the European Union in the future, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Saturday in an escalation of his adversarial posture toward Hungary’s war-ravaged neighbor. Seeming to question Ukraine’s statehood, Orbán said Saturday that the war Russia launched nearly three …

Politico Europe reports: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is preparing to serve up a major policy gift for his best friend across the Atlantic, former United States President Donald Trump. He’s concocted a way to let Trump, if he successfully makes it to the White House for a second term come November, wriggle out of a $50 billion loan the …

Politico Europe reports: European Union foreign affairs ministers are set to snub Hungary by organizing their own foreign affairs summit in August instead of traveling to Budapest for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s event. Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, plans to host a foreign affairs summit in Budapest on August 28-29 — a prime …

Bloomberg News reports: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban traveled to Florida to meet Donald Trump in the latest stop on his self-styled “peace mission” to resolve the war in Ukraine, which has angered Western allies. Orban posted a photo with the Republican nominee and former US president at his Mar-a-Lago resort, showing the pair giving a thumbs up, in a …

The Guardian reports: Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, will fly to Mar-a-Lago on Thursday to meet with Donald Trump, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting. Orbán has enraged his Nato allies by meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping en route to the alliance’s summit in Washington DC. He has also met with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, …

Politico reports: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary effectively endorsed Donald Trump for president in an interview and, on the eve of this week’s NATO summit, blasted the United States for having a “war policy” in Ukraine rather than a strategy for achieving peace. Orbán contrasted U.S. policy unfavorably with what he described as a credible “peace plan” from China. …

The Associated Press reports: When Hungary takes over the helm of the European Union on July 1, many politicians in Brussels will have the same thing on their minds: whether populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will use the role to further his reputation as the bloc’s main spoiler. Orbán in recent years has seemed to relish opportunities to block, water …

The New York Times reports: On Feb. 8, Brazil’s federal police confiscated former President Jair Bolsonaro’s passport and arrested a pair of his former aides on accusations that they had plotted a coup after Mr. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 presidential election. Four days later, Mr. Bolsonaro was at the entrance to the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil, waiting to be let …

The BBC reports: Donald Trump will not fund Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion if he is elected US president again, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has said. “He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war. That is why the war will end,” the conservative premier said. “It is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own feet,” Mr Orban …

Mediaite reports: Former President Donald Trump continued to heap praise on Viktor Orbán on social media Saturday after he and Melania hosted a lavish party celebrating the Hungarian autocrat. Orbán changed the country’s constitution multiple times, and “has faced international criticism over democratic standards, media freedom and minority rights,” Reuters reported. Trump has a well-known fondness for dictators, having lauded …

The Associated Press reports: Viktor Orbán is taking his blueprint on dismantling democracy to Mar-a-Lago. The Hungarian prime minister first won power through a democratic election, then proceeded to weaken the institutions of that democracy by eroding the legal system, firing civil servants, politicizing business, attacking the press and intimidating opposition parties and demagoguing migration. Former President Donald Trump has …