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☆ Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban lauds new phase with Sweden ahead of vote on its NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Jennifer Hauser | Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his country had opened a new phase with Sweden during a joint press conference with Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson on Friday as Budapest prepares to ratify Stockholm’s long-delayed NATO bid. Orban, who said last week that the Hungarian Parliament would vote on ratification on Monday, met with Kristersson on Friday and announced at the press conference that Hungary had bought four fighter jets from Sweden. “Being members together in NATO we [will be] able to reconstruct the full trust towards each other,” Orban added later. Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in 2022 and Finland joined NATO in April 2023 – doubling the alliance’s border with Russia. But Sweden’s bid was mired in challenges.

Persons: Viktor Orban, Ulf Kristersson, Orban, Kristersson, “, ” Orban, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Katalin Organizations: CNN, Swedish, Budapest, NATO, Russia, Gripen, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, European Union Locations: Hungarian, Sweden, Hungary, Ukraine, Finland, Russia, Turkey

☆ Child abuse scandal rattles Orban’s image as defender of ‘family values’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Orban has long posed as a globetrotting defender of Christian values and an enemy of liberalism. But Orban’s critics say his carefully constructed image is a thin guise for a plutocratic mode of governance designed to enrich a small group of oligarchs. The scandal could also weaken Hungary’s bid to gain more influence in Brussels in the upcoming European elections. Since the scandal was revealed last weekend by Hungarian news site 444.hu, “Orban has not made an appearance or said anything. Critics argue that Orban’s proposed constitutional solution to the scandal is a symptom of his autocratic mode of governance.

Persons: CNN —, Viktor Orban, Katalin Novak, Orban’s, ”, Judit Varga, Fidesz party’s, Varga, Orban, Hungary’s, “ Orban, Kim Lane Scheppele, Attila Kisbendek, Peter Magyar, “, ” Magyar, Magyar, Hungary ”, ” Orban, Critics, ” Scheppele, Hungary –, Bernadett Szabo, Scheppele, ‘, illiberal, ’ ”, Pope Francis, Eva Fodor, Fodor, Attila Kisbenedek, Zoltan Balog, Balog, hasn’t, Mark Rutte, Europe’s, he’s Organizations: CNN, CNN — Hungary’s, Fidesz, European Union, Princeton University, Partizan, State of, Reuters, Survey, Christian, Central European University, Getty Locations: Washington, Moscow, Brussels, Budapest, AFP, Varga’s, Hungary, State, Christian Europe, China, Venezuela, ”, Netherlands

☆ Hungary can ratify Sweden’s NATO bid as soon as Feb 26, Orban says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Hungary can ratify Sweden’s NATO bid as soon as February 26 when the country’s parliament reconvenes, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Saturday. “We are going in the direction that, at the start of parliament’s spring session, we can ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO.”According to the Hungarian government’s website, the parliament reconvenes for its spring session on February 26. Hungary is the last NATO member to approve Sweden’s accession to the military alliance. Last June, Orban’s party Fidesz told CNN that it expected Sweden to “allay its concerns” before the vote on Sweden’s accession to NATO. Finland joined NATO in April 2023 – doubling the alliance’s border with Russia – but Sweden’s bid was mired in challenges.

Persons: reconvenes, Viktor Orban, ” Orban, Orban’s, Orban, Jens Stoltenberg, “, Vladimir Putin, Katalin Organizations: CNN, NATO, Swedish, Fidesz, ”, Russia, European Union Locations: Hungary, Sweden, ” Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Russia, Hungarian, Turkey

It's the kind of obstruction of key policy objectives for which Orbán has become notorious within the European Union. “We are the sand in the machinery, the stick between the spokes, the splinter under the fingernail,” Orbán said in a speech to tens of thousands of supporters in 2021. Now, frustrated EU officials are trying to determine what Orbán seeks to achieve with his obstructionist strategy, and how they might overcome it. But with his veto power, the nationalist leader will have plenty of further opportunities to sow discord within the EU. Widely considered to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the EU, Orbán has been accused by his critics of promoting Moscow’s interests over those of his EU and NATO allies, and of preparing to lead his country out of the EU entirely.

Persons: —, Viktor Orbán, Orbán, ” Orbán, Donald Tusk, “, ”, Péter Krekó, ” Krekó, “ Orbán, Daniel Freund, Freund, it’s, he's, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, “ He’s, he’s, Krekó, Vladimir Putin’s Organizations: NATO, European Union, EU, Conservative Political, Green, United, U.S, Trump, Germany, Political Locations: BUDAPEST, Hungary, Brussels, Polish, Ukraine, Budapest, Germany, France, Italy, Europe, United States, Washington, Netherlands, Union

☆ Ukraine: EU agrees $50bn funding deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

#Unity All 27 leaders agreed on an additional €50 billion support package for Ukraine within the EU budget,” the EU Council’s President Charles Michel wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Grateful to @CharlesMichel and EU leaders for establishing the €50 billion Ukraine Facility for 2024-2027,” he tweeted. Orban had held up the deal on the grounds he did not want the funds to come from the EU budget, meaning funds would be taken from EU member states and sent to Ukraine. Critics of Orban were quick to accuse him of blocking the deal because the EU is currently withholding funds for Ukraine due to it breaching rule of law requirements. The diplomat said the deal as outlined by Michel does not unlock EU funds for Hungary, though the summit will continue throughout Thursday.

Persons: Viktor Orban, Charles Michel, ”, Volodymyr Zelensky, didn’t, Orban, Critics, Michel, Vladimir Putin, , Josep Borrell, ” Borrell Organizations: CNN, European Union, Hungary’s, Kyiv, EU, “ EU, Ukraine, Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Russian, United States, Washington, “, Russia, European, Hungary, Brussels, Europe

☆ Analysis: How Orban’s ties to Putin are putting European aid to Ukraine at risk
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —From the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Hungary has been the weakest link in the West’s response. That’s why there’s so much attention on a meeting on Monday between the foreign ministers of Hungary and Ukraine. Hungary has frustrated European and US-led efforts to support Ukraine for the best part of two years. But time and again, they have blocked important action to support Ukraine and strengthen the Western alliance,” a German foreign affairs official told CNN. But that is what the vast majority of European officials think we are likely to see in the coming months.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Viktor Orban, Orban, Vladimir Putin, Jens Stoltenberg, Francois Mori, Orban tantrums, Sean Gallup, hasn’t, ”, Putin, John Thys, – Organizations: CNN, EU, Hungarian, Ukraine, NATO, Getty, Russia, Kremlin, Putin Locations: Ukraine, Hungary, Russia, Brussels, Europe, Hungarian, AFP, brinksmanship, Finland, Sweden, Turkish, Hungary’s, Budapest, Moscow, Scandinavia, Balkans

☆ Sweden’s Leader Says He Will Meet With Orban to Advance NATO Bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Andrew Higgins | More About Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bowing to a Hungarian demand for negotiations over the expansion of NATO, the prime minister of Sweden on Thursday agreed to hold talks with Hungary’s leader, Viktor Orban, the last obstacle blocking the Nordic nation’s admission to the military alliance. A vote by Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday to accept Sweden as a member of the alliance, however, left Hungary as the only holdout and strengthened Mr. Orban’s leverage. It also intensified accusations abroad that he was effectively holding Sweden’s membership for ransom. In a sign that Mr. Orban intended to use his leverage, Laszlo Kover, a close ally of the Hungarian prime minister and the speaker of Parliament, indicated Thursday that he was in no hurry to put the matter to a vote. Parliament is in recess and is not scheduled to return until Feb. 15.

Persons: Viktor Orban, Ulf Kristersson, Orban, —, Laszlo Kover Organizations: NATO, Nordic, Budapest Locations: Sweden, Swedish, United States, Hungary

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — With Turkey completing its ratification of Sweden's bid to join NATO, Hungary is the last member of the military alliance not to have given its approval. Orbán has long promised that Hungary wouldn't be the last NATO member to ratify Sweden's request to join the alliance. Yet Orbán's critics say that there is no such schism within his party, and that when it comes to Hungary's approval of Sweden's NATO membership, Orbán alone is in control. Hungary's opposition parties, which favor Sweden's membership in NATO, have made several attempts over the past year to schedule a vote on the matter. “Anybody who believed that it’s in the hands of the governing party lawmakers was seriously mistaken,” she said.

Persons: Viktor Orbán, Orbán, Hungary wouldn't, —, Agnes Vadai, parliament's, It’s, ”, he'd, Ulf Kristersson, Kristersson hasn't, Tobias Billström, Budapest hasn't, he’d, Jens Stoltenberg, Dorka, Kristersson, “, ” Vadai, Vladimir Putin, Vadai, Orbán's Organizations: —, Turkey, NATO, Central European, Fidesz, European Union, Democratic Coalition, Ministry of Defense, Hungary, Centre, Integration Locations: BUDAPEST, Hungary, Budapest, Sweden, Turkey, Stockholm, Swedish, Ukraine, NATO

☆ BYD: Why Hungary and Mexico could be key to the Chinese carmaker’s global domination
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The cars come from BYD, the Chinese carmaker that is backed by Warren Buffett and has surpassed Tesla as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs). 1," a shipping carrier vessel intended to export BYD vehicles, at Yantai port in eastern China's Shandong province in January. BYD Mexico did not respond to a request for comment. “The US government is not going to like that Mexico is creating a back door.”A BYD electric vehicle, operated by Vemo taxi, in Mexico City in November. But as it continues to grow overseas, BYD will have to take a more localized approach, analysts say.

Persons: Warren Buffett, Tesla, BYD, Viktor Orbán’s, Yucatán, what’s, Elon Musk, Tu Le, carmaker, Hungary —, Matthias Schmidt, ”, “, Schmidt, Bill Russo, it’s, Le, Mariceu Ethrall, It’s, “ It’s, ‘ We’re, ’ ”, Stella Li, México, ” Li, Wang Chuanfu, BYD “, Russo, they’ve, ” Russo Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Xinhua, Getty, CNN, Tesla, BMW, Audi, European Union, Schmidt Automotive Research, EV, European Commission, Bloomberg, BYD, El Locations: Hong Kong, China, Europe, BYD, Shenzhen, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Mexico, North America, China's Shandong, Szeged, Komárom, France, Shanghai, Hungarian, United States, Canada, Mexico City, Mexican, Dutch, Rotterdam, California, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, what’s

☆ Opinion: Trump’s mental gaffes can’t be ignored
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Opinion Dean Obeidallah | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Longtime political analyst Larry Sabato was asked by CNN anchor Jim Acosta this weekend about former President Donald Trump’s increasingly frequent mental lapses. In response, Sabato told Acosta the truth: Trump’s supporters “don’t care” if he’s lost a step or two. They thought Bush because Bush supposedly was a military person — great.” He then added about Bush, “He got us into the Middle East. In that same speech, Trump also erred in telling the audience that Orban’s nation shared a border with Russia. Thank you very much.”The problem was that Trump was in Sioux City, Iowa — not in Sioux Falls, a city in South Dakota.

Persons: Dean Obeidallah, CNN —, Larry Sabato, Jim Acosta, Donald Trump’s, Barack Obama — alarmingly, Sabato, Acosta, “, he’s, Trump, ” Sabato, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Obama, ”, couldn’t, “ Hillary Clinton ’, Biden, Jeb Bush, George W, Bush, Viktor Orban, Viktor Orban —, He’s, ” Trump, Orban, Hungary, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Sen, Brad Zaun, Obama ”, — Obama, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, won’t, — Organizations: CNN, CNN — Longtime, White, Trump, Republican, “, South, GOP, Iowa Republican, Florida Gov, Democratic Locations: United States, South Carolina, Florida, Iraq, New Hampshire, Turkey, Russia, Hungary, Sioux, Sioux City , Iowa, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Iowa, Sioux City, Claremont , New Hampshire

☆ Orban’s Dream of an Illiberal Pan-European Alliance Is Fading
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Andrew Higgins | More About Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Exultant after winning his fourth election in a row last year on promises to protect Christian values and keep out immigrants, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary thanked like-minded conservatives in Poland as well as other “friends” abroad for their support. Europe was turning his way, he rejoiced. Hungary “is not the past,” he said, but “our common European future.”But Mr. Orban’s hopes of leading a pan-European movement — one that is deeply illiberal and infused with nationalism — are fading, deflated by the poor performance at the polls by some of his most fervent admirers in Europe and deep divisions over the war in Ukraine. Most crucially, Poland’s governing Law and Justice party — a longtime partner of Mr. Orban’s Fidesz party in its battles with the European Union over minority rights, migrants, the rule of law and other issues— lost a general election last month.

Persons: Exultant, Viktor Orban, Hungary “, ”, Orban’s, — Organizations: Orban’s Fidesz, European Union Locations: Poland, Europe, Hungary, Ukraine

☆ Hungarian bookstore to fight fine for sale of LGBT-themed 'Heartstopper'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Reuters Caolán Magee | Caolán Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Hungary’s second-largest bookstore, Lira, said on Friday it plans to take legal action after it received a hefty government fine for the sale of an LGBT-themed British webcomic and graphic novel aimed at teenagers without closed wrapping. The popular “Heartstopper” series, in which two gay teens fall in love, has also been adapted by Netflix as a romantic comedy-drama. Krisztian Nyary, Lira’s creative director and a well-known author himself, told Reuters the fine was disproportionate, the law vaguely worded and that the bookstore would respond legally. Books that feature LGBTQ+ characters are seen wrapped in plastic foil in a bookstore in Budapest, Hungary, on July 11. This is not the first time a Hungarian government office has fined a bookstore for a violation of the law.

Persons: CNN —, Alice Oseman’s “, Krisztian, Bernadett Szabo, ”, “, Viktor Orban’s, ” Nyary Organizations: CNN, Lira, Netflix, Reuters, European Union, European Commission, Justice Locations: Budapest, Lira, Hungary, United States, Germany

☆ Opinion | Why Kamala Harris Matters So Much in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A few weeks ago, one of France’s most famous public intellectuals, Bernard-Henri Lévy, gave an interview to The Times on his new documentary, “Slava Ukraini,” and he said something that helped me understand why, as I approach my 70th birthday, I still want to be a journalist. Asked why, at age 74, he dodged rockets in Ukraine to bring home the savagery of the Russian invasion, Lévy said, “In Ukraine, I had the feeling for the first time that the world I knew, the world in which I grew up, the world that I want to leave to my children and grandchildren, might collapse.”I have that exact same fear. Which is why the focus of my columns these days has been very tight. There are three things that absolutely cannot be allowed to happen: Israel cannot be allowed to turn into an autocracy like Viktor Orban’s Hungary; Ukraine cannot be allowed to fall to Vladimir Putin; and Donald Trump cannot be allowed to occupy the White House ever again. If all three were to happen, the world that I want to leave my children and grandchildren could completely collapse.

☆ Economic chaos will break Orbán’s strongman spirit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

GDP growth is seen slowing to 1.8% in 2023 after growing 5.7% in 2022, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts. But thousands of students and teachers took to the streets in October to protest against rocketing prices and stagnating wages. For now Brussels has only approved the release of 5.8 billion euros of the funds, after Orbán made concessions on Ukraine aid and taxation. Without all the EU funds, Orbán will have to row back on his most populist economic measures. The risk of economic chaos will provide him with a strong incentive to step down from his most defiant, illiberal stances.

☆ Hungary Blocks EU Plan to Raise Over $18 Billion in Funding for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been embroiled in a spat with Brussels over funding. European Union finance ministers failed to agree Tuesday on providing more than $18 billion of vital economic assistance for Ukraine next year, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government stymying for now efforts to secure the loan through common EU debt issuance. The promised assistance of 18 billion euros, equivalent to $18.9 billion, is envisioned as a critical part of the West’s contribution to help Kyiv pay for basic services next year. It comes after the EU came under U.S. and Ukrainian pressure to increase its economic assistance for Ukraine and ensure the consistency of its help.

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