USAID’s slogan ‘From the American people’ has become extremely controversial since Donald Trump’s crackdown on the agency, during which his team exposed its most dubious tactics in promoting a woke, progressive agenda worldwide using millions of US taxpayer dollars. Hungary has also been significantly affected, with government-critical media outlets and NGOs receiving substantial grants.

According to Hungarian intelligence reports, Ukrainian secret services have launched an operation against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, involving disinformation and fake news reports from both Hungarian and foreign media outlets. The operation aims to discredit Orbán on the international stage.

As Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pointed out, the ‘Trump tornado’ arrived in Brussels on Monday, turning everything upside down during the informal meeting of the European Council, which was also attended by NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Viktor Orbán has invited Alice Weidel, co-chair of the German right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland, to Hungary—an invitation she accepted almost immediately. Despite their shared views on key issues, the Hungarian government has previously been cautious in its relations with AfD, fearing economic retaliation from the German mainstream.

The Brutalist, a three-and-a-half-hour drama about the journey of Jewish Hungarian architect László Toth after WWII, starring Adrien Brody, won Best Picture at the London Critics’ Circle Awards last weekend. Directed by Brady Corbet, the film, already receiving widespread acclaim, is now preparing for the Academy Awards in March with nominations in 10 categories.

Elon Musk takes aim at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a US government-funded NGO, calling it a ‘scam’ and ‘rife with corruption’. Established under Ronald Reagan, NED lost its original purpose after the fall of the Soviet Union and is widely seen as an extended arm of the CIA, interfering in the domestic affairs of foreign countries.

Police Scotland has found the bodies of two women near the last known location of missing Hungarian twins Henrietta and Eliza Huszti in Aberdeen. The sisters were last seen on 7 January near the River Dee, with many unanswered questions surrounding their disappearance.

‘Western mainstream parties continue to fall behind as new political realities turn their once-cherished project, mass migration, against them—a development that was foreseeable from the very beginning. While they now attempt to reshape their policies to address the crisis, voters have not forgotten who is responsible for the current situation across Europe.’

It will not be long before a Hungarian astronaut returns to space, following Bertalan Farkas’s journey in the early 1980s. The fourth mission of Axiom Space is expected to launch in spring 2025, with Tibor Kapu on board.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his condolences to US President Donald Trump and the American people following the tragic collision between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. The disaster, which some are calling the deadliest commercial crash in US history, has left dozens feared dead.

On Wednesday, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) finally broke through the firewall that German mainstream parties had imposed on them since the party’s foundation, securing a majority alongside the CDU on a motion for stricter migration rules. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán welcomed the development in a post on his X account.

Elon Musk reacted to reports that Hungarian opposition media outlets were outraged over Trump’s decision to halt US foreign assistance, cutting off substantial grants previously provided by USAID and the US Embassy in Budapest. Sharing Balázs Orbán’s post, the US billionaire pointed out that these outlets were never truly independent to begin with.

On Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán concluded a historic two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, during which he held bilateral talks with UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed. The discussions focused on strengthening bilateral relations in key areas, including investments, trade, energy, and security, as Hungary seeks to establish a strategic partnership with the Gulf nation.

The Austrian Private Universities Conference has protested at the Brussels’ decision to exclude Vienna-based Modul University from the Erasmus+ and Horizon programmes, citing the Hungarian ownership of the institution. The body has called on the European Commission to stop its politically motivated interference in the allocation of academic funding.

Despite desperate efforts to capture the attention of the new US administration, Donald Trump’s foreign policy team does not appear interested in engaging with the European Union as a bloc. Instead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has prioritized bilateral discussions with individual member states. This approach offers European nations an opportunity to reclaim their sovereign foreign policy, which has increasingly been overshadowed and taken over by Brussels in recent years, often against their will.

After months of demonstrations following the accident at the Novi Sad railway station, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned on Tuesday, with Novi Sad Mayor Milan Đurić also expected to step down. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is set to decide later today whether to appoint a new prime minister or call snap elections.

Donald Trump took an unexpected step on Monday by ordering dozens of senior officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to go on administrative leave. USAID has a long history of foreign interference under the pretext of providing aid, including significant grants to Hungarian anti-government media and government-critical NGOs.

Speaking at the Lámfalussy Lectures Conference, organized by the Central Bank of Hungary, Viktor Orbán asserted that, instead of the Washington Consensus, it is now time to speak of the Budapest Consensus—a framework for nation-states to navigate and thrive in the emerging age of sovereignty.

By voicing his support for AfD on his platform and challenging the taboo of German national guilt, Elon Musk has emerged as a key figure in the right-wing party’s gradual dismantling the ‘firewall’ that mainstream parties have upheld against it for years.

In an interview with Hungarian Conservative, Fidelitas President István Mohácsy spoke about his networking experience in the US where he headed a delegation invited to the inauguration of President Trump.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has instructed his cabinet to prepare an agreement to reinstate the double taxation treaty between Hungary and the United States, unilaterally terminated by the Biden administration. The scrapping of the agreement by the previous US government caused significant economic and political harm to Hungary.

From deep Appalachia to the White House, JD Vance has travelled a long road to becoming the 50th Vice President of the US. Along the way, his political views have evolved, shifting from opposing Trump to becoming a staunch MAGA Republican. Vance also loves Hungary, and he is not shy about it—he is one of the most vocal supporters of Viktor Orbán and his policies overseas.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti were last seen on 7 January near the River Dee in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. Since their disappearance, police have been conducting extensive search efforts in the area, but leads remain scarce.

Incidents similar to the bomb threats in Hungary on Thursday morning have been occurring across the region in recent days, spanning Austria, Slovakia, and Bulgaria. Given the cross-border nature of these threats, Interpol is expected to join the investigation.

The latest episode of the Danube Institute’s podcast examines the emerging new world order under a Donald Trump presidency. Hosted by Rod Dreher, the episode features expert predictions on significant shifts in US foreign policy and their broader global implications.

An Afghan migrant, killed two people, including a toddler, in a knife attack in the German city of Aschaffenburg. The tragic incident marks the fourth immigration-related attack in just over six months, further heightening tensions ahead of the early elections in February.

The European Commission has decided to suspend Vienna’s Modul University from participating in the Erasmus+ and Horizon programmes, mirroring a similar decision made against 21 Hungarian universities in late 2022. Balázs Orbán, the political director of the Hungarian prime minister, condemned the decision as outrageous and pledged to defend academic freedom.

Donald Trump’s second presidency may bring a trade war between the EU and the United States. According to German weekly Die Zeit, Viktor Orbán could play a pivotal role in the trade negotiations should that happen.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico met in in Bratislava on Tuesday to discuss energy security issues. The two leaders also pledged to steadfastly oppose Ukraine’s NATO membership.

Despite the end of the Democratic administration in the US and the departure of Joe Biden’s controversial ambassador to Hungary, the interference in Hungarian domestic affairs continues. On the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the US Embassy in Budapest awarded millions of Hungarian forint in grants to opposition-aligned media outlets.