Hungary got Ukraine for a politically charged clash, as well as Georgia and Northern Ireland for their UEFA Nations League group opponents in League B of the competition. The games will be played this fall.
In a recent episode of the Brussels Playbook Podcast, POLITICO’s Chief EU Correspondent Zoya Sheftalovich has explained that the EU leadership is hiding information about Ukraine’s planned accession to help Péter Magyar defeat Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the upcoming Hungarian elections. If PM Orbán does prevail, the EU is even willing to strip Hungary of its voting rights, she also revealed.
MCC Brussels has launched the Democracy Interference Observatory (DIO) to investigate how EU institutions, regulators, digital platforms, and EU-funded NGOs influence national elections. The Observatory will begin its work with the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary elections, examining emerging patterns of regulatory pressure, narrative coordination, and information control across Europe.
Super Bowl LX was viewed by 124.9 million people last Sunday. That is a drop of 2.8 million viewers from last year’s audience of 127.7 million. Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Bad Bunny’s performance was viewed by more people than the actual game. However, that is typical, and it lost even more viewers compared to the last halftime show by Kendrick Lamar, going from 133.5 to 128.2 million viewers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel will be one of the featured speakers at CPAC Hungary 2026 this March, The Times of Israel has reported. The information has since been confirmed by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office as well.
At the Budapest Global Dialogue 2026, FM Péter Szijjártó accused Brussels of mishandling every major crisis over the past 25 years, while highlighting that Hungary’s break from EU leadership has led to favourable outcomes for the country. Also, panellists debated a fractured world order, the limits of liberal hegemony, and the growing role of middle powers amidst rising great-power competition.
US and Hungarian authorities have dismantled a scam ring based in Győr, Hungary, accused of selling counterfeit gold bars bound for the United States. The suspects allegedly impersonated major bullion exchanges online, prompting a joint FBI–KR NNI operation that seized 442 fake bars.
US President Donald Trump gave his enthusiastic endorsement to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary in the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election, in which he called him ‘a strong leader with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results’. Six out of eight candidates or referendum options that have received President Trump’s endorsement outside the US ended up winning their respective elections.
January’s political developments reinforced Fidesz–KDNP’s clear lead ahead of Hungary’s 2026 elections, while the Tisza Party struggled to set the agenda, according to the latest analysis by the Center for Fundamental Rights.
The Daily Caller has uncovered that the Minnesota-based organization Headwaters Foundation for Justice has received $3.3 million in funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. The Headwaters Foundation, in turn, has funnelled the funds to 16 progressive activist groups organizing anti-ICE protests.
At a Danube Institute panel in Budapest, experts examined Hungary’s growing role in Central European energy security. Speakers highlighted new transit routes, partnerships with Turkic states, and strategic infrastructure projects positioning Hungary as a key regional energy hub.
Gyula Grosics was the goalkeeper for the famous Mighty Magyars football team of the 1950s. Today is the centennial of his birth, so we are honouring his legacy with the biography of his eventful life.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is not a legitimate body. To discuss the decision’s implications for Member States soveringnty, Marcin Romanowski, President of the Hungarian–Polish Institute of Freedom, Former Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro of Poland, and Polish constitutional law expert Oskar Kida held a joint press conference in Budapest.
In the 2026 big-budget film production of Homer’s Odyssey, Kenyan Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o is set to play the role of Helen of Troy, the most mythically beautiful woman on Earth, who is described as ‘fair’ and is repeatedly compared to ‘white-armed’ goddesses in Homer’s other famous work, the Iliad. Many people have criticized the casting choice online, including Elon Musk.
With an executive decree by the Spanish government bypassing parliament, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s administration has granted residency and work permits to half a million migrants who had entered Spain illegally. Vox leader Santiago Abascal has accused the Prime Minister of wanting to ‘replace’ native Spanish people, and wanting to eventually nationalize the migrants for votes.
Nottingham Forest delivered Ferencváros their first defeat in the Europa League campaign, and it was a hefty one. The 4–0 score to the home side means that Fradi has finished 12th in the league, and will have to compete in the play-off round before the Round of 16.
According to the Center for Fundamental Rights, fully abandoning Russian gas would sharply increase Hungary’s utility costs and end reduced energy prices. LNG imports would be far more expensive, preferential pricing and bargaining power would be lost, and transit revenues would disappear, weakening Hungary’s energy and trade position, the analysis claims.
Balázs Csercsa, who ran the religious affairs task force for the Tisza campaign, announced his departure from the party earlier this month. Then, he talked to Index in a tell-all interview in which he claimed that the leaks about the party’s austerity plans are authentic, Tisza is hiding their actual plans from the public, and described Péter Magyar’s leadership style as ‘autocratic’, among other bombshell revelations.
Nurse Malinda Rose Cook at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia has posted a series of videos on TikTok in which she calls for others to harm ICE agents in various ways. In one clip, she suggests other health professionals should inject immigration officers with saline or succinylcholine. According to a public statement by her hospital, she is now on ‘administrative leave’ while an investigation is ongoing.
The Brussels Court of First Instance has ruled that the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium unlawfully banned the National Conservatism Conference in April 2024. The ruling affirms that authorities have a duty not only to refrain from censorship but to actively protect freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and is welcomed by the leadership of MCC Brussels.
American actress Sydney Sweeney has been targeted by the X account Zionist Tracker, claiming she is dating ‘fanatical zionist’ Scooter Braun and that she has done ‘zionist propaganda’ for meeting with two released Israeli hostages who were freed from Hamas captivity.
An amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was passed by the UK House of Lords, which would ban the use of VPNs for citizens under 18. Free speech advocates caution that this could end anonymous browsing, as IDs would have to be submitted to VPN providers, and fear it could lead to a VPN ban for a wider population.
In the game between AFC Bournemouth and Liverpool over the weekend, three Hungarian internationals played in the same English Premier League game: Alex Tóth, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Milos Kerkez. To mark the occasion, we collected all 13 Hungarian footballers who have made it to the Premier League.
‘We have a President of the United States who decided that he will not simply serve out his four years in office, but will get things done. He will solve problems, he will achieve goals,’ Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary said at an anti-war rally in Kaposvár, Hungary, over the weekend. Meanwhile, the first-ever trilateral talks are taking place between Russia, Ukraine, and the US in the UAE.
Hungarian Conservative and POLITICO have obtained an 18-page document shared with the attendees of the EU Summit in Brussels, which propses $800 billion to be raised in public and private grants, debt, and investment to fund the recovery of Ukraine after the war in the next ten years. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary has forcefully spoken out against the plan.
46 per cent of Americans have a favourable view of US Vice President JD Vance, while 41 per cent have an unfavourable view of him, according to a new poll by Emerson. By comparison, his most likely 2028 rival, Governor Gavin Newsom of California, had a favourability rating of just 33 per cent and an unfavorability rating of 44 per cent. Emerson underestimated President Trump and the Republicans ahead of the 2024 election.
Hungarian news site Mandiner has revealed that István Kapitány, the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party’s new financial and energy expert, comes from Shell, a company that has made massive extra profits since the outbreak of the Russo–Ukrainian war.
Ferencváros kept both their unbeaten record and their spot in the top 8 in the UEFA Europa League league table after a 1–1 tie against the Greek side Panathinaikos. However, they will have to play a tough game against the English Premier League team Nottingham Forrest next week if they want to keep it that way.
The publication of Peruvian author Dr Vajk Miklós Lukacs de Pereny’s 2023 book in Hungarian was celebrated at a book launch event by the Center for Fundamental Rights. It featured opening remarks by István Kovács; as well as a panel discussion with futurist festival Brain Bar founder Gergely Böszörményi-Nagy and the author himself, exploring debates on transhumanism, transgenderism, and modern technology.
Miklós Szánthó of the Center for Fundamental Rights has accused Hungarian opposition candidate Péter Magyar of attacking his institution for revealing that Magyar’s cabinet picks and campaign team are being filled with failed left-wing politicians.