In the CEE region, only Romania and the Czech Republic are ahead of Hungary in terms of the strength of their military. This is a quite notable achievement given that in 2010, the Hungarian Defence Forces were still lagging behind the Serbian, Austrian, and even the Slovak and Croatian armed forces.

The Finnish energy consultancy company VaasaETT recently issued a report that shows Hungarian utility costs to be the lowest in the entire EU.

Opening the conference of Hungarian ambassadors on Monday morning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Prime Minister Orbán described the difficulties that would arise in 2023, the year that he said would be the most perilous for Hungary since the system change.

On his Blue Planet podcast, János Áder, former President of Hungary sat down to talk to the mayors of Kaposvár and Debrecen to discuss the progress the cities have made regarding their commitment to reduce their carbon footprint by 80 per cent by 2050.

The Hungarian Prime Minister delivered his state of the nation speech on Saturday. His topics included the war, the future of the country, domestic and geopolitics and his commitment to developing the countryside.

Gergely Gulyás spoke at a conference organised by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and stated that Hungary’s dependence on the EU is not due to its 1.4 per cent contribution to the Hungarian GDP, but rather because Hungary is a part of a unified Europe and Schengen area, and the common market is essential for Hungary’s economy.

The text messages between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla were never released since they could not be found, according to the official explanation by the EC.

The European Parliament has approved new legislation that sets the path towards zero CO2 emissions for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles by 2035.

It is difficult not to interpret the visit of Samantha Power, the current head of USAID, to Budapest last Thursday and Friday as an American telling-off.

Antifa, a radical, violent left-wing movement that traces its origins back to the 1930s, has been responsible for a number of brutal attacks on conservatives, liberals and freethinkers both in the United States and in Europe. Until now, Hungary has been a mostly Antifa-free zone.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield claimed a Holocaust memorial was vandalised in Hungary, when in fact the incident took place in Sweden. No public apology was issued on her behalf, which the Hungarian Foreign Ministry calls ‘outrageous’.

The Hungarian economy performed exceptionally well in 2022, despite the economic crisis caused by the war and the harmful sanctions imposed by Brussels.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister travelled to Minsk on Monday to meet with his Belarusian counterpart, Sergei Aleinik, with whom he held a joint press conference. Péter Szijjártó stated that the most critical duty of the international community is to save lives, which calls for an immediate end to hostilities and the commencement of peace talks.

‘The Hungarian people help both domestically and abroad, as we saw during the coronavirus pandemic, in the case of refugees from Ukraine, and now in Turkey,’ Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.

In April 2019, the Dormánfalva municipality arbitrarily created a Romanian parcel in the military cemetery of the now-depopulated Úz Valley village located on the border of Hargita and Bákó counties. Now a binding ruling has ordered the removal of the illegally erected monuments.

During the European Council summit on Thursday, EU leaders welcomed the Ukrainian president to Brussels, showing support for the West’s ally as Ukraine gets ready for an anticipated Russian offensive.

Rastislav Káčer made the controversial statements on the same TV programme where Speaker of the National Council Boris Kollár expressed similar views last April.

At their meeting earlier this week, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli and Hungarian State Secretary Miklós Soltész concurred that anti-Israel attitudes have evolved into a new variety of antisemitism, and they demand particular consideration on a global scale.

US officials claim the Chinese airship was carrying surveillance equipment. That is why it is disturbing that it was allowed to float over American land for many days and thousands of miles.

National Marriage Week was first organised over two decades ago in the UK, intended as a celebration of the commitment of two individuals to spend the rest of their lives together. The purpose of the initiative is to popularise and strengthen marriage in communities. Hungary joined the movement in 2008.

Péter Szijjártó said the process of doubling the capacity of the gas interconnector between Serbia and Hungary by 2028 is on pace. With the two new nuclear power units at the Paks plant set to enter commercial operation in the early 2030s, both countries’ electricity supply will also remain secure.

Naftali Bennett made shocking claims about his derailed mediation efforts in the Ukraine conflict in a five-hour interview, uploaded to his own YouTube channel.

Following the two powerful earthquakes at the start of the week, the Hungarian government has confirmed that Hungary is there for Turkey in its hour of need.

The number of successfully or unsuccessfully attempted illegal crossings at EU borders reached 330,000 in 2022, the highest number since 2015. Meanwhile, Denmark and the United Kingdom are pursuing plans to relocate illegal immigrants to Rwanda.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal recently stated that the country would like to join the EU in a two-year timetable. However, most member states think that this timeline for Kyiv’s bid is unrealistic.

On Sunday, the second phase of the sixth package of anti-Russia sanctions was introduced. The EU has now banned the import and re-export of processed petroleum products from Russia. The Hungarian government, however, managed to secure an exemption.

The actor known for many as Luke Skywalker has been an adamant supporter of Ukraine’s war efforts since the conflict began. Earlier this week Hamill announced that he would soon be selling signed Star Wars posters to help finance the Ukrainian army’s drone supply.

Péter Szijjártó did not mince his words when reacting to recent critical remarks on Budapest’s Ukraine policy by US Ambassador David Pressman.

Hungarian President Katalin Novák urged peace talks between Russia and Ukraine during her visit to Rome earlier this week.

Tourism numbers in Hungary massively outperformed the expectations for 2022. The data showed that the industry reached levels close to those recorded before the pandemic.