Nearly three years after Qatargate, Brussels is rocked by another major scandal: Belgian authorities have detained former EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini and top diplomat Stefano Sannino in a fraud probe involving the EU’s diplomatic academy. The probe is already fuelling calls for accountability at the highest levels of the Commission.

Matt Van Epps of the Republican Party defeated Democrat nominee Aftyn Behn, who has been dubbed as ‘the AOC of Tennessee’ by right-wing media, in the special election for the vacant seat in the US House of Representatives in Tennessee’s 7th congressional district. The GOP retains their 220 House seats, while Democrats currently have 214.

At a book launch in Budapest, the Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families presented Fonódások, a new family-focused interview volume featuring 11 Roma Hungarian couples whose life stories highlight resilience, shared values and the strength found in interwoven identities.

‘Following an embarrassing spectacle in Ireland that saw nearly 13 per cent of voters cast “spoilt” ballots while an unapologetic leftist cruised to victory in the Irish presidential race, establishment-liberal politicians like Tánaiste [Deputy Prime Minister] Simon Harris exhibited timid initial signs of policy reversal on the immigration issue.’

Elon Musk has praised Viktor Orbán’s hard line on migration by sharing a viral clip in which the prime minister warns that progressive elites seek to reshape Europe demographically. As US conservatives rallied behind Orbán, Donald Trump reportedly intensified pressure on EU governments to abandon pro-migration policies and confront the crisis honestly.

Hungary has become a net contributor to the European Union for the first time since its 2004 accession, as frozen EU funds continue to distort the financial balance. With Budapest paying more into the common budget than it receives, the economic impact of the European Commission’s political blackmail campaign is increasingly visible ahead of the 2026 election.

‘The Commission’s initiative…is more than just stigmatizing content deemed “false” by Brussels’s fact-checkers. It is also about setting up a closely aligned network in Europe that can coordinate to spread “correct” and “truthful” information—while being paid by Brussels.’