‘The proposed CANZUK framework emphasizes the movement of skilled workers more broadly. Simplifying immigration pathways for professionals and specialists could allow the four economies to respond more quickly to sector-specific labour shortages. Such mobility could help sustain economic growth by ensuring that industries have access to qualified talent.’

Hungary’s National Assembly adopted a resolution opposing Ukraine’s EU accession and further EU war aid, arguing that admitting a country at war would draw the bloc into the conflict. The document also calls on the government to support peace efforts and prevent EU funds intended for Hungary from being redirected to Ukraine.

Speakers at a conference organized by the Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families highlighted Hungary’s family policies, the role of women in public life, and the importance of community leadership, arguing that the country offers strong opportunities and support for women balancing family and career.

The Budapest Balkans Forum, hosted by HIIA, marked its 10th anniversary at the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest, bringing together regional leaders such as Foreign Ministers Péter Szijjártó of Hungary and Timcho Mucunski of North Macedonia to discuss EU enlargement and energy security. Speakers emphasized a merit-based accession process for Western Balkan countries and highlighted the region’s growing strategic importance.

Former Momentum leader András Fekete-Győr has asked NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to intervene over alleged Russian interference in Hungary’s upcoming election. The claim is based on a media report lacking any credible evidence and ignores growing concerns about foreign pressure on Hungary from other actors, most notably Ukraine.

Fidesz–KDNP candidate Attila Kaló won Sunday’s by-election in Kazincbarcika, delivering another victory for Viktor Orbán’s governing alliance ahead of Hungary’s April parliamentary election. The result marks the eighth by-election win for Fidesz since the rise of the Tisza party in 2024, further highlighting the growing gap between opposition-aligned polling narratives and actual election outcomes.

‘Trump has repeatedly stated that acquiring Greenland is critical to US national security. Greenland’s location between Europe and North America, as well as its proximity to the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean, makes it strategically important from a military and defence perspective, particularly for monitoring the growing military activity of China and Russia in the region.’

Iranian Ambassador to Hungary Morteza Moradian said Hungary’s concerns about rising terrorist threats linked to the Middle East are not exaggerated, noting that regional crises can affect Europe’s security, migration, and energy stability. He denied that Iran plans attacks abroad and condemned the US–Israeli strike that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

‘Today, Zelenskyy has effectively usurped power in Ukraine. He persecutes his critics, arrests political opponents, and uses mobilization as a tool of repression. People are sent to war where they die, while none of Zelenskyy’s close associates or friends is mobilized or fighting.’

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said the European Commission failed to support Hungary and Slovakia in their dispute with Ukraine over the Druzhba oil pipeline, accusing Kyiv of blocking deliveries for political reasons and claiming Brussels was siding with Ukraine and Croatia against the two EU member states.

Foreign actors have entered Hungary’s campaign season alongside domestic political forces, according to the Center for Fundamental Rights’ latest analysis. While Brussels and Kyiv seek to influence developments, recent political events and the Center’s polling suggest the right-wing Fidesz maintains a stable lead over Tisza heading into the parliamentary race.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said President Trump ‘got the last laugh’ over Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran, who was killed in a US–Israeli air strike in Tehran last week, referring to past Iranian assassination plots against the POTUS. Hegseth also declared that America is ‘winning—decisively, devastatingly and without mercy’ in the war against the Islamist regime in Iran.

Hungarian authorities have confirmed that the tax office is investigating suspicious business dealings linked to a former company of Márk Radnai, vice president of the Tisza Party, following a complaint alleging fraud, fictitious invoices and the use of homeless intermediaries.

Hungarian opposition supporters have seized on prediction market platform Polymarket as proof that Viktor Orbán is heading for defeat, celebrating Péter Magyar’s lead as a sign of inevitable victory. Yet recent European elections suggest such markets are far from reliable indicators of political outcomes.

‘While the European Commission’s power grab is often romanticized as a way to enhance the EU’s capacity to respond to crises, in reality it represents a form of centralization that undermines Member States’ competences and weakens democracy.’

‘So long as Hungarian voters understand the magnitude of the problems facing their country, they will no doubt see the wisdom of entrusting leadership to experienced managers like Fidesz rather than amateur upstarts like Tisza, who have already shown themselves willing to allow the Druzhba pipeline to be weaponized simply to win an election.’

‘This could be fake news. The website InfoVaticana quotes anonymous sources who, they say, were also at the meeting, and who report that the Holy Father did not make “far-right ideology” a focus of the meeting. One hopes they are correct.’

As global energy markets spiral in the wake of the crisis in Iran, Hungary faces a compounded challenge just weeks before its parliamentary election, with Ukraine’s blockade of the Druzhba pipeline threatening supply stability. The timing is politically charged, placing energy security at the centre of the campaign.

A bizarre opinion piece published by The Telegraph claims that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is preparing for a coup in the event of an electoral defeat, relying on speculative arguments and political assumptions rather than verifiable facts. The article, authored by former opposition MP Zoltán Kész, reflects a broader pattern of narratives seeking to delegitimize Hungary’s democratic process while simultaneously preparing the ground for a possible electoral defeat in April.

‘In the longer term, an Iran that is preoccupied with its own severe domestic problems—trying to avoid elite fragmentation and consolidate new leadership, or even move toward a more consultative system with less clerical influence and more power sharing—will lack the energy and resources to meddle in the region.’

A recent Medián poll shows Tisza up 20 points over Fidesz, a 35.5-point shift from the 2024 EP election, more than double the largest EP-general election shift in Hungary (16 points) and nearly eight times the 2022–2024 shift (4.5 points). Will the progressive West use discrepancies between ‘independent pollsters’ and official results to delegitimize Hungary’s election if PM Orbán is reelected?

Balázs Orbán, political director to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said the first week of Hungary’s election campaign took place amid an alleged Ukrainian oil blockade and rising Middle East tensions, while claiming Fidesz had taken an early lead in signatures and polling.

‘All enemies of Europe are enemies of freedom. Standing up for the preservation of European freedom and defending it in solidarity against enemies from without and within is therefore probably the most important task of conservative politics in and for Europe at present.’

‘For the EU, Moldova has become a litmus test for whether enlargement can be redesigned for an era of permanent instability. Successful integration would anchor the eastern flank, signal that the EU can still shape its neighbourhood, and close off a key corridor for Russian influence. Failure would expand the grey zone of uncertainty on Europe’s borders…’

‘Israel is often labelled an occupier with regard to Judea and Samaria (commonly referred to as the West Bank). This small territory has been controversial for decades. From the Israeli perspective, however, the land represents a far more complex issue—one that encompasses strategy, security, history, and national survival.’

A Brussels meeting saw a heated debate over whether Hungary could link EU legislation for a 90 billion euro Ukraine loan package to the reopening of the Druzhba oil pipeline, highlighting tensions over energy security and EU policy.

US Vice President JD Vance has been tasked with leading the new ‘War on Fraud’ ininative in the counrty, as President Trump has announced in his State of the Union address. As the first step, Vice President Vance has shared that the federal government will be halting $259.5 millon in Medicaid funds to Minnesota due to concerns over widespread fraud.

An anonymous EU diplomat source told POLITICO that Brussels will be seeking a compromise with Hungary on the issue of the inoperational Druzhba Pipeline in Ukraine, as opposed to threatening them with more punitive action. According to the piece, the EU leadership is doing so in order to avoid helping PM Orbán of Hungary’s re-election chances in April.

‘The expansion of powers cannot take place without the explicit confirmation of member state consent—otherwise, integration will gradually become detached from national democratic legitimacy.’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called on Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenskyy to reopen the Druzhba oil pipeline and stop actions he says threaten Hungary’s energy security, in an open letter published on Facebook on Thursday.