Hungary’s public broadcaster will set up a Public Media Election Office ahead of the parliamentary elections to oversee compliance with campaign advertising rules and the presentation of election-related content, Duna Media Service CEO Anita Altorjai said on Thursday. The seven-member office will monitor political ads and campaign coverage, coordinate with the National Election Office, and operate until the elections conclude.

Hungary’s Day of Culture is set to become a week-long celebration from 2026, as the government launches a new Week of Hungarian Culture with an independent visual identity. State Secretary Magdolna Závogyán said institutions across the Carpathian Basin will welcome visitors throughout the week of 22 January, expanding the traditional one-day commemoration.

Hungary’s government has announced a national petition opposing EU plans to channel large-scale funding to Ukraine, arguing that the costs would burden Hungarian families, while also confirming pension payments, energy subsidies and winter relief measures.

In a recently published analysis, POLITICO Brussels calls Hungary’s 2026 election the EU’s ‘most important’, while admitting that Brussels is invested in Viktor Orbán’s defeat. The piece frames Péter Magyar as a credible challenger and highlights how the EPP and Renew have embraced Tisza to ‘secure influence over Budapest’—as EU pressure on Hungary continues to mount.

Fire in My Pocket, an animated short by Hungarian filmmaker Janka Feiner, has been selected for the Generation Kplus competition at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, bringing a visually inventive children’s story to one of Europe’s top festivals.

Hungary’s governing Fidesz–KDNP alliance would secure 49 per cent of the vote among committed party supporters if elections were held this Sunday, maintaining an eight-point lead over the Tisza Party, according to a new nationwide poll.

‘The process is now entering its formal stage: the signing ceremony is scheduled for 17 January 2026, in Asunción, Paraguay, where Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa will personally put an end to 25 years of wrangling. However, the signing is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a new struggle.’

Dutch right-wing commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek has been barred from entering the United Kingdom days after criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on X. According to a notice she shared, her UK ETA was cancelled from 13 January because her presence ‘is not considered to be conducive to the public good,’ leaving her with no right of appeal.

According to a new poll released by The Economist, over 70 per cent of Venezuelans think that the political situation will be either a little or much better in their country within 12 months of President Maduro’s capture, while over 50 per cent outright approve of the US military’s operation.

Canadian conservative philosopher Gad Saad has announced the launch of his sixth book, Suicidal Empathy: Dying to be Kind, now available for pre-order. In the book, Saad argues that ‘empathy politics’ has become a destructive force in the West, inverting moral priorities by protecting criminals over victims and privileging illegal migrants over citizens in the name of compassion.

‘Our analytical work covers areas including transport development, the housing crisis, the reuse of brownfield sites, Budapest’s large public parks, and the capital’s portfolio of development tenders…Beyond our professional work, we also aim to strengthen residents’ connection to their city through community programmes.’

Hungary’s Ministry for European Union Affairs has warned that Brussels’s expanding financing plans for Ukraine could translate into major budgetary pressure, reduced EU funding, and new policy demands hitting Hungarian households. European Affairs Minister János Bóka said the Commission’s approach points to ‘tax increases and cutbacks’ at home.

‘Commissioner Kubilius’ proposal for “rotating” membership in the envisaged Council amounts to an outright disregard for the Treaties—under such a plan, some countries would commit their armed forces to a “United Army of Europe” while having no say in its command. This idea violates not only the spirit of the EU Treaties but also fundamental democratic principles…’

German automotive supplier ZF Chassis Modules is investing around 10 billion forints in Debrecen, creating 230 new jobs and further strengthening Hungary’s vehicle industry, with production linked directly to BMW’s nearby electric car plant.

Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok has set 12 April 2026 as the date of the next parliamentary election, launching the official electoral timetable and triggering preparations for voter registration, candidate nominations and the start of the campaign.

Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office says a leaked database linked to the Tisza Party raises serious national security concerns, alleging connections to Ukrainian IT firms, foreign cyber infrastructure and the handling of sensitive data of Hungarian voters.

‘It was not just another gesture to the Americans; it was a landmark event in getting back to the Western fold. It was about the Gulf War.’

The US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has sparked global controversy over sovereignty and interventionism. Budapest-based Mathias Corvinus Collegium organized a high-level panel featuring Venezuelan opposition figure Alejandro Peña Esclusa to examine the operation’s impact on Venezuela, as well as its regional and international implications.

American cartoonist Scott Adams, best known for creating the Dilbert comic strip, passed away at age 68 after a long battle with cancer. He was one of the few major figures in entertainment who supported Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election. His ex-wife shared his last public statements, in which he wrote that he accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.

In a short Facebook video, Director General for the Center for Fundamental Rights Miklós Szánthó has revealed the exact date when CPAC Hungary 2026, the fifth installation of the Hungarian version of the world-famous conservative conference, will take place this spring.

Swedish journalist Isabelle Eriksson says the Minnesota Somali fraud scandal is not an American exception but a familiar model she has investigated in Sweden: taxpayer-funded associations, phantom programmes, fake staff identities, and millions disappearing without consequences.

Martial artist Luana Márton and swimmer Hubert Kós were named Hungary’s Athletes of the Year at the Nemzeti Sport gala in Budapest. Márton won world championship gold in taekwondo in Wuxi, while Kós defended his men’s title with another victory in the 200-metre backstroke at the World Aquatics World Championships, this time in Singapore.

To mark 50 years since Agatha Christie’s death, BBC News has published a rare 1955 radio interview in which the famously private crime writer reflects on her childhood, writing habits, and the surprisingly simple routines behind her enduring mysteries.

Remote work has settled into a stable but highly uneven pattern in Hungary, with just over a quarter of companies offering home office options and most employers planning no major changes in the coming years, according to a new survey.

Voter preferences in Hungary remained largely unchanged over the Christmas break, with the governing Fidesz–KDNP alliance maintaining a clear lead over the opposition, according to a new poll that suggests the political balance has stabilized.

Marine Le Pen returns to court on 13 January as her appeal trial gets under way, challenging a conviction that bars her from holding public office for five years. At the centre of the case is whether the sanction is proportionate to the offence she was found guilty of.

In a short video uploaded to YouTube, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy of Hungary argues against the free trade agreement with Mercosur countries proposed by the EU, as he fears it would lead to gene-modified agricultural products flooding the European market. He also criticized Brussels for cutting funding to European farmers.

Hungary’s economy is often labelled small, yet new analysis suggests this perception is misleading. A study by the Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation shows that Hungary’s total economic output matches the combined GDP of several sovereign states, highlighting the country’s real economic weight in a global context.

‘The first “great truth” of the matter is that the vast majority of people who share very passionate opinions on the issue have not spent any significant amount of time learning about self-defence laws and cases in the United States. If they did, they would clearly see that this shooting is not a clear-cut case that would be easily dismissed or adjudicated with a guilty verdict at trial…’

Global warming is already exceeding the targets set in Paris in 2015 and is accelerating even faster in Central Europe, former Hungarian president János Áder warned in a podcast discussion, arguing that climate policy must shift from promises to technology-driven solutions.