In his first Christmas address, Pope Leo XIV expressed his hope that the parties in the Russo-Ukrainian war would ‘find the courage’ to start engaging in direct and sincere peace negotiations; and reminded all that while peace comes from the Lord, everyone should take on their own share of responsibility in creating it.
‘The leaders of the most successful small or medium-sized countries tend to be acutely aware of the dexterity required to maintain security…it seems very unlikely that they and others like them will get lost in their own imagination or succumb to the self-fulfilling fatalism of the postmodernist cosmopolitan mind that gave birth to the “end of history”, the “rules-based liberal international order”, and all the rest of that dangerous nonsense.’
‘The comical mercy the victorious mice show the cats makes Cat City the perfect watch with children this Christmas.’
‘On Christmas day in 1944 Hungary, illusion and reality collided. The promise of “liberation” or “redemption” was drowned out by violence, coercion, and fear on all sides. What survives of that Christmas are the testimonies, the fragmentary voices that reveal how ordinary lives were crushed between two brutal systems at the very moment meant for peace.’
The December issue of the National Film Institute’s series has been published, presenting the most important events captured on film in December 1925, including the record amount of snow that fell on Budapest a hundred years ago.
Jesus is the Christ in the flesh, the Son of God who became the saviour of mankind. This is what the Holy Scriptures say about him, and they also affirm that through Mary he became a blood descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah and the line of King David. Thus, as an ethnically Jewish man, he fulfilled the Law and died for our sins.
Since Hungary is a landlocked nation in the heart of Europe, some of these Christmas traditions might be found in other countries.
It has become a tradition to hold an outdoor exhibition at Várkert Bazaar during Advent, which is in some way connected to the festive season. This year, a poster exhibition, evoking the atmosphere of winter celebrations in the communist era of the 1970s and 1980s, has been on display in Várkert Bazaar under the title The World of Retro Winters.
While shooting scenes for his new film, Alone at Dawn, in Budapest, Hungary, Oscar-nominated actor Adam Driver visited a concert at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in his spare time. While this took place in November, the Academy did not share it until a few days ago.
Viktor Orbán says Hungary helped derail Brussels’s plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine, crediting behind-the-scenes diplomacy and Belgium’s leadership in forming a blocking minority. He warned that asset seizure would provoke Russian retaliation and argued the decision spared Hungary heavy costs at a critical political moment.
Why does Germany react with moral panic to Washington’s 2025 National Security Strategy, a document clarifying national interests while exposing Europe’s civilizational erosion, strategic weakness, and German political culture that treats realism as illegitimate, borders as taboo, and national interests as extremism, revealing Germany’s inability to act as a nation?
France is lobbying Berlin to approve a Russian-linked nuclear fuel project in Germany, with Macron himself applying diplomatic pressure behind the scenes. The initiative cuts against the EU’s REPowerEU strategy and signals that key member states are quietly planning for economic normalization once the war ends.
Black Friday bargains largely failed to materialize for PC buyers this year, as soaring component prices pushed computer costs sharply higher. Memory modules in particular surged, adding up to 10–20 per cent to final prices and threatening further increases across electronics.
Spain’s regional election in Extremadura has delivered a major breakthrough for Vox, which doubled its seats and entrenched itself as a decisive force in a former Socialist stronghold. The surge benefits a close political ally of Viktor Orbán and underscores the expanding reach of the Patriots for Europe alliance within national and regional politics.
Europe stands at a crossroads between a Brussels-led war path and Hungary’s logic of peace, the Center’s Miklós Szánthó wrote in a Facebook post. He warned that sanctions, debt, and prolonged conflict threaten Europe’s economy, arguing that only Viktor Orbán and Hungary’s pro-peace right can keep the country out of war.
A shocking assault on a 75-year-old Jeanette Marken in Seattle has reignited accusations of selective silence in Western mainstream media. Footage shows a known career criminal brutally attacking the victim, yet major outlets have largely avoided coverage, prompting comparisons to earlier cases where politically inconvenient crimes were downplayed or ignored.
The average US gallon of gas costs under $3, the Dow Jones is up 13.5 per cent YTD despite April’s 13 per cent drop amidst the tariff frenzy, and JD Vance seems set for the 2028 Republican nomination. Yet the government shut down for 43 days, letting Democrats win NJ and VA gubernatorial races: here are the second Trump admin’s biggest Ws and Ls for 2025!
‘I do think we’ve got to make it clear that visas will not be issued to people with a history of antisemitism or a history of support for ideologies which are inconsistent with the liberal, pluralist, democratic way of life that we enjoy in this country.’
Once symbols of festive calm and Christian heritage, Western Europe’s Christmas markets have increasingly become targets of Islamist terror since the early 2000s. From Strasbourg to Berlin and Magdeburg, repeated attacks and foiled plots have reshaped how Europe celebrates Christmas—forcing heavy security, cancellations and a growing sense of fear.
‘Christmas markets were more than commercial centres; they granted place for charitable acts, such as donations for nurseries and children’s shelters.’
‘It is a fact that if there are enigmatic figures in 20th-century Hungarian history, Kálmán Rátz is certainly among them.’
‘The American Republic in the first half of the 19th century gradually drifted away from the Founders’ original vision and embarked on the path of modern mass democracy. The final result of this, paradoxically, became exactly what the Founders had feared…The Jacksonian rejection of the principle of hierarchy led not to the fulfilment of freedom, but to the rise of a new, faceless form of tyranny.’
‘The radio goes on air every weekend, yet people are less and less willing to join in and sacrifice time for the community. Until we find someone who falls in love with the radio—and through it, falls in love with the Hungarian community—we have no chance of ensuring the radio’s survival. We’ll keep doing it until the microphone falls out of our hands…’
Artificial intelligence is set to enter a new phase in 2026, evolving from a practical tool into a true digital partner. A new Microsoft study says Hungary is keeping pace, with the infrastructure in place to close the AI gap with Western Europe.
Hungary has established contact with Hunity, the sixth student-built satellite of Budapest University of Technology and Economics, launched by SpaceX in late November. After successful system checks, the tiny spacecraft is now communicating from low Earth orbit.
Hungary has signed a cooperation agreement with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism to strengthen the security of major sports events, aiming to ensure that matches remain free from violence, extremism and security threats.
Budapest has launched the first phase of its Green Panel Programme, offering apartment blocks in Kőbánya access to grants for energy-efficient renovations, with the scheme set to expand to other districts to cut emissions and improve living conditions.
What are Russia’s minimum objectives for demonstrating victory? What will happen to Gaza? How can the West persuade Central Asia to cooperate with the US and Europe? We asked a former senior director at the National Security Council in George W Bush’s White House for a year-end analysis of the world’s three major geopolitical conflicts.
US–Hungarian relations are entering a new phase as defence cooperation moves from political signalling to concrete industrial partnerships. Preliminary agreements with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin mark a strategic shift, strengthening Hungary’s NATO-compatible capabilities and defence-industry base.
Budapest is set to strengthen its green public transport network after the city transport authority secured EU funding for 38 modern trolleybuses, a move that supports fleet renewal, network expansion and long-term sustainability goals in the Hungarian capital.