The number of registered jobseekers in Hungary fell to 225,994 in February 2026, more than 6,000 fewer than a year earlier, as the government highlighted low unemployment and expanded employment support programmes.
A new poll by US-based McLaughlin & Associates suggests Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz–KDNP alliance would win Hungary’s parliamentary election if it were held this Sunday, contradicting several opposition-leaning surveys and highlighting energy security as a decisive issue in the final weeks of the campaign.
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.
‘Crude oil prices jumped on international commodity markets. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose from around $67 on 27 February to $77.44 on 3 March. Since yesterday, its price has dropped and stabilized at roughly $75–$76. Thus, it seems that the $119-per-barrel crisis seen after the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been averted.’
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.
Hungary has launched its first evacuation flight to Jordan to bring home citizens stranded in the Middle East due to the ongoing conflict and widespread airspace closures across the region.
‘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.’
A man stabbed two people near the Sighthill Primary School in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. After the attack, he barricaded himself inside a nearby building, which led to an eight-hour stand-off with Police Scotland. During the incident, he was photographed smiling through a window.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of its foundation, the Ludovika University of Public Service is hosting a series of events. At the first of such events, Balázs Orbán spoke of Hungary’s role in the new system of geopolitics, in the midst of the war in Ukraine, ongoing for four years, and the recently erupted war in Iran.
Ukraine reportedly denied EU leaders access to the Druzhba pipeline during their Kyiv visit, according to diplomats cited by the Financial Times, deepening an already fraught dispute over halted oil transit that has become central to Hungary’s election campaign.
Graphics card shortages and rising prices are expected to continue as Nvidia warns that supply constraints tied to the global memory shortage could affect gaming hardware availability well into the coming year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has openly weighed in on Hungary’s upcoming parliamentary election, expressing confidence that Viktor Orbán will be defeated and that relations can then be ‘normalized’.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy bluntly claimed that Ukraine has no intention whatsoever of restarting oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, placing Hungarian and Slovak energy security in serious jeopardy. Viktor Orbán responded by calling on the European Commission to enforce treaty obligations on Kyiv.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Central European cooperation is essential for strengthening regional industry and security, as Hungarian and Czech defence companies announced a long-term strategic partnership in Budapest.
According to a recently published HIIA analysis, EU sanctions on Russian energy have already contributed to 5.4 million job losses, with long-term risks exceeding 30 million positions. The report highlights surging energy prices, weakened industrial competitiveness, and mounting economic strain across Europe.
Eötvös Loránd University has launched a flagship artificial intelligence programme aimed at expanding research, education and innovation, as officials say Hungary already ranks among the world’s top users of AI technology.
‘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.’
A Puskás Akadémia–Nyíregyháza Spartacus Hungarian league game was paused to let two fasting Muslim players break Ramadan at sunset—an unusual but respectful moment in Hungarian football. Unlike recent incidents in the Premier League, the crowd reacted with quiet acceptance.
‘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.
Artist of the Nation and Kossuth Prize–winning choreographer Zoltán Zsuráfszky reflects on a lifetime devoted to Hungarian folk dance. From his formative collecting trips across the Carpathian Basin in the 1970s to leading the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble today, he speaks about preserving authentic traditions, bringing them to the world stage, and the philosophy behind works such as Hungarian Wedding (Magyar Menyegző).
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.’
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said satellite imagery shows the Druzhba oil pipeline is operational and urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to immediately restart oil shipments and allow international inspectors.
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?
A new analysis warns that the war involving Iran could spark a prolonged migration crisis and increased security risks in Europe, as economic collapse and instability push millions of people to consider leaving the region.
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.
Social media platform X recorded its highest-ever usage over the weekend following the US–Israeli strikes on Iran, Elon Musk announced. The surge was driven by a flood of real-time footage and analysis, as the platform once again became a central hub for tracking rapidly unfolding military developments.
‘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.’
‘If current trends continue unchecked, Germany in 2030 will be a country…in which the range of acceptable opinion has narrowed dramatically. The constitutional vocabulary will still be used, but its content will have been hollowed out, rights will be conditional on democratic reliability, and whole social groups will live under a permanent cloud of suspicion.’