MCC Brussels has launched the Democracy Interference Observatory (DIO) to investigate how EU institutions, regulators, digital platforms, and EU-funded NGOs influence national elections. The Observatory will begin its work with the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary elections, examining emerging patterns of regulatory pressure, narrative coordination, and information control across Europe.
China is preparing to deploy humanoid patrol robots at a major border crossing with Vietnam, marking a striking new phase in the integration of artificial intelligence into real-world security infrastructure. The development also carries clear implications for Europe, where mounting migratory pressure is already accelerating the adoption of AI-driven surveillance and automated border protection tools.
Hungary’s public finances remain in order, with the 2026 budget ensuring funding for key family, pensioner and small business support programmes despite the prolonged war and an unfavourable external economic climate, the National Economy Ministry said.
‘All Hungarian political parties are entitled to have representatives present at every polling station nationwide, where they participate directly in the vote count…In addition to this multiparty oversight, independent election observers…are free to move between polling stations on election day to verify the process. These safeguards ensure that election-day results cannot be manipulated.’
‘This is why socialism’s failure is not primarily economic, but institutional and, ultimately, moral. By instrumentalizing the state, it shields public power from scrutiny and accountability. Adamuz, therefore, is not merely a disaster of steel and speed. It is a case study in what happens when institutional quality is sacrificed to ideology…’
January’s political developments reinforced Fidesz–KDNP’s clear lead ahead of Hungary’s 2026 elections, while the Tisza Party struggled to set the agenda, according to the latest analysis by the Center for Fundamental Rights.
The first concrete pour at the Paks II Nuclear Power Plant marks the start of foundation work for Unit 5, officially moving the project into the construction phase under IAEA standards and highlighting Hungary’s focus on energy security and nuclear power.
‘The aggressive push by UN and EU institutions, among others, to impose CSE, a harmful agenda that is neither grounded in nor compatible with international human rights law, on the African continent, represents a striking encroachment on the principle of cultural and development ownership and an affront to the same European values that reject undue interference in the democratic processes of states.’
‘It pains me to say that the Netherlands, like much of Western Europe, is rapidly dismantling what was built over centuries. Uncontrolled mass migration, an aggressive focus on “net zero” climate policies, and the erosion of national sovereignty…all contribute to this process. Some Dutch citizens have tried to resist this trend.’
Liberal-progressive Renew Europe has leapt to the defence of Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony after Hungarian prosecutors charged him over organizing the banned 2025 Pride march. Framing the case as a political attack on ‘European values’, Renew leaders accused Budapest of authoritarianism—escalating tensions just weeks before Hungary’s parliamentary election.