Free Republic

Warsaw officials are gloating that so-called “bandits, criminals, and thieves” will soon be tried in Poland. Donald Tusk on X. Péter Magyar’s incoming Tisza government is set to extradite two senior figures from Poland’s former conservative Law and Justice (PiS) administration who sought refuge in Hungary from leftist PM Donald Tusk’s pursuit of his rivals. It is no wonder that Tusk, a fellow member of the centrist-liberal European People’s Party, is so happy with Magyar’s victory. Orbán’s Defeat Sparks Gloating Across Europe’s EstablishmentJubilant reactions from EU figures reveal how pivotal Hungary had become in opposing further centralisation—but Patriots for Europe...

Several dozen people lined up outside a presidential administration building on a sunny spring weekend in central Moscow as police stood nearby and watched them closely. The people were lodging complaints about the government's intensifying crackdown on the internet that has seen regular shutdowns of cellphone internet connections, blocked popular messaging apps and cut access to thousands of other websites and digital services. It was the latest sign of the growing anger and frustration over the restrictions that have disrupted the daily lives of Russians, hurt businesses and drawn criticism even from Kremlin supporters. Knowing that any unauthorised demonstrations are...

See that guy above? His name is Akos, and I’ve been seeing him around ever since I moved to Hungary. Big man with a big heart, loves Orban. There he was last night at the Fidesz Party’s election gathering, bathed in orange light (orange is the party color), waiting for the first election results to come in. (snip) The thing is, Magyar is not a figure of the political Left, which remains unpopular in Hungary. What he basically offered voters is “Orban, but without the corruption.” On the key issues that infuriate Brussels about Orban’s Hungary — his hardline on...

BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen waited less than a day after Hungary voted Viktor Orbán out of office to call for the EU to get more power over national governments to force through foreign policy decisions. Governments should be able to push through EU policies ― on issues that could include sanctions on Russia and funds for Ukraine ― by majority rather than allowing individual nations to wield a veto, she told reporters in Brussels. Under Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister for 16 years, Hungary has often blocked foreign policy decisions. “Moving to qualified majority voting in...

Hungarian Member of European Parliament Péter Magyar has been hailed by leading globalists on both sides of the Atlantic for his convincing victory over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during Sunday’s parliamentary elections; however, it remains unclear how the supposed centre-right politician will govern in Budapest. Just two years after splitting from Orbán’s Fidesz party, Péter Magyar, 45, whose Tisza (Respect and Freedom) Party rocketed from relative obscurity to victory on Sunday, is set to be elevated from a lowly MEP role to the highest government office in Hungary after securing enough votes for a super majority in the Országgyűlés parliament....

Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed the UK must rejoin the EU if the US leaves NATO, as US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull away if the pact does not support his Middle East war. Trump, a fierce critic of the defence bloc, has been left unimpressed by fellow members and their refusal to get involved in his war with Iran. The Ukrainian leader said that in order to bolster Europe's defence against Russia, the UK ought to reset relations with the continent. Zelensky said on Friday: 'If the United States truly thinks about withdrawing from NATO, then European security...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded defeat Sunday in the country’s parliamentary election, calling the result "clear" and "painful" as partial vote counts showed a decisive win for opposition leader Péter Magyar.

Greetings from Ukraine. I was supposed to spend last night in Budapest, but by early afternoon there was a palpable sense on the streets that something big was coming. So I figured I'd rather take my chances with Putin's incoming drones than hordes of Hungarian hotties high on their impending liberation from the Orbán terror. Because of some or other incident on my preferred TransCarpathian frontier post, I was obliged to detour via south-eastern Slovakia. Pleasant, if you're interested, and I encountered a nun in a full-length habit, which I don't think I've seen on a Montreal street in half-a-century....

Viktor Orbán has conceded in a speech to supporters, telling them: "The result of the election is clear and painful."

Current results here:

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán speaks during a press conference next to President of the European Council António Costa (C) and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (R) following the European Council meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on December 19, 2024. “What bothers Brussels is not just that Hungary stands out, but that this alternative could become popular among a majority of Europeans over time.” Zoltán Kiszelly is a Hungarian political analyst currently serving as Director of the Center for Political Analysis at the Budapest-based Századvég Foundation. We talked to him about the Hungarian elections...

Richard Schenk heads the Democracy Interference Observatory (DIO) at MCC Brussels, a project dedicated to tracking the ways in which European institutions, Brussels-funded networks and certain political actors intervene in national campaigns across the European Union. In recent months, the observatory has focused much of its work on Hungary. Two days before this weekend’s parliamentary elections, Schenk argues that Budapest has become the main laboratory for a new form of European political pressure: less visible than in previous years, more sophisticated and, above all, built on regulatory, financial, and media instruments. For him, Hungary is no longer simply a conflict...

Orbán offered his support to Putin, likening his assistance to that of a mouse helping a lion in a well-known Hungarian fable, according to a phone conversation transcript obtained by news agency Bloomberg. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reportedly offered Russian President Vladimir Putin his friendship and assistance, including by hosting peace talks in Budapest, in a phone call last year adding to concerns about Hungary's ties with Moscow. The news was first reported by US news agency Bloomberg on Tuesday, citing a transcript from a bilateral call in October 2025 from the Hungarian government. “Yesterday, our friendship reached such heights...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Orthodox Easter weekend, following an earlier call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a pause in some of the hostilities to observe the holiday. Putin's decree, released by the Kremlin, orders Russian forces to observe a ceasefire starting at 4 p.m. Saturday and lasting until the end of Sunday. Zelenskyy proposed earlier in the week that each side stop targeting each other's energy infrastructure over the holiday, saying he made the offer through the United States, which has been mediating talks between delegations from Moscow and...

Russia is ready to contribute to resolving ​the Iran conflict and President Vladimir ‌Putin is continuing to talk with regional leaders, Kremlin spokesman ​Dmitry Peskov said on ​Thursday. "The president is continuing these ⁠contacts, and if our ​services are somehow required, we ​are, of course, ready to make our contribution to ensuring that ​the military situation transitions ​to a peaceful course as soon as ‌possible," ⁠Peskov told reporters. Peskov was responding to a question about U.S. President Donald Trump's speech ​to the ​nation ⁠about the Iran war and his separate ​comment that he was ​considering ⁠pulling the United States out...

Liz Churchill @liz_churchill10·17m “Do they even belong in the European Union?!” SLOVAKIA JOINS HUNGARY IN THE EU REBELLION. Slovakia just went FULL FORCE against Zelensky’s Ukraine…calling them out for BLOWING UP Nord Stream and THREATENING anyone who opposes them. The GLOBALIST War Lords are COLLAPSING

U.S.-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have not reached a dead end, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 30 in response to a question from the Kyiv Independent, arguing that negotiations are merely postponed. The comments come as diplomacy appears stalled, with the U.S. now focused on the war in Iran and no new Kyiv-Moscow-Washington talks scheduled. Despite the pause, Zelensky sought to project momentum, even as fundamental disagreements — particularly over territory — remain unresolved. "The trilateral meeting must take place; it is undoubtedly being postponed because the U.S. is currently focused on Iran," Zelensky said about a...

I don't think many people saw this one coming, but it makes sense in a perverse way. Events in the Middle East have conspired to create a situation in which Ukraine has become an indispensable ally and munitions supplier to Gulf Arab states. Nobody in the world has as much experience fighting Iranian drones as does Ukraine, and they have become extraordinarily proficient at destroying them before they do any damage, and at a price that cannot be beat. The Gulf states, having blown through an awful lot of their anti-air magazines, are having to quickly learn how to defend...

When Vladimir Putin has been asked to justify his war for control over Ukraine, his answer is typically that Ukraine and Russia have always been one country. And there is some truth to that. The Russian state traces its roots back to something called the Kievan Rus in the 9th century, with its capital at Kyiv. In the period prior to the 20th century, there were times when parts of today’s Ukraine were controlled by other states (like Poland or Lithuania), but never a time when Ukraine was a fully independent country separate from Russia. And yet somehow a tremendous...

General or partial assessments of the number of victims in the war in Ukraine reveal the high human cost of an armed conflict unprecedented in Europe in the last eight decades. With estimates of nearly two million military casualties, it is reminiscent of the worst conflicts experienced in the 20th century on the Old Continent. The most conservative figures — around half a million deaths on the Ukrainian side — are five times higher than those of the Balkan War (1992-1995), which totaled 100,000, of whom 13,500 were civilians. The Ukrainian Commissioner for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances has just...