Free Republic

Politico's senior executive editor, Alexander Burns, has a long history of attempting to foist far left politics upon the public. In his latest incarnation on Monday, Burns uses the defeat of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán at the polls to argue the Democrats need to embrace socialism if they want to defeat the nasty MAGA Republicans at the polls, "Orbán’s Defeat Shows What Trump’s Opponents Keep Doing Wrong."

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...

Reacting to Viktor Orban’s defeat, Scarborough hailed it as a “great day for Western democracy” and a “very bad day” for those who have “done their best to try to destroy Western democracy.” He then pivoted to a broader swipe at critics of his preferred definition of “liberal democracy.” “Liberal: a traditionally small-government term,” Scarborough insisted—before adding that “a lot of really stupid people don’t understand that, because they don’t read history. I guess they just scrawl in crayon books.” Liberal democracy = small government, Joe? If only! The line fits a long-running pattern. Over the years, Scarborough has repeatedly...

Péter Magyar, the Hungarian politician most likely to defeat Viktor Orbán, promises “regime change” but signals continuity on several core policies. The European Union should manage expectations and prepare for a more complex relationship than a simple post-Orbán reset. With less than two months to go before Hungary’s 12 April elections, the Tisza party led by Péter Magyar is polling ahead of Orban’s Fidesz. For the first time since 2010, a change of government appears genuinely possible. The stakes are high. A fifth consecutive term for Orbán would further entrench what the European Parliament has described as a “hybrid regime...

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.

Hungarians go to the polls on Sunday in a vote that could bring down long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and have significant repercussions for the rest of Europe, the US and Russia. Most polls favour Péter Magyar, who formed a grassroots party after splitting from the ruling Fidesz party, but the night before the vote Orbán was in defiant mood. "We are going to achieve such a victory that will surprise everyone, perhaps even ourselves," he told several thousand supporters in a small square on Budapest's Castle Hill. Voting takes place from 06:00-19:00 (04:00-17:00 GMT) and results will start to...

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."

JD Vance will visit Hungary on Tuesday in an 11th-hour attempt to boost key MAGA ally Prime Minister Viktor Orbán before an all-important election on Sunday, but the U.S. vice president’s trip appears unlikely to swing an increasingly bitter race. Orbán says he is “looking forward” to Vance’s trip, and with a Budapest press conference and a flag-waving rally at a 24,000-seat football stadium on Tuesday will be attempting to seize what momentum he can from it. For the Hungarian prime minister it’s a singular opportunity to portray himself as the Trump administration’s pre-eminent European ally. For the White House,...

Serbia has sharply condemned Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, for what it described as “unacceptable interference in internal affairs,” after she criticized the Balkan country’s military cooperation with Israel. The diplomatic dispute follows Albanese’s visit to Belgrade this week, during which she accused Serbian authorities of collaborating “without shame” with Israel, claiming Serbia is among its strongest allies and that Serbian weapons are being used in Gaza. “We consider the statements made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Mrs. Albanese, to be unbalanced and activist in nature, and as such inappropriate to the mandate she...

U.S. conservatives have long pointed to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as proof that a Western leader can crack down on immigration, defy global institutions and wage war on “woke” liberalism – and still win elections. But as Hungary heads toward an April 12 parliamentary election, some of Orban’s most enthusiastic admirers in the U.S., including President Donald Trump, are confronting a once‑unthinkable prospect: after 16 years in power, Europe’s champion of “illiberal democracy” could be voted out of office. Defeat for Orban would reverberate well beyond Hungary, casting doubt on the durability of a political system – marked by...

The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that the nation of Hungary, on two occasions, blocked attempts by the European Union to make a consensus statement against the anticipated Israeli military operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where the bulk of Hamas terrorists are thought to be concentrated.EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell reportedly tried to unite all 27 member states behind a statement calling for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, a move that Israel argues would allow Hamas to regroup and rearm its terrorist elements.According to the report, Borell eventually succeeded...

"It's good to have an enemy," says George Birnbaum, one of the godfathers of modern populism. "Very rarely will you find someone who's loved by everybody." A political consultant for 30 years, he helped Benjamin Netanyahu come to power in a surprise victory in Israel in 1996, and Hungary's Viktor Orban in 2010. He has clients in many countries, and flits nowadays between New York, Dubai and Harare. George Birnbaum built his reputation as one of "Arthur's kids" - under mentor and late business partner Arthur Finkelstein, a brilliant mathematician who re-invented the art of political campaigning in the US,...

Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו @netanyahu: Thank you my friend, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. I look forward to continue to expand the close friendship between Israel and Hungary.* Quote Tweet Orbán Viktor @PM_ViktorOrban: What a great victory for Benjamin @Netanyahu in Israel! Hard times require strong leaders. Welcome back. *

President Jair Bolsonaro said in his address to the nation on Tuesday that Latin America’s most populous country has now been "liberated from socialism and political correctness". He promised to combat the "ideology of gender" teaching in schools, "respect our Judeo-Christian tradition" and "prepare children for the job market, not political militancy". Notable foreign leaders attending the inauguration include Hungary's hardline Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Israel's hawkish premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who has hailed a budding "brotherhood" with Brazil's new leader. Leftist Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Miguel Díaz-Canel of Cuba, deemed dictators by Bolsonaro,...

An historic meeting was held in Budapest today, July 19, 2017. It was the culmination of a two-day state visit to Hungary by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first such visit by a sitting Israeli prime minister. The prime ministers for the Visegrad Four group of Central European nations (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic) were also present. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán currently holds the rotating presidency for that group, and he was authorized to act on behalf of the other three in his discussions and negotiations with the Israeli prime minister. The results may be seen...

Israel's foreign ministry has issued a statement denouncing U.S. billionaire George Soros, a move that appeared designed to align Israel more closely with Hungary ahead of a visit to Budapest next week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Soros, a Hungarian-born Jew who has spent a large part of his fortune funding pro-democracy and human rights groups, has repeatedly been targeted by Hungary's right-wing government, in particular over his support for more open immigration. In the latest case, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has backed a campaign in which Soros is singled out as an enemy of the state. "Let's not allow...

In defiance of European Union guidelines, Hungary will not label products from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights. Indeed, its foreign minister urges greater cooperation with Israel in fighting global terrorism. Speaking at a breakfast meeting of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, Hungarian Foreign Minister and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto, who was on a 24-hour visit to Israel, said that his country will not label products from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights, calling the EU’s decision to do so “irrational.” “We do not support that decision. It is an inefficient instrument. It is irrational and does...

Viktor Orban has said he fears the Iran war could worsen the migrant crisis and outlined what he thinks Europe needs… The GB News host referred the migrant crisis of 2015 - where over one million people fled conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq - and asked whether the same could be repeated now. The Hungarian PM replied: "I think now we have two difficulties approaching us from that conflict. "One is migration, exactly as you have elaborated, and the other is energy. "And the impact of this war on the energy supply and the price of the energy. "So...

Famous British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson has shared a clip of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary talking to GB News’ Miriam Cates on the social media site X. In the short video, PM Orbán discusses mass migration into Europe. Cates suggests that despite the British people voting against mass migration in a number of elections in a row—presumably referring to the Conservative Party’s winning streak of four general elections between 2010 and 2019, along with the 2016 Brexit referendum—the United Kingdom still has had a high number of immigrants coming into the country every year. This is in contradiction...