THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND HUNGARY’S ELECTION: A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW

11 April 2014

The reaction of the Financial Times to Viktor Orbán’s decisive victory in last week’s Hungarian election was something to behold. An editorial steeped in invective set the tone; a leading commentator produced a hatchet job on the victors (no pun intended) and the FT’s resident journalist in Budapest found that the OSCE monitors had sullied the election victory with an observation that the rules gave an advantage to the incumbent.

Now the question I frequently ask myself is why? What is it about Hungary that so enrages the paragons of virtue at the Financial Times?

THE HUNGARIAN ELECTION: A CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES OR COMPETING VALUES?

2 February 2014

As Hungarians prepare for the next general election in a few weeks time, the political temperature is rising. Already, the first salvos in what is likely to be an acrimonious campaign have been fired, although as of yet there have been few casualties.

THE 2014 HUNGARIAN ELECTION BEGINS: THE SOCIALISTS AND THE ABSENCE OF REALITY

19 June 2012

The Hungarian Parliament recently debated the achievements of the first two years of the current Fidesz administration. For many commentators, this was to be the first salvo in a battle for the hearts and minds of the Hungarian electorate, just at a time when a number of them were indicating that a political swing was underway against the government.