Tag "Hungary"
Fidesz-Managed Foundations Assume Control of Hungary’s Higher Education System
Through a recent $1.7 billion allocation (comprised of government funds and various property assets) to the privately managed foundation, Mathias Corvinus Collegium (M.C.C.), Victor Orban has expanded the mandate of his governing party, Fidesz, to include the unilateral administration of Hungary’s university system. The immensity of the monetary transfer coupled with the deliberate inclusion of private, Fidesz adjacent interests represent the further consolidation of Orban’s autocratic power and jeopardize institutional legitimacy through unfettered kleptocratic corruption. Though the geopolitical implications cannot yet be quantified, the impact of Orban’s flagrant, politically motivated annexation of Hungarian higher education on capital markets and electoral politics could, potentially, be significant.
Slow EU Enlargement Affords Hungary Leverage
Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania have agreed to a border-free travel zone between their countries. Although it is an effort to open up their economies following the COVID-19 pandemic, the regional initiative also reflects frustration with the European Union for its slow accession process. Meanwhile, in taking over the Visegrad Group presidency, Hungary has made Balkan EU accession one of its key priorities. This puts Hungary in a strong political position. The risk of a migration crisis in Europe following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan means that the EU has little choice but to intensify its enlargement agenda.
Hungarians protest encroaching Chinese Influence
Recently, Hungary’s President Orban has faced a wave of protests in response to plans to build a Chinese satellite campus at a Budapest University at the cost of $1.8 billion. The Hungarian public have objected on the grounds that the project could undercut the country’s higher education and increase the influence of China’s communist authorities in Hungary and across Europe. If the project goes ahead, there could be benefits for Sino-Hungarian relations but possibly at the cost of Hungary’s relations with its European neighbours and the stability of Orban’s premiership.
Reality of Post-Communist Transitions Risks Entrenching EU-Central Europe Divide
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, and his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, argue that new powers handed to the European Commission, allowing the EU to withhold payments of the €750bn Covid recovery package from member states that fail to meet EU standards on the rule of law, are a politically motivated attempt to target their countries.
Hungary: Coronavirus and Orban’s Power Play
For Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, the coronavirus pandemic is another opportunity to pursue his approach of power politics in a democracy, that is increasingly at odds with the EU’s values.
Viktor Orbán and risks of suspension from European Parliament
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party was suspended with immediate effect in March from the EPP centre-right bloc in the European Parliament. Brussels is taking a stand, but what are the risks to relations between the EU and newer member states like Hungary?
Press freedom and political risk in Central and Eastern Europe
The continuing erosion of press freedom in Central and Eastern Europe should raise alarms among business leaders that operate in the region. Growing media consolidation, autocratic critiques of journalism and prosecutions against reporters are all undermining the ability of observers to get solid business intelligence. In the absence of a free press, political risk is rising in these European markets.
Macedonia’s missing Prime Minister
On 13 November Nikola Gruevski, the ex-Prime Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), sought asylum in Hungary after his appeal against a prison sentence for corruption failed. His escape and asylum bid will have significant consequences for both FYROM and Europe.
Ukraine-Hungary: Beyond passports and languages
Relations between Hungary and Ukraine are at a low point. Diplomats have been expelled from both countries following arguments of Ukraine’s language law and Hungary’s issuance of passports in Ukraine. The dispute has implications that go far beyond the two countries’ bilateral relations.
The dragon over Visegrad: China in central Europe
China’s modern successor to the Silk Road – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – has received heavy criticism from the West as a tool that could be used to divide Europe through economic influence. Just how well-established is China’s influence in Central Europe – and does Chinese investment represent a threat?
