Egyik 19

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Europe

Cyprus
10 August 2026  Britain has two ’Sovereign Base Areas’ on Cyprus – known as Dhekelia in the east of the island and Akrotiri in the west. They are large, highly secretive military and intelligence installations comprising 3% of the island’s land area. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) wrote in a formerly secret 1993 file that RAF Akrotiri plays a key role in support of the Priority 1, Category A intelligence and communications effort on Cyprus. It added that ’this secure airhead enables MOD and OGD [other government departments] to move sensitive equipment to and from Cyprus secretly and without scrutiny.’ Cyprus is ’one of the few areas where the UK can make a substantial and unique contribution to the UK/US intelligence exchange’, an MoD official wrote in another file from 1993. The reason was that ’its location gives access to certain intelligence targets not otherwise accessible’, though it did not specify these targets. Cypriots protested against Britain expanding its military facilities at Akrotiri on 8 August 2026, as one placard reads “No to the antennas of death'. The discovery comes as Britain plans to build 136 new military antennas at Akrotiri by confiscating 450,000 square metres of marsh land currently used by Cypriots within the so-called Sovereign Base Area. Speaking at the protest outside RAF Akrotiri on Saturday, local Kourion mayor Georgiou told that British authorities had quietly increased the proposed number of masts from an initial 20. ’They definitely tried to hide information’ about the true scale of the project, Georgiou said. Declassified files raise further questions about the role of Britain’s Cyprus base. A secret 1993 file was written by the secretary of the Chiefs of Staff Committee in its 1993 ’Cyprus Garrison Review’. It noted in reference to Akrotiri that ’the need to maintain a strategic airhead and forward operating base in the Eastern Mediterranean is of continuing importance.’ The files further show that the UK government ’connives with its Cypriot counterpart to understate’ its intelligence activities from its Cyprus bases. A classified note from an MoD official to then defence secretary Rifkind’s office in May 1993 stated: ’It remains important to our relationship with the Cypriot government that we do not embarrass them by revealing publicly the extent of intelligence activity in the sovereign base areas.’ At the time some 4,500 British military and civilian personnel were on Cyprus working ’in units operating the communications and intelligence facilities’. Cyprus has long hosted a wide range of UK and US intelligence facilities notably RAF Troodos, Britain’s spy station on the summit of Cyprus run by GCHQ, the UK’s largest intelligence agency. Another file, also marked secret, makes clear the importance of Cyprus to the UK intelligence relationship with the US. ’Through this the UK can repay the US for the enormous amount of intelligence received free from other collection systems around the world’, the note added. Chilcott, private secretary to Rifkind when he later became foreign secretary, wrote in February 1996 that the maintenance of the Cyprus bases ’remained an overriding national interest’. ’Our possession of them’, he added, ’contributes significantly to the transatlantic relationship’. The files, available at the National Archives but some of which remain partly censored, suggest the Cyprus base could have played a greater role in British operations than previously divulged by the government. It will add to further suspicions that Cyprus has been used by Britain to covertly supply other intelligence support or arms to Israel during the genocide, as was reported by newspaper Haaretz in October 2023. Akrotiri was used by Britain for hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza in aid of Israeli intelligence. The government says the flights were only intended to help find hostages held by Hamas. Haaretz noted at the time that over 40 US transport aircraft, 20 British transport aircraft and seven heavy transport helicopters have flown to RAF Akrotiri carrying equipment, arms and forces. By November 2023, Declassified had found four US Air Force military transport flights that departed from RAF Akrotiri in the previous 12 days destined for Israel. When asked in parliament, the UK government refused to comment on US military operations from its Cyprus base. More than half of voters in Cyprus want to shut down British military bases on the eastern Mediterranean island, a recent poll found. British bases on Cyprus are just 120 miles away from Lebanon and 220 miles from Gaza. (Source: Declassified UK)
By Curtis, the the co-director of Declassified UK, author of five books and many articles on UK foreign policy;    Miller, the editor of Declassified UK, the author of Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away With War Crimes. 

Germany
10 August 2026  Following the entry into force of the EU's Pact on Migration and Asylum on June 12, Germany has reportedly ’hardened its stance on migrant returns, seeking to resume transfers to Italy and Greece’. A spokesman for the German Interior Ministry told ANSA that the functioning of the Dublin system is an indispensable condition ’for the success of the Common European Asylum System’ and that Berlin expects transfers to Italy and Greece to resume from that date. Under the Dublin regulations, the asylum claims of incoming non-EU migrants need to be processed in the first country of entry in the EU. The new pact also introduces stricter rules on secondary movements of migrants between EU member states, a long-standing source of friction between Italy and countries such as Germany, Austria and France. Italian Interior Ministry sources told the news agency that there are no Dublin migrants to take back from Germany. The sources said Italy considers all alleged ’Dublin migrants’ who moved to another EU member state after landing in Italy before June 12 to have been cleared under agreements reached with some countries. The sources also said it was still too early to establish whether migrants who arrived in Italy after June 12 are currently in other EU countries, as too little time has passed to establish this. For irregular migrants who arrived after June 12, Italy will argue that a compensation”mechanism should be applied, taking into account migrants who landed in Italy aboard vessels operated by NGOs flying European flags, the sources said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey) 

Russia
10 August 2026  In Russia’s Belgorod region, a woman was killed after a drone struck a private home in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka. In Tatarstan, a large-scale drone attack on the city of Nizhnekamsk killed 13 people and injured 39 others. The attack targeted industrial and civilian facilities in the city in the early morning. Tatarstan declared a day of mourning for the victims. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its forces shot down 456 Ukrainian drones overnight across the country and Crimea. In Ukraine’s Sumy region, 14 people were injured in a Russian guided-bomb attack. Ukrainian Air Force claimed it shot down or suppressed 92 Russian drones and three Banderol loitering munitions during an overnight attack. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey) 

Europe
10 August 2026  European natural gas prices jumped around 8% today, amid uncertainty over the normalization of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Although Iran indicated that a deal was close, it cautioned that this would not result in the strait reopening immediately and again ruled out direct negotiations with the US. After Tehran renewed a lengthy list of demands for Washington as conditions for fully reopening the strategic waterway, Iran and Oman remained short of a final agreement over the weekend. Continued uncertainty has raised concerns that disruptions to liquefied natural gas shipments through the key route could persist, further delaying cargoes from major exporters such as Qatar. Benchmark Dutch TTF futures climbed to nearly €60 ($70) per megawatt-hour as of 1345GM. The delays have tightened global gas supplies, intensified competition between European and Asian buyers for available LNG cargoes, and complicated Europe’s efforts to replenish storage facilities ahead of winter.
(Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey) 

10.08.26, 01:00 PM  Climate is changing more rapidly in Europe than on any other continent and the damage is already stretching public finances, setting off wild swings in inflation, redrawing the tourism map, and forcing the bloc to rethink how power is produced and how goods are transported while this wildfire season is on track to be Europe's biggest ever. There are multiple episodes of extreme events at the same time and mostly in the same regions. Together, the hit to the region's economy can already be measured in the hundreds of billions of euros, economists and academics estimate. Traffic on the Rhine and the Danube rivers, key cargo arteries, is severely limited because of low water levels. ING estimates that the halt of traffic on the Rhine alone will lower the GDP of Germany, the world's third-largest economy, by 0.3 percentage points this year. More than a half dozen nuclear generators have shut or curtailed production due to cooling difficulties. Hungary's MBH Bank sees a 0.1 percentage point GDP hit for every week the country's largest nuclear generator is offline. Agricultural yield estimates have been cut with crops harvested late, such as maize and sunflower, suffering a 6-7% loss already in July. Meanwhile, the costs of the emergency response, like fighting fires or curtailing power use, further stretch budgets. Heat curtails human productivity and has already claimed tens of thousands of lives. Germany alone is reporting more than 10,000 heat-related deaths. The German insurer Allianz estimates the two-week June heatwave alone will cut the GDP of Europe by 0.3 percentage points, and climate will shave 5-7% off growth by 2030 for the most exposed economies like Spain, France and Italy. This figure doesn’t account for the fires, droughts, different flood events or the expected El Niño, said Krichene, an economist at Allianz. Given that the euro zone is expected to grow just 1% this year, the hit is sizable. The economic impact grows over the following years because the extreme weather set off a chain of slow economic consequences. Southern Europe could take the biggest hit as temperature spikes are the largest there, cutting tourism income, exacerbating crop failures and inducing outward migration. Vacationers move north, hitting the southern hospitality industry. The south will also take a bigger food price hit from extreme weather, complicating life for the European Central Bank which is already struggling to keep inflation at target. Extreme heat in 2022 lifted euro zone inflation by 0.34 percentage points via higher food prices, with the south taking a disproportionate hit. Meanwhile, a halt in river transport is making it harder for fuel to reach parts of Europe, widening regional price differences. Reductions in annual tax revenue from lost output could reach 1.8% in France, 1.3% in Italy and Spain as progressive tax systems mean revenues fall faster than output, it estimates. Business profit margins will also decline, depressing investment and exacerbating the economic loss. Costs meanwhile surge, both because governments have to fund the emergency response and must invest, such as in future-proofing power generation or transportation routes. A key concern is that countries still rely far too much on ad hoc emergency response, which is both expensive and also often quite inefficient, said Grabbe, a senior fellow at the Bruegel think tank. Debt levels are already high - especially in France and Italy – ’and countries need to invest in defence and the green energy transition’. The dilemma could draw in the ECB, which bought up trillions of euros worth of countries' debt in the past decade to keep borrowing costs depressed when inflation was too low. With such a long list of spending needs, the trend will be towards higher government debt, ING's Brzeski said. This will then mean pressure on the ECB to step in and do more quantitative easing, if there is a sudden selloff in bond markets. (Source: Telegraph India / Reuters - United Kingdom)

Globalization

August 10, 2026  Mapping the alliances threatening the West. Published in Italy in July 2026 by Armando Curcio Editore, The New Evil Empire: An Alliance Among Extremists (Il nuovo impero del male. Alleanza tra estremisti) is the first book by Bertoldi, Executive Director of the Milton Friedman Institute, as well as a consultant, analyst, and commentator inspired by liberal-libertarian thought. The book, approximately 250 pages long, is a documented journey through the major geopolitical crises of recent years, built on analysis, documentary evidence, and, above all, direct conversations with leading figures. Bertoldi argues that a new ’evil empire’ exists today - no longer monolithic, but networked: a de facto alliance among authoritarian regimes, Islamist movements, and various strands of left-wing extremism which, despite starting from very different ideological premises, converge around a shared objective: weakening liberal democracies, individual freedoms, and the international rule of law. In the Middle East, the author examines the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, post-Assad Syria, the Israel–Hamas war, the role of Iran and terrorism, and wider regional tensions. Among the prominent voices featured are Ailam, former head of counterterrorism at Mossad; Pahlavi, heir to the last Shah of Iran; Ribal, cousin of the former dictator Assad; Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Christian Forces; Monsignor Gaid, an Egyptian prelate and former secretary to Pope Francis; and other political and religious observers. The underlying argument is clear: these crises are not isolated, but part of a broader pattern that, almost spontaneously, tends toward the erosion of democracy. Iran emerges as a central hub in a network connecting Tehran with armed groups and regimes hostile to the West across the Middle East, Europe, and South America. Turning to Latin America, Bertoldi examines Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua as examples of socialist authoritarianism whose governments maintain dialogue with and support one another, as well as Islamist organizations and regimes. The book features figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, Argentine President Milei, Venezuela’s President-elect Urrutia, and other regional dissidents. The expansion of state power at the expense of individual liberty is consistently presented as the means through which this project is pursued. A significant chapter is devoted to what the author calls the red-green phenomenon: the convergence, in Europe and the wider West, between political Islamism and factions of the radical left. The book includes analyses by prominent experts such as Del Valle and Sbai, among others, who explain the influence the Muslim Brotherhood now wields within Western societies. Bertoldi goes beyond description, seeking to demonstrate how these alliances also manifest themselves at the heart of liberal societies through ideological networks, propaganda, and cultural pressure. France, the United Kingdom, and Belgium are portrayed as the countries where the enemy has gained the greatest strength. Bertoldi has experienced the transformations of recent years first-hand, including by visiting the places where they originated and listening to the sentiments that emerged from them. The foreword by Capezzone, editor-in-chief of Il Tempo, highlights precisely this pragmatic approach: an explicit defense of liberal democracies against what the author perceives as a systemic threat. The book also reflects on possible responses, paying particular attention to models for countering extremism - including what it describes as the successful example of the United Arab Emirates - and to the need to distinguish between a religion and a radical political project. The book’s dedications and acknowledgements, in addition to the Argentine President and the author’s mother, are addressed in particular to Il Tempo editor-in-chief Capezzone and the Italian newspaper’s publisher, Angelucci, in recognition of the space the newspaper has devoted over the past year to interviews and major exclusives produced by Bertoldi in his role as a columnist. Several French and Arab media outlets have already published highly positive reviews. The New Evil Empire is a book that regards alliances between authoritarian regimes and extremist movements as the principal threat to Western freedoms. Readers looking for a multipolar analysis or an equally weighted critique of the West’s own mistakes may be disappointed. Those, however, who want a clear map based on first-hand testimony and a forcefully argued thesis - that very different forms of extremism can cooperate when they share a common enemy - will find the book useful, accessible, and up to date. Bertoldi offers an unequivocal interpretation: the danger does not come solely from individual regimes or groups, but from a strategic convergence operating simultaneously across multiple fronts. It is an invitation not to underestimate these shadow alliances - and a call to respond. (Source: EU Reporter - based in Brussels, Belgium, owned by an Irish company)

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Africa

Egypt
06:03-14 August 2026  The Arab Parliament, marking five years since the launch of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by Chinese President Xi praised the positive and tangible results achieved, the Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday. In a statement, President of the Arab Parliament, Yammahi said the achievements of the GDI over the past five years demonstrate the importance of the vision on which it was launched. He said the initiative places development at the heart of the international agenda, supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and strengthens cooperation among countries. This contributes to addressing the economic, social, and development challenges facing people around the world, particularly in developing countries and the Global South. The Arab Parliament renewed its full support for the GDI. It expressed its aspiration to continue joint work with the People's Republic of China and various international partners to boost Arab-Chinese cooperation in the economic, development, investment, technological, scientific, and cultural fields in a manner that serves the shared interests of both sides. (Source: Asharq Al Awsat - headquartered in London, England, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family)

Asia

China
Aug 14, 2026, 02:23 PM  China today rejected allegations that it is conducting widespread espionage on New Zealand, saying the claim in the country’s latest security assessment stemmed from a Cold War mentality. The Chinese embassy in Wellington said the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service’s annual threat report fabricates and hypes claims of Chinese interference and threat, and accused unnamed domestic and foreign forces of trying to damage ties between the two countries. China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner, which had delivered trade, jobs and people-to-people exchanges, with two-way trade reaching record levels in recent years. The allegation appeared in the agency’s Security Threat Environment 2026 assessment, released on Aug 13, which said China was the only country New Zealand had detected conducting espionage at scale. The intelligence agency’s Security Threat Environment, released annually, said China remained the most active foreign-interference actor in New Zealand, while warning that foreign states’ espionage and covert efforts to acquire sensitive technology, influence policy and gather information were becoming more common. The embassy said the timing of the report was no coincidence and suggested it could itself be the product of foreign interference. It urged New Zealand to work with Beijing to deepen political trust and practical cooperation. (Source: The Straits Times - Singapore)

11:48, 10/08/2026, Monday  Local authorities have relocated more than 1.5 million residents across eastern China in Zhejiang province and Shanghai as Typhoon Dolphin made landfall with maximum winds of 150 kilometers per hour, disrupting flights and transport while authorities warned of severe flooding and landslides. Aviation operations ground to a halt across the region, canceled more than 1,000 flights today alone. Maritime authorities in Taizhou ordered 3,815 fishing vessels to take shelter and suspended all 18 passenger ferry routes. Coastal railways and shipping lanes faced severe disruption. Meteorological agencies warned that parts of Zhejiang could receive between 250 and 500 millimeters of rainfall in coming days. (Source: Yeni Şafak - Turkey)

August 10, 2026 10:42 AM  Hong Kong recorded its highest temperature recorded of 36.9 deg C at 3.30pm on Sunday (Aug 9), the highest since 1884 when records began. The Hong Kong Observatory said the heat is a result of subsiding air in the periphery of Typhoon Dolphin. Across Hong Kong, the Home Affairs Department opened up 19 community halls and centres as temporary heat shelters. At night, it will also provide beds and a place to sleep for those in need. Temperatures are expected to remain high till Wednesday or Thursday, with some areas expecting the mercury to top 37 deg C. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)

Gaza
Monday 10/08/2026  Concrete plants built along the Gaza border in recent months are raising questions that go beyond their stated military purpose of producing material to seal tunnels discovered by Israeli forces. in areas inside Gaza around what Israel calls the Yellow Line. Responsibility for financing and operating the facilities is set to shift from Israel’s Defence Ministry to the United States, now being transferred to the US headquarters in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, which oversees the Civil-Military Coordination Centre established by US Central Command. Is Washington simply assuming part of the security and logistical burden from Israel, or could the transfer eventually allow the same infrastructure to be used for civilian reconstruction? Homes, schools and hospitals will need to be rebuilt, while water and sewage networks, roads and other critical infrastructure have suffered extensive damage. The reconstruction of the territory will depend not only on funding but also on reliable supplies of construction materials, transport networks, storage facilities and production capacity. The existing concrete plants could potentially form part of such a logistical network in the future. The transfer to US management, however, gives the arrangement a potentially wider political significance. Washington ’is no longer confined to providing military and political backing to Israel.’ Through the Civil-Military Coordination Centre in Kiryat Gat, the US has acquired a direct role in monitoring ceasefire arrangements and efforts to stabilise Gaza. The broader issue is consequently less about the plants themselves than about who decides how they are used and who controls the supply chain around them. Any move towards reconstruction, however, would face major political and security obstacles. Israel has maintained extensive restrictions on the entry of construction materials into Gaza, arguing that they could be diverted towards rebuilding tunnels and military infrastructure. (Source: The Arab Weekly - based in London, United Kingdom)

Indonesia
August 14, 2026 at 06:50  Indonesia's biggest unrest since President Subianto took office in 2024 came last August and September, when nationwide protests over lavish perks for lawmakers spiralled into anger after a police vehicle ran over a delivery driver and killed him. A footage circulating online does show some of those demonstrations - but it is not recent, as social media posts allege, and local media covered all of them. And hundreds of Indonesian students demonstrated in Jakarta on June 12, 2026 to demand the government correct its course as the Southeast Asian country grapples with worsening economic conditions. The months-old footage of demonstrations in Indonesia has resurfaced in social media posts falsely claiming it shows recent protests in the capital Jakarta that news organisations have deliberately ignored. The posts circulated online following protests that erupted in several Indonesian cities in June after the government hiked prices of non-subsidised gasoline, seeking to alleviate budget pressures as the Middle East war chokes global oil supplies. The demonstrations were the latest in a youth-led movement sparked by public anger over the economy, the handling of corruption cases, and suspicion of expensive state-funded projects - such as the Free Nutritious Meals programme and the establishment of village cooperatives. ’Protest today,’ says Indonesian-language text overlaid on an August 11 TikTok video, which appears to show a huge crowd of protesters while police and security personnel use barriers to hold them back. The false post goes on to criticise Indonesia's legal system, the cost of fuel and basic necessities, and decries costly government initiatives as ’useless and merely breeding grounds for corruption’. Comparable protest footage, including dramatic video of a building on fire, spread in other YouTube, Instagram and TikTok posts insinuating large-scale demonstrations were going unreported in Indonesia. A reverse image search using keyframes of the footage depicting a building on fire found it was also not taken recently - a regional news outlet shared the video on Instagram in late August 2025. The narrative spread online despite local media continuing to cover months of demonstrations over the country’s perceived government waste, which showed no sign of abating ahead of Independence Day on August 17. (Source: AFP - France)

Iran
Friday - 14 August 2026  The regime created by Ayatollah Khomeini built its legitimacy around its claim of fighting against the ’Great Satan’ and its ’little’ acolyte. For the first time in 48 years what is left of the Khomeinist leadership is taking the possibility of regime change seriously and is trying to deal with it. Trump is the first US president to believe that the desired regime change may be achievable during his tenure. And that, paradoxically, is why he may have unwittingly delayed that change with his erratic strategy. ’We need to focus on the internal front,’ warns Rabi’ie, a veteran regime insider. By that he means what Islamic Majlis Speaker Qalibaf refers to as the street. The latest phase of the 47-year war has weakened the regime to the point that it fears that an end of hostilities could reignite the street. A cocktail of explosive problems has taken shape. More than four million people have lost their jobs and thousands of businesses have been busted. The government admits that over 5,000 public projects have been frozen for lack of funds or personnel to supervise them. President Pezeshkian says there isn’t enough money to import petroleum from India, causing a 15 percent shortage that could bring hundreds of thousands of vehicles including military ones to a halt. The regime spent its money building tunnels to hide its projectiles rather than refineries to process its crude oil. The regime has lost control of the political narrative of returning to the pre-revolution era. And the constitutional form of government seems to be in the ascendancy. Just over a year ago, the then Supreme Guide Ayatollah Khamenei warned against a return to constitutional government (mahruteh in Persian) as a serious threat against Iran. In August 2025 dozens of activists were arrested on a charge of organizing events related to the 1906 Constitutional Revolution. This month, however, Pezeshkian himself issued a long statement in praise of the once cursed mahruteh. That gave the green light for a series of events across Iran with some universities breaking the summer recess to mark the 120th anniversary of the Constitutional Revolution. All that may be dismissed as a tribute that vice pays to virtue or a cheap political gimmick by clueless politicians. Highlighting an alternative narrative is of crucial importance because society like nature abhors a vacuum. People want to know that by ending the status quo they won’t be jumping into the unknown head first. The elimination of Khamenei senior has created a vacuum that his anointed successor Mojtaba isn’t able to fill if only for physical reasons. Khamenei was a Madison Avenue expert in public relations and self-promotion. Like Trump, he wanted to be constantly in the headlines, and he was always in the news; One day he was receiving poets, another he was addressing muezzins from all over the country; foreign dignitaries and ’axis of Resistance’ leaders lined up for a photo-op with him. On quieter days, he would send cables to this or that mullah or other public figure for real or imaginary success in the service of the regime. On Fridays, some 5,000 preachers acting as their master’s voice across Iran would read the text he had dictated during mass prayers. Military commanders were not allowed to hold meetings on their own even in an informal gathering with orange juice served. The beyt could summon any official, including the president, for briefing or instructions. Referred to as ’Agha (a Turkish word meaning master), Khamenei had his personal representatives in every ministry, army division, major public company and even embassies in more than 40 capitals. He made sure that, as the Persian poet said, not a single insect moved on a leaf without him knowing about it. Having created more than a dozen councils, each headed by one of his acolytes - The Council of the Guardians of the Constitution, the Expediency Council, the Islamic Convergence (taqrib) Council, the Islamic Awakening Council, the Axis of Resistance Council, the Foreign Policy Strategic Board, the High Council of National Security, and the Assembly of Experts of Leadership - haven’t had a session since Agha was assassinated by the Israelis. With Agha gone, those councils have gone into an eclipse that may never end. With its speaker engaged in a power struggle, even the Islamic Majlis (ersatz parliament) hasn’t held a full session for months. Some octopus arms have either lost their heads or some key figures in ’elimination’ operations by Israel or the US. In some cases individuals tapped to fill posts left by loss of military and/or political leaders have politely declined the invitation. Among them were a number of younger generation officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard which is now subject of speculations about its merger with regular army, a scheme prepared in 1999 but vetoed by Agha. Under Agha with one or two exceptions in four decades, no senior military or political official was allowed to keep his post for more than a decade. The undeclared rationale was that in a system whose center is fixed for ever, its satellites ought to change within fixed periods. It took Agha 30 years to design and build a system that suited him. Mojtaba isn’t able to bud his beyt, let alone the system shaped around it. Today, by the best count, the position of at least 20 provincial governors out of 31 and more than 20 ambassadors and at least 100 military and security commanders need to be filled either because traditional terms are over or because occupants have been ’eliminated.’ Thus, the phrase ’we are at war’ is a good prop to hide the regime’s impotence. By prolonging this peculiar pseudo-war Trump or whoever advises him may be helping Mojtaba or whoever plays his role to keep the street quiet with feigned patriotism. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat - headquartered in London, England, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family)
by Taheri, who published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987. 

10:21, 10/08/2026, Monday  The US military says its forces have redirected 55 commercial vessels as part of efforts to enforce a Washington-led blockade against Iran, while two other vessels were disabled and two were boarded. CENTCOM’s latest announcement indicates that the maritime dimension of the confrontation remains active, with US forces continuing to enforce restrictions on commercial shipping connected to the Iran blockade. (Source: Yeni Şafak - Turkey)

Israel
(Monday), August 10, 2026 at 9:23 am  A poll by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster on emigration from Israel published on Sunday evening found that one-third of respondents know someone who has left the country, while 12 per cent said the outcome of the next election could determine whether they stay in Israel or leave. Asked whether they had considered leaving Israel over the past two years, 18 per cent said they had considered leaving. /Source: Middle East Monitor (MEMO)- located in London, United Kingdom/

Japan
Friday 14 August 2026 12:26 BST  Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi said disasters caused by heavy rain had become increasingly frequent in recent years. She said authorities would remain vigilant to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people, seeing that the Japan Meteorological Agency issued, for the first time, its highest level of heavy rainfall warning for more than a dozen municipalities in the Chiba prefecture bordering Tokyo. Eight people died. "I offer my deepest condolences to those who have passed away, and on behalf of all, I humbly extend my sympathies to their bereaved families," she added. The prefecture saw 367mm of rain in 24 hours in some areas, surpassing the record of 309mm set in October 2013. The unprecedented rainfall floods roads, rail lines and homes east of the Japanese capital during one of the busiest holiday weeks of the year in Japan. More than 80 homes were flooded and nearly 230,000 residents across the prefecture were advised to leave for safety, according to Chiba officials. Soldiers have been sent to the area to help with the disaster response. Some 23,000 households, the vast majority in Chiba prefecture, were still without power today morning. Hundreds sheltered overnight at the Chiba prefectural government building, sleeping under foil blankets. 7,000 travellers were left stranded at the Narita, one of Tokyo's international airports. Japan Airlines said some delays were possible but no cancellations were expected. The flooding comes at the end of a fortnight of severe weather across Japan. Temperatures hit new historic record. A run of typhoons and extreme heat, which brought the first recorded cruelly hot day. Scientists say a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, making the heaviest downpours heavier. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom) 

Lebanon
11:46, 10/08/2026, Monday  The Israeli military shelled several towns in southern Lebanon today as truce violations continued days after the seventh round of US-brokered Lebanese-Israeli negotiations in Rome concluded. The talks focused on implementing a framework agreement signed on June 26 that stipulates a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of Lebanon's army and the disarmament of armed groups - a reference to Hezbollah. According to Lebanese officials, the Israeli offensive has killed 4,335 people and wounded 12,277 others since March 2. The violence has also displaced over a million people, compounding an already dire humanitarian situation in the country. (Source: Yeni Şafak - Turkey)

North Korea
(Friday), 11:37 August 14, 2026  North Korea today denounced an upcoming joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, warning it will respond to the drills with a new level of a deterrent. Pyongyang has strongly denounced the allies' drills as war rehearsals and conducted its own weapons tests around the exercise in protest. It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent, a spokesperson at North Korea's foreign ministry said. It launched missiles toward the East Sea last Thursday and again on Wednesday. South Korea and the U.S. are set to begin the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise starting Monday until Aug. 27. (Source: Yonhap News Agency - South Korea) 

Strait of Hormuz
Aug 14, 2026 1:14 pm KST  Shipping traffic at the Strait of Hormuz fell below the month average toward the end of the week. The United States and Iran both are making competing claims over its control. The Strait of Hormuz is under Iran's control and management, the recently appointed head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit said yesterday. Meanwhile, the United States yesterday said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and would ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran as ceasefire talks have floundered. A total of nine vessels transited the strait yesterday – five entries heading into the Gulf and four exits into the Gulf of Oman, mostly via the Iranian shipping route. Shipping risk persisted. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said two of its vessels were attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz yesterday evening, with no injuries reported. The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of carrying out the attack. Meanwhile, 19 commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait yesterday with their transponders on, Kpler data showed. Some vessels may be sailing at the key waterways with their transponders turned off, which is not considered in the counts. (Source: The Korea Times - South Korea / Reuters - United Kingdom) 

Syria
August 14, 2026  According to Syrian state television Al-Ikhbariya, the Israeli army opened fire towards civilian homes in several sections of the village of Maariya, in the Daraa province from areas it also occupies in southern Syria. The incident comes amid months of recurring Israeli incursions and attacks in southern Syria., including raids, searches and arrests. The Israeli violations intensified following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, when Israel declared the 1974 Disengagement Agreement void and seized control of the Syrian buffer zone. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

04:56-14 August 2026  Syrian Justice Minister Wais and Ahmad, adviser for Arab affairs at Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates received Zidan, head of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, in Damascus yesterday for talks aimed at deepening judicial cooperation, and the fate of Syrian isis detainees transferred to Iraqi prisons from al-Hol camp. The Iraqi delegation visited Damascus at the Syrian justice minister’s invitation. The two sides agreed to form joint judicial committees that would meet regularly to resolve issues linked to the detainees’ trials. Sources following the visit said Zidan was expected to meet Syrian President Sharaa and hold separate talks with the justice and foreign ministers and other Syrian officials. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat - headquartered in London, England, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family)

07:38-12 August 2026  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will soon remove nuclear material stored at a clandestine Syrian nuclear site. The Trump administration reached understandings with Syria and Israel to secure the material and prevent an escalation involving Israel, Syria and possibly even Türkiye over the sensitive site, to neutralize a potential crisis. The Assad's regime had developed a secret nuclear program centered on the clandestine Al-Kibar reactor. Israel bombed the reactor in 2007, the Syrian nuclear program was mostly destroyed, but several research-and-development and storage sites remained and were mostly inactive. After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the IAEA signed an agreement with the new Syrian government that allowed it to visit the Al-Kibar reactor and several other sites connected to Syria's past nuclear activity, to resolve sensitive issues inherited from the Assad regime that could damage its efforts to rehabilitate the country's international standing. The Assad regime stored nuclear material there that was part of the Al-Kibar nuclear reactor project. A US official said the material included yellowcake, a powder from uranium ore that can later be further processed and eventually enriched as part of a nuclear fuel cycle. The US official said the regime stored other residue and leftovers from the al-Kibar site at Site 99. The material at the site can be used for a dirty bomb- a conventional explosive device that disperses radioactive material to contaminate an area rather than produce a nuclear explosion. The Israeli officials said the Israeli army bombed the entrances to the site shortly after the fall of the regime to prevent access to it. They said Israel even threatened to bomb the site again if the nuclear material was not removed or if there were signs that Syria was trying to access the material. When the Trump administration raised the issue with the Damascus government, Syrian officials said they didn't know there was nuclear material at the site. Several weeks ago, Israelis monitoring the site detected movements in the area that led them to suspect the new Syrian government was reneging on understandings and trying to access the nuclear material. ’The Israelis were even concerned that Türkiye was helping the Syrian government get hold of the nuclear material’. The Trump administration asked Israel not to take any action and brought the IAEA into the picture. An agreement was signed three weeks ago between the IAEA and the Syrian government to remove the nuclear material from the site. The material hasn't been removed yet. US officials say the work on Site 99 is still an ongoing operation , to end it before the end of the year. (Source: Asharq Al Awsat - headquartered in London, England, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family)

Turkey
(Friday), Aug 14, 2026  On Washington’s 16th Street, overlooking Meridian Hill Park, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is transforming the former French Embassy into a permanent base for its growing influence operation in Washington. The party bought the Beaux-Arts mansion for roughly $4.9 million in 2024, and another $1.3 million has since flowed from AKP headquarters, much of it going toward renovation work at the property. The office is run by Mutlu, President Erdogan’s cousin and the AKP’s registered representative in the United States. The latest July 12th Foreign Agents Registration Act filing lists 85 political activities over six months from December until May of this year, including meetings with State Department officials, congressional staff and some of Washington’s most prominent Turkey and Syria think tank experts. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, the relationship between Ankara and Tel Aviv has gradually moved from surface-level diplomatic hostility toward something closer to an open strategic rivalry, with Syria becoming the most visible flashpoint between the two regional powers. Much of this tension is airing out in President Trump’s Washington. A March discussion at the Brookings Institution, which the filing cited, captured this shift. Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Bass discussed rhetoric from Israeli political figures describing Turkey as the ’future Iran,’ while Brookings fellow Aydıntaşbaş, referencing statements by former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, said the idea that Türkey could emerge as a greater threat than Iran had moved from the fringe in Israeli security circles into mainstream political discussion. Against this backdrop of escalating tension, Mutlu’s meetings offer a glimpse into the Washington policy circles the AKP has been cultivating. On January 29, the filings show separate meetings with Atlantic Council fellow Outzen and Washington Institute senior fellow Borshchevskaya. Five days later, the party attended a Helsinki Commission hearing on Syria where Outzen and Borshchevskaya testified alongside the Hudson Institute’s Doran. On February 9, the filings report a private meeting between Mutlu and Doran. These three experts approach Turkey from different perspectives, but their public work has generally envisioned a significant positive role for Ankara in the emerging regional order. Outzen has argued that U.S.-Turkey relations are poised to improve as their interests increasingly align; Doran has described Turkey as a key U.S. partner in stabilizing Syria and balancing Israeli security concerns; and Borshchevskaya has called for deeper American engagement in Syria to displace Russian influence, identifying Turkey as one of the regional actors capable of providing Damascus with alternatives to Moscow. In testimony before Congress, Doran argued that pushing Russia out of Syria depended on balancing Turkey and Israel. He later described Turkey as the arm of NATO into Syria and said Ankara could help build Syria’s new security forces. Outzen similarly called for a larger Turkish role in Syria’s stabilization and military training, while warning that Israel’s preference for a weak, fragmented Syria could collide with Ankara’s desire for a unified state. That rivalry is already shaping policy on Syria and the sale of advanced U.S. weapons. Erdogan said in June that Israeli attacks on Syria and Lebanon had reached the point of threatening Turkey itself. Israel, meanwhile, has fought Turkey’s return to the F-35 program, with Israeli officials warning that selling Ankara advanced fighters could threaten Israel’s qualitative military edge. That fight has landed directly in the Oval Office. At his July 28 meeting with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought a map of Syria to argue that Turkey controlled more Syrian territory than Israel. According to an Israeli official, the map claimed Turkey effectively controlled 5% of Syria compared with a mere 0.1% held by Israel. Trump has been moving in Ankara’s direction. At the NATO summit in Ankara earlier in July, he announced that he would lift CAATSA sanctions imposed over Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air-defense system, and he signaled openness to selling Ankara F-35s. Turkey’s push in Washington also comes as Israel’s political standing in the United States is weakening. A March Pew survey found that 60% of Americans held an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 42% in 2022. Gallup similarly found that Americans no longer sympathized more with Israelis than Palestinians, ending a pattern that had lasted more than two decades. Israel’s loss of popular support is bound to open some political space for other regional powers to make their case in Washington, and Turkey is trying to occupy some of it. The mansion on Meridian Hill gives the competition a physical address. It’s headquarters gives the AKP a permanent base, while Mutlu’s meetings place Erdogan’s party inside the policy circles debating the very questions on which Ankara and Jerusalem are clashing. The larger shift now extends far beyond Washington. On Friday, Erdogan joined Saudi Crown Prince Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Mecca to sign a mutual defense agreement declaring that an attack on one would be treated as an attack on all three. The pact brings together NATO’s second-largest military, nuclear-armed Pakistan and the Gulf’s most powerful Arab state at a moment when regional governments are reassessing the post-Iran war Middle East geopolitical landscape. (Source: Responsible Statecraft - U.S.)
by Aboukhater, who has interned with the Democratizing Foreign Policy and Middle East programs at the Quincy Institute. Before, he worked with the United Nations's Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.

West Bank
Aug 14, 2026 3:37 pm KST  For five nights, Israeli settlers surrounded three Palestinian homes on the outskirts in the northern town of Qusra, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank - which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war, and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state - preventing the families from leaving safely as their food and water supplies dwindled. On Sunday, dozens of Israeli settlers arrived at the homes in Qusra, they blocked doors, cut the water and electricity, erected tents outside - in the latest in a wave of settler violence convulsing the territory. Rights groups have long accused Israeli forces of turning a blind eye to settler violence or of intervening to protect the settlers. Israeli troops have intervened multiple times. The settlers keep returning. On Tuesday, Israel’s military condemned the siege as illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable, and declared Qusra a closed military zone. The next day, dozens of settlers returned, tried to block the road with rocks and clashed with Israeli soldiers, according to video shot by village residents. Israel’s military said the families had basic supplies like food and water when it checked in on them on Wednesday. Yesterday, the military said troops dismantled two illegal outposts in Qusra and a nearby village, detained one Israeli. It said more soldiers were sent to carry out defensive missions and patrols. Qusra Mayor, Wadi said that Israeli forces evacuated more than a dozen homes to take up positions in the village. It's still not clear when families in the besieged area will be able to get basic supplies and what would happen to their homes. Yesterday, in his post about the events in Qusra, U.S. Ambassador Huckabee, a longtime supporter of the settlements, referred to the settlers as terrorists - a word American officials usually reserve for Palestinian militants - an unusually sharp rebuke from the administration of U.S. President. He said the embassy has been coordinating with the Israeli military and police. Trump has given unprecedented support to Israeli settlement over the years. During Trump's first term, he signaled broad acceptance of the settlements. At the start of his second term, he lifted sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on settlers accused of violence. The U.N. humanitarian office in April said it had recorded more settler attacks in Qusra than in any other West Bank community in 2026. A 25-year-old resident was shot and killed by an off-duty Israeli reservist in March, and eight others have been wounded in the attacks, according to the U.N. Violence between settlers and Palestinians last month left two Israelis and four Palestinians dead in a nearby northern West Bank village. In the aftermath, a mosque in Qusra was set on fire and the word revenge was graffitied on its wall in Hebrew. Palestinian officials have reported 1,476 attacks by Israeli settlers in 2026, including several instances in which settlers seized Palestinian homes and property. A total of 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers this year, according to the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry. Palestinian authorities do not distinguish between militants and civilians when recording deaths in the conflict. Israel says some were involved in terrorism, which it defines broadly to include militant attacks and rock-throwing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to maintain good relations with his country's closest ally as he mobilizes ultranationalist voters ahead of a tough battle for reelection in October. Netanyahu's government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state. It has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank. Yesterday, members of Netanyahu's Cabinet joined in celebrating the rebuilding of a settlement elsewhere in the West Bank that had been dismantled in 2005. The era of withdrawals and expulsions has ended. The era of construction and Zionism begins, Defense Minister Katz said at the ceremony. The military says it works to maintain law and order in the territory. Israeli Cabinet ministers have blamed the attacks on a small group of young extremists acting outside the law. Some 2.8 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers. The settlers, who now number over 560,000, are Israeli citizens. There have been no Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in over a decade. (Source: The Korea Times - South Korea / AP - U.S.)

14 Aug 2026  Taybeh, the last all-Palestinian Christian town in the occupied West Bank, the quaint town filled with centuries-old churches, well-built homes, and street-corner statues of Mother Mary and Jesus is targeted by settlers in coordinated attacks, similar to the majority-Muslim rural Palestinian communities besieged by settler attacks and nighttime military raids for years. The town is traditionally identified with biblical Ephraim – the place Jesus is said to have withdrawn to before his final journey to Jerusalem - home now to roughly 1,200 people and to the ruins of the fifth-century Church of St George, one of the oldest Christian sites in the Holy Land. For more than 20 years, Basir built up a stone quarry and concrete-block factory on the edge of town, investing an estimated $5m in the business. Things began to change as Israeli settlers, after driving Bedouin and herding communities from areas to the east, increasingly turned their attention to the hills around Taybeh itself. In the past three years – and with the situation deteriorating even more severely this past year – Basir and his workers were frequently chased off by settlers at gunpoint, with his quarry’s heavy-machinery equipment set on fire. Employing 40 local Palestinians, he has found his life’s work snatched by marauding settlers, both armed adults and some barely teenagers commencing attacks within the town last year. In March, some 30 to 40 settlers stormed the quarry site in a coordinated mass incursion. Videos and photos show them raising Israeli flags over the grounds and performing prayers on the land. Before leaving, they smashed his office, destroyed electrical panels, and pulled cameras from the walls. He documented everything on video, filed complaints with the liaison office, the police, and every institution he could reach. All his efforts to mobilise help to protect his land, however, were for naught. The settlers were back the next day, with their attacks continuing ever since. Basir also alleges that stone taken from his land was registered under a settler’s name and resold. This past week, he finally stopped trying to continue operations, leaving his stone quarry business all but abandoned. Mayor Khourieh estimates roughly seven settler outposts now surround the town – four or five, by his count, sitting directly on Taybeh’s municipal land. Last year, Christian leaders say fires were deliberately set near the church and its adjoining cemetery. Repeatedly, settlers graze cattle, sheep and camels on private agricultural land. A couple of months ago, armed settlers set large fires along the village’s farmlands and prevented firetrucks from reaching them, according to local residents who drove to the scene. Residents of Taybeh now face routine restrictions on accessing their farmlands and resources, including the now depopulated Ein Samiya spring, which supplies all the water to Taybeh Brewery and other Palestinian communities in the area. Ssettlers have taken control of it. The newest outpost, established just last week, sits on the western edge of town, in Area B of the West Bank – nominally under Palestinian civil administration, though security in these hills has long since fallen to whoever is willing to enforce it on the ground. On his own land in Area B, Mayor Khourieh has watched a settler take over his vineyard and its well over the past month, following the establishment of a settler outpost nearby, cutting his locks, bringing sheep there to graze, at one point pitching a tent by the well and furnishing it with sofas, and even bathing in the water meant for his vines. ’We still don’t know whether I’m even allowed to go to my own vineyard or not,’ says the town mayor inside his office. According to him, the army eventually removed the settlers’ tent, but the settlers still come back daily to water their flock from Khourieh’s own well. Israeli officials have, at least on paper, acknowledged the problem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this year that outposts established in Area B should be evacuated. But despite reported pressure from career military officials to remove the outposts over security concerns, enforcement has frequently been blocked amid opposition from officials in Netanyahu’s ’far-right’ government. By Peace Now’s latest count, of the approximately 390 illegal outposts and farms across the West Bank, at least 21 sit in Area B. In August 9, the Israeli army declared Taybeh, along with the neighbouring village of Rammun, a closed military zone. The order bars entry to Israelis and foreigners without a specific connection to the village. Tourism is gone; a well-known hiking trail sees almost no visitors any more. The removal of visitors adds to the town’s growing isolation. According to Basir, the day the military zone closure was announced, settlers broke into his office at the stone quarry and smashed cabinets, equipment, and anything they could reach inside. The following morning, he tried to go back to what remains of his quarry, but settlers confronted him again. He called the police; two and a half hours later, he says, they arrived, but the settlers had already left. Father Fawadleh, priest of Taybeh’s Christ the Redeemer Church, put it bluntly: ’We don’t feel that they’re actually forbidding the settlers from coming to Taybeh’. Emigration of Palestinian Christians has been an issue in Taybeh and elsewhere for years, as the Palestinian Christian population has shrunk to about 40,000 in the West Bank, or just more than 1 percent of the entire population. Fifteen families have already left Taybeh in the past two years, according to Father Bashar, along with dozens of individuals who left parents behind and moved on alone, mostly to the United States and Europe. Mayor Khourieh, whose own vineyard now sits behind a settler’s fence, put it in starker terms. “We are Palestinian Christians,” he says. “We have been in this town since the Lord Christ walked in it. This is our town. We will not leave it. Even if we die, we’ll be buried in it, because it’s holy ground.” “For me, our cause, our problems, are the cross we have to carry on our shoulders,” Father Bashar says. “This land is ours,” he says. “We cannot leave it easily … we want to resist by staying rooted in this land, to be part of this land, for dignity, for security, for peace, and for justice.” „Inside our hearts, we have to put hope instead of the fear.” (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

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North America

United States
09:20, 12/08/2026, Wednesday  US President Trump has asserted yesterday, that Washington exercises full control over the Strait of Hormuz adding that the United States effectively 'owns it,' while openly questioning the possibility of trusting Tehran. The continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted established energy and shipping routes. Tensions remain high, with continued disruption around the strategic waterway raising concerns over energy supplies and international shipping. (Source: Yeni Şafak / Anadolu Agency = Turkey)

Aug 12, 2026 3:40 pm KST  After a day of social media memes portraying him as hiding out in the catering truck, U.S. President Trump said today he secretly switched planes in Turkey last month, following a NATO summit in Ankara, at the direction of the U.S. Secret Service, but that the plane he ultimately flew on was still more vulnerable than Air Force One. He often promotes memes of himself as a bold and courageous leader. The White House said at the time that the president was flying aboard Air Force One from Turkey to Britain. Some media commentators questioned whether the operation left Trump's aides and journalists traveling with him at risk aboard the plane presumed to be carrying the president. (Source: Korea Times - South Korea / Reuters - United Kingdom)

Aug 11, 2026, 08:56 PM  During an audit of Pacific Command infrastructure, IG investigators visited 11 PACOM bases in May 2025. They examined operations and communications infrastructure, as well as base housing. According to a Pentagon watchdog, investigators with the Defense Department Office of Inspector General found ’visible corrosion, visible mold, visible fire damage, visible cracks on the building exterior and interior, visible concrete spalling and exposed rebar, water intrusion, lead based paint, asbestos containing material and inoperable communication connections at the U.S. military’s Pacific bases Camp Courtney and Kadena and Yokota Air Bases in Japan.’ A 50-year-old water pipe at Kadena had a 12-foot crack. One Kadena building had eight inches of standing water on the roof, asbestos and cracked pillars and walls. Broken pipes at Kadena and Yokota have caused flooding. The descriptions - and the photographs - show some structures on the verge of collapse, including two photos of homes at Kadena with crumbling ceilings and living room furniture strewn with debris. Dozens of Kadena residents were forced to move due to mold and concrete concerns. At Kinser Tower base housing at Kadena, concrete damage has affected 544 homes, according to the IG. The audit was originally aimed at assessing the state of mission-critical systems, such as operations and communications infrastructure. DoD officials told IG investigators that aging infrastructure, construction choices, or environmental conditions caused accelerated degradation. In addition, facilities in Japan experience the effects of typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis. DoD officials also blamed the problems on a lack of funds and the high cost of services in places like Japan. They said that while the Japanese government provides host-nation funding, often it can’t be used to fix infrastructure. Instead, these funds tend to be allocated to new construction, or to broader strategic objectives, such as reducing the impact of U.S. forces on the people of Okinawa. The IG recommended that various base commanders in mainland Japan and Okinawa submit a list of priority repairs. The IG also recommended that the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force - as well as the commanders of PACOM and U.S. Forces Japan - conduct a root-cause analysis of infrastructure problems and find funding to fix them. Dilapidated military facilities are not confined to the Pacific. Housing on military bases in the United States has long been afflicted by issues like toxic mold. A 2022 Government Accountability Office report estimated an infrastructure maintenance backlog of $137 million as of 2020. (Source: Military Times - U.S.)

August 11, 2026  US President Trump was secretly lowered from a presidential Boeing 747 in an airport catering truck and driven to a smaller military aircraft before leaving Ankara on July 8 because of an Iranian assassination threat, The Washington Post reported yesterday. Trump had been in Turkey for a NATO summit. After boarding the Boeing 747 serving as Air Force One at Ankara airport, he entered a catering container attached to the aircraft, an unnamed US official told the Post. The catering truck lowered the container and carried Trump across the airport to a C-32A, a military version of the Boeing 757, which flew him to Britain. Journalists and some officials were led to believe that he remained aboard the larger plane. After the C-32A and the larger aircraft arrived in Britain, Trump was filmed descending from the larger plane before traveling to a Qatar-donated jet. 'It remains unclear how he was transferred back to the larger aircraft, the Post reported'. (Source: Turkish Minute - Germany / Agence France-Presse)

14:11 BST, 11 August 2026  President Trump has spurned Tehran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran wants United States military out of the region and demands cash, compensation for the damage. Trump responded by demanding Iran must first compensate the US, pay compensation for decades of regime-backed attacks, citing deaths from roadside bombs and conflicts. 'Additionally, compensation should be paid to the families of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protesters that Iran has killed over the last 50 years, not to mention the 52,000 that have been killed in the last five months,' he wrote on Truth Social. 'I have instructed my representatives to put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations.' The President's comments come after US spy agencies have blamed Iran for cyber attacks over the past month. In late July, US intelligence officials believe that Iranian regime hackers hit a water utility in western Arkansas as part of the wider campaign, according to the Washington Post. Suspected Iran-linked cyberattacks have also struck water systems in a dozen states, with more than 30 community systems breached in Minnesota alone. Hackers forced Georgia authorities in the Atlanta area to issue a boil water advisory after their intrusion caused a sudden drop in water pressure. In several cases, the hackers gained remote access to pumps, valves and pressure settings and forced utilities to switch to manual mode, but officials say the attacks have had no impact on drinking water. Iran's targeted attacks on the US homeland occur as Trump's war in the Middle East approaches six months. Since the start of the Iran blockade, US Central Command has reported it has turned away 53 commercial vessels, while shipping data shows no tankers have loaded at Kharg Island. That pressure has yet to translate into concessions, even as Iranian inflation hit an annual 88.6 percent in late June and the government asks citizens to ration electricity. At home, Deputy War Secretary Feinberg gave arms manufacturers 21 days to come back with plans for significantly faster deliveries or expanded production lines, according to a memo first reported by the Washington Post. Military experts believe Patriot interceptor stocks have fallen at least 65 percent from pre-war levels, with THAAD inventories down by more than a third. Hegseth, for his part, told Republicans last month that refusing to fund the department at $1.5trillion represents the single greatest danger facing the country. His warning failed to move GOP lawmakers who are now openly splintering with the White House over a war entering its sixth month with 17 American troops dead. Trump has publicly rejected the shortage reporting, insisting on Truth Social last week that American stockpiles remain enormous and that production is running at full tilt. (Source: Daily Mail – United Kingdom)

Aug. 10, 2026 11:02 AM PT  At a forum in the Philippines, his first stop in Southeast Asia, Colby, an undersecretary of defense, today asked allies in Asia to invest more in their defense and help deter aggression in the region and said the United States remains committed to do the same with partners. Colby said Washington will maintain strong combat-credible power in the Western Pacific to deter aggression, despite its preoccupation with the Iran war and the Middle East, but insisted this security architecture must be shared with modernized, capable regional militaries. Colby also will visit Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. ’America is definitely not disengaging from Asia - to the contrary. Our vital national interests dictate our enduring presence here,’ Colby told an audience that included foreign diplomats, generals, business executives and journalists. ’We are not leaving; in fact, we are digging in, to ensure a favorable balance of power where it matters most,’ the Pentagon’s top policy adviser said. ’We see Asia as of paramount importance.’ Colby praised efforts by the Philippines, which holds large-scale combat exercises with U.S. forces each year and cited similar efforts by Thailand, Indonesia and other security allies in Southeast Asia. Washington repeatedly has warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under armed attack, including in the South China Sea. China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, have been locked in territorial standoffs in the disputed waters, a key global trade route, for decades. Beijing claims virtually the entire waterway and rejected a 2016 ruling in an arbitration case initiated by the Philippines that invalidated its expansive claims. Colby repeated a vow by U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth in a speech at the Shangri-La defense conference in Singapore in May that the U.S. will build and sustain a strong defense in the Western Pacific ’that ensures aggression is infeasible, escalation unattractive and war deemed irrational.” ’Yet this defense architecture cannot rest on American shoulders alone. It must be upheld by a network of highly capable, sovereign nations that have modernized their own forces and stepped up to secure their own territory - transforming our relationships into true partnerships of equals,’ Colby said. ’We are looking for partners, not protectorates,’ he added. (Source: Los Angeles Times / The Associated Press = U.S.)

Mon Aug 10 2026 11:32 AM  Crude oil stockpiles have fallen the lowest level since 1983. U.S. presidents have ordered massive releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), created in 1975, with growing frequency in recent years. The SPR fell by 6.1 million barrels to 298.7 million barrels last week, according to the Department of Energy. The SPR stood at around 415 million barrels before the U.S and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. President Trump ordered the release of 172 million barrels in March after Iran choked off oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz. The minimum amount of oil needed to safely operate the SPR is about 70 million barrels. an Energy Department spokesperson told. The SPR’s authorized storage capacity is 714 million barrels. The SPR’s operational capability is at risk due to aging infrastructure, according to a May report from the Government Accountability Office. More than a quarter of its inventory was ’not available for drawdown due to a combination of construction outages and cavern outages’ as of December 2025, GAO investigators found. That implied that a minimum of 103 million barrels in the SPR today are not available for use, according to a July analysis by Rapidan Energy. President Biden deployed 180 million barrels to address energy market volatility after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. That was the largest release in the history of the SPR. (Source: CNBC - U.S.)

South America

Colombia
August 12 2026 08:58  Regional authorities put the death toll from the Aug. 10 earthquake at more than 240, while the national government reported 188. At least 1,600 people were injured. President de la Espriella declared a state of emergency and promised rent subsidies for displaced families during a visit to Pereira. The United States announced $15.5 million in emergency assistance. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)

August 10, 2026  After the 7.4M earthquake. Video (Source: YouTube / Wild WeatherUS = U.S.)
3 162 694 views

(Monday, 10 August 2026) 21:22 - 16:31 CEST     At least 111 people have been killed and dozens more are injured after a powerful earthquake hits western Colombia. The magnitude-7.4 quake struck today at 07:34 (12:34 GMT) in the Chocó region at a depth of 107km. The estimated epicentre of the quake is the city of Pereira, in the heart of Colombia's coffee growing region.    At least 20 buildings collapsed in the city of Cali, with people trapped inside. The epicentre is in San José del Palmar, in the Choco region, between the cities of Cali and Medellin - recorded at 82 kilometres deep. Injuries and severe damage to buildings were reported in the cities of Quibdo and Pereira. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Sun

(Wednesday), 12 August 2026 7:16am BST  Eclipses have been critical to scientific discovery throughout history. In the fourth century BC, Aristotle concluded that the Earth must be round by carefully observing lunar eclipses. He noted that the shadow of Earth when cast on the lunar surface was always curved, no matter where it was observed or from which angle, something only a sphere could do. In 1868, Janssen, the French astronomer, was carrying out spectroscopy experiments during a total eclipse in India, to find out what chemical elements were in the Sun. An entirely new gas appeared. The strange reading was also observed by Lockyer, a British astronomer, later that year. The second-most abundant element in the universe was found. He named it helium, after the word helios – Greek for the sun. The total solar eclipse in 1919 also proved crucial for confirming Einstein’s theory of general relativity. He had suggested that the intense gravitational pull of objects such as the Sun was so strong that it would bend the fabric of space 'and time'. Light should follow this curve, appearing to arc near massive bodies such as the Sun. But was far too bright to observe the phenomenon. During the same eclipse, Eddington, a British astronomer, travelled to the island of Príncipe, off the west coast of Africa, to take advantage of the Sun being covered. Eddington photographed the stars near the Sun during the eclipse, observing that they appeared slightly shifted from their original positions. It was regarded as a conclusive proof that gravity bends light rays, verifying Einstein’s work. Eclipses have also proven that Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down. In the 18th century, Halley, the English astronomer, calculated when eclipses should have happened in the past based on the movements of the Sun and Moon. He found that they did not align with dates recorded by historians. The further back in time he looked, the larger the discrepancy became. Halley found the calculations made sense only if the Earth’s rotation was slowing down, causing the days to become longer. This finding was not explained for another 300 years, when scientists deduced the Moon was stealing some of Earth’s energy because of tidal friction. Last year, Italian and Australian scientists found that older trees in the Dolomites sent bioelectrical messages to younger spruces in the hours before an eclipse. Older trees exhibited the most anticipatory activity. Researchers say the trees cannot sense changes in light, so have theorised they may be picking up tiny gravitational changes, or even have memory of previous eclipses. As the northern hemisphere dims during Wednesday’s solar eclipse, a small plane will be chasing the darkness, photographing halo of light around Moon. NASA’s specialised high-altitude research WB-57 jet will use four cameras to take high-resolution images of the Sun, in several different wavelengths of visible and infrared light, to observe the thin halo of light that will encircle the Moon, known as the corona, capturing the ebbs and flows of the Sun’s atmosphere. Far from atmospheric water vapour, clouds and turbulence that could scupper scientific readings, it monitors the event at 50,000ft, flying over Iceland, which will experience a total eclipse. The corona is the outer atmosphere of the Sun, which extends millions of miles into space. During an eclipse, it can be seen clearly against the dark, allowing scientists to observe the superheated plasma loops that leap from the surface and measure solar wind acceleration. It will also allow researchers to investigate the heating paradox, in which the Sun’s atmosphere is millions of degrees hotter than its surface for reasons that remain a mystery. Chasing the eclipse path at 460mph will extend the visibility of the corona to nearly three minutes, from just more than two minutes on the ground. As well as the plane, Nasa will deploy scientific balloons from Iceland and Spain to monitor how the sudden darkness affects the Earth’s boundary layer – the part of the atmosphere that touches the ground. (Source: The Telegraph - United Kingdom)

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Brüsszeli csapda: Lelepleződött a terv, amivel kifosztanák Magyarországot

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Hungary (?)
Friday 15 May 2026 17:21 BST  Hungary's new Prime Minister was personally removing fencing around a historic Budapest building that 'once' served as the office of his 'autocratic predecessor', Viktor Orbán - the Karmelita, a former Catholic monastery on Budapest's Castle Hill. He opens Viktor Orbán’s former offices to the public. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)

Poland
May 20, 2026 3:09 pm CET  Hungary not only wants revive the Visegrad Four group as a force in EU diplomacy, but ’is looking to potentially expand it to include Austria, Romania and the Western Balkans, the Prime Minister said during a joint press conference in the Polish capital on Wednesday’. ’I am personally ready for us’ to expand this Visegrad cooperation to include other countries. ’The expanded format could include the Nordic countries, perhaps Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, or Western Balkan countries that are not part of the EU,’ Hungary’s prime minister added. The V4 currently includes Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The group has lost diplomatic heft in recent years because of bitter internal divisions, most significantly between P.M.’s ’pro-Kremlin’ predecessor Viktor Orbán and Poland’s ’anti-Russian and pro-EU’ prime minister, Donald Tusk. P.M. also said Hungary, as current president of the Visegrad Group, could try to organize a summit in Budapest before the end of June. Tusk said 'he waited many, many years' for this moment to sit down again at the same table with a Hungarian, a Slovak, and a Czech. He stressed the importance of rebuilding bilateral ties. Hungary and Poland ’will act as one fist’, whether in Brussels, in geopolitical matters, and in advancing various shared interests, Tusk said. ’Energy security is where we can strengthen our cooperation and, of course, we will gladly welcome the experience Poland has to offer,’ P.M. said. He is set to meet Polish anti-communist hero Wałęsa later on Wednesday before returning to Budapest — via Vienna — on Thursday. (Source: Politico – U.S.)

May 19 2026 13:40 As his first official visit, Hungary's Prime Minister begins a two-day visit to Poland. He is both looking to turn the page on the Viktor Orban era and also ’create’ a bloc of central European countries that carries weight within the European Union, analysts say. Poland has in recent years shifted its focus towards Nordic and Baltic cooperation, Buras, of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank told. P.M. is hoping that Poland will again look towards central Europe. Earlier this month, he proposed merging the Visegrad Group - an informal alliance of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - with the Austerlitz format, comprising the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria, suggesting such an alliance could wield greater influence over the EU's cohesion fund distribution policy. In Poland, his visit is being presented by the host's deputy foreign minister who voiced hope for ’more loyal cooperation. P.M., who will be accompanied by six ministers, including Foreign Minister Orban, will meet President Nawrocki and his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk. ’He intends to take inspiration from Tusk for the way in which he reconnected with the European Union and secured the gradual unfreezing of funds’, political scientist Dobrowiecki, of the MCC Institute, told. A European Commission delegation is expected in Budapest this week and P.M. is hoping to conclude a deal to recover billions of euros frozen ’due to rule-of-law violations’ by Orban's government during a trip to Brussels next week. On the economic front, the head of the Polish-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce, Wisniewski, said she expected momentum on bilateral ties, with trade currently amounting to 15 billion euros ($17.5 billion). En route for Warsaw, P.M. plans to stop in Krakow and meet the new archbishop, Rys, then hold a meeting in Gdansk with Poland's former president Walesa, a Nobel peace laureate and figure in the country's struggle against the USSR. He is then expected in Austria on Wednesday evening. The two countries have long shared close ties dating back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria is the second-largest investor in Hungary after Germany, with more than 11 billion euros. Vienna’could finally see its strategic ambitions align more closely’ with its neighbour. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)

19 May 2026  The Hungarian government delegation comes to Poland for three days. What to expect? P.M.'s visit to Poland ’should bring about’ stronger cooperation in energy, infrastructure, defence and ’democratic resilience’. The delegation is set to visit Kraków then travel by train to Warsaw for political meetings and follow on to Gdańsk. P.M. will be accompanied on this trip by his deputy, the Foreign Minister Orbán, Minister of Economy and Energy Kapitány, Minister of National Defense Ruszin-Szendi, Minister of Agriculture and Food Management Bóna, Minister of Transport and Investment Vitézy and Minister responsible for social relations and culture Tarr. For P.M., ’the first order of business will be Poland’s support in negotiations to unblock EU funds. Warsaw ’has the necessary political influence to help Budapest on this path. But it will not come as a free lunch’. For Poland, P.M.’s pledge to end Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy by 2035 is the most consequential thing he could have said – and Warsaw intends to hold him to it. The offer on the table is access to American LNG through the new Gdańsk terminal, due to open in 2028, which would give Budapest a ’credible alternative’ to the pipeline politics. Hungary’s MOL – itself present in Poland – makes the energy relationship genuinely reciprocal but for now quite shallowly embedded only in the distribution networks. What gives the Hungarian side ’unusual credibility’ in these negotiations is its new minister of economy and energy, a former global executive vice president of Shell Mobility Kapitány. He is not a politician learning the brief – he is someone who has managed the energy market from the inside. Warsaw intends to raise the question of the future support to Ukraine and its reconstruction effort, alongside the longer-term architecture of cooperation within the V4. A big point on the agenda is the regional V4 coordination on positions within the EU on such key questions as the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Here are three basic directions the Hungarian and Polish governments ’should stick to’. First, defence industry cooperation. Poland is the main political sponsor and beneficiary of EU defence funding with 43 billion euros in SAFE funds. It, should have its eye on the 16 billion SAFE transfer that would flow to Hungary once its frozen EU money is released – and on that front, Warsaw’s interest is well grounded. Poland has spent the past three years expanding its military-industrial base, absorbing battle-tested Ukrainian innovation and scaling up its own weapons production. ’ Now, the reasons for doing this jointly are increasingly difficult to ignore. ’ Hungary has invested heavily in domestic arms manufacturing, yet has remained oddly peripheral to the regional defence innovation ecosystem ’ that has taken shape around Ukraine’s war experience ’. Budapest has been building arms factories; it has not been building alliances. Warsaw will be watching to see whether P.M.’s government is ready to treat ’regional defence cooperation as a serious industrial and strategic commitment’, rather than a talking point. Second, infrastructure. Budapest and Warsaw pledge to reconnect via EU-funded north-south road networks and, for their own sake, they need to bring Bratislava closer in. Slovakia’s R4 expressway – the critical link between Prešov and the Polish border – remains largely in the planning and tender stage. The Via Carpathia corridor neither Warsaw nor Budapest can bridge without Bratislava’s commitment. The speed at which ’military and trade can travel’ between our countries will ultimately determine the strength of renewed bonds. Finally, the question of whether democratic societies are willing to defend themselves. The deeper work – cultivating a public culture that takes its own freedoms seriously – cannot be legislated from above, even when they rode to power on precisely that promise. The International Visegrad Fund was built, in part, to support civil society across the region. It has too often been kept at arm’s length from the harder conversations about the fragility of democratic norms and about the vectors through which autocratic pressure enters – not just from Moscow or Beijing, but from within. A bilateral track dedicated to values-driven cooperation – supporting civic institutions, independent media and ’democratic education across the V4 – would be the most durable thing to come out of this visit'. Perhap the most necessary. (Source: Visegrad Insight - Poland)
by Przybylski, Editor-in-Chief, ’an advisory board member at LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum’, a guest lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute for the U.S. Government, Warsaw University and CEU Democracy Institute. He co-authored three books.

European Commission
(20 May 2026) 12:29 GMT+2  ’Exclusive’: ’The new Hungarian government has signalled its readiness to allow the European Union to sanction Patriarch Kirill, to be added to the bloc's blacklist’. The EU first tried to blacklist Kirill in 2022. The head of Russia's Orthodox Church was previously protected by Viktor Orbán's government, calling it an issue of religious freedom. Other Russian individuals were initially added to the sanctions list but were subsequently removed at Orbán's insistence, notably Sports Minister Degtyaryov and oligarch Kantor. They could now be put back on the table. A mini sanction package is set to be discussed by EU ambassadors this week, targeting around ten individuals and a handful of Russian vessels that Russia uses to bypass Western restrictions on oil sales. In recent months, several countries, such as France, Sweden, and Poland, have boarded suspected ships, showing a greater determination. High Representative Kallas, 4, has urged the EU to act more swiftly against the ’shadow fleet’, without waiting for a fully-fledged sanctions package. Ambassadors are scheduled to have a first discussion on the proposal on Friday, with the aim of adopting it at the Foreign Affairs Council on 15 June. The 21st package of economic sanctions is expected to be presented in June, with the aspiration of final approval by 15 July. Seizing on the post-Orbán momentum, the EU is also considering changing the period of sanctions renewal from six months to one year, something that the Hungarian prime minister vehemently opposed to retain its veto leverage. (Source: Euronews – based in Lyon, France
By Bertuzzi &  Liboreiro & ’Zsiros

19/05/2026 - 11:47 GMT+2  Hungarian Prime Minister said at a press conference in Budapest he hopes to sign a political agreement with the European Commission next week to unlock €10.4bn in recovery funds that were frozen under the previous government, as an August deadline nears. ’And these many trillions of forints’ will then arrive in Hungary on schedule, quickly, but on schedule, during the fall, he added. He is expected to travel to Brussels the following Monday. Hungary risks losing €10.4bn in recovery funding if it fails to meet the August 31 deadline to unlock the money. The funds had been blocked ’due to rule-of-law concerns’ under the Orbán government. P.M. said technical-level discussions with the European Commission were underway and would continue in the Hungarian capital through Friday. ’The August 31 deadline may not seem like such a short time, but there is a lot to do. Not only do we have to amend and agree on laws, but we also have to transform institutional systems,’ he told reporters. P.M. also said he had exchanged letters with European Commission President der Leyen regarding outstanding issues. He added that his government would reject some Commission demands related to the phasing out of windfall taxes on the financial and energy sectors. "There are requests from the Commission regarding the Hungarian budget, which we will not fulfil. Sometimes, by the way, these requests contradict each other. One day they expect us to stabilise the budget, and then they also tell us to phase out some taxes,’ P.M. said. The new Hungarian government is also expected to submit a revised spending plan for the recovery funds before the end of May. We obviously want suburban trains, railway renovation, energy-related projects and electricity grid development - those must be truly useful for Hungarian society and Hungarian companies, he said. P.M. also announced that his government was reviewing Hungary's defence loan request under the EU's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) programme. He said the Orbán government's intention had been to put the Hungarian people ’in debt to fill their crony companies with cash.’ The previous government had requested €16bn for defence projects. (Source: Euronews – based In Lyon, France)
by ’ Zsiros

European Union
May 15, 2026, 10:27 AM  Hungary’s power shift opens door for EU sanctions on Israel. Freed from Viktor Orbán’s veto, the bloc should expand its actions against Israeli encroachment in the West Bank. After Orbán’s successor, P.M. officially took office on May 9 and Hungary dropped its veto, the EU agreed to its first new sanctions package against individual Israeli settlers and organizations since July 2024. After Israel responded to the Oct. 7 attacks with a war in Gaza, that the United Nations and leading human rights watchdogs have called a genocide. In December 2023, EU foreign-policy chief Borrell proposed sanctions on Israeli actors in the West Bank. By the following April, the EU had agreed to its first-ever economic sanctions in response to violations of Palestinian rights. Until this week, the EU had formally adopted only two such sanctions packages, in April and July 2024. Those measures targeted a total of nine individual Israeli settlers and five affiliated organizations for their involvement in violence against Palestinians and the proliferation of settlement outposts - issuing travel bans; asset freezes; and broad exclusion from dealings with people affiliated with the EU, its institutions, and its financial system. The limited measures targeted low-level actors. They only came after the United States and United Kingdom took similar steps. Member states friendly to Israel, such as Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Hungary moved from obstructing the packages to abstaining. In August 2024, Borrell’s proposal to escalate a third sanctions package to include far-right Israeli Ministers Gvir and Smotrich for hate messages against the Palestinians was met with reluctance or outright opposition from some EU states. By early this year, Kallas said that additional sanctions on settlers had support from all but one member state: Hungary. With Orbán out, that has changed, allowing the third package to move forward after nearly two years. Orbán made Hungary into Israel’s most reliable shield in the EU. The new prime minister made it clear that Hungary will continue to block EU decisions regarding Israel and suggested a case-by-case approach. A Hungarian government that is seeking to repair relations with Brussels and reestablish itself as a credible European partner is more open to pressure than Orbán’s. The sanctions remain narrowly targeted against settlers rather than addressing the economic architecture sustaining their expansion. A targeted, list-based sanctions track would allow the EU to keep adding key individuals and entities directly involved in sustaining the occupation of Palestinian territory while expanding the class of targets with each package. This could begin with administrative bodies such as regional councils and move toward real estate firms. The approaches could disrupt not only the impunity of the settlement enterprise, but also the systems that entrench Israeli control over Palestinian land - without targeting Israel itself. Hungary’s acquiescence does not remove every obstacle to meaningful EU action on Israeli conduct that violates international law. A handful of other EU member states have also hesitated over tougher proposals toward Israel, whether out of political alignment or institutional caution. Member states that have pushed for stronger action - including Belgium, Ireland, and Spain - would prevent another country from replacing Hungary as a reliable veto. Absent U.S. leadership on sanctions, Europe has a pivotal role to play. As Israel’s biggest trading partner and the steward of one of the world’s most important currencies, the EU has sanctions leverage that few others can match. Whether Europe builds a meaningful sanctions regime against Israel upholding the rules-based order. (Source: Foreign Policy – U.S.)
by Farshneshani, the principal attorney at the Sanctions Law Center, a boutique law firm in Washington, In his legal practice, he specializes in economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and matters related to sanctions advocacy, licensing, enforcement, and the Special Designated Nationals List; Lynk, a professor emeritus at Western University’s (Canada) faculty of law. Between 2016 and 2022, he served as the seventh United Nations special rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory.

Ukraine
May 20 2026 13:14  Ukraine, Hungary FMs hold online talks on reviving their strained relations. Kiev and Budapest were locked in a bitter diplomatic dispute during the tenure of Viktor Orbán, who consistently opposed Ukraine's EU membership. Hungary depends heavily on Russian oil - most of it flowing via the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline through Ukraine. 'I proposed to view Ukraine's EU accession as a strategic interest for Hungary, the opportunity to strengthen Hungarian national unity, and the best way to ensure the Hungarian minority's rights, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiga said in a statement on social media as the talks began'. Ties between Kiev and Budapest 'have thawed since the election of P.M.’, who has announced plans to meet Zelensky. He was in Poland on Wednesday for his first official trip, ’hoping to revive strained ties between Warsaw - one of Ukraine's staunchest backers - and Budapest. The status of the Hungarian-speaking minority ’in western Ukraine’ has long been Budapest's central concern. Orbán, who was voted out after 16 years in power, claimed Kiev's language and education laws discriminated against ethnic Hungarians. The consistent protection of the rights of national minorities is the first issue we must address, said Hungarian Foreign Minister Orban. "Genuine progress requires open, honest, and professional dialogue built on clear legal guarantees. I believe that today's consultations can mark the beginning of a new process,’ she added. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)

May 20, 2026 6:21 AM  Kyiv and Budapest began expert-level consultations online on Wednesday, the countries' foreign ministers said. They would hold talks this week about the rights of Ukraine's ethnic Hungarian minority. Budapest sees treatment of ethnic Hungarians ’in western Ukraine’ as key to improving the relationship between the countries. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha said he focused his opening statement on three key issues - bilateral relations, minority rights, and Ukraine's EU accession. The consistent protection of the rights of national minorities in our bilateral relations is our first task, Hungarian Foreign Minister Orban said on social media. The two ministers would meet tomorrow at the NATO ministerial meeting in Sweden. (Source: Miami Herald – U.S.)

6 7 28.17:20

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Europe

Hungary (?)
(Thursday), 4:36 PM CEST, May 14, 2026  Russia fired at least 800 drones in a massive daytime barrage yesterday targeting about 20 regions in Ukraine. Lasting hours, it was one of the longest-lasting attacks by Moscow in the war. Russia’s ambassador to Hungary was summoned today over a massive drone attack that hit Transcarpathia yesterday. The region is home to a sizable Hungarian minority. After the meeting, the Russian embassy issued a statement saying the Russian attack yesterday only targeted installations and infrastructure used by army and not civilian sites. (Source: Associated Press – United States)
by Szandelszky. „McNeil contributed from Brussels.’

14 May 2026  Hungary ends state of emergency introduced in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. P.M. says the country is ‘returning to normality’ after years of rule by decree. Citing security and humanitarian risks stemming from the Ukraine war, Orbán declared a wartime state of emergency in May 2022, shortly after forming his fifth government. (Source: Anadolu Agency – Turkey)

(Tuesday), 12 May 2026  Members of Hungary’s new Tisza government received their credentials today during a ceremony at the Sándor Palace in Budapest. President Sulyok and the Prime Minister attended the ceremony. Several members of the new cabinet come from business and corporate backgrounds. Among those appointed were former Decathlon director Posfai as interior minister, former Shell executive Kapitany as economy and energy minister and former Vodafone public affairs director Orban as foreign minister. The cabinet also includes Karman, a senior executive at banking group Erste as finance minister, and former Commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces Ruszin-Szendi as defense minister. Hungary’s National Assembly is expected to convene later today, when P.M. would formally introduce the ministers before they take the oath of office. Tisza party defeated Viktor Orbán in the April 12 parliamentary elections, ending Orbán’s 16-year rule. (Source: Anadolu Agency – Turkey)

Monday 11 May 2026 06:26 BST  Hungary returns seized cash and gold shipment worth $82 million, detained by Hungarian counter-terrorism authorities on 5 March while being transported in two armoured cars to Ukraine. At the time of the seizure, Hungarian authorities said they suspected money laundering, and Orbán ordered that the shipment - which included $40 million and 35 million euros in cash, as well as 9 kilograms of gold - be held in custody for up to 60 days while his country’s tax authority investigated. Orbán ordered the tax authority to determine the origin, destination and intended use of the shipment, as well as the identity of the seven expelled Ukrainians and their possible links to criminal or terrorist organizations. Orbán also suggested without providing evidence the shipment may have been intended to fund his primary political opponent, the Tisza party, which ultimately won with a two-thirds majority in parliament during last month's election. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)
By Spike

10/05/2026 - 19:39 GMT+2  One day after the new parliament convened and P.M. was sworn-in as prime minister, thousands have been celebrating Europe Day in Budapest, along with the 22nd anniversary of Hungary’s accession to the European Union. (Source: Euronews – based in Lyon, France)
by Magyar

09/05/2026 - 17:12 GMT+2  Forsthoffer, Vice President of the Tisza Party, the elected new Speaker of parliament, was quick to announce her first order of business, reinstalling the EU flag on the Hungarian parliament building, after around 12 years of absence. Broken with tradition, already at the inaugural sitting of the new National Assembly, P. M. sworn-in as Hungary's new prime minister. Previously, several days would pass between the two events. His post was confirmed today in the inaugural session of the National Assembly. P.M. was appointed with 140 votes in favour, 54 against and 1 abstention. 'He called for those who occupy high office, described as remnants of the Orbán regime, to vacate their posts by the 31st of May'. 'The order was extended' to specifically include the country's President Sulyok. (Source: Euronews – based in Lyon, France)
by Kiss & 'Konya
Video

01/05/2026 - 19:56 GMT+2  Hungary's incoming Prime Minister has defended his decision to appoint his brother-in-law, Melléthei-Barna, as Minister of Justice. ’The future justice minister's domestic and international career, high quality work and vision are unquestionable,’ P.M. said. Melléthei-Barna is a lawyer and a university peer of Hungary's next prime minister. He was one of the founding 10 members of the Tisza Party when it was formed in 2020 and served as the party's legal director. He has also held a number of other positions within the party requiring legal expertise, such as head of various sub-units or serving as party representative, for example on the National Election Committee during the 2024 European Parliament elections. P.M. campaigned on a promise to clean-up Hungarian politics and restore the checks and balances which had been gradually eroded by previous Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during his 16 years in power. Hungary's new government is due to take office on 9 May. Melléthei-Barna's been slammed, primarily by figures in the now opposition Fidesz party. His appointment was announced by P.M., one of the last two ministers to be appointed, together with Pósfai, the candidate for Interior Minister. Melléthei-Barna is married to P.M.'s sister, Anna Ilona. ’Long after joining our community, he joined his life with that of my sister. For this reason, I naturally consider it particularly important that his work be as public as possible and that all his decisions be transparent,’ P.M. said. (Source: Euronews)
By Tanács

28/04/2026 - 19:39  Hungary's incoming PM seeks reset with Kyiv, proposes June summit with Zelensky. (Source: France 24)

April 25, 2026 9:37 PM CET  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said today that he is giving up his seat in Hungary’s parliament. In a video posted on Facebook, Orbán said the decision followed a Fidesz meeting during which party officials agreed to carry out a major restructuring of the party’s parliamentary grouping. Orbán said he would seek reelection as party leader in a vote scheduled for June. Orbán has held a seat in the parliament since 1990, and has led Fidesz throughout that period. He has served as Hungary’s prime minister since 2010. (Source: Politico – U.S.)
by Hayden

(25 April 2026)  Hungary's outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said he will not take up his seat in parliament after his party was defeated in a landslide that ended his 16-year rule. "I am now needed not in parliament, but in the reorganisation of the patriotic movement, he said in a video statement released on social media today evening. Orbán was re-elected as an MP on its proportional representation list. "The mandate I obtained as the lead candidate of the Fidesz-KDNP list is, in fact, a parliamentary mandate of Fidesz. For this reason, I have decided to return it,' Orbán said. About half of Hungary's parliamentary seats are divided among political parties according to their national vote share, while the other half represent individual constituencies. He has served as Hungary's prime minister since 2010, becoming the predominant figure in Hungarian politics. Voters abandoned him in their droves amid brewing public unhappiness over allegations of corruption and graft while living standards slipped. ’Hungary's incoming PM’ has promised to reverse Orbán-era changes to education and health, tackle corruption, restore the independence of the judiciary and kill off the widely loathed system of patronage known as NER that helped enrich party loyalists and squander state resources. Instead of being a stumbling block for the EU and Ukraine, P.M. ’has pledged to seek more cordial ties with Brussels and Kyiv’. Orbán's fate as Fidesz leader, will be decided at a party conference in June, he said as he vowed to continue shaping the nationalist movement. (Source: BBC – United Kingdom)
by Philips

24 April 2026  An application has been submitted to Hungary’s National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) for the launch of Szivárvány TV (Rainbow TV), which would become the country’s first dedicated LGBTQ television channel. According to reports, the unnamed Hungarian media entrepreneur behind the project has filed for a 24-hour linear television channel that will also offer online streaming. The timing of the application comes just days after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that significant parts of Hungary’s 2021 child protection law, which restricted content depicting homosexuality or gender issues to minors, ’violated European Union law’. The 2021 law was officially presented as a child-protection measure, „designed to strengthen rules against paedophilia”. The ECJ found that the law “stigmatises and marginalises non-cisgender persons – including transgender persons – or non-heterosexual persons as being detrimental to the physical, mental and moral development of minors solely on the basis of their gender identity or sexual orientation. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

France
30/04/2026 - 18:03  After 16 years of illiberal governance under outgoing prime minister Viktor Orban, ’restoring the rule of law in Hungary is not just a political transition but a full-on regime change’, says Magyar, a former Hungarian education minister * and author of a study on Orban-era state capture. ’It will also mean’ bringing some of Orban's high-profile loyalists to trial. The European Union froze the allocation under Orban ’due to concerns over corruption and democratic backsliding’. Following Viktor Orban’s election defeat on April 12, New Hungarian premier P.M. has promised to seek justice for ’crimes committed by his predecessor's network of political allies' and the oligarchs who supported them. From the media to the judicial system and from universities to local governments, Orban’s ’empire infiltrated' every state institution. P.M.’s ’centre-right’ Tisza party won 141 seats in parliament out of 199 in the April elections, giving it a large majority ’to strengthen’ the rule of law and potentially unlock billions in funding from the EU. He won 53% of the votes in the elections on April 12, which gives him a more than two-thirds majority in the parliament. P.M. has ’warned’ that oligarchs allied with Orban have begun siphoning off assets to the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and other distant countries. The Polish experience: After a liberal opposition bloc led by Donald Tusk came out ahead in October 2023 parliamentary elections, Tusk pledged as prime minister ’to reform’ Poland’s institutions following eight years of right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party rule. ’He immediately fired’ high-profile figures and ’bypassed’ some of the legal obstacles left by the previous government. In a regime change, the competing parties do not share the same political values. Magyar – a sociologist, former education minister and author of a book about the Hungarian 'post-communist mafia state’ – argues that Hungary is ’embarking on not just a change of government', but a full-on regime change. Hungarians ’witnessed’ the first regime change in 1990 from a communist dictatorship to a liberal democracy. The second regime change happened in 2010, ’from a liberal democracy to an autocracy’. P.M.’s victory ’represents the third regime change in Hungary’s recent history, from an autocracy – hopefully – back to a liberal democracy’. In 2011, Orban rushed a new constitution through the parliament without any consultation with the public, called the Fundamental Law of Hungary. The incoming premier has pledged to hold a referendum on accepting a new constitution. Among P.M.’s promises during the elections was instituting a proportional electoral system. The incoming premier has also promised to limit the maximum time for future prime ministers to two terms – eight years total. P.M.has pledged to pursue officials and corporate leaders accused of corruption: during his campaign, he launched a programme called ’Road to Prison’. Charges brought against Poland's former deputy minister of justice in the Law and Justice government, Romanowski, or against Romanian politicians ’are minor cases compared to the scale of robbery of the state committed by the Orban clan’s politicians' and oligarchs. ’The Fidesz government operated like a mafia state’. It was a political enterprise which captured the state, the economy and the oligarchs. It had two motivations: monopolising political power and accumulating personal and family wealth. In the case of the mafia state, the positions are positioned within the state apparatus. With the possibility of ’unilaterally’ appointing the heads of the controlling organisations and the presidents of the republic, central bank, constitutional court, chief attorney’s office and state account office, Orban ’could exercise’ direct coercion and blackmail over the whole society. ’Most of these actors’ and Orban-related oligarchs committed crimes, according to existing Hungarian legal code. ’P.M. has called on all the leaders of the above-mentioned institutions to resign’. ’If they don’t comply, he will use legal means’ to oust them from their positions. 'Police have already' begun investigations even though P.M.’s government isn’t in office yet. ’What we will witness is the total collapse of the mafia-state organisation led by Orban’. He ’was an autocrat and a criminal at the same time’. There 'will be widespread legal procedures’ and some doubt that stolen state assets will be recouped. ('Wealthy Hungarians are leaving the country and transferring financial assets, according to the Financial Times'.) P.M.’s Tisza party can take ’back’ the political and administrative positions. Orban’s political-economic clan, therefore, faces an unavoidable collapse. The wide popular discontent has dual nature of the complete amorality and ’incapacity’ of Orban’s regime. A national opinion poll published this week asked Hungarians for the main reason for Orban’s defeat. 'Some 49% responded that it was corruption and around 10% attributed the defeat to the lies of the government. 'Around 18% responded that it was the bad economic situation. (Source: France 24)
by Ciesnik
The interview „has been lightly edited for length and clarity”.
* a founding member of the Liberal Party of Hungary /Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ)/ and minister of education between 1996–1998 and 2002–2006.

Italy
May 7, 2026 4:38 PM CET  Italy and Hungary signaled today that ties will remain strong. Meloni has been a close ally of Orbán on the European political stage since she took office in 2022, sharing policy priorities such as curbing irregular migration and acting as a bridge between the Hungarian leader and the rest of the EU on the war in Ukraine. Meloni welcomed P.M. to Rome, writing on X that „the relationship between the two countries is strong and well-established”, and we intend to continue strengthening it further. P.M. is expected to take office May 9. (Source: Politico – U.S.)

European Commission
29 April 2026  EU, Hungarian premier-elect hold talks on rule of law-linked funds. He says he had extremely constructive and productive meeting, promising that EU funds will soon arrive in Hungary. He would return to Brussels in the week of May 25. 'I would like to reassure everyone that the European Union is not imposing any conditions that would be contrary to our country’s interests,' he wrote. Der Leyen said on US social media platform X that the two held a 'very good exchange' in Brussels, focusing on 'the steps necessary’ to unlock EU funds earmarked for Hungary. 'The European Commission will support your work to address these issues and realign with shared European values. Our teams will continue to work closely together. For a prosperous Hungary at the heart of our shared European home', she said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
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(29 April 2026)  Hungary's next PM says frozen EU funds will be paid out soon. After talks with European Commission President der Leyen, P.M. said that 'in one sentence, EU resources will soon arrive’ in Hungary. The conditions were simple, said party colleague Hajdu: there should be no corruption, and the government should not interfere with the functioning of the courts. P.M. also met European Council President Costa. His most urgent priority is to unlock €10.4bn (£9bn) of the EU's Covid-19 recovery fund before it expires at the end of August, if Budapest is unable to meet a raft of 'super-milestones. 'Those milestones involve anti-corruption and rule-of-law reforms set as part of Hungary's post-Covid recovery plan in 2022’. P.M .'also has an eye on a further €6.3bn in cohesion funds that were blocked over Orbán-era rule-of-law issues that the incoming government has promised to reverse. On top of that he could have access to €16.1bn in cheap EU defence loans and will aim to put an end to a €1m daily fine that Budapest has had to pay out for breaching EU migration rules. P.M. is certainly in a good position to steer reforms through the Hungarian parliament. He 'has sought to reset turbulent relations with Kyiv by offering to meet Zelensky early in June, in the Hungarian-majority town of Berehove in 'south-western Ukraine'. (Source: BBC – United Kingdom)
by Kirby, Europe digital editor

29/04/2026 - 21:36  P.M. is desperate to show that his promise to reset ties can bring quick benefits. He wants to convince Brussels to release around 18 billion euros ($21 billion) in funding frozen over rule-of-law and corruption concerns under Orban. The speed with which P.M. has engaged after the blockages and bickering of the Orban era has buoyed expectations in Brussels. 'We've never seen such a level of commitment from a government that isn't even in office yet,' EU lawmaker Freund, a fierce Orban critic, told. Officials say another way for Brussels to give P.M. an early win could be to wave through a separate 16 billion euros in preferential defence loans that were held up as the standoff with Orban worsened ahead of the Hungarian polls. ’But some caution that it will be concrete actions rather than warm words alone that prove genuine change is happening in Budapest. So far, wait and see, one EU diplomat said. But that might change, ’considering all the good things he says and does.’ The incoming Hungarian premier sounded a positive note yesterday by saying he aimed to meet Zelensky in June to open ’a new chapter'. Officials insist that Ukraine deserves to move ahead in the process, although there is little appetite among major EU powers to rush Kyiv towards full membership anytime soon. (Source: France 24 "with AFP' = France)

29/04/2026 - 08:14  The meeting between top EU officials and Hungary’s incoming leadership in Brussels today is a bid to unlock around €17 billions of euros previously ’blocked over rule of law concerns’ under the outgoing administration of Viktor Orbán – and there are growing signs a breakthrough could come quickly. The talks will bring together European Commission President der Leyen and Hungary’s incoming prime minister. ’The discussions are expected to focus on concrete legal and institutional changes Budapest must deliver to secure the release of the money’. €11 billion from the EU’s post-pandemic Recovery Fund must be accessed by mid-August or be lost entirely. Both sides already held two preparatory meetings since P.M.’s victory on 12 April which is giving him the power to amend Hungary’s constitution – ’a factor EU officials believe could accelerate reforms’. ’The European Commission has made clear’ that the funding is intended to support citizens directly. Discussions could include Hungary’s potential return to the Erasmus student exchange programme, from which it has been excluded since early 2023 ’over concerns’ about academic freedom. There is also the possibility of movement on Hungary’s previous veto of EU reimbursements for military equipment supplied to Ukraine’. (Source: RFI - France)
Note: Budapest also maintained that it will not contribute to arms shipments and wants to prevent the war's escalation.

Serbia
14.05.2026. New disagreements are complicating efforts to finalize the sale of the majority share of Serbian energy company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) to Hungary’s MOL Group. The U.S. placed the Russian-majority-owned NIS on its sanctions list in January 2025 as part of efforts to target Russian-controlled energy assets, triggering a process to restructure ownership. MOL moved to acquire the majority stake in January 2026, signing a preliminary agreement with the Russian shareholders Gazprom and Gazprom Neft and submitting a €1 billion bid. At the time, Serbian Energy Minister Đedović Handanović said both sides had agreed on the basic terms of the future sale, with a final agreement expected by March. Since then, however, the process has repeatedly stalled amid parallel negotiations between the stakeholders. While MOL and the Russian shareholders continue talks to finalize the sale itself, MOL and the Serbian government are engaged in separate negotiations focused on how NIS would be run under new ownership. The Serbian government, which holds a 29.9 percent stake in NIS, has rejected a new proposal by MOL amid ongoing negotiations over how the company would be governed and operated under new ownership. Frictions have emerged, centered on the operations of the Pančevo oil rafinery owned by NIS. It is Serbia’s only oil refinery and the source of around 80 percent of its domestic fuel supply. On May 7, Đedović Handanović rejected a MOL proposal she called unsatisfactory, citing provisions related to the refinery’s crude oil refining capacity and stressing that MOL should respect processing levels that had previously been agreed upon and are considered strategically important for Serbia. MOL put forward a revised proposal this week, but Serbia remains dissatisfied with the terms. Đedović Handanović said talks will continue, adding that the Serbian government hopes to reach a compromise, but not at any cost. The repeated extension of negotiation deadlines reflects a combination of political sensitivity, commercial disagreements, and the complexity of restructuring ownership in a sanctioned energy asset. The Serbian state understandably wants to preserve influence over the country’s only refinery and fuel supply system; the Russian side is looking for the best possible exit terms; and MOL can only accept a structure that is financially, legally, and sanctions-compliant, Holoda, managing director of Aurora Energy Kft. and a former manager at MOL told. A competing bid for the majority share of NIS has also entered the picture. Mimović, a Serbian businessman, told on May 6 that his company had offered €2 billion to Gazprom Neft and Gazprom for their combined 56.1 percent share of NIS, double MOL’s bid. He went further in later statement, claiming that the Russian side had accepted the offer in principle and that the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), ’which must approve the transfer of NIS’s majority stake’, had responded positively following six months of communication. Gazprom Neft has since said that it is actively preparing the sale of its stake in NIS to MOL and is not conducting negotiations with any other companies. Mimović has owned and managed companies in Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia, several of which have faced legal and financial controversies. - in 2014, he was indicted for defrauding contractors of a road company he owned and in 2017 he was convicted of fraud and money laundering. Holoda says the emergence of Mimović’s bid appears to be less of a serious alternative to MOL and more of a political and negotiating complication in an already highly politicized process. Mimović’s statements have fueled speculation that his bid has political backing. He has dismissed claims that he is acting in coordination with the Serbian government or has personal ties to Vučić or the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). President Vučić publicly dismissed the possibility that Mimović could acquire NIS, citing his lack of experience in the energy sector. Holoda added that the price tag on Mimović’s offer alone is not enough to establish credibility when bidding to acquire a sanctioned and strategically important energy company. Transparency of financing, OFAC compliance, operational experience, supply-security guarantees, and political acceptability are all equally important factors. “For all parties, the key question is not only who offers the highest price, but who can operate the company in a stable, politically acceptable, and professionally credible way over the long term.” Đedović Handanović has said that talks with MOL will continue and could conclude as soon as May 16. (Source: European Western Balcans – Serbia)

Ukraine
06/05/2026 - 16:408 GMT+2  Zelenskyy announced today that Hungary had returned cash and gold confiscated by Hungarian authorities from a state-owned bank in March. Ukrainian vehicles were carrying out a transfer from Austria's Raiffeisen Bank to Oschadbank's headquarters in Kyiv. Hungary’s outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ordered the government to hold the cash and gold for up to 60 days amid an ongoing money laundering investigation. (Source: Euronews – based in Lyon, France)

North America

United States
May 14, 2026  What the elections in the UK and Hungary mean for US Conservatives? The elections show, anti-establishment parties still need to govern competently if they want to stay in power. In local elections last week, UK voters offered a stunning repudiation to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party as well as to Badenoch’s Conservative Party. Each traditional governing party received only 17 percent of the popular vote in England. Wales and Scotland yielded similarly fragmented results, with nationalist parties added to the mix. The big winner was Farage’s Reform UK, securing 26 percent of the vote along with over 800 council seats. The Green Party was winning 18 percent of the vote. The Liberal Democrats rounded out the field with 16 percent. Clearly, the Starmer government is wildly unpopular. This is also true of incumbent parties throughout much of the Western world. One way to understand current political changes on both sides of the Atlantic is to refer to the traditional English idea of a ’Court Party’ versus a ’Country Party.’ In the early 18th century, England’s Court Party was led by a Whig elite of the wealthiest aristocrats in alliance with the City of London. This party dominated the king’s ministry and used the resulting patronage to its own benefit. An alternative faction, called the Country Party, had base of support among the lesser nobles, yeomanry, and the older faith of rural England. This party could rule in the interest of the whole nation, rather than simply the interest of its metropolitan establishment. Over the past decade, electoral politics in nearly every Western nation has been upended by a new divide that closely resembles that schema. Since this cleavage cuts across the traditional left-versus-right divide, it confuses commentators who misunderstand it. Most working-class, rural, and/or small-town voters feel that traditional party elites have stopped protecting the people’s interests and fail to grant them even a minimum of respect. This has encouraged the growth of various Country Party insurgencies against besieged Court Party elites in Europe and the United States, among both conservatives and progressives. The resulting political dynamic is best understood by picturing four political factions in competition with one another: Court progressives, Court conservatives, Country progressives, and Country conservatives. This competition allows for many more cross-cutting tensions and tactical alliances in different directions. Its exact outcomes vary greatly from one Western nation to the next, depending on local circumstances, including national leaders and the strategies they pursue. Within the United Kingdom, Court progressives control Labour and the Liberal Democrats, Court conservatives control the Tory Party. Each faction would like to appeal to Country voters, but they can’t. Instead, Country (ie, anti-establishment) progressives are trying out the Greens, while Country conservatives are flocking to Reform. Public opinion polls in the UK suggest that if parliamentary elections were held today, Reform would win about 25 percent of the popular vote. Labour, the Tories, and the Greens would each win 17 or 18 percent, with the Liberal Democrats in fifth place at about 12 percent. The current projection is a Reform minority government led by Farage, with the Tories a distant second, Labour reduced to third place with fewer than 100 seats, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats each winning over 60 seats, followed by a cluster of Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish parties. ’Prime Minister Starmer has until the summer of 2029 to call these elections’, and anything could happen by then. On today’s trendlines, British voters could elect their first modern government that is neither Tory, nor Labour, nor Liberal, but instead Country conservative without any Court component. Other noteworthy examples of Court vs. Country electoral dynamics this year include Hungary and the United States. In Hungary, Country conservatives were in power under Viktor Orbán for most of the 21st century. He was bitterly opposed by Court factions and progressives of all types, not only in his own nation but on both sides of the Atlantic. Rural areas largely voted for Orbán four years ago, in the previous parliamentary election. But the thing to understand about Orbán’s recent defeat is that Country conservative voters backed his opponent, and ’formed an indispensable component of P.M.’s new coalition’. TISZA party, won seats in most of the countryside outside Budapest, the nation’s Court stronghold. Did they switch this time around because patriotic rural Hungarians suddenly became progressives? Not likely. Viktor Orbán’s recent defeat does not represent some great setback for the Right throughout the Western world. Rather, Orbán’s defeat are best understood as ’the repudiation of a very specific version of Country conservatism that badly over-reached and consequently splintered’. This allowed P.M. to win at the head of a big-tent coalition encompassing Court conservatives, Court progressives, Country progressives, ’and a plurality of Hungary’s Country conservative voters’. This should help put into question a couple of misperceptions about Orbán inside the United States. One such misperception, most fervent on the Left, is that Orbán was some sort of ’fascist dictator’. Fascist dictators don’t let their opponents win elections. Another misperception, held by some on the Right, was that Orbán’s Hungary offered the best example for today’s Republican Party. Certainly, Orbán had his strengths - strengths that those who disliked him will never admit. More than any other European leader, he clamped down on illegal migration and fought back against the never-ending culture war of transatlantic liberals. The ’meddling, politically correct fuss-budgets in Brussels’ always need one larger-than-life leader capable of standing up to them from inside the European Union. In the 1960s, that leader was De Gaulle. In the 1980s, it was Margaret Thatcher. In the 21st century, it’s been Orbán. Still, the feisty Hungarian was never on the same plane with these other two great figures. Unlike Thatcher or De Gaulle, Viktor Orbán’s strengths were more than offset by his weaknesses, and those weaknesses only grew over time. The first weakness was ’his’ inability to produce sustained economic growth and prosperity for ordinary Hungarians. The second weakness was an unmistakable tendency toward cronyism. People were finally fed up with ’government’ corruption. The third weakness was that even in his area of greatest advantage - that is, tense relations with the EU - he overdid it. ’Sometimes it felt like he was pounding his fist for the cameras’. Apparently, the average voter concluded that Hungary ’would be materially better off with a more businesslike stance toward the EU’, an entity that even Viktor Orbán never planned on leaving and whose cash he was always happy to take in the end. But the fourth and greatest weakness of all, from the perspective of US national interests, was Orbán’s foreign policy. Orbán prided himself on good relations with Russia and China. And to be sure, the Hungarian self-perception is that of a nation balanced between Moscow and the West. But that leaves still multiple options, and Orbán chose to tilt toward the Sino-Russian bloc ’far more than was necessary’. He was happy to welcome Chinese trade, investment, and technology, even when it set him at odds with the United States. He encouraged Hungary’s energy dependence on Moscow, rather than working to minimize it. And as Ukrainians battled for their country against Russia, Orbán was blocking European assistance whenever he could. P.M. and TISZA was capitalizing on discontent from all directions and winning in a landslide. P.M. ’cited voters’ pocketbook concerns as an excellent reason’ to toss out the incumbent. He promised to clean house on matters of corruption. On the issue of migration, he promised to continue Orbán’s policies - an indicator of how popular that hardline stance remains. In the EU, P.M. promised a less ’theatrica’l approach to Hungarian interests. Regarding the Ukraine War,’ he called for freeing up EU support to Kyiv’, and tilting toward the West, ’without’ pulling Hungary directly into war against Putin. P.M’s overall policy stance was that of a ’center-right conservative, not a progressive’. The one disappointment was that he punted on so-called culture war issues. In practice, when the Right does so, the Left advances. Orbán wasn’t wrong about that. On balance, however, P.M.’s win ’is a victory for US national security interests. ’ A TISZA government is more likely to boost defense spending ’, take a second look at Chinese influence, and encourage a shared European responsibility to stand up to Putin’s Russia. So, why has there been such teeth-gnashing in some circles on the Right over Orbán’s defeat? Many leading conservative US intellectuals over the past decade have come to see Orbán as a key figure in the defense of Western civilization. These arguments had an impact. And Orbán was very successful in building organizational ties to the New Right in America, and vice versa. Why should Court progressives have all the best transatlantic networks? But it did tend to encourage New Right intellectuals inside the United States to view Orbán’s defeat in personal terms. The third reason, even more important politically and diplomatically, is that President Trump ’mistakenly’ put his own credibility on the line - and therefore, his country’s - by publicly supporting Orbán in last month’s election. Since Trump, Vice President Vance, and national conservative intellectuals have all supported Orbán over the years, Democrats, mainstream journalists, and Never Trumpers believed they had an imperative to take precisely the opposite position on the politics of a small Central European country. What, then, are the implications for the GOP’s Country conservatives inside the United States, as they prepare for ’what look to be unpromising’ midterm elections? First, if your position is really America First, don’t get too invested in any one foreign leader. They may lose. Second, understand that Country conservative identity politics - while a powerful elixir for any political party - cannot save that party on its own. They still need to deliver the goods. ’As in most democracies, including Hungary, this means addressing the voters’ pocketbook concerns’ rather than dismissing them or trying to change the subject. It means a foreign policy that keeps the peace while preserving the nation’s dignity and vital interests. And it means avoiding not only the practice but also the appearance of rampant cronyism or corruption. This November, American voters will let us know whether they think the Republican Party under President Trump has passed these tests. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Dueck, a professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy adviser on several Republican presidential campaigns and acted as a consultant for the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Council. Dueck has published four books on American foreign and national security policies: Reluctant Crusaders: Power, Culture, and Change in American Grand Strategy (Princeton 2006); Hard Line: The Republican Party and US Foreign Policy since World War II (Princeton 2010); The Obama Doctrine: American Grand Strategy Today (Oxford 2015); Age of Iron: On Conservative Nationalism (Oxford University Press, 2019).

April 24, 2026, 10:54 AM  Hungary ’is about to attempt a feat rarely tried at this scale: the systematic, constitutional dismantling of a competitive authoritarian state from within - by democratic means, under democratic constraints’. It may offer the world ’a model for how democracies can confront illiberalism’ without abandoning the rule of law. A legal framework, that makes the restoration irreversible is a new constitution drafted through genuine civic participation, independent judicial appointment mechanisms, a public media charter insulated from political interference, and the institutional infrastructure for accountability without vengeance. Incoming Prime Minister’s government must resist 'the temptation of speed without process' in three critical areas: judicial reconstitution, public media governance, and anti-corruption enforcement. Meanwhile, the European Union must unfreeze Hungary’s funds to assist with the transition - 'but only once institutional milestones are verified’. Now, the approximately 32 billion euros at stake for Hungary in recovery funds, cohesion money, and defense loans represents roughly 15 percent of its GDP. 'The early release', which had been Brussels’s primary leverage, left the EU with fewer tools to support Tusk’s reform agenda when he needed them most. ’Used wisely’, that leverage has the potential to sustain reform momentum. Poland, after almost three years, has not completed its democratic restoration process, and PiS’s capture was shorter and less constitutionally entrenched than Fidesz’s. The electoral system’s mechanism ’that supercharged Fidesz’s slim pluralities into supermajorities’ has handed P.M. the tools to dismantle the entire edifice. The scale of P.M.’s electoral victory was winning 141 of 199 parliamentary seats with a 79.5 percent turnout. The scale of illiberal inheritance is vast. There are numerous traps ahead. The new government must act quickly and decisively, using the momentum of the ’revolutionary moment’ before it fades. P.M.’s supermajority gives him 'the constitutional' power to undo all of this: The 2011 Fundamental Law which replaced the country’s 1949 constitution; The judiciary, systematically captured through packed courts and an untouchable prosecutor general; Public media, which became a state-controlled propaganda apparatus; The relocation to Vienna of the Central European University; State contracts, funneled to regime-allied oligarchs. Does Hungary’s transition produce durable democratic institutions or merely replaces one form of majoritarian excess with another? The surviving independent organizations, investigative journalists, and civic movements must now become the watchdogs of this new government. P.M.'s government must accept that for Hungary, full judicial reconstitution may take years. P.M. has called on the judiciary officials to resign, and some will. ’Judges who enabled institutional abuse’ should face accountability through principled proceedings. Those who served honorably should not be subject to ’blanket purges’ based solely on their appointment under Orban. Rewiring the information ecosystem will take even longer - another task for the incoming government, to restore the independence of public media. Hungary’s state broadcaster, MTVA, was structurally designed as a government instrument under Orban. Fidesz 'controlled roughly 80 percent’ of Hungary’s media resources. In 2018, the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA) consolidated hundreds of private television, radio, and wire services into one conglomerate. Led by a board of regime loyalists, KESMA produced content indistinguishable from Fidesz campaign material. State and KESMA media outlets ’routinely aired stories subsequently ruled defamatory by courts’. ’In this realm, P.M. must innovate, not just restore. Simply replacing the KESMA board with Tisza-friendly appointees would replicate the problem with different beneficiaries. Hungary needs an entirely new governance model. ’Germany’s public broadcasting councils’, which include representatives from civil society, trade unions, and cultural institutions alongside political appointees, offer one model. And the British Broadcasting Corporation’s ’former’ trust structure - separated editorial decisions from government and commercial pressures. Public media governance must be designed for perpetuity, not optimized for the current regime. ’Investigations into whether the original consolidation of independent media companies violated EU state aid rules can begin’. P.M.’s government must confront the corruption that ’was the organizing principle’ of Orban’s system. For 16 years, public procurement was weaponized to enrich a small circle of regime-allied oligarchs. Billions in EU funds were diverted through rigged tenders. P.M. has already announced the creation of a National Asset Recovery and Protection Office tasked with reviewing questionable real estate transactions, examining lucrative concession deals, and retroactively auditing major public procurements. He has also pledged to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), the EU body that investigates fraud involving European funds. EPPO membership would embed independent European prosecutors within Hungary’s own legal system ’with the exclusive authority’ to investigate and prosecute fraud involving EU funds - precisely the level of ’independent’ oversight that Orban spent years blocking. 'Individuals and companies that voluntarily return illicitly obtained assets and cooperate with investigators would receive reduced penalties, while those who do not would face the full weight of criminal prosecution'. Hungary must also ’reclaim public assets - media outlets, real estate, and infrastructure concessions’ - that were transferred to regime allies through legally dubious mechanisms by launching transparent competition law and state aid investigations. (Source: Foreign Policy - U.S.)
By ’Koranyi’ /Dávid Korányi/, the president of 'Action for Democracy' (U.S.). He ’previously’ – in 2009 - served as undersecretary of state and chief foreign-policy advisor to the prime minister of Hungary.

.6 7 26 18:01

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A NER-lovagok lázadása döntötte be Orbán rendszerét, nem a kórházak állapota? / Schiffer

'Hatvanpuszta mindent visz';

Társadalmi kötelékek fellazításáról;

A lázadásról - élményt árulnak politikai nyilvánosság címén;

Jogállamisági kritériumok címén pedig idegen hatalmi központok

avatkoznak be külföldről pénzügyi eszközökkel, algoritmusokkal

- és megbuktatják a magyar kormányt.

Visszaemlékezések a jólétre.

(Forrás: YouTube / Fekete Rita)

- video -

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6 7 25 / 6 5 12 / 6 4 26

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Hungary (?)
22/04/2026 - 20:01 GMT+2  Gáspár son of Hungary's outgoing prime minister Viktor Orbán, has been discharged from the Hungarian Defence Forces. He was sworn into the Hungarian Defence Forces in 2019 and in 2020 was sent on a nine-month training course at the elite Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK. Orbán, who held the rank of captain, submitted his demobilsation request before the parliamentary elections on 12 April. He was born in 1992, studied law and first became a footballer, playing as a midfielder for Videoton FC Fehérvár and Puskás Akadémia FC before founding a charismatic Christian youth movement called Felház. His Hungarian peer on that course, Captain Pálinkás, told the telex news site that he had been called by the Chief of General Staff and told, ’I have to feed him, water him, make sure he completes this academy, because if he doesn't, we'll lose our jobs.’ A Hungarian military mission to Chad, with the aim of stemming migrant flows to Europe, was reportedly devised by Orbán who allegedly told a colleague at Sandhurst that he had a “divine inspiration” to help African Christians. In 2024, Hungary announced it was sending around 200 troops to Chad to provide training and support counter-terrorism operations. The country had no substantive relations with Chad before and the promised of $200 million (€170 million) in aid was an deemed excessive pledge from one of Europe’s poorer countries. ’Captain Pálinkás said that the military mission to Chad had been planned by Gáspár, then a lieutenant-general’, and that 'he expected losses of life of around 50%’. That claim was denied by both Orbán and Defence Minister Szalay-Bobrovniczky who said that the Chad mission did not happen, despite it being approved in parliament. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also said that the allegations were false as lieutenants in the Hungarian Defence Forces could not plan missions. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France / MTI - Hungary)
by Tanács

22/04/2026 - 19:33 GMT+2  P.M.'s team will review a national defence plan for cheap European financing to rearm Hungary – the €16 billion SAFE defence plan - submitted by the defeated Orbán government, citing corruption risks. The European Commission has agreed to their request to review it and assess it before making taking further steps. Hungary submitted its plan, worth €16.2 billion, last December, detailing defence and dual-use projects. In March, the Commission was leaving Hungary's submission as the last pending case. Hungarian diplomats familiar with the matter maintain that the delay was politically motivated and that Budapest had met all the necessary criteria for a positive assessment. The Commission decided in early February not to approve the Hungarian plan before the elections, a senior Hungarian official told. ’Afterwards, the Commission went completely silent: no feedback, no questions, no justification - not even replies to official inquiries. This is not a regular procedure; it is an obvious political blockage,’ the official added. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
By ’Zsiros

April 20, 2026 5:38 pm CET  Premier-elect P.M. names first ministers in new Hungarian government. Industry figures feature heavily among incoming Prime Minister P.M.’s first wave of seven Cabinet announcements. His Cabinet's ranks will soon swell to 16. P.M. announced Orbán, a former Vodafone board member with experience serving on the European Council for Foreign Relations, as foreign minister. Kármán, who helped develop Tisza's ’flagship wealth tax’ proposal, will be finance minister. Kapitány, who spent 37 years at Shell, will lead the combined economy and energy portfolio. Hegedűs, a former surgeon now best known for his dance moves, will serve as health minister. Former armed forces chief Ruszin-Szendi will take defense. Former farmer Bóna will oversee agriculture and food economy. The remaining portfolios - bringing the total to 16 - are expected to include culture and digital technology, education, interior, justice, a prime minister’s office, rural development, social affairs, transport and investments. The restructuring marks a deliberate shift away from Orbán-era centralization of power. (Source: Politico – U.S., owned by a German company)

Magyarország (?)
2026.04.20. 13:57  Hol ment félre a mandátumbecslés? Április 18-án, szombat este megszületett a végleges eredménye a 2026-os országgyűlési választásoknak, miután a levél-, a külképviseleti és az átjelentkezéses szavazatok feldolgozása is megtörtént. A Fideszre nézve még siralmasabbá vált, mivel mindösszesen 10 egyéni választókerületet (OEVK) tudott megnyerni, szemben a Tisza 96 körzetével. Ami a listás mandátumokat illeti, a Tisza 45 mandátumot szerzett, a Fidesz pedig 42-őt. Ami azt jelenti, hogy az országgyűlési választásokon 2026-ban először indult Tisza Párt 199 mandátumból 141-et kapott, ami 70,85 százalékos többséget jelent majd a magyar parlamentben '2030-ig'. A Fidesz 52 mandátuma mindösszesen 26,13 százalékot, a Mi Hazánk 6 mandátuma pedig 3,02 százalékot jelent majd a Tisza dominanciájával szemben. 'Szemben a Nézőpont Intézet egyéni választókerületi és összesített mandátumbecsléseivel, az Alapjogokért Központ, az amerikai McLaughlin & Associates, illetve az Index-Köztér hasonló számításaival, Hann és a Medián, valamint a 21 Kutatóközpont egyéni választókerületi közvélemény-kutatásai bizonyultak helytállónak'. Az Index Köztér 'mandátumbecslései mögött nem állt egyéni közvélemény-kutatás, hanem leginkább választástörténeti, szociográfiai adatokból dolgoztunk'. 'Amíg a körzetenként megkérdezett interjúalanyaink legalább fele mindig Fidesz-szimpatizáns volt", nem vettük eléggé komolyan a fanyar ízt, a bizonytalan, épphogy csak pislákoló tüzet bennük. Ezzel szemben a tiszás és mi hazánkos szimpatizánsok hangosak, olykor dühösek és mindig félreérthetetlenül magabiztosak voltak. 'Nem mértük fel, hogy az utolsó két és fél hétben teljesen kicsúszott a narratíva irányítása a pártok kezéből'. Szabó rendőr századostól Panyi Szijjártóra nézve kedvezőtlen hangfelvételein keresztül Pálinkás honvéd századosig bezárólag ezek a fejlemények mind a Tisza kampányát segítették. A Fidesz pedig már nem tudta visszaszerezni érdemlegesen az irányítást. 'Az utolsó hetekben dőlt tehát el a kétharmad sorsa'. Arra számítottunk, hogy a kormánypártok a kampányidőszakra ismét felpörögnek, mint 2014-ben, 2018-ban és 2022-ben, ehelyett a kontraproduktív ukránozás legfeljebb konzerválni tudta a Fidesz-tábort. (Forrás: Index - Magyarország)
Kurucztól, a Köztér főszerkesztőjétől.
Lásd még: Magyarország 2026. I. 21 - IV. 5 - 9. Az április 12-i országgyűlési választások legvalószínűbb „forgatókönyve” (eredményei) / 2026. IV. 9. (Forrás: Index-Köztér)

European Council
23 April 2026  European Union leaders have gathered in Nicosia for an informal summit. For the first time in 16 years, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is absent from the table. He is set to hand over to opposition leader M.P. following the country’s recent elections. Zelensky ’has taken Orbán’s place’ at the opening session. The summit must tackle the bloc’s most pressing crises: soaring energy costs triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, continued support for Kyiv in the Ukraine war and the EU’s response to the conflict in the Middle East. The Hormuz crisis has added €24 billion to the EU’s energy import bill in 52 days of conflict. ’Zelensky opened the summit’s first session’. Hungary’s longstanding reservations over a €90 billion loan to Kyiv and a new package of sanctions against Russia were set aside in the hours before the gathering. ’He is expected to push leaders for firm commitments on Ukraine’s path toward EU membership’. That issue remains contested among the 27 member states, with no consensus on timelines or deadlines. The summit comes one day after a fractious meeting of EU foreign ministers in which Germany and Italy blocked moves to explore suspending the EU’s Association Agreement with Israel over its conduct in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Spain, Ireland and Slovenia had written jointly calling for debate on whether the agreement should be revoked. France and Sweden signalled openness to at least partial suspension. On the second day of the summit, EU leaders are to be joined by the heads of government of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council for talks on the regional situation. Leaders have also been asked to begin a substantive discussion on the EU’s next multiannual financial framework, covering 2028 to 2034. No figures will be agreed at this stage. The European Commission proposed a spending ceiling of 1.26 per cent of gross national income last summer. Spain sees the shape of the proposed competitiveness fund as weighted too heavily toward defence and security spending. The Spanish Government has said it would prefer to direct more resources to digital transition, artificial intelligence, energy and infrastructure. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

European Court of Justice
(21 April 2026)  The European Court of Justice (ECJ), the European Union's top court has ruled that Hungarian anti-LGBTQ laws violate EU rules and infringe its values of equality and minority rights. The laws were brought in by Viktor Orbán's government in 2021 and banned so-called promotion of homosexuality or gender change to under-18s, arguing it violated child protection laws. The ECJ ruled that the Orbán reforms breached EU rules on a number of levels, and significantly that it also broke the founding values of Article 2 of the EU Treaty which lists all the values of pluralism, equality and rule of law - an unprecedented finding. The ECJ ruling could have wider legal implications regarding other EU member states. The European Commission said the anti-LGBTQ law would be one of the issues it would be taking up with the new government once it was in place. The man whose Tisza party defeated Orbán on 12 April, P.M., in his victory speech spelt out his vision for Hungary as a country "where no-one is stigmatised for thinking differently than the majority, or loving differently than the majority. His Tisza party has a two-thirds majority of 141 seats in the 199-seat National Assembly. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

International Criminal Court
21 April 2026  New PM invites Netanyahu but says he must be arrested if he comes. Hungary’s PM-elect has stated that his country would be legally obliged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters Hungarian territory while subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Under former prime minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary had begun steps to leave the court, a move announced during Netanyahu’s visit to Budapest in April 2025, when no arrest was carried out. During Orbán’s prime ministership, Hungary was one of Israel’s main allies, using its veto to stop European Union action against Israel. The incoming government has announced it will halt the previous administration’s process of withdrawing from the ICC, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The withdrawal process is formally reversed or suspended by June 2. P.M. made the remarks yesterday in response to questions about an invitation to visit Hungary later this year handed to Netanyahu. The invitation to Netanyahu was extended during a telephone conversation between the two leaders on April 15. Netanyahu accepted the invitation and, in turn, invited P.M. to a government-to-government meeting in Jerusalem. The Israeli leader has been invited to attend commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution against Soviet rule, an event scheduled for October 2026. The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, also known as the Hungarian Uprising, saw Hungarians rise against Soviet domination. It was violently crushed by Soviet forces in November of that year, resulting in thousands of deaths and a large exodus of refugees. P.M. explained the move of both inviting and wanting to arrest the Israeli PM by stating: ’I have unanimously invited all state leaders, be they prime minister or president, to the 70th anniversary of the 1956 revolution. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)
by Deconinck

20 April 2026  Hungary halts withdrawal from International Criminal Court, says premier-elect P.M. and he would reverse outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's June 2025 decision to leave ICC, which was made after court issued warrant for Netanyahu. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Ukraine
April 23, 2026 11:42 am CET  A Hungarian official told that Russian oil reached Hungary at 12:55 today. Hungarian oil company MOL announced crude began moving through Ukraine at noon on Tuesday and is expected to reach Hungary and Slovakia by today at the latest. The condition set by Hungary appears to have been met - clearing the way for the EU to move ahead with the loan. If ministers sign off this week, Kyiv could start seeing the money as early as May. (Source: Politico – U.S.)

22 April 2026 16:40 (UTC +04:00)  According to Hungary’s Minister for European Union Affairs Bóka on Facebook, oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline from the Belarus direction through Ukraine has been restored today. (Source: AP - U.S.)

21/04/2026 - 17:44 GMT+2  The Druzhba pipeline that carries Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia has been repaired and can resume operations, Zelenskyy has announced. We connect this with the unblocking of the European support package for Ukraine, which had already been approved by the European Council, he said. The repair of the Druzhba pipeline paves the way for the adoption of the €90 billion loan for Ukraine and a new round of sanctions against Russia, both of which are currently vetoed by Hungary. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
by 'Zsiros'

. 6 7 25 17:24

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'Interjú' Szijjártó, távozó magyar külügyminiszterrel

Forrás: 'Telex'

- video -

1 488 784 megtekintés

Kulcsszavak:

1956    II. Világháború    Barátság kőolajvezeték    Csendes-óceán    Egyesült Államok    Eurostat     Európa    Európai Bizottság    Európai Tanács    Európai Unió    film    Föld    Franciaország    Gazprom    globális    Grúzia    hangzóanyag     himnusz    Kárpátalja    kommunista    Lengyelország    Litvánia    Lukoil    Magyar Nemzeti Bank  Magyar Villamosművek Zrt   Magyarország    MOL   NATO    Németország    Oroszország    Paks    Parlament    Roszatom    Rosznyeft   Shell   Svédország   Szlovákia    Törökország    Ukrajna    video    

.6 5 10 / 6 4 26

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Hungary (?)
(Sunday), 19/04/2026 ’Positive bilateral talks’ were held in Budapest between leader to be and European Commission. Summing up two days of talks with a delegation from the European Commission, Hungary’s incoming P.M. presented the first steps he plans to take to regain access to European Union funding „that belongs to the Hungarian people,” frozen due to corruption and ’rule of law concerns’ related to his predecessor’s policies. He said ’his Tisza party plans’ measures to fight corruption, sign up to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, and ’restore’ the freedom and independence of the judiciary, higher education and the media. Full election ’results published’ yesterday showed the Tisza party will have an unprecedented majority in parliament, giving it broad powers to change the constitution and dismantle the system built up by outgoing premier Viktor Orbán over the past 16 years. The European Commission said the meetings held in Budapest on Friday and Saturday presented ’an early opportunity for practical discussions on how to move forward and make real progress to unlock EU funds earmarked for Hungary.” The prospect of billions of euros in fresh EU funding, along with P.M.’s plans ’to take steps to introduce the euro’, have already driven Hungary’s stocks, bonds and currency to multi-year highs. (Source: Luxembourg Times)

19/04/2026  The defeat of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is a warning to conservative European leaders who may be tempted to align closely with Trump and Putin, according to Ribera, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition and EU antitrust chief, the European Commission’s most senior Social Democrat official. In Barcelona she, a Spanish socialist herself, is attending the Global Progressive Mobilisation, a gathering of about 100 left-wing parties hosted by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. P.M.’s victory in Hungary was only possible due to the ’mass mobilisation of the left’ and ’the country’s democratic forces’, Ribera said. Hungary’s new government must make a big effort to ’undo’ the reforms introduced by Orbán ’that run counter to judicial independence, freedom of expression and minority protections’ - ’only then’ can €18 billion in EU funds now frozen by Brussels be unlocked, she said. She expects P.M. to lift, upon taking office, the veto on €90 billion in EU funding aimed at helping Ukraine counter Russia’s invasion, she also said. Leftist political parties, which at the start of the century led governments in Europe’s main countries, now hold some of their lowest levels of representation in history. Of the 27 leaders attending European Union summits, only three - Spain, Denmark and Malta - belong to the Social Democratic family, although Socialists also make up part of some coalition governments, such as in Germany and Austria. Unexpected allies are ’also’ emerging, including Pope Leo XIV, she added. Ribera regularly contends with ’conservative’ dominance within the institution, led by Germany’s der Leyen. They’ve clashed over climate policy, to which Ribera has devoted much of her career, including as a minister in Spain. Their disagreements have also included the EU’s stance on Gaza, and relations with the US. Europe faces the challenge of learning at high speed to build its autonomy from the US following a decoupling marked by unexpected virulence, Ribera said. Trump’s decisions are pushing Europe to become ’much more explicit about things that are not acceptable.’ (Source: Luxembourg Times)

April 18 2026 10:11:47  ’Far-right’ leaders from Europe gather in Milan today for a rally against irregular immigration and Brussels bureaucracy, the first since the electoral defeat of nationalist Viktor Orbán in Hungary. The Patriots for Europe party, the third-largest bloc in the European Parliament, has called on its supporters to meet at 1300 GMT in front of Milan's Duomo cathedral. Organiser Salvini, leader of Italy's nationalist League party, has deemed that symbol of Christianity ideal for the event billed as "Without Fear — in Europe Masters in our Own Home!" France's Bardella and the Netherlands' Wilders have confirmed their attendance following invitations by Salvini, who is deputy prime minister in the coalition government of Giorgia Meloni. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has also been invited. Spain, where the Vox party has made strong gains, has not yet announced a participant. Nor has Hungary, where one of the co-founders of the Patriots, Orbán, was voted from power after 16 years in a crushing election defeat to pro-EU opposition figure P.M. Ahead of that election, the president of France's National Rally, Le Pen, went to Budapest to try and shore up Orbán, stressing that 2027 was shaping up to be absolutely fundamental for the ’far right’. Major contests in France, Italy, Spain and Poland would give potential far-right winners the means to radically change the course of the European Union from within, she said. Peace, work and security will be the watchwords of the Milan rally, Salvini explained ahead of the rally. Participants on stage are expected to talk up measures such as ending legal aid to migrants or imposing strict limits on family reunification policies. In line with Meloni, the League has also called for the EU to soften budget deficit rules due to the energy crisis triggered by the Middle East war. ’These rules are unbearable with the wars currently under way ... Some people in Brussels live on Planet Mars, and we're going to bring them back down to Earth on Saturday, with good manners, of course,” Salvini said. Farmers in tractors protesting free trade agreements, and motorcyclists opposed to traffic restrictions are to lead the way today for a short march from eastern Milan to the Duomo. The far-right rally is also a show of force for the League in its stronghold of Lombardy and in Italy as a whole, at a time when it can count only on around six to eight percent of voting intentions, according to the latest polls. The League's popularity has been on a downward trajectory, scoring 17.35 percent in the 2018 elections and 8.8 percent in the last ones in 2022. Salvini's party is under pressure from the new National Future party founded by retired general Vannacci, who defected from the League in February and already has about three percent of voting intentions. Several counter events, including anti-fascist rallies, are planned for today in Milan, a centre-left metropolis in a strongly right-wing region. Despite being the League's coalition partner in Meloni's government, Forza Italia is also planning an event for its Milan chapter, dedicated to the social and civic engagement of children of immigrants in Italy. Also today, progressives including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Mexican President Sheinbaum and Brazilian President Lula da Silva are set to gather in Barcelona. (Source: Hurryiet Daily News - Turkey)

17-04-2026 17:16  The many problems that the European Union may have had with Hungary’s membership under the right-wing populist Viktor Orbán have not gone away – even following his astonishing defeat in the recent election in Hungary. It exposes uncertainties over the future of European expansion plans, even as the UK pushes for closer EU alignment. The European Commission president der Leyen’s vision of a 30-plus European Union, which includes Ukraine and former Soviet satellite countries, is disappearing in the rear-view mirror. According to Politico, there is a very real fear among many EU diplomats of another pro-Putin ‘Trojan horse’ – wielding vetoes, raising objections and disruptions. Diplomats are not happy. One concern with expanding the EU is that it will involve countries becoming involved in negotiations which could provide a vehicle for pro-Putin (and pro-Trump) meddling and interference. The immediate concern is the fast-tracking of Ukraine into the EU. Even though P.M. ended 16 years of Orbán rule, during the election campaign, he had said he didn’t want any ‘fast tracks’ for Ukraine membership. EU enlargement was set to be an agenda item at the EU Summit to be held in Cyprus in late April but it is now unlikely to be discussed. Enlargement must remain demanding and merit-based to ensure its success and credibility, said France’s minister delegate for European affairs, Haddad. Orbán was a politician ’willing to do Putin and Trump’s bidding with a veto, ready to undermine policies’ while ’taking the benefits of EU membership’. There is also a ’fear in western European countries of an influx of cheaper labour from candidate countries’. The same semi-populist, semi-xenophobic arguments we heard about the Poles [dubbed ‘the Polish plumber debate’ in 2004] – we are likely to hear with the Ukrainians and any other candidate. The concern is highest in France which, by law, would have to hold a referendum on admitting a new member state. The political left in France argues that a vote on Ukraine joining the EU could feed into the campaigning of populist right wing Rassemblement National (National Rally) party leader Bardella. There are also fears in Germany, the Netherlands and Italy which now argue that the EU’s strenuous ‘merit-based’ tests must be respected – with no exceptions for geopolitical reasons. Insiders say the EU now has to be ‘Hungary-proofed’ by denying veto powers to new members for several years following admission. This is bad news not just for Ukraine, but also for Montenegro which is said to have completed the laborious steps needed to become a new member. Yet the mandate to start drafting the accession treaty is being pushed back. ’Despite pressure by Sweden and Denmark, among others, to get Ukraine fast-tracked’, the EU will need agreement from the big western EU countries. Currently the EU recognises Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine as being candidate countries. Kosovo is formally considered a potential candidate. Turkey has frozen status, although Turkey’s application for candidate status was originally made in 1999. (Source: Yorkshire Bylines – United Kingdom)

16/04/2026 - 17:15 GMT+2  'First talks': European Commission officials are due to meet the team of Hungary’s prime minister-designate, P.M., in Budapest tomorrow, just five days after his election victory, to begin the process of unfreezing €17 billion in EU funds, with Ukraine-related disputes also on the agenda. P.M. has already spoken twice with European Commission President der Leyen, who pledged 'her support'. It remains unclear whether an agreement on EU funds and Ukraine-related issues will be bundled together (unblocking EU funds and the opening of negotiating chapters in Ukraine's EU accession process). For P.M.’s incoming government, moving quickly to endorse Ukraine-related commitments upon taking office carries political risks. During the campaign, Orbán repeatedly cast Tisza as a puppet of Ukraine and Brussels. Days after the Hungarian election, Zelenskyy announced plans to restore the Druzhba oil pipeline by the end of April. The EU delegation will include experts from the budget and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) — the EU’s post-Covid recovery fund. They are expected to provide technical assistance to P.M.’s team 'to help amend legislation in Hungary'. (Source: Euronews – based in Lyon, France)
by 'Zsiros

Thursday 16 April 2026 17:55 BST  Hungary’s new PM tells state broadcaster ‘we are shutting down your lying service’ in first interview. P.M. slammed the channels as bring part of outgoing prime minister Viktor Orbán’s ’propaganda machine.’ (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

April 16, 2026 6:00am EDT  Hungary’s new leader grew up admiring Viktor Orbán. He comes from the same political world. He studied law, married Varga in 2006. His marriage made him part of Orbán’s inner circle and he worked in government: When his then-wife took a position in Brussels, he joined Hungary’s diplomatic corps. After returning to Hungary, he held positions at a state-owned bank and later ran Hungary’s student loan agency. They divorced in 2023. Accusing the government of corruption and propaganda in 2024, he publicly broke with Fidesz. He, who once idolized Orbán — now he’s the man who brought him down. P.M., a former Fidesz insider, swept Hungary's 2026 election, ending Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule and pledging to rebuild ties with the EU. /Source: Fox News – U.S. ; 'Reuters (– United Kingdom) - contributed' to the report/
by Lachter
Video: Ivanov, with a BA in Politics from the University of Belgrade, an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a London-based foreign policy think tank, talks about P.M.

April 16, 2026 6:00 AM  Hungary's new PM takes aim at EU with tough border policy. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S)

(Thursday), 16 April 2026  Populism without sovereignty is mere words. P.M offers Hungary's sovereignty to Brussels. That the European elite were desperate to see the back of Orbán it was their publicly announced policy. The European elite’s eagerness to welcome Hungary back into the fold was well predicted by every analyst. At 9.29 pm on Sunday, just moments after Viktor Orbán took to the stage to concede the Hungarian election, European Commission President der Leyen announced on X that ’Europe’s heart is beating stronger in Hungary tonight.’ Before 10 pm, Macron announced he had already spoken with the winner, P.M. victory of whom was far from ’a rejection of national conservatism and a rebuff of the global far-right movement’. P.M. had not transformed conservative Hungary overnight into the political milieu of a progressive city like Amsterdam. P.M.promised no social revolution. P.M., the former Fidesz insider, had campaigned on a kind of Orbánism without Orbán, promising to preserve the key plank’s of Orbán’s political legacy, including a rejection of Ukraine’s EU accession. P.M. had even criticised Orbán for allowing too many migrants into Hungary. Tusk similarly made criticisms of Law and Justice for an overly-permissive approach to migration. Orbán’s greatest legacy was the establishment of ideological hegemony over the fundamental questions of migration, identity and energy security. Although Orbán never described himself as such, even that much-maligned descriptor of Orbán – populist – is not about to be retired. P.M. was quick to assume its mantel. But then why were der Leyen and Macron – indeed, the entire globalist class from Obama and Soros – so eager to celebrate P.M.’s victory as a historic moment? In his speech the day after the election, he claimed to be a populist, though of the good kind. Populism is nothing without sovereignty. Right-wing opinions on migration are meaningless without the national independence to see them through. For all of P.M.’s appealing noises about conservative priorities, his overriding political significance is his desire for reconciliation with Brussels. This has been the subject of the first announcements since his victory. P.M will work tirelessly to see the billions of Euros suspended by the EU sent swiftly to Hungary. The price of this sorely needed cash is submission to Brussels, to the ’27 conditions’ that the EU has been trying to impose on Hungary in exchange for the blocked funds. Tusk, without lifting a finger to reform Poland’s ’corrupt’ institutions, was immediately rewarded for his victory by Brussels with cash. He even managed to secure a so-called opt-out from the EU’s Migration Pact – just as P.M. promises. The opt-out was however not as it seemed – merely a temporary derogation from refugee quotas justified by Poland’s support for millions of Ukrainian war-refugees. More importantly, it was not an assertion of national sovereignty, but a blessing bestowed by Brussels. Sovereign is he who decides on the exception. P.M.’s agenda: The granting of sovereign power to the European Public Prosecutor, the promise to abide by ’fundamental values’ (read: EU rulings and policies on LGBT), and the lifting of the veto on EU sanctions and energy policy. Der Leyen even smells a bigger prize: The abolition of the unanimity requirement in the European Council. She moved fast, waited less than a day after Orbán’s defeat to call for the EU to get more power over national governments to force through foreign policy decisions. Brussels may be prepared to strategically relax its most maximal demands, but only if it senses that it is working with someone who is ’one of us’. The quid pro quo eventually comes due, as is clear in the case of SAFE in Poland – Tusk is desperately attempting to ram through a funding agreement which would seriously curtail Poland’s ability to choose its own defence partners and leave it dangerously reliant on Germany. The fundamental question is about the substance of populism, not its outward manifestations. Without the fundamentals of sovereignty, there is no national policymaking; subject to international institutions, politics becomes reduced to merely having opinions. Through repeated experience of the reality of EU policymaking, Orbán was drawn to the truth of this lesson. His increasingly combative relationship with the EU elite was the product of an understanding of the reality of power and just how precarious a democracy can be in the midst of the European Union’s relentless desire to draw all sovereignty to itself. Real populism is inseparable from the commitment to maintain national independence – to which the EU is by far the biggest threat in Europe. There might be good reasons to be mistrustful of the patchy record of contemporary populists. In replacing a commitment to national sovereignty with a few choice words about border security, it is these faux-populists who are, by definition, the ones really shilling slop. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)
by Reynolds, the head of policy for MCC Brussels

6 7 25 / .6 7 24 09:04

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Andor "Négyszemközt" című műsorában Kiszely,

a Századvég politikai elemzési igazgatója.

Mi történt vasárnap, mire készül Orbán Viktor és mikor jön az első válság?

A kutató részletesen beszél Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök szerepéről

és arról, hogy mire készül a Tisza Párt -

akarja-e, tudja-e tartani az ígéreteit.

Mire számíthat Magyarország a közeledő gazdasági gondok idején?

(Forrás: YouTube / Kontextus)

- video - 

37 123 megtekintés

Kulcsszavak:

Alaptörvény    Alkotmány    Ausztria    Barátság kőolajvezeték    Bulgária    Csehország    Egyesült Arab Emírségek    Egyesült Államok    Egyesült Királyság    ENSZ    Erdély    Európai Bizottság    Európai Parlament    Európai Unió    fénykép    Franciaország    Görögország    Hollandia    Horvátország    Irán    Írország    Japán    Kína    Magyarország    Málta    MOL    Németország    Olaszország    Omán    Oroszország    Országgyűlés     Perzsa-öböl    Románia    Szerbia    Szlovákia    Tajvan    Törökország    Ukrajna    Venezuela

.6 5 8

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Vajon elárulta Meloni Orbán Viktort? 
A jóléti intézkedések és a családtámogatások veszélybe kerültek
a háborús pszichózis miatt?
Európa totális kifosztása megkezdődött. 
Az orosz kincsekért bárkit feláldoznak?
Brüsszel 27 pontos, kíméletlen ultimátummal kényszeríti térdre Magyarországot,
miközben az európai 'elit' az évszázad rablására készül.
Megrázó elemzés a TISZA párt brüsszeli paktumáról, a nukleáris fenyegetésről, 
Európa tervezett kifosztásáról.
Szomráky, külpolitikai újságírót és Olaszország-szakértőt kérdezi Fekete.

(Forrás: YouTube / feketerita)

- video -

51 557 megtekintés

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Vendég propagandája

a propagandának tartott közmédia-hírszolgáltatás felfüggesztéséről,

egyebekről

Forrás: YouTube / Telex

(Átirat: Van!)

Csak 60 éven felülieknek (mert rossz példát mutat)

59 922 megtekintés

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Adriai-tenger    Adria Kőolajvezeték    Alkotmány    Druzhba Pipeline    Csehország    Egyesült Államok    Erdély    Európa    Európai Bizottság    Európai Parlament    Európai Tanács    Európai Unió     Horvátország    Kárpátalja    Lengyelország    Magyar Nemzeti Bank    Magyar Tudományos Akadémia    Németország    Oroszország   Országgyűlés    Románia    Szlovákia     Ukrajna

.6 5 9 12:36 / 6 5 5

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Az Európai Unió uralmi struktúrái,

az ukrán elnök,

Magyar

oly magabiztosan küldi el ba az amerikai elnököt, annak alelnökét

és az izraeli miniszterelnököt,

hogy felmerül a kérdés:

Vajon ki a 'gazdi'?

Aki azt csinál, amit akar

és hülyére veheti mindazokat, akiket a világ urainak hiszünk.

(Forrás: YouTube / Egy Bogár Naplója)

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Egyesült Államok    Európa    Európai Unió    globális    Izrael   Kína    Magyarország    Oroszország    Ukrajna

17 561 megtekintés

.6 4 11 12:47 / 6 4 29

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Magyarország
2026.04.08  Külföldi hátterű csoportok és nyomásgyakorló szervezetek próbálják megrendíteni a magyar társadalom választásokba vetett bizalmát, szerveznek választási csalásról szóló dezinformációs kampányt. A választási rendszer és a választás tisztaságának megkérdőjelezésére irányuló dezinformációs kampányban nyomásgyakorló szervezetek és velük szövetségben működő közéleti szereplők koalíciója vesz részt - átmeneti szövetségesként fellépő vagy régről ismert, újraaktivált csoportok. A kiterjedt dezinformációs művelet célja a választás törvényességének megkérdőjelezése, morális zavar keltése a társadalomban. A folyamatos készenlét hangsúlyozásával próbálják megteremteni a bizalmatlanságnak azt a fokát, amelyben nekik nem megfelelő választási eredmény esetén az utcára vezényelhető a politikai küzdelem. A névleg a választás tisztaságáért síkra szálló csoportok nagy hírveréssel azt a látszatot keltik, hogy Magyarországon a voksolást szükségszerűen csalás kíséri, ezért a számos meghívott nemzetközi megfigyelő ellenére is szükséges minél nagyobb számban civil megfigyelőket delegálni. Az önkéntes szavazatszámlálók, aktivisták toborzásának, képzésének hátterében valójában adatgyűjtés, adománygyűjtés, szürke zónás pénzmozgások történnek a politikai nyomásgyakorló szervezetek által létrehozott digitális terekben. Vélhetőleg csak a választásra hozták létre a De! Akcióközösség Egyesületet, amelynek égisze alatt jelent meg a legnagyobb videómegosztón egy több mint ötvenperces videófilm, amelyben már jó előre 'megmutatják, miként fognak választási csalást elkövetni a magyar kormánypártok'. A De! Akcióközösség Egyesület nevű, célja szerint politikai és közéleti véleményformáló tevékenységet végző civil szervezetet 2025. december 12-én vette nyilvántartásába a Fővárosi Törvényszék Cégbírósága. A balassagyarmati székhelyű formáció megbízott képviselői, társelnökei Hegyes és Tímár. Az egyesület alapító okiratban vállalt célkitűzése, hogy 'erősítse' a magyar társadalom demokratikus gondolkodásmódját, 'képviselje és terjessze' a demokratikus értékeket, valamint 'együttműködjön mindazon civil, szakmai és társadalmi szervezetekkel, amelyek hasonló értékeket képviselnek'. Az egyesület az áprilisi országgyűlési választásra készülve a tisztességes és átlátható választások 'elősegítése' érdekében 'tájékoztató kampányokat' folytat. Honlapja szerint ezt három lépésben tervezi elérni: 1.): A szavazat ára2 című, a YouTube portálon terjesztett 'dokumentumkrimivel'; 2.): egy április 12-én indítandó, az egész országra kiterjedő kampánnyal, amelyben az egyesület azt vállalja, hogy 'őrszemeket küld' a 'választási csalással fenyegetett' helyszínekre; 3.): április 13-ára és az azt követő időszakra ígért 'emlékezetes' akciókkal. A szervezet doménját 2025. augusztus 15-én regisztrálták, tulajdonosa nem publikus. A domén angol verziójának a regisztrációja friss, 2026. március 25-én jegyezték be, a magyar főoldalra van átirányítva, amelyen ugyanakkor már létezik az angol nyelvű verzió. Ezért okkal feltételezhető, hogy az angol nyelvű domain más jövőbeli terveket fog szolgálni például külföldi kampányokban, adományok gyűjtésére, kapcsolatépítésre, sajtókapcsolatokhoz használható olyan nyelvi környezetben, amelyben a magyar megnevezés nehezen érvényesül. Külföldi ambíciókra utal az is, hogy az egyesület eddig publikált e-mail-címeinek végződése is .org. Az egyesület weboldalán adatokat gyűjtött az önkéntes jelentkezőktől: e-mail-címet, telefonszámot, megyét és irányítószámot kértek, ezekből csak a megye megadása nem volt kötelező. Azt írták, hogy ezek az adatok a kapcsolatba lépéshez és a tájékoztatáshoz szükségesek. Az irányítószám mint kötelező elem azonban inkább adatbázis-építésre utal. Az űrlapon a 'választási megfigyelőnek' jelentkezők szállást is felajánlhatnak, valamint információt adhatnak a választással kapcsolatban tudomásukra jutó vélt jogsértésekről. Az egyesület a Stripe Payments Europe Ltd. szolgáltatását használja a fizetéshez és platformként, amely széles körben elterjedt online fizetési megoldás, és számos civil kezdeményezés, illetve nemzetközi hálózat is alkalmazza adománygyűjtésre. A nyilvánosságban ugyanakkor olyan – függetlenül nem igazolt – állítások is megjelentek, amelyek szerint egyes politikai szereplők finanszírozása részben hasonló online csatornákon keresztül, külföldi forrásból történhet. Egy magát volt ukrán hírszerzőként azonosító személy médiában tett nyilatkozata szerint például a Tisza Párt kampányfinanszírozása kapcsán is felmerült külföldi – állítása szerint ukrán – pénzügyi támogatás lehetősége, illetve készpénzes források mozgása. Ezek az állítások jelenleg nem tekinthetők bizonyítottnak, ugyanakkor rámutatnak arra a strukturális kockázatra, hogy a digitális fizetési infrastruktúrák és a határokon átnyúló finanszírozási csatornák potenciálisan alkalmasak lehetnek a közéleti folyamatok külső befolyásolására, különösen akkor, ha a források átláthatósága korlátozott vagy nehezen ellenőrizhető. Hegyes, társelnök, 2023 óta az egyesült államokbeli Acton Institute munkatársa, 2024 óta a CEU hallgatója, aktív Tisza Párt-szimpatizáns. A 2025 nyara óta bejegyzett magyar nyelvű domén, a nemzetközi jelenléthez szükséges angol nyelvű cím, a választás napjához közeli dátumra időzített bemutató, az aktivistatoborzás, az adatgyűjtés és a Stripe alkalmazást használó pénzmozgatás felveti annak gyanúját, hogy egy összehangolt, előre megtervezett dezinformációs művelet készül. A magyar választási rendszer elleni erősödő támadások egy összehangolt, külföldről finanszírozott művelet részeként próbálják megingatni a társadalmi bizalmat, céljuk a destabilizáció, a magyar választási rendszer hitelének rombolása és az utcai erőszak lehetőségének megteremtése. (Forrás: Szuverenitásvédelmi Hivatal - Magyarország)

.6 5 9 

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Erőtérben Földivel, Horváthtal, Póczával

- video -

(Forrás: YouTube / Mandiner)

34 353 megtekintés 2026. IV. 9. óta

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.6 4 11 12:00

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Brutális külföldi nyomás alatt a magyar választások

- video -

Dr. Hossóval Fekete készített interjút

(Forrás: YouTube / Fekete)

2026. IV. 6. óta 102 635 megtekintés

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.6 4 7 11:45