Why isn’t Germany tougher with the Hungarian government? Viktor Orbán has been building his alliances for decades through personal friendships, political gimmicks and pouring hundreds of billions of forints on German corporations. Direkt36 explored in detail the hidden history of Hungarian-German relations.
Continue readingAll posts by Panyi Szabolcs
How Orban played Germany, Europe’s great power
Iranian students expelled from Hungary during the pandemic may be able to return
Criminal charges have been dropped against the majority of the Iranian students who were expelled from Hungary in the spring for violating quarantine rules, and the Hungarian authorities have also begun to revoke their expulsion orders.
Continue reading
Huawei is slowly pushed out from European 5G networks but the Orban government still supports them
5G rollout has finally started in Hungary during the pandemic. Telenor, the partly state-owned mobile operator could be the lifeline for the beleaguered Chinese company.
Continue reading
Tens of thousands of forgotten Hungarians on the frontlines of the coronavirus
While the conditions in nursing homes for elderly have become the number one political issue in Hungary, there has been little talk of homes for the disabled and psychiatric patients, or the social workers who provide care to them. Their problems are almost invisible.
Continue reading
How once cherished Iranians became coronavirus scapegoats in Orban’s Hungary
Hungary saw great business opportunities in Iran and the Orban government tried to strenghten relations through university scholarships and residence permits. Then the course of world politics and the coronavirus changed everything.
Continue reading
Hungary pressured by diplomats to stop blocking NATO-Ukraine talks
There is growing pressure on Hungary’s government to stop blocking high-level Ukraine-NATO meetings. They are accused of doing a favor to Russia, while Hungary says “we’re not blocking just for fun”.
Continue reading
U.S. is still trying to push out the Russian-led bank from Hungary
American and British diplomacy are upset that the International Investment Bank has relocated its headquarters to Budapest. The bank’s employees were supposed to receive wide diplomatic immunities, but the Orban government seems to be backtracking on issuing them.
Continue reading
How Viktor Orban got involved in Trump’s Ukraine scandal
Several influential U.S. government officials have stated in recent weeks that Viktor Orban was inciting Donald Trump against Ukraine. However, reality is more complex and there are tough diplomatic battles being fought in the background.
Continue reading
Hungary’s government is quietly neck-deep in the U.S.-Huawei war
The Trump administration is nervous about the good relationship between the Orban government and Huawei. The Chinese giant has been involved in several Hungarian state developments in recent years, and their devices have even emerged with Hungarian security agencies.
Continue reading
Viktor Orban promised something to Vladimir Putin, but the U.S. intervened
Hungary’s government promised diplomatic immunities to the Russian-led, now Budapest-based International Investment Bank, but U.S. diplomacy had concerns over the bank’s alleged ties to Russian intelligence.
Continue reading
How the alliance with Israel has reshaped the politics of Viktor Orban
Direkt36 tells the story of how the Hungarian and Israeli Right slowly found each other through the relationship of Viktor Orban and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Continue reading
Both Russian arms dealers Hungary extradited to Moscow instead of the U.S. now set free
Vladimir Lyubishin Sr. was released after a Moscow court hearing. The arms dealer was arrested in a joint operation by Hungarian and U.S. authorities, but Hungary’s government extradited him to Russia. According to his lawyer, Lyubishin is very happy and can’t wait to travel somewhere with a spa and sauna.
Continue reading
Orban promises the U.S. counterintelligence measures against a Russian-led bank
Viktor Orban has secretly promised many things to the U.S. government because they were worried about the Russian-led International Investment Bank’s (IIB) moving to Budapest. Meanwhile, the Hungarian government is trying to reassure U.S. congressmen that everything is OK with the IIB, although many find the bank suspicious.
Continue reading
I really like Norway! This is how Trump refused Viktor Orban’s deal aimed against NGOs
Viktor Orban arrived at the White House with a very delicate plan. He tried to persuade Donald Trump to help the Hungarian government’s efforts against independent Hungarian civil society organizations. In return, he suggested that he would not obstruct ongoing negotiations over a lucrative U.S.-Norwegian arms deal.
Continue reading
Trump and Orban to cut billion-dollar arms deals at the possible expense of Hungarian NGOs
U.S. Ambassador David Cornstein boasted about billion-dollar arms deals with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. However, Hungary wants to use an air defense system deal as leverage to gain government control over funding of independent NGOs.
Continue reading
Hungary to buy more U.S. weapons as PM Orban gets a White House invitation
Orban is not coming empty-handed to the Oval Office: Hungary’s government is negotiating high-value arms deals with the United States.
Continue reading
Russian-led bank rapidly gearing up in Budapest amid EU and U.S. worries
Nothing can stop the relocation of International Investment Bank, a former Soviet bank that was revived by Russian president Vladimir Putin a few years ago, to Budapest. Meanwhile, Hungary appoints a new director who has been accused of working for the Communist secret service.
Continue reading
How we exposed a secret conflict involving Russia, the United States, and Hungary
How we did our investigation into a story about two Russian arms dealers who were arrested in Hungary as the result of a US-led sting operation, and about how the Hungarian government extradited the two Russians to Moscow, infuriating the Americans.
Continue reading
Magyarországnak ígért milliárdos fejlesztést is érint Trump mexikói határfala
Kell a pénz Trump határfalára, elúszhat a kecskeméti reptér fejlesztése.
Continue reading
Russian arms dealer busted by U.S. agents in Hungary now out of jail after extradition
Vladimir Lyubishin Jr. has been released from prison in February. The U.S. fears that the Russian arms dealers will avoid justice after being extradited to Russia.
Continue reading