Chinese workers will construct Fudan’s Budapest campus using Chinese building materials, all covered by a Chinese loan, but the Hungarian state is the one paying the huge bill. Fudan University has already picked a contractor: state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation, a company embroiled in suspicions of corruption and espionage in several countries around the world.
Continue readingAll posts by Panyi Szabolcs
Huge Chinese loan to cover the construction of Fudan University in Budapest
How Russians got a second chance at lucrative rail deal from Hungary
A Russian company lobbied heavily against the €550m procurement of rail cars as they were unable to enter the competition. Then Hungary’s government suddenly canceled and restarted the bidding process.
Continue reading
Chinese spy games in Orbán’s Hungary
The policy of ’Eastern Opening’ set out by Viktor Orbán in hope of tons of Chinese money never actually resulted in momentous Chinese investments. The China-friendly environment in Hungary, on the other hand, came in handy for Chinese intelligence. Direkt36 presents the hidden history of Hungarian-Chinese relations.
Continue reading
Secret battles of Orban’s rival – Budapest’s first year under opposition rule
What conflicts emerged between Gergely Karácsony and Ferenc Gyurcsány? What did Antal Rogán tell the mayor? Who are the most influential people at Budapest’s city hall? Direkt36 presents the behind-the-scenes story of the capital’s opposition leadership.
Continue reading
How Orban played Germany, Europe’s great power
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 reading
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