Chinatown

Orbán’s media machine in the Balkans investigated for suspicious transactions

A Hungarian businessman close to the government has expanded his media empire to the Balkans. However, a high-value contract between his Slovenian and North Macedonian companies raised the attention of local authorities.

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”.

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.

Companies close to Orbán’s allies will operate Hungarian trading houses in the Balkan

The Hungarian government started to rebuild its controversial trading house system on the Balkans – once again, with the old local partners that have good political connections.

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.

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.

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.

The Russians are poised to benefit from international deal financed by Hungary

In addition to the Russians, several government-close people are also watching closely the project developments. The business partner of Árpád Habony has appeared in the company that signed the contract. The investment is likely to come up at the Orbán-Putin meeting.

How the alliance with Israel has reshaped the politics of Viktor Orban

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.

MP of Hungary’s strongest opposition party has ties to the government’s controversial trading house business

Opposition MP Lajos Olah has been dealing with China for quite a while. He is so successful that even Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto can also be regularly seen with him. And one of Olah’s acquaintances operates a Chinese trading house for 70 thousand euros monthly.