Reporting Democracy

13/01/2026

Hungary's president announced today parliamentary elections will be held April 12. A close contest is expected, with PM Viktor Orban facing the most serious challenge to his 16-year rule from Peter Magyar, whose Tisza party is as much as 12 pts ahead in polls.

The expected April general election will show not only whether Hungarians have finally tired of Orban and his illiberal rule, but also how feasible it is for a new government to reverse 16 years of democratic backsliding.

12/01/2026

The new Czech government, in both form and content, is doing little in the way of alleviating concerns and uncertainties about what’s in store.

Read more:

The new Czech government, in both form and content, is doing little in the way of alleviating concerns and uncertainties about what’s in store.

09/01/2026

Hungary has granted asylum to two unnamed Polish citizens, investigative news site VSquare reported. The Hungarian government hasn’t confirmed the news, but local media speculate it is former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his wife who were granted asylum. The move is expected to further strain Polish-Hungarian relations.

By granting asylum to a former Polish deputy justice minister and preventing his surrender to the authorities, the Hungarian government is doing precisely what it accuses the government in Poland of: politically interfering in judicial decisions.

09/01/2026

Hungary’s allegedly “sovereigntist” foreign policy faced some challenges this week. After the US military intervention against Venezuela and the arrest of dictator Nicolas Maduro, the Hungarian government struggled to walk a tightrope upholding its trumpeted ideals of national sovereignty while not criticising its close ally Donald Trump.

Read more:

Elsewhere, Mercedes to move entire A-Klasse manufacturing from Germany to Hungary; Slovak far-right agitator Bombic to face trial; Poland gets serious about prosecuting hate crimes; and ammo initiative for Ukraine to continue without Czech money.

09/01/2026

Poland has bought itself time – with borrowed money, deferred choices and strong growth. What it does with that time will determine whether 2026 marks a consolidation or the beginning of a reckoning.

Read more:

Poland has bought itself time – with borrowed money, deferred choices and strong growth. What it does with that time will determine whether 2026 marks a consolidation or the beginning of a reckoning.

08/01/2026

The Hungarian PM’s cautious response to a new law targeting Slovakia’s ethnic-Hungarian minority is creating credibility issues for his Fidesz party on both sides of the border and perhaps opening up an opportunity for Hungary’s extreme-right to benefit.

Read more:

The Hungarian PM’s cautious response to a new law targeting Slovakia’s ethnic-Hungarian minority is creating credibility issues for his Fidesz party on both sides of the border and perhaps opening up an opportunity for Hungary’s extreme-right to benefit.

07/01/2026

The expected April general election will show not only whether Hungarians have finally tired of Orban and his illiberal rule, but also how feasible it is for a new government to reverse 16 years of democratic backsliding.
Read more:

The expected April general election will show not only whether Hungarians have finally tired of Orban and his illiberal rule, but also how feasible it is for a new government to reverse 16 years of democratic backsliding.

05/01/2026

At Viktor Orban's annual international press conference, he explained Hungary was the only country not to endorse the EU’s common resolution on Venezuela because "Hungary does not want to take a moral stance on what happened”. Sticking to his utilitarian approach, PM Orban added that the US intervention could be ultimately beneficial for Hungary if it increases global oil supply and lowers prices.

On the Danish territory of Greenland, which the Trump administration has made public comments about annexing, Orban says there “is an easy solution. We are all in NATO; we can discuss that internally”, notably failing to endorse Denmark’s sovereignty.

When asked which of his global political allies could support his campaign in the run-up to the 2026 April election, Orban said “Putin's visit to Hungary would not currently be timely”. But he didn't rule out some high-ranking US politicians taking his side. Speculation in Budapest points to a visit from US Vice President JD Vance.

29/12/2025

Come January, Czech schools across the country will have to provide free menstrual products to their pupils. A welcome move, activists say, who urge an even more systemic approach to tackling period taboos.

Read more:

Come January, Czech schools across the country will have to provide free menstrual products to their pupils. A welcome move, activists say, who urge an even more systemic approach to tackling period taboos.

23/12/2025

The European Commission announced it opened an investigation to determine whether Czech state aid for the construction of two new reactors at the Dukovany nuclear power plant is in line with EU rules.

Background:

After months of legal uncertainty, the Czech government rushed to sign the contract for the construction of two new nuclear reactors, but an EU investigation into the deal is still a possibility.

19/12/2025

Lancement: Smile! You're on camera – and you’re being scanned. Facial recognition technology is increasingly being used in surveillance systems across the world. Rights campaigners say it poses a serious risk to our privacy. The EU has banned the use of biometric identification in public spaces, but there are loopholes that some EU states have used to get round the rules.



Watch the video: https://balkaninsight.com/2025/12/19/arte-europe-weekly-are-we-in-a-new-era-of-mass-surveillance/

19/12/2025

Ukrainian President Zelensky’s first official meeting with Polish counterpart Nawrocki signalled solidarity in Warsaw, despite clear political differences. Nawrocki called the visit “good news for Poland, for Kyiv, and for the region - and bad news for Moscow.” Zelensky thanked Poles for their long-standing support since the start of Russia’s invasion.

Three years after an unprecedented refugee response, hate crimes against Ukrainians in Poland have doubled, while political rhetoric and coordinated disinformation is transforming the public discourse.