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Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has thanked Hungary for reportedly giving the “green light” to the opening of two more clusters in Ukraine’s European Union accession negotiations.

Sybiha said on Wednesday that Hungary had supported further steps concerning the second and third negotiating clusters at the level of the EU’s Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER).

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/ukraine-thanks-hungary-eu-talks/ | DailyNewsHungary

The European Commission has proposed a 15-year probation period for future EU member states, with countries potentially facing the loss of voting rights or funding if they breach democratic standards.

The plan, outlined by European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, is designed to give the bloc faster tools to respond if a newly admitted country undermines the rule of law, democracy or the EU’s principle of sincere cooperation. Kos explicitly invoked the former Hungarian prime minister, saying:

“No more Viktor Orbán.”

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/eu-viktor-orban-probation-new-members/ | DailyNewsHungary

Hungary can only be a truly European country if it remains true to itself, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in Gyula on Tuesday, 6 October, at a commemoration marking the 177th anniversary of the execution of the Martyrs of Arad.

Magyar delivered his speech at the memorial to the military officers near Gyula Castle. The event was also attended by Hunor Kelemen, president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), and Péter Faragó, the organisation’s president in Arad County.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-europe-magyar-6-october/ | DailyNewsHungary

Hungary will not block the launch of the next, technical stage of European Union accession talks with Ukraine, according to the Financial Times.

The London-based business daily reported on Monday, citing EU sources, that Prime Minister Péter Magyar has instructed Hungarian diplomats not to prevent the EU from sending letters to Ukraine and Moldova concerning the potential opening of the next two negotiating chapter clusters.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-doesnt-block-next-stage-ukraine-eu/ | DailyNewsHungary

Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán spoke to CNN on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s High-level Week in New York, outlining changes in Hungary’s foreign policy under the new government and discussing the country’s approach to Ukraine’s EU accession.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/anita-orban-cnn-new-government/ | DailyNewsHungary

Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has said Moscow hopes Hungary will continue its economic cooperation with Russia, while warning that Budapest’s recent actions could affect bilateral ties.

Kremlin hopes Hungary will continue economic cooperation

The Kremlin hopes “reason will prevail” in Hungary and that Budapest will continue its economic cooperation with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. His comments came just hours after Russia announced that it was expelling 10 Hungarian diplomats in response to Hungary’s decision in September to expel 10 Russian diplomats.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/kremlin-hungary-unfriendly-economy-russia/ | DailyNewsHungary

Hungary has voted in favour of new EU rules designed to make the return of people without a legal right to stay more effective, including stricter measures and the possibility of return hubs outside the bloc.

EU approves new return framework

The Council of the European Union has given its final approval to new rules governing the return of non-EU nationals who have no legal right to remain in the bloc.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-eu-tougher-return-rules-migrants/ | DailyNewsHungary

European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi says the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) could begin operating in Hungary as early as next year, potentially giving European prosecutors powers to investigate EU-fund fraud, corruption and money laundering in the country.

European Chief Prosecutor gives interview to the Hungarian press

Speaking to Telex during a visit to Budapest, Kövesi said she had met Hungary’s justice, finance and interior ministers, whom she described as strongly committed to making the initiative work. She said the sides had agreed that ten European delegated prosecutors would work in Hungary, alongside police officers, financial investigators and customs officials specifically assigned to EPPO cases.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/eppo-chief-kovesi-what-achieve-in-hungary/ | DailyNewsHungary

Two former ministers from Viktor Orbán’s governments have been caught up in a major corruption investigation, with one ordered into pre-trial detention and prosecutors seeking the detention of another.

The cases involving former national development minister Miklós Seszták and former culture minister Balázs Hankó concern alleged misuse of public funds and bribery. Both politicians deny wrongdoing.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/orban-era-ministers-arrested/ | DailyNewsHungary

Head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, has held talks on the technical details of Hungary’s membership of the EPPO with Justice Minister Márta Görög, Finance Minister András Kármán, Interior Minister Gábor Pósfai and Deputy Prosecutor General István Lajtár at the Ministry of Justice in Budapest, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The EPPO is an independent European Union body tasked with investigating criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the European Union, conducting prosecutions and bringing perpetrators to justice. These offences include budgetary fraud affecting the financial interests of the EU, active and passive corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, cross-border tax fraud and other connected offences.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-european-public-prosecutors-office/ | DailyNewsHungary

The Hungarian government has published a list of so-called 2000-series government resolutions issued between 2010 and 2026, the Prime Minister’s Office told the Hungarian News Agency (MTI) on Tuesday.
These decisions were previously not published in the Hungarian Gazette, but were sent directly to the government officials concerned. According to the list, the largest number of such resolutions were issued in 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/govt-publishes-3598-secretive-resolutions/ | DailyNewsHungary

A company selling powerful digital forensic tools to law-enforcement agencies across Europe — including the Hungarian police — has been accused by US authorities of concealing its Russian ownership and the fact that its software was developed in Russia. The case has raised fresh questions over Russian surveillance software in Europe and the security of technologies used to access highly sensitive digital evidence.

As The Hungary Insider reported based on a POLITICO investigation, Virginia-based Oxygen Forensics worked with EU-backed projects and supplied technology to law-enforcement agencies across several European countries.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/russian-linked-forensic-technology-reached-hungarian-police/ | DailyNewsHungary

Hungary's euro adoption could take place as early as 1 January 2032 if the country meets the necessary economic criteria by 2030, according to a senior official at the National Bank of Hungary (MNB). The timeline provides one of the clearest indications yet of how Budapest could eventually replace the forint with the European single currency.

Zoltán Kurali, deputy governor of the MNB responsible for monetary policy, told Reuters that Hungary could enter the Exchange Rate Mechanism, known as ERM II, by early 2029 at the latest if the government follows through on its commitment to meet the conditions for euro membership by 2030.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-euro-adoption-earliest-date-2032/ | DailyNewsHungary

The European Commission has proposed unlocking €4.2 billion in frozen EU funds for Hungary, marking a major development in the long-running funding dispute between Budapest and Brussels. The move could also restore full access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe for Hungarian students and researchers, following reforms introduced by the country’s new government.

According to the European Commission, Hungary has adequately addressed the previously identified rule-of-law concerns that could have put the European Union’s budget at risk, MTI reported.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/eu-moves-to-unlock-billion-funds-for-hungary/ | DailyNewsHungary

Péter Magyar and Ukraine have become embroiled in a public diplomatic dispute after Budapest rejected claims that Hungary had joined the newly launched Carpathian Eight regional initiative. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha criticised the Hungarian government’s position as unnecessarily confrontational, while Magyar insisted that no sovereign country could be declared part of an international cooperation format without its consent.

The exchange unfolded on social media after Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in parliament on Monday that Hungary was not a member of the Carpathian Eight, or C8, launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy days earlier.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/peter-magyar-ukraine-carpathian-eight-membership/ | DailyNewsHungary

Hungary is lobbying Washington for temporary relief from new Russian energy sanctions as the country continues to buy Russian crude while attempting to diversify its oil and gas supplies. The move follows new US legislation giving President Donald Trump powers to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries purchasing Russian energy.

According to Bloomberg, Hungary is seeking to avoid penalties during the period in which the government says it is reducing the country’s dependence on Russian energy.

The issue was raised in Washington by Márton Hajdu, chairman of the Hungarian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and a politician from the governing Tisza party.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-asks-us-for-relief-from-russian-sanctions/ | DailyNewsHungary

President Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party has strengthened its grip on parliament in the Russia election 2026, securing nearly 58% of the vote and remaining on course for a constitutional majority in the State Duma. For Hungary, the result does not immediately change bilateral relations, but it reinforces an important reality: Budapest will continue dealing with a politically entrenched Kremlin just as the new Hungarian government is moving closer to mainstream EU and NATO positions and redefining its relationship with Moscow.

According to preliminary results reported by Anadolu, United Russia received 57.83% of the vote, up from 49.82% in the 2021 parliamentary election, after 95.18% of ballots had been processed. Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova said the party was also leading in 208 of the 225 single-member constituencies and was likely to secure 355 of the State Duma’s 450 seats.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/russia-election-2026-what-means-for-hungary/ | DailyNewsHungary

Hungary’s change of government is increasingly being felt inside the country’s national security apparatus. After the replacement of four intelligence chiefs in June, a new report suggests that the overhaul of the Hungarian intelligence services is reaching deeper into the organisations, including middle-ranking personnel and officers serving abroad. The developments come against the background of years of controversy over political control, surveillance and Hungary’s handling of Russian intelligence activity.

How the Hungarian intelligence services are structured

Hungary has five official national security services, according to the country’s National Security Services Act. The Információs Hivatal (IH) is the civilian foreign intelligence agency, while the Alkotmányvédelmi Hivatal (AH) is primarily responsible for domestic counter-intelligence and identifying foreign intelligence operations.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/hungarian-intelligence-services-undergo-sweeping-reorganisation-after-orban-era/ | DailyNewsHungary

Hungary’s previous government committed the state to at least HUF 5 trillion (EUR 13.7 billion) in additional motorway concession costs, citing the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, according to Transport and Investment Minister Dávid Vitézy. In a statement published on Sunday, he questioned why taxpayers were made to bear these risks under a contract signed months after the Russian invasion had begun.

“The money the Hungarian state intended to pay to Lőrinc Mészáros and László Szíjj’s company under the overpriced and unlawful concession agreement could have filled 46 lorries with HUF 20,000 banknotes,” Vitézy wrote.

The minister detailed the controversial arrangement in a Facebook post on Sunday, following the government’s announcement that it would seek to terminate the 35-year motorway concession agreement.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/orban-government-motorway-costs-ukraine-war/ | DailyNewsHungary

Prime Minister Péter Magyar has delivered a sharp response to billionaire Lőrinc Mészáros after the company behind a controversial 35-year motorway concession signalled that it could pursue legal claims over the government’s plan to end the agreement. The latest exchange comes just a day after Budapest announced steps to terminate the contract, whose estimated payments over its lifetime exceed HUF 23 trillion (approximately EUR 64 billion).

“Mészáros and his associates are already threatening us with lawyers,” Magyar wrote in a recent Facebook post, referring to the government’s decision to end the motorway concession awarded under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Continue reading at https://dailynewshungary.com/peter-magyar-meszaros-motorway-concession/ | DailyNewsHungary