Hungary Archives - VSQUARE.ORG

How Orbán’s government funds ultra-conservative NGO’s agenda

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban smiles as he departs from a meeting at the EU summit in Brussels, Belgium July 20, 2020. Source: JOHANNA GERON / Reuters / Forum

The Hungarian Center for Fundamental Rights, one of the Polish Ordo Iuris’s partners, has close ties to PM Viktor Orbán.

VSquare

07.05.2021

RSF: The dismal state of press freedom in V4 countries

media, media freedom

Scratched,Paper,Texture,,Old,Newspaper,Background

Source: Here/Shutterstock

In three of the Visegrad Four countries – Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – press freedom is in decline, according to the World Press Freedom Index 2021 published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

VSquare

21.04.2021

Russian and Chinese vaccine diplomacy at work

Chinese influence, disinformation, health care, Russia

Graphics by Lenka Matoušková

Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic are once again showing disregard for European solidarity, negotiating deals for Eastern vaccines, even at the price of sparking government crises.

Eva Kubániová

Peter Kapitán

Gabriella Horn

18.03.2021

The Survival of the Slovak Hungarian Media is in the Hands of Budapest

finance, Hungarian media, media freedom

The map shows how money from Hungary "flows" out of the country, to organizations located over the borders. Source: https://atlo.team/hungarianmoney-en/

Hungarian government invests billions of forints each year into Hungarian communities in neighbouring countries.

VSquare

01.03.2021

Szczerek: Three decades of the Visegrad Group

EU, history

Szczyt Szefow Rzadow Panstw Grupy Wyszehradzkiej z okazji 30-lecia Wspolpracy Wyszehradzkiej

Meeting on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the 1991 Visegrad Declaration with the participation of the President of the European Council. From left: Igor Matovic, Charles Michel, Mateusz Morawiecki, Andrej Babis, Victor Orban. Cracow, Poland, February 17, 2021. Source: Filip Radwanski / FORUM

Visegrad is a slightly ephemeral entity, a quantum-like model and Schrödinger’s cat in one – sometimes it exists, sometimes it does not – it’s hard to tell, really.

VSquare

19.02.2021

How to get the vaccine in the Visegrad: a long way to go

Covid19, health care

Kolejka do rejestracji na szczepienia przeciw COVID-19

Massive queues formed at clinics as Polish seniors tried to register in the vaccination programme. Warsaw, 22 January 2021, Source: Darek Golik/Forum

Too few vaccines, not enough personnel, poor organisation, chaos, and growing disinformation campaigns – all four countries of the Visegrad Group (V4) are struggling with their vaccination programmes

VSquare

22.01.2021

“Like a grim episode of Black Mirror”

Covid19, disinformation, media freedom, Viktor Orban

Source: AtSkwongPhoto/Shutterstock

Péter Krekó, political analyst at Political Capital, a Hungarian think tank, has been the target of a frenzied attack by media allied to Viktor Orbán’s government. He told us about the sound a smear campaign makes on one’s phone and the best way to sanely live through a character assassination.

VSquare

15.01.2021

The golden lion roars from Cracow

Catholic church, Ordo Iuris, right wing

TFP logo, a lion on a red background. Source: Reporters Foundation

How can Our Lady of Fatima holy cards distributed in Poland add up to hundreds of thousands of euros that have been invested in a radically conservative organization in Lithuania? Our cross-border investigation.

VSquare

30.12.2020

The game must go on

Covid19, health care, Viktor Orban

Bajnokok Ligája - Ferencvárosi TC-Juventus

4 November 2020, Budapest, Puskás Aréna, Champions League match Ferencvárosi TC-Juventus Photo by MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd

Even though the government has been trying to stress that they have prepared for the second wave of the pandemic, daily figures released in recent days appear to contradict this. Meanwhile, football, Viktor Orbán’s favorite sport, still attract crowds.

Gabriella Horn

07.11.2020

A suspicious PR consultant and a selfie with Orban

media, Viktor Orban

Still from a film on official Viktor Orban page on Facebook, source: https://www.facebook.com/orbanviktor

Igor Janke, a partner in Polish PR agency R4S has been charged by the prosecutor’s office in a giant financial scandal. Just a few weeks ago, Janke and his R4S partners opened an office in Budapest.

Konrad Szczygieł

02.11.2020