40 votes
Accepted

Why can't Hungary import oil from somewhere other than Russia without "ruin[ing] the Hungarian economy"?

All the refineries in Hungary (and in Slovakia) are calibrated to the Ural type of oil coming from Russia. This type is different from the Brent type of oil coming from North Sea, etc. Adjusting the ...
Adam Gyenge's user avatar
  • 1,982
38 votes
Accepted

What are the implications of Hungary's emergency coronavirus bill?

The implications seem to be indefinite near-dictatorship for so long as Viktor Orbán chooses. For those who are interested, an (unofficial, I believe) English translation of the bill can be found ...
divibisan's user avatar
  • 25.9k
33 votes

Why is it a violation of ECHR to have someone shackled in court?

It may be less of a concern in a civil law system with a panel of judges instead of jury, but the appearance of the defendant is important. If the defendant looks like a criminal the jury may be ...
James K's user avatar
  • 120k
14 votes

Why can't Hungary import oil from somewhere other than Russia without "ruin[ing] the Hungarian economy"?

Ruin is relative. Hungarians would certainly take an economic hit. If you look at the oil pipelines in Europe, you can see that they are by and large going east to west, not north to south or south to ...
o.m.'s user avatar
  • 108k
12 votes

Why are PiS and Fidesz split over Russia (and Ukraine)?

This is a complex issue, and I try to answer it from the Hungarian point of view, but not as a government fan. Although the Hungarian and Polish minorities are basically of equal size in Ukraine, they ...
Adam Gyenge's user avatar
  • 1,982
12 votes
Accepted

Why is it a violation of ECHR to have someone shackled in court?

There are numerous jurisdictions that have rules against defendants being routinely shackled and (as in James K's answer) one of the reasons is that it may introduce bias in the judge and/or jury. ...
Lag's user avatar
  • 5,918
11 votes

Why is it a violation of ECHR to have someone shackled in court?

My apologies for not answering the question itself, but it might be appropriate to explain the Italian view on the use of handcuffs a bit. Italian Wikipedia explains: In the Italian Code of Criminal ...
ccprog's user avatar
  • 8,154
10 votes

Did Netanyahu publicly criticize Soros (or at least his views)?

Netanyahu did so in February 2018: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Likud ministers on Sunday that Jewish billionaire George Soros is funding a campaign of protest against Israel's plan to ...
tim's user avatar
  • 37k
10 votes

Can the NATO Command sue for the nullification of the treaty of accession of Hungary for non-compliance on the 2% contribution requirement?

There are various agreements, dating back to the mid '00s that countries should "aim to increase defence expenditure in real terms as GDP grows; and aim to move towards the 2% guideline". ...
James K's user avatar
  • 120k
10 votes

What are Hungary PM Orban's stated reasons why letting in Ukraine would not be in the EU's interest?

He wasn't super detailed in that moment, sticking to generalities; AP quoted: “Hungary’s perspective is clear: Ukraine is not ready for us to begin negotiations on its EU membership. It’s a ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
9 votes
Accepted

Where can I find the original text of Hungary's controversial new child protection bill?

The Hungarian text of the law, entitled "2021. évi LXXIX. törvény: a pedofil bűnelkövetőkkel szembeni szigorúbb fellépésről, valamint a gyermekek védelme érdekében egyes törvények módosításáról&...
CDJB's user avatar
  • 106k
8 votes

What rationale could be given for the Hungarian coronavirus bill, apart from constructing a dictatorship?

Well, one obvious justification is that it means the parliament does not have to assemble. It is difficult to organize a parliamentary debate while keeping social distancing. What if some ...
o.m.'s user avatar
  • 108k
8 votes
Accepted

Why is not allowing homeless people in the streets considered against human rights?

The human right in question is the right to liberty: Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance ...
James K's user avatar
  • 120k
8 votes
Accepted

How did Poland and Hungary manage to take over (nationalize) mandatory private pensions without breaking private property right?

For Hungary the private accounts were not technically forcibly taken over by the government, however between November 2010 and December 2011 all payments to the private accounts were suspended and ...
Gramatik's user avatar
  • 10.5k
8 votes

What is the goal of the Hungarian fence? To deter the refugees? Reduce the rate?

The Hungarian government under Viktor Orbán has repeatedly stated that they are not very pleased with the current influx of refugees and would rather prefer if those people would not exist. ...
Philipp's user avatar
  • 76.6k
8 votes

Where does Hungary stand in EU politics?

A number of factors are coming together. No single one could explain this. There are Eurosceptic voters and parties in Hungary, just as they exist elsewhere in the EU. It is a bit academic to ask if ...
o.m.'s user avatar
  • 108k
7 votes
Accepted

Why does Hungary have a tendency to favor dictatorship after joining NATO and EU?

"Favor dictatorship"? I think that's too strong phrase, more "don't mind illiberal democracy". 1) EU/NATO - For practical purposes EU could be perceived as free trade area, free movement area with ...
Shadow1024's user avatar
  • 5,907
7 votes

Did Netanyahu publicly criticize Soros (or at least his views)?

Yes. The Jerusalem Post reports: Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros is behind the public campaign against the government’s plan to deport Sudanese and Eritrean migrants to a third country ...
janh's user avatar
  • 542
7 votes

Why are PiS and Fidesz split over Russia (and Ukraine)?

As a Pole I can add a Polish perspective. Saying that Poland has had poor relations with Russia historically is true, but a similar thing can be said about Germany. But in contrast to Russia, Germany ...
Piotr Golacki's user avatar
7 votes

Hungary — What’s the rationale behind voting about not voting about Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO accession?

There are probably two different rationales in play here that have nothing to do with giving Putin time, apart from me not seeing how that would benefit them anyway. 1. Display of Power Even if they ...
Philip Klöcking's user avatar
6 votes

How did Poland and Hungary manage to take over (nationalize) mandatory private pensions without breaking private property right?

In Poland, few years after the new mandatory private pension system was established, some citizen requested to withdrawn his funds, arguing that those were his private savings. Eventually the case hit ...
Tlen's user avatar
  • 217
6 votes
Accepted

Why does the Hungarian government want to allow delaying payment for overtime for such a long time (up to three years)?

Hungary is in an awkward spot right now. Its GDP is (slowly) increasing (mostly due to subsidies from the EU), but rampant systemic corruption, enormous debt, and legal uncertainty are causing foreign ...
Carduus's user avatar
  • 17.3k
6 votes
Accepted

What are Hungary PM Orban's stated reasons why letting in Ukraine would not be in the EU's interest?

Publicly, Hungary gives the following reasons for blocking Ukraine accession talks: There are others who have applied before Ukraine to join the EU and Hungary feels treating Ukraine as a special ...
sfxedit's user avatar
  • 8,889
5 votes
Accepted

Why does Hungary mix politics with children's education?

"Ah, how cute. The nice fat sow is nursing the even cuter little piglets in blissful loving motherhood. All soon to be slaughtered." Well, pictures do say more than a thousand words. And ...
LаngLаngС's user avatar
  • 5,012
5 votes

Did Netanyahu publicly criticize Soros (or at least his views)?

In addition to direct statemenst by Netanyahu, as mentioned in @janh's answer, there was biting criticism from his Foreign Ministry (starement by Israeli Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, Emmanuel ...
user4012's user avatar
  • 92.3k
5 votes

Why was there a sudden arrival of a million immigrants in Hungary in 2015?

In 2015, around a million migrants arrived in Europe. A significant number of them walked or hitchhiked from south-eastern Europe to north-western Europe. In September 2015, a significant number of ...
o.m.'s user avatar
  • 108k
5 votes
Accepted

Why does Orbán concentrate so much in fighting some NGOs?

Orbán believes that they are a significant opposition: The Prime Minister has accused [Soros] of meddling in the international affairs of countries and trying to flood the EU and Hungary with ...
tim's user avatar
  • 37k
5 votes
Accepted

State institution possibly interfering with foreign policy

"Deep state" theories spouted by the illiberal Orban and similar alt-right exponents elsewhere are usually hardly credible, being more likely to be conspiracy theories. Next thing you're ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
5 votes

State institution possibly interfering with foreign policy

More abstractly, given two states, how can they make legally bidding agreements, if in one of the countries a deep state exists, which can make any agreement of the elected political leadership ...
Peter's user avatar
  • 13.5k

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