Latest Viktor Orban News

Erdogan to visit Budapest next month as Turkey and Hungary hold up Sweden's membership in NATO

Nov. 28, 2023 08:37 AM EST

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Hungary's capital in December, his second trip to Budapest this year at a time when both countries remain the only NATO members not to have ratified Sweden's accession into the trans-Atlantic military alliance. ...

An anti-European Union billboard campaign in Hungary turns up tensions with the Orbán government

Nov. 23, 2023 02:20 AM EST

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A countrywide billboard campaign that flooded the streets of Hungary this week takes aim at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the start of an election campaign that marks an escalation of tensions between the country's nationalist conservative government...

Trump has long praised autocrats and populists. He's now embracing Argentina's new president

Nov. 21, 2023 21:17 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has long praised a particular type of foreign leader — men he describes as “tough” and “strong,” even if they have chipped away at their countries' democratic norms. The former president and GOP front-runner is now celebrating the newly...

Slovakia's new government led by populist Robert Fico wins a mandatory confidence vote

Nov. 21, 2023 12:46 PM EST

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s new government, led by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico who ended the country’s military aid for Ukraine, won a mandatory confidence vote in Parliament on Tuesday. Of the 143 lawmakers present in the 150-seat Parliament, 78 voted in...

Hungary's Orbán says Ukraine is 'light years away' from joining the EU

Nov. 18, 2023 17:21 PM EST

BUDAPEST, (AP) — Hungary's prime minister said Saturday that Ukraine is “light years away” from joining the European Union, further signaling that his government is likely to present a roadblock to Kyiv's ambitions to join the bloc. Speaking at a biannual congress of his...

Hungary issues an anti-EU survey to citizens on migration, support for Ukraine and LGBTQ+ rights

Nov. 17, 2023 05:41 AM EST

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's government on Friday released a set of questions for an informal survey it will send to voters on a number of divisive issues including migration, LGBTQ+ rights and support for Ukraine, including a proposal to block further European Union assistance to Kyiv...

Hungary's Orbán says negotiations on Ukraine's future EU membership should not move forward

Nov. 10, 2023 08:07 AM EST

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's prime minister said Friday he does not support moving forward on negotiations on Ukraine's future membership in the European Union, signaling again that his country could pose a major roadblock to Kyiv's ambitions to join the bloc. EU leaders are...

Netanyahu and Orbán's close ties bring Israel's Euro 2024 qualifying matches to Hungary

Nov. 08, 2023 10:10 AM EST

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Even before last month’s Hamas attacks in Israel, the leader of Hungary had long promoted his country as the safest in Europe for Jews. Now the Israeli men’s soccer team is taking his word and heading to a tiny Hungarian village as it prepares to play its remaining...

Hungary has fired the national museum director over LGBTQ+ content in World Press Photo exhibition

Nov. 07, 2023 16:44 PM EST

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's cultural minister on Monday fired the director of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, accusing him of failing to comply with a contentious law that bans the display of LGBTQ+ content to minors. The dismissal of Laszlo L. Simon, who became...

Voters are skeptical of Biden's age. But Trump's notable flubs risk drawing unwelcome attention, too

Nov. 01, 2023 16:30 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — To hear Donald Trump tell it, President Joe Biden is so senile that he doesn't know where he's speaking and feeble enough that others are making decisions for him. Yet Trump has made notable flubs of his own. The former president mixed up the city and state where...