Under Viktor Orbán, despite EU and Nato membership Hungary's position was pro-Russian and anti-Ukraine. After his election victory Péter Magyar has made it clear that: "Ukraine is the victim in this war." And if Putin calls, he will tell him to "stop the killing after four years". The media discuss what the new Hungarian stance on the two warring parties could mean.
After the initial failure of peace talks with Iran, the US has begun its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the US millitary, six merchant ships arriving from Iran have been forced to turn back within the first 24 hours. President Trump has said that a key reason for the blockade is to prevent transit tolls from falling into the hands of the regime in Tehran. What consequences could this provoke?
US President Donald Trump has hit back at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after she described his tirade against Pope Leo XIV as "unacceptable". Trump replied saying: "She is the one who is unacceptable, because she doesn't care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy up in two minutes if it had the chance!"
For the first time in history, a US president has verbally attacked the Pope. In a lengthy social media post Donald Trump said the Pontiff was "terrible for foreign policy" and was damaging the Catholic Church. Leo XIV has repeatedly criticised Trump's policies, from migration policy to the war in Iran, albeit indirectly. In response to Trump's tirade, the pope said he was proclaiming the message of the Gospel.
After his spectacular election victory, Péter Magyar has listed his priorities: he wants to focus on the fight against corruption and push through an eight-year limit on the prime minister's term of office. He also vowed that Hungary will be a constructive partner for the EU in future and cited conversion to the euro as a long-term goal. The European media assess the prospects of reform and draw conclusions from Viktor Orbán’s defeat.
In Ireland, lorry drivers, farmers and taxi and bus companies have staged major protests in recent days against rising petrol and diesel prices. On Sunday protesters used their vehicles to block streets in and around Dublin and there were skirmishes with the police. The events draw criticism in the Irish press.
US Vice President JD Vance tried to drum up support for Viktor Orbán at a campaign rally – which did the veteran prime minister no favours at all. Commentators are now speculating that it was precisely Vance's intervention that led to Orbán's crushing defeat and cite further examples of failed initiatives by Trump's second-in-command.
After the collapse of peace talks with Iran in the Pakistani capital on the weekend, US President Donald Trump has announced that the US navy will close the Strait of Hormuz and block passage for all ships seeking to enter or leave Iranian ports from Monday afternoon. He also said that further US military strikes in Iran were under consideration.
The Hungarian election taking place this Sunday is of major significance for the EU as a whole. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose 16-year rule has become increasingly authoritarian, based the election campaign of his Fidesz party on hostility towards Brussels and Kyiv, and has received backing from both Washington and Moscow. In the polls, however, he is trailing behind opposition candidate Péter Magyar and his Tisza party.
A meeting between US President Donald Trump and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday has failed to mend the rifts within the alliance. Rutte said afterwards that Trump was "clearly disappointed" by the Europeans' refusal to support the US in the war against Iran, while Trump pointedly raised the subject of Greenland again.
With just a day to go before direct negotiations between the US and Iran begin in Islamabad, both sides are accusing each other of failing to honour the ceasefire. Israel has stepped up its attacks in Lebanon, which Tehran says breaches the ceasefire agreement. And the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz – a key US demand vis-à-vis Iran – remains uncertain.