Europe

Car industry behind Hungary’s ‘slave law’

In the biggest demonstrations since the fall of communism, thousands have repeatedly taken to the streets in Hungary to oppose Prime Minister Viktor Orba''s controversial "slave law." The square outside the parliament building in Budapest was massively occupied Dec. 12 as the law was approved. It was subsequently signed by President Janos Ader. Orban said the law scraps "silly rules," and will help those who want to earn more by working more. In fact, the law will allow employers to demand workers put in up to 400 extra hours per year of overtime, compared with the current limit of 250. Meanwhile, payment for this overtime may be delayed by up to three years. Local media in Hungary report that Orban pushed through the law in a bid to lure German auto-maker BMW to invest a billion euros in a new plant in Debrecen, Hungary's second city, situated in the poorest region of the country, the northeast. The move is portrayed as intended to undercut labor costs in Slovakia, where BMW was initially considering investment. (Photo: KaosEnLaRed)

Europe

Bad news both sides of Russo-Ukrainian breach

A UN Human Rights Office report charges Russia with forced disappearances, torture and persecution of the Tatar minority in annexed Crimea. Ukraine meanwhile passes an education law that discriminates against minority languages such as Russian and Hungarian. 

Europe

Moscow stonewalls on fate of Holocaust hero

A Moscow district court rejected a lawsuit by relatives of Raoul Wallenberg, seeking to access uncensored documents concerning his death in Soviet captivity. Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat who rescued thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II. Soviet forces detained Wallenberg in 1945, supposedly for espionage. He was reported to have died two years later in Moscow's notorious Lubyanka Prison.

North America

Trump admin’s Hungarian fascist connection?

Trump assistant Sebastian Gorka wears the medal of the Hungarian Order of Heroes, listed by the State Department as having collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

North America

Yes, the Russians. Wake up and smell the vodka.

Amid disingenuous demands for the "evidence," all the political logic points to Russia being behind the hacks in an intentional strategy to throw the US election to Trump.

Europe

Hungary refugee referendum invalidated

Low voter turnout invalidated the referendum in which Hungarians voted to oppose any EU mandatory placement of refugees—but President Viktor Orbán remains intransigent.

Europe

Hungary to Syrian refugees: Stay out!

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, building a wall along the Serbian border and herding migrants into detainment camps, warned Syrian refugees to stay in Turkey.

Europe

Hungary drops proposed Internet tax law

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that his proposed Internet tax will be dropped after the legislation instating the tax sparked mass protests in Budapest.

Europe

Fascist pseudo-anti-fascism advances in Russia

Putin's political machine convened an "anti-fascist" summit at Yalta in annexed Crimea, attended by Hungary's Jobbik party, the British Nationalist Party and other neo-fascist entities.