💥After Viktor Orbán's foreign minister Péter Szijjártó dismissed Zelensky as “becoming an insane Hungarian-hater” for claiming Hungarian drones crossed into Ukraine, here are details from Ukraine’s army on the airspace violation by the “drone-type object” on September 26.

Yesterday, Mr Fico's gov't Smer+Hlas+SNS amended Slovakia's constitution with the help of KDH (EPP). Current polling gives the four parties less than the needed 90 votes even with the out-of-parliament Republika (ESN) added. Two of ex PM Matovič's MPs (EPP) also voted with the gov't.

Slovakia's government is fighting on all fronts p.dw.com/p/512e1?maca... #Slovakia #politics

Excellent explainer from Alexander Faludy.

💥This will be a sleepless night in Budapest for many powerful people: Orbán’s envoys will scramble to deceive Trump and his administration into thinking Hungary & Slovakia can’t live without Russian oil—while the Adriatic pipeline from Croatia offers a clear alternative: www.cnn.com/politics/liv...

Excellent testimony & recommendations from @gmfus.bsky.social @danielhegedus.bsky.social at the U.S. Congressional @tlhumanrights.bsky.social hearing on “Laws Regulating Foreign NGOs: Human Rights Implications” — touches on Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu4B...

🗳️ EXCLUSIVE: Romea.cz reveals more than 15 Romani candidates are running in the 2025 elections to the Czech lower house — the highest number we've tracked so far. 📲 Full article: 1url.cz/@election202...

After surviving the Holocaust, Roma in communist Czechoslovakia were arrested for being Romani. “…the entire event ‘went smoothly, except for the screaming and crying of the adults and children.’”

At a congress in Amsterdam next month, the Party of European Socialists (PES) will permanently exclude Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer party, three people familiar with the matter told @euractiv.com

#Hungary and #Slovakia must quit #Russian gas and nuclear, Trump envoy warns - “The more we can strangle Russia’s ability to fund this murderous war, the better for all of us,” says U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. www.politico.eu/article/hung...

🤯Hungarian media is baffled: why is Orbán’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó — recipient of Russia’s Order of Friendship from Sergey Lavrov — in Belarus, just as armed Russian drones entered Polish/NATO airspace from Belarus? Shouldn’t he be showing solidarity with Poland rather than courting Minsk?

Watch this Congressional hearing with a Hungary-focused witness online here, Monday, 9/9/25 at 2 pm EST. humanrightscommission.house.gov/News/Watch-L...

Watch this Congressional hearing with a Hungary-focused witness online here, Monday, 9/9/25 at 2 pm EST. humanrightscommission.house.gov/News/Watch-L...

In which I discuss Orban's three redlines.

Please join our hearing on anti-NGO laws and their human rights implications at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress. 📆September 9, 2:00 pm EDT / 8:00 pm CET For the live webcast, follow the link below 👇 humanrightscommission.house.gov/events/heari...

That t-shirt made my day. Also: Ciprian Necula is inspiring. bsky.app/profile/roma...

"In 2023, expenditures for the schools were the equivalent of just 4.2% of Czech GDP and 14.6% of the budget – below the EU average (4.7% of GDP) and far below the Nordic states, which invest about 6–7% of their GDP into education (Estonia, for instance, spends 6.4% of GDP on education)."

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. They will meet in eastern #Slovakia. #Ukraine #Russia #Putinswar

🇸🇰⚖️This week, I’ve been looking into the Slovak judiciary. A complex topic that highlights the various nuances and local variations in the overarching story of CEE judiciaries transitioning from the communist era into the democratic times, facing challenges of inefficiency and undue influence. 1/

Here’s more on Romani experiences during the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on Aug. 20-21, 1968. Included here in this Romea report: a remarkable fragment of an independent radio appeal in Romani. romea.cz/en/czech-rep...

"The Romani man who stood up to a tank! ROMEA.cz 👉 1url.cz/@1968-romove 57 years ago, Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia. One of the 1st to stand up to them was 21-y.-old Bartoloměj Horváth from Košice–who attacked a tank with a shovel. He was mortally wounded and died on September 11, 1968."

Rom, který se postavil tanku! Celý příběh čtěte na ROMEA.cz 👉 1url.cz/@1968-romove Před 57 lety vtrhla do Československa sovětská vojska. Jedním z prvních, kdo se jim postavil, byl 21letý Bartoloměj Horváth z Košic – Rom, který na tank zaútočil s lopatou. Byl smrtelně zraněn a zemřel 11. září 1968.

#HumanRights #FoRB #ReligiousFreedom #Russia: Council of Churches Baptist communities banned www.forum18.org/archive.php?...

⚡️Pipeline attack stops Russian oil flow to Hungary, Slovakia. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha neither confirmed nor denied the account of the latest attack but wrote on X that Hungary "can now send complaints and threats" to Moscow, not Kyiv.

At yesterday’s presser, Trump revealed he’s taking advice on Ukraine from Orban, who has his own irredentist designs on Ukraine. About 1:09. www.c-span.org/program/whit...

ODIHR is hiring local staff for our Election Observation Mission to North Macedonia 🇲🇰 (19 Oct local elections). Roles in Skopje and regions: admin, logistics, analysis, security, driving and more. Apply by 26 Aug–2 Sept (dates vary). 🟣 Details: buff.ly/zT6c744

At yesterday’s presser, Trump revealed he’s taking advice on Ukraine from Orban, who has his own irredentist designs on Ukraine. About 1:09. www.c-span.org/program/whit...

🇵🇱 Poland is entering a new political era as Karol Nawrocki, a political newcomer, assumes the presidency. Director of GMF's Warsaw office Philip Bednarczyk, analyses three interrelated issues to watch in Poland's domestic politics and foreign policy: www.gmfus.org/news/polands...

Lánczi, head of the so-called “Sovereignty Protection Office,” also threatened that the Tisza party, as organizer of the event where Fleck spoke, faced legally liability. telex.hu/belfold/2025...

💥🇺🇸 Why hasn’t the war in Ukraine ended? “Because the U.S. president is not strong enough,” Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán said at the right-wing MCC Feszt gathering. For the first time, Orbán publicly blames Donald Trump for the war dragging on—and even suggests he is “not strong.” The bromance is over?

“Commemorating this history is essential not only for us, the Roma. It is also vital for the future of Europe.” – For 2 August, ERIAC’s Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka reflects on memory, responsibility and the need for an honest telling of Roma history. Read her article—link in bio. #2august #romaforeurope

“’We will give one million forints of housing subsidy to doctors, nurses, police officers, teachers, soldiers, and other civil servants, which can be used towards mortgage repayments or as a down payment for a new home loan,’ Orban said.” www.reuters.com/world/hungar...

"We also remember the 25,000 Romanian Roma deported to Transnistria by the Antonescu regime, many of whom perished in unimaginable conditions." ro.usembassy.gov/charge-daffa...

Excellent update Hungary’s political scene.

"By invoking this so-called 'Moscow Mechanism,' the Netherlands and partnering countries contribute to truth-finding and accountability for Russian war crimes in Ukraine."

🎞️ 3 great independent documentaries to watch on 🇭🇺Hungary's backsliding (w ENG subs) 10 Years of Hate This documentary by Partizán traces how Orbán cemented his power once the refugee crisis had subsided, and how hate became the basic rule of his regime. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgA...

Orban's "son-in-law is expecting to split his time between the US and Hungary from the autumn, when his family plan to move to America so that his wife can study, he said, adding that the decision has nothing to do with the upcoming elections." www.ft.com/content/156c...

‼️“Silence is a form of lying.” 🇭🇺 diplomat Mihály András Beke, who served Orbán’s gov't in Romania until recently, tore up his Fidesz party membership card on camera—breaking with the regime in a symbolic move. He said Orbán’s support for Romania’s far-right leader, George Simion, was the last straw.

Orban's "son-in-law is expecting to split his time between the US and Hungary from the autumn, when his family plan to move to America so that his wife can study, he said, adding that the decision has nothing to do with the upcoming elections." www.ft.com/content/156c...

Resource alert:

‼️Hungarian NGO aHang launched a petition urging the OSCE to send a full election observation mission for the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election, citing threats to fairness by Viktor Orbán's regime. Over 15K have signed so far. The group plans to deliver the petition to the OSCE’s Warsaw office.

"Illiberal democracies often infringe on religious freedom in more subtle ways."

"States that can easily subordinate the business sector often cannot tolerate this ‘silent power’ that completes the tripod of a functioning society – alongside government and business." "The thief shouts: Catch the thief!" Slovakia’s Turn Against NGOs, from Michal Vašečka

Big demonstrations rattle Viktor Orban. It’s not too early to think about what happens next. ⬇️

"almost half of the [Czech] voters who want to participate have not yet made a definitive choice as to whom to vote for, which may ultimately yield significant changes"

Grant for history of V4+Ukraine, mid‑19th C. to present, from the vantage point of Roma, Jews and people with disabilities. 8 researchers, 10 languages, including Yiddish, Romani and Hebrew. www.ukforum.cz/en/main-cate...

Following the Czech elections? Follow @romeacz.bsky.social. romea.cz/en/czech-rep...

“In reality, this isn’t privatization,” a well-connected Hungarian business source told me. “There was no tender, no public debate, no review of alternatives—just a handover of state [military] assets to a company closely tied to Orbán.”