Night of the long knives for law and order
Janos Lazar
"My ancestors were Greek orthodox sheepfarmers who arrived in the region of Hodmezovasarhely and Mindszent in the 18th century," says Janos Lazar, the mayor of Hodmezovasarhely and one of the most outspoken critics of the coalition's healthcare reforms.
Pal Csaky
My father was a tough, wilful man, strongly anticommunist. In 1975, when I took my school leaving exams, I was told I wouldn't find a place in a Slovak university, so I studied chemistry at Pardubice in the Czech part of the country, says the 51-year-old newly elected leader of the largest ethnic-Hungarian political party in Slovakia.
Fidesz, Belvaros, Sarkozy
"Jesuit, pitbull, arrogant," - just a few of the terms of abuse that have been heaped on Antal Rogan in the past. But no longer. Following last year's parliamentary elections, he claims to have left the big political stage. Since becoming mayor of Budapest's fifth district he has been talking about the pensioners of his borough. He wants Fidesz to renew itself, he's doing deals with city mayor Gabor Demsky, and he continues to polish his image. His role model - unsurprisingly - is Sarkozy.
Györgyi Kocsis
I was profoundly indifferent to the 2012 European Football Championships until Tamas Gyarfas, head of the committee in charge of Hungary's hosting bid, asked how far it was acceptable to go with bribery, said, "until it gets noticed." And then he handed Michel Platini, president of UEFA, a 24 carat golden football.
Civil oversight
According to Tibor Jarmy, spokesman for Budapest Police, Laszlo Zoltan Szabo was arrested for resisting "authorised police operations." Csaba Farkas, who teaches at the Police Officers' College, police were behaving appropriately. But the constitutional lawyer Istvan Szikinger believes the justifications offered are flawed.
No end to dirty tricks
In a civilised country, national security organisations are not at the centre of the media spotlight. Especially not where normal criminal acts are concerned. But in Hungary, the National Security Office is at the centre of attention because of its investigation into potentially criminal VAT and customs fraud at the Egymasert Egy-masert Alapitvany (For one another, One differently Foundation).
Opinion
What a terrible injustice that only 8m of 10m Hungarians have voting rights. The under 18s are barred from political self-expression! How much more effectively the rights of children and large families could be protected if children could send their representatives to parliament, not just the adults! That many have not yet come of age, that some have not yet learned to speak need not be an obstacle. Parents could exercise their children's voting rights – ideally, the father could vote on behalf of his sons, the mother on behalf of her daughters.
The Fidesz congress
The EU needs to take a common position on strategic questions - and the Hungarian government has its part to play in this, according to Wilfried Martens, the president of the European People's Party, giving the opening speech to Fidesz's 22nd party congress. The party's nominees for vice-president gave their hustings speeches, and delegates unanimously welcomed Jozsef Petretei's departure.
