Olivier Bault | Visegrád Post

Hungarian strategic thinking explained to Poles

Olivier Bault November 9, 2022

Hungary / Poland - The century-old Polish–Hungarian friendship has been going through a turbulent period in recent months due to deep differences concerning the war in Ukraine. While Poland has provided massive support to its Ukrainian neighbour from the outset, including in…

News

Is the American ambassador trying to influence Hungary’s top judges?

Olivier Bault November 4, 2022

Hungary – On Thursday, 27 October, U.S. ambassador to Hungary David Pressman posted a tweet about his meeting with two judges of the Hungarian National Judicial Council, Csaba Vasvári and Tamás Matusik. He wrote that it was an opportunity for him to…

Miscellaneous

Hungary first

Olivier Bault May 24, 2022

This article was published online by Do Rzeczy on 15 May 2022. Explaining the reasons why his country cannot accept an embargo on Russian oil, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said: “It is not a question of lack of political will, it…

Politics

Hungary held Europe’s most transparent elections last Sunday

Olivier Bault April 8, 2022

In an unprecedented move for an EU country, Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Hungary and the referendum that was held simultaneously were closely monitored by a full-scale observation mission of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and more specifically its…

Interviews

“Even Russia does not get close to the level of repression we have in Belarus”, says Belarusian journalist

Olivier Bault March 26, 2022

Belarus – An interview with Inna Kochetkova, a Belarusian journalist who resigned in October 2020 because she refused to be muted after twenty years working for Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus, including five years as editor-in-chief of the newspaper’s weekly issue. She lives…

Politics

The EU will not lay down arms against… Poland and Hungary

Olivier Bault March 8, 2022

This article was first published in the French daily newspaper Présent. EU/Poland/Hungary – Poland and Hungary are now the two EU countries that receive the most Ukrainian refugees. Between Thursday, 24 February – the first day of the war unleashed by Russia…

Interviews

Andriy Shkrabyuk: “Ukraine is a mixture of Eastern religiosity and Western political traditions”

Olivier Bault March 4, 2022

Ukraine – Interview with Ukrainian academic Andriy Shkrabyuk: “Historically, Ukrainian independence already existed at the time of the Cossacks, that is, in the second half of the 17th century. Various elements of this Ukrainian Hetmanate functioned until 1783. In addition, there was…

Politics

Polish press reactions to Russia’s appetite for Ukraine

Olivier Bault February 24, 2022

Poland – In Wednesday’s issue of the tabloid Fakt, which is the best-selling national daily in Poland, the announcement that the Russian army will be sent to the breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine, and perhaps soon beyond, is compared to the partitions…

Politics

Split in Polish government after ECJ ruling on “rule of law” mechanism

Olivier Bault February 22, 2022

Poland – In 2020, Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his Solidarna Polska (United Poland) party, which is an essential part of the PiS-led United Right coalition’s fragile majority in the Sejm, threatened to walk out of the government if Prime Minister…

Society

New Polish law to protect pupils from LGBT indoctrination

Olivier Bault February 19, 2022

Poland – A new law has just been passed by the Polish parliament to allow the authorities to expel the LGBT lobby and gender ideologues from the country’s schools. Dubbed “Lex Czarnek” in reference to its initiator, Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek, the…

Interviews

Jan Pospieszalski: “PiS’ behaviour in the face of the pandemic weakens the government’s electoral base”

Olivier Bault February 9, 2022

Poland – Interview with Polish conservative journalist Jan Pospieszalski: “There is a healthy minority in the Polish parliament that has been able to effectively block segregationist laws while mocking them and showing the absurdity of the proposed solutions.” Jan Pospieszalski is a…

Politics

Orbán and Morawiecki meet Abascal and Le Pen in Madrid

Olivier Bault February 1, 2022

Spain - A little less than two months after their summit in Warsaw, the parties that signed the Statement on the Future of Europe last July met on Friday and Saturday in Madrid at the invitation of the Vox party, to give…