Five Questions on How Independent Hungarian Media Beat Orban's 'Propaganda Machine' Viktor Orbán’s domination of Hungary's traditional media landscape was near-total. But many of the country's independent outlets broke through, producing reporting that laid bare the nature of his...

Five Questions on How Independent Hungarian Media Beat Orban's 'Propaganda Machine'

www.occrp.org/en/feature/f...

That's what just happened in Hungary.

Under Orbán, Hungary became arguably the poorest country and indisputably the most corrupt in Europe. Birthrates were low, and outmigration enormous. More and more Hungarians felt like they had no future under Fidesz.

People outside my hotel in central Budapest are honking their horns "hm-hm-hmmhmm" in the rhythm of "Ruszkik haza", which means "Russians go home"

🇭🇺‼️ What seems clear - Tisza has delivered a strong parliamentary majority

Less clear - whether they can get to a 2/3 supermajority

Why Orban and Hungary are not one and the same – European Council on Foreign Relations ECFR’s new public opinion polling reveals most Hungarians do not share Orban’s views on Hungary’s place in the world. If the opposition wins the election on Apr

A majority of Tisza voters (57%) say Hungary’s next government should take a “very different approach” to Ukraine from the current one.

‘We don’t have infantry’: Ukraine’s war machine evolves into machine war Outmanned by a nuclear power in the largest land war in Europe since 1945, Ukraine’s front line is increasingly held by machines.

Outmanned by a nuclear power in the largest land war in Europe since 1945, Ukraine’s front line is increasingly held by machines.

Total Recall: How Russia tried to erase the Ukrainian identity - EUvsDisinfo Imagine a world where your past is not yours – where every event, every hero, every town can be deleted. Read how Russia rewrites the Ukrainian history.

Kremlin’s long campaign to recode Ukraine’s past reveals how identity has become yet another battlefield.

From imperial archives to Vladimir Putin’s 2025 decree, the fight is not only for territory - but for memory itself.

Read more on EUvsDisinfo:

euvsdisinfo.eu/total-recall...

Opinion | Frigid Kyiv kindles a high-tech plan to keep Russia at bay AI-powered air defense could counter Moscow’s greatest advantage — and keep Kyiv in the fight.

"Putin doesn’t want to make concessions because he still thinks he can win," David Ignatius writes. "But Ukraine’s new network of AI-driven air defenses will make that less likely." https://wapo.st/45Gu9fF

The main reason why the US economy overall is growing faster than the German economy is: US population growth. US population increased by more than 20% since 2000 - Germany's population hardly changed at all.

data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP...

All the mentions of peace talks and peace plans are deeply misleading – these are ceasefire talks, not paths to permanent resolution of the conflict. That’s because the status of the Ukrainian occupied territories will remain unresolved as long as Russia occupies them.

Russia is Losing – Time for Putin's 2026 Hybrid Escalation 2025 offered the most generous potential off-ramp for Vladimir Putin. He rejected it.

'The evidence proves that the West's current strategy – arming Ukraine, imposing sanctions, hardening critical infrastructure – is fracturing Russia's military, economic and political cohesion' write William Dixon and Maksym Beznosiuk.

All this talk of Europe divided... of course it is "divided." It is a federal democratic continental sized union. There will always be some division. But it is striking how united it actually it is on the big issues, especially Ukraine, and how much it gets done.

The EU is getting stronger.

Now with the same productivity as the US, “core EU” also has more leisure time, higher life expectancy, less inequality

No matter how you look at it, it is a clearly superior economic performance

The Challenges to Europe’s Security Go Beyond Trump’s Lack of Support

For the first time since WWII, the US is not on our side in Europe. It has sided with the aggressor against Ukraine and European security, seeking to mediate with Russia. The US no longer sees itself as NATO’s leader and treats Europe as a strategic target.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/w...

More than three decades after USSR’s collapse, Moscow still refuses to accept that its former colonies are now internationally recognized sovereign nations. Russia’s war against Ukraine is the horrifying embodiment of this refusal. A nightmarish attempt to turn back the time.

"The case that Ukraine is the key to European security is iron-clad."

Chatbots Are Pushing Sanctioned Russian Propaganda ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok are serving users propaganda from Russian-backed media when asked about the invasion of Ukraine, new research finds.

"ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok are serving users propaganda from Russian-backed media when asked about the invasion of Ukraine, new research finds." www.wired.com/story/chatbo...

How to hold Russia’s propagandists accountable The most dangerous words aren’t necessarily the most violent ones. And disinformation campaigns could offer a new avenue for establishing responsibility.

"Propagandists are like getaway drivers, delivering a bank robber or assassin to a crime scene, then driving them away."

Moscow's interest in this autumn's Czech and Moldova elections In Moldova, authorities estimate the Kremlin will spend €100m — €31 per registered voter — to influence the outcome. In the Czech Republic, Kremlin-linked outlets are pumping out more content each day than the country’s major news outlets combined.

In Moldova, authorities estimate the Kremlin will spend €100m — €31 per registered voter — to influence the outcome. In the Czech Republic, Kremlin-linked outlets are pumping out more content each day than the country’s major news outlets combined.

Analysis: Despite a grand announcement, Europe takes zero steps towards peace in Ukraine On Sept. 2, Russia and China outlined their vision of a multipolar world that would likely see democratic Europe largely abandoned by the U.S. and facing the nightmare scenario of direct confrontation...

The plan, presented by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, relies entirely on the goodwill of two of the very people responsible for the current predicament — U.S. President Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Don't buy the media narrative of Trump getting what he wanted with EU re: tariffs.

Trump is the one who caved, weeks ago. EU made it clear there'd be no deal without a shift on Ukraine, which Trump made.

They also made it clear this is only for Trump's term. Can end it any time.

Putin is invading more than Ukraine The new battlefield is online, and the stakes are democratic sovereignty.

OPINION: Vladimir Putin is spending millions of dollars, bombarding European voters with manipulative social media and disinformation campaigns on a mass scale.

It’s a new type of warfare on democracy that eliminates the need to roll tanks into capitals.

The war on Europe's NGOs NGOs are being defunded, closed down, and criminalised. Volunteer groups are labelled as security threats. This isn’t Cold War theatre — it’s Europe and its neighbourhood in 2025.

"The European continent is arguably the world’s most important bastion of democracy. If it falters, the idea of a liberal, rules-based global order risks faltering with it."
Check out the op-ed in @euobserver.com authored by IPHR's Director Brigitte Dufour euobserver.com/eu-political...

🇩🇪 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told Fox News that had Ukraine been accepted into NATO back in 2008, today’s war might have been avoided. He added that only strength brings peace. "If you are weak, you invite aggression, that is why we support Ukraine as long as necessary."

Effectiveness of Shadow Fleet Sanctions US sanctions are massively effective, but joint EU and UK sanctions also pack a punch

US sanctions are crushing Russia's shadow fleet. Activity in oil tankers sanctioned by the US falls -86% (red). These ships are getting shut down. Joint EU & UK sanctions also pack a punch, taking activity down -50% (orange). Putin is hurting. My substack:
robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/effectiven...

Ukraine’s New Way of War American weapons are important, but Ukrainian drones have changed everything.

"Ukrainian forces continue to hold the Russians off, and their resilience points to Kyiv’s growing autonomy from the United States," Nataliya Gumenyuk writes after embedding with three front-line brigades.

What's keeping Ukraine in the fight is technology:

"The real root cause – Kremlin imperialism"

La mentalidad colonial rusa, un obstáculo para la paz y la democracia La mentalidad colonial rusa, un obstáculo para la paz y la democracia

Un punto de vista minoritario, pero creciente en la oposición rusa.
Mi artículo en @rtvenoticias.bsky.social

La mentalidad colonial rusa, un obstáculo para la paz y la democracia www.rtve.es/n/16580435/

I was U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. I resigned because of Trump's foreign policy. | Opinion I served in our country's foreign service for three decades. The Trump administration's Ukraine policy will make the U.S. less safe.

Bridget Brink says she resigned as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine because she "could no longer in good faith carry out the Trump admin’s policy [...] of putting pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia."

www.freep.com/story/opinio...

Ukraine's allies endorse special tribunal to prosecute Vladimir Putin The special tribunal will be able to impose sentences of life imprisonment when justified by the extreme severity of the crime of aggression.

The special tribunal will be able to impose sentences of life imprisonment when justified by the extreme severity of the crime of aggression.

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