On August 20, one of Hungary’s most important and oldest national holidays, we commemorate King Saint Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian state, and the country’s thousand-year-old Christian statehood.
Aura farming, reaction videos, memes, and carefully staged “spontaneous” moments – a digital barrage we all scroll through daily, thinking that these are just candid, unscripted glimpses into a politician’s life. In reality, we are the targets of a brutally precise product launch, tailored to the algorithm. After all, politicians today rarely campaign on policy platforms, instead, they market themselves as meticulously crafted brands. This is one consequence of the professionalization of politics. Successful mobilization today depends on producing platform-specific, emotionally charged content, manufacturing an illusion of authentic everyday life, and outsourcing negative campaigning to influencers. But how do these catchy marketing phrases translate into tangible, vote-winning strategies in practice?
We know remarkably little about what kinds of programs public media channels will broadcast in the future. For now, we are seeing mostly cancellations and temporary programming schedules. The restructuring—or, where applicable, the restoration—is a massive undertaking that raises numerous questions. Public and political attention is focused primarily on news and public affairs programs. Yet, there has been no discussion on one important area, despite the fact that broadcasting content related to national minorities is required by law.
Since the 2015 migration crisis, migration has remained one of the European Union's most politically sensitive policy areas. To address the challenges posed by migration, the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into force on 12 June this year. The Pact aims to overhaul the bloc's asylum and border management framework. How does Germany, one of the countries most affected by migration, plan to implement the new Pact?
Most studies find only modest aggregate productivity gains from AI. One domain, however, stands out as an exception: writing-heavy, communication-intensive knowledge work. Here, the gains are substantial, reproducible, and mechanically explicable. European firms in finance, legal services, and public administration are well positioned to benefit from these improvements.
Angry facial expressions, clenched fists, raised voices, and rhetoric filled with outrage have become a daily occurrence in contemporary politics. When a politician pounds the podium while launching a verbal attack on opponents, the question inevitably arises: Are our elected leaders genuinely this angry, or are we witnessing a carefully orchestrated performance? Research in political marketing and communication suggests that, in many cases, the latter is true. Aggressive political rhetoric is often not the product of spontaneous emotional reactions, but rather a deliberate communication strategy – a carefully calibrated marketing tool designed to influence voter behavior.
The differences between Hungarian and German conservative thinking are rooted in distinct historical experiences and political cultures. This is the central argument of Bence Bauer's latest analysis, which examines why perceptions of Hungary have become so polarized in German public discourse.
The Swiss franc has long been regarded as one of the world's ultimate safe-haven currencies. For generations, investors have flocked to it during wars, financial crises, and moments of market panic. Yet this trust was never merely a product of Swiss National Bank policy; the franc's strength has been deeply intertwined with the country's financial system through two successive pillars. In the past, banking secrecy attracted vast inflows of capital.
This question is at the center of Marcell Kovács' latest analysis, which examines how a recent U.S. export-control decision has introduced a new geopolitical risk for companies and investors relying on artificial intelligence.
Five hundred years after the Battle of Mohács, one question continues to captivate Hungarians reflecting on history: Could the defeat have been avoided, or had the fate of the Kingdom of Hungary already been sealed long before 1526?
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