What the string of elections Europe faces in 2027, from France to Greece, demands is a crystal-clear conceptualisation of foreign interference, stated without qualification: the illegitimate manipulation of a member state’s democratic processes is unacceptable, whether it emanates from a hostile state or a presumed ally.
Viktor Orbán’s regime turned Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a private Hungarian educational institution, into a talent factory for Fidesz. By opening an office in Brussels and launching multiple events, MCC brought together rightwing politicians, journalists, academics, and other figures from across the world. These activities were facilitated by the peculiar financial arrangements granted to MCC by the Fidesz government.
Calls to lift oil-related sanctions imposed on Russia to limit its war budget are now also being heard in the EU. Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has already urged the EU “to review and lift all sanctions on Russian energy”. And he may not be the only EU leader thinking along similar lines.
The exhibitionist display of raw power is no longer Russia’s alone. As the United States drifts toward “might is right” governance, a necropolitical oligarchy takes hold — one that only a politically unified Europe might counter, argues Anton Shekhovtsov.
The American part of the “peace plan” reflects the profiteering interests of real estate developer Steven Witkoff and investor Jared Kushner, both aligning neatly with Donald Trump’s own interests in wealth accumulation, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.
If Russia leads the world in anything, it is in the dark art of psychological warfare. In its quest to restore Soviet-era geopolitical might, Moscow prefers to follow the principle of ‘winning without fighting’. This principle rests on achieving one’s objectives through psychological, political, informational, and diplomatic means rather than conventional warfare, warns Anton Shekhovtsov.
Inspired by the Romanian election annulment, there are indications that the Orbán regime may be preparing a scenario for the 2026 elections in which allegations of foreign interference could be used to contest a potential victory by Péter Magyar’s Tisza.
Like the majority of international organisations established in the last century to reduce geopolitical tensions, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe is now in a terminal existential crisis, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.
Modern proxy bombing, which often involves unwitting, manipulated, or coerced civilians, is a terrifyingly effective instrument of psychological warfare. A significant part of its effectiveness lies in the privacy afforded by secure messaging apps (such as Telegram, Zangi, and others) and the relative anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.
The revelations by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) about a cell of Hungarian military intelligence operating in the Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia to the detriment of Ukraine raise serious questions about Hungary’s position within Western political and military alliances, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.
Behind the growing positivity toward the EU lies a clear expectation: a public demand for deeper unity within the Union and a more assertive European role in confronting global security challenges. Yet this demand is not being fully met by political will at the level of European elites, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.
As the main violator of the Budapest Memorandum, Russia has undermined the entire rationale of nuclear disarmament. Given the current international and geopolitical climate, Europe must reassess its stance on nuclear weapons, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.
In the realm of security, Europe has been stuck in a snooze loop since the Obama administration. It chose to turn a deaf ear to the US “pivot to Asia” — although it was a subtle yet clear signal that Washington was increasingly shifting its focus toward China and away from Europe.
Today’s major social media, once heralded as “digital town squares” for open discussion, debate, and community engagement, have increasingly revealed themselves as arenas for manipulation driven by profit and (often extremist) political agendas.
By abandoning electoral integrity in favour of protecting the political status quo, Romanian political elites have undermined public trust in institutions designed to uphold democratic norms, setting a precedent that electoral outcomes can be reversed if they do not favour those already in power.
The Kremlin envisions dismantling Ukraine, annexing most of it into Russia, and leaving the barely-functional remnants to neighbouring European countries with historical ties to those regions. Poland would be offered Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Volyn regions; Hungary – Transcarpathia; and Romania – Bukovina and southern Bessarabia, writes Anton Shkhovstov.
Political leaders in today’s Europe rarely share deep reflections on the fundamental nature of contemporary political systems — so it is all the more appreciated when they actually do, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.
The Georgian Dream party is now publicly transforming from a supposedly pro-EU oligarchic party into an anti-Western and pro-Russian political actor.
Despite the attempts to present the prisoner exchange as an act of humanism and success for diplomacy, Berlin’s surrender of Krasikov to Moscow represents a major failure in humanitarian, legal and security sense, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.
In 2015, a book came out predicting the first 100 days of a Marine Le Pen presidency in France. Now, in 2024, we’re about to discover a French far-right government, the first since the Vichy regime, means for real, writes Anton Shekhovtsov.