The mass resignation at, as seen from the inside

A year ago today, we walked out from our previous workplace,, after editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull was suddenly terminated following a month-long struggle for the site's independence. In this video, our colleagues remember those tumultuous days.

What is Hungary’s procedure for secret surveillance?

Sándor Pintér, the Minister of Interior Affairs said that Hungary does not engage in unlawful secret surveillance. To precisely understand what that means, it is worth knowing how it works when it’s lawful.

Pegasus surveillance scandal: Hungarian ministers point fingers at each other

Before Wednesday's cabinet meeting, we tried once more to get answers from members of the Hungarian government about the Pegasus surveillance scandal.

Viktor Orbán announces referendum on children in response to EU inquiries into Hungary's controversial anti-LGBT law

The referendum will include five questions concerning the so-called "Child Protection Act" adopted in June, over which the European Commission had launched three separate proceedings.

President of the Hungarian Bar Association and several other lawyers targeted with Israeli spyware Pegasus

It seems not even client-attorney privilege could save lawyers from surveillance. János Bánáti, the President of the Hungarian Bar Association was targeted during the trial of a consequential murder case, while another lawyer became a target when he ran against a candidate of Fidesz for the mayoral office of a small town at the last municipal elections.

Hungarian government not keen on answering questions about the Pegasus surveillance scandal

Telex tried asking several prominent members of the Hungarian governing party Fidesz about the wiretapping of several critics of Viktor Orbán's government, however, we did not receive substantive answers from the politicians behind cordons and policemen.

Hungarian journalists and critics of Orbán were targeted with Pegasus, a powerful Israeli cyberweapon

Hungarian targets include media owner Zoltán Varga and his acquaintances, the son and lawyer of former oligarch Lajos Simicska, and several investigative reporters.

Fidesz bracing for a tight election race in 2022 as Orbán makes it rain

As the opposition alliance prepares for the primaries, Fidesz is set to give unprecedented handouts to the voting population in early 2022, right before the elections. However, this effort to garner support is likely to face some considerable objections.

Hungarian Deputy PM: Homosexuality is a sin

Following up on the latest Hungarian anti-LGBT legislation that caused political turmoil in the EU, we asked members of the Hungarian government about the law's details and how they would respond if someone in their political community came out as gay.

Portrayal and promotion – Hungary's latest anti-LGBT law, explained

Last Tuesday, the Hungarian parliament adopted legislation that prohibited sharing LGBT content with minors and limited sexual education in schools. Since then, 17 EU member states condemned the law in a joint statement and Ursula von der Leyen vowed to use all powers of the European Commission to protect the rights of EU citizens. But what is this law, and how does it fit into the Hungarian government’s anti-LGBT agenda?

Hungary wants EU funds, but only on its own terms

What is the RRF, this hard-to-grasp abbreviation the meaning of which changed many times recently, what does it have to do with rule of law, and why doesn't the Hungarian government want any of what many call "free money?" A crash course on the political dimensions of the EU's Reconstruction Fund.

Karácsony: The Fudan project is Fidesz's ultimate moral suicide

Thousands gathered in Budapest on Saturday to protest the construction of the Chinese Fudan University's Hungarian campus, which would cost the country €1.3 billion and jeopardise an ongoing affordable student housing project in southern Budapest. Video report from the protest.

"We don't care much about mortality stats – we already transported the bodies the previous day."

"Transporter." This is all they say when people ask them about what they do for a living. Some quit after their first day on the job, others make the transition rather smoothly from being a cab driver, a chef, or a waiter – jobs that were all hard-hit by the pandemic. Télizöld Funeral Services allowed us a rare glimpse into the daily realities of their job.

Orbán's Chinese vaccine gamble seems to have paid off

At the time Hungary started using Sinopharm's vaccine to immunize the elderly, there was no way to know how effective or safe it was. Since then, WHO approved the Chinese jab, and Orbán seems to have scored an important communications goal against the opposition – but was he right, or was he lucky?

How the third wave hit Hungary, charted

The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, characterized by the Kent variant, tore through Hungary much quicker and deadlier than what we saw during the previous two. Here are the similarities and differences of the three waves, charted.

Sziget Festival is cancelled once again

This is the second year Covid-19 forces the organisers of the largest Hungarian festival to cancel the event.

Orbán has begun taking steps to preserve his power

With a year left until what looks to be a tight election, the government is reallocating considerable amounts of public assets away from the state and into, e.g., foundations. The goal could be to sustain Orbán’s „System of National Cooperation” in the event that he should lose the 2022 election. However it may turn out, does this mean that future governments will no longer have a say in higher education? And what about the hundreds of valuable state properties that were recently transferred? Are they destined to forever remain in the possession of Fidesz loyalists? Opposition leaders don’t see the situation as being completely hopeless.

'We must deny your request' – World Press Freedom Day in Hungary

3 May is World Press Freedom Day, but the press is only as free as much it is allowed to report; here are the walls constantly hit by independent journalists in Hungary.

'From what I've heard, the Russkie stuff is stronger' – The vaccination campaign in Hungary's segregated communities

Hungarian civic organizations have launched their campaign titled "Vaccines for Life" to get people living in disadvantaged, segregated communities to sign up for the coronavirus vaccine. We took a look at how it went in Miskolc and the surrounding small towns.

What can we learn from the data on the Hungarian victims of Covid-19?

Harvesting the official mortality data revealed that general health in Hungary is terrible and that the data provided by hospitals is far from standardized. Infographics about the first 25,000 coronavirus-related deaths in Hungary.

Hungarian campus of Fudan University to be built by Chinese workers, financed by a Chinese loan

The construction of the Budapest campus of the Shanghai-based Fudan University has upset Hungarian domestic politics. The opposition-led Budapest is trying to oppose the project, but the Hungarian government seems relentless.

Hungary now only ranks 92nd on World Press Freedom Index

Reporters Without Borders warns that the Hungarian government's expanding hegemony over the media could inspire other European countries such as Poland or Slovenia.

Who is Hungary's elusive Minister of Propaganda?

Antal Rogán used to be a darling of pro-government tabloids, but ever since his new wife's real estate scandal, the Hungarian cabinet minister has vanished from the radar. We tried to get in touch with him for over two months, to no avail; In the end, we had to ask other prominent members of the governing party about what Orbán's most indispensable cabinet member is really doing.

In Hungary's Roma segregates, misinformation is more dangerous than Covid-19

Covid-19 has not spared disadvantaged communities, there were villages where everyone was infected at some point or another. Despite the danger, vaccine refusal is high due to fake news and misinformation spreading faster than the virus itself.

The trail of litter along the Tisza: from Ukraine to Hungary

A ton of garbage makes its way to Hungary every year along the Tisza. The main source of the problem is in Transcarpathia, Ukraine, but there doesn’t seem to be an easy solution to the matter. This is a complex economic, environmental, and social issue – one which we present in a short documentary film on Telex.

Hungarian diplomat covers up DUI accident in Vienna

An influential Hungarian diplomat caused an accident while driving drunk in Vienna. His children were in the back, and he refused the evidentiary breathalyser. However, the incident had no consequences in Austria or Hungary.

'One week, she is still cooking for you, the next, you are picking her belongings up at the hospital'

Petra Tóth's mother died of complications arising from COVID-19 in little under a week. Tamás Busák spent 44 days in the hospital, and he was on a ventilator for 17. Barbara Balás is one of the few women who were pregnant at the time of contracting the coronavirus, and she had to undergo a C-section prematurely. Hungarians whose lives were affected by the coronavirus told us about their experiences.

Son of Viktor Orbán graduates from RMA Sandhurst, Hungary foots the bill

We discovered that the Hungarian Prime Minister's son has just graduated from one of the top military academies in the world and the roughly €100,000 training fee was paid by the Ministry of Defence. When we inquired about this at the government's weekly press conference, the spokesperson changed our question, removing any mention of Gáspár Orbán.

2021 is shaping up to be Viktor Orbán's toughest year to date

A recession of historic proportions, a significant loss of popularity, rule of law mechanism, a hostile US administration, a new German chancellor, and an opposition challenger – the Hungarian Prime Minister will have to face a number of difficulties this year, and he has work to do within his own party as well.

