Eurasia Press & News
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban visited Serbia on Thursday to discuss increasing oil exports there, before jetting off to Russia on Friday to talk with Vladimir Putin about crude oil and gas supplies to Hungary. Orban met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in the northern Serbian town of Subotica on Thursday in the wake of the announcement that the Hungarian state energy company MOL had doubled its oil shipments to Serbia in November and plans to increase the amount by 2.5 times in December. Serbia faces a potential fuel and diesel shortage after its only refinery faces being shut down due to US sanctions on Russia. According to Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, MOL is prepared to assist Serbia by sending oil by rail, road and even along the Danube. MOL is seen as a potential buyer of the Serbian energy company NIS, which is currently majority owned by Russia’s Gazprom and Gazprom Neft. Belgrade has given the Russian owners 50 days to sell their assets before the government takes over operations. “Serbia is for the Serbians and the Serbs have to decide about the refinery,” Orban said at a press conference after meeting Vucic. “But if they decide that they would like our cooperation, we will be happy to help.” Orban also announced that Hungary would accelerate the construction of the planned Serbian-Hungarian oil pipeline. “I don’t care about the market conditions, which are insecure; we do it as a governmental project,” he said. Originally, the pipeline was due to be operational by 2028. To help supply Serbia, Hungary needs to secure more oil itself, so Orban announced he would travel to Moscow on Friday for talks with Vladimir Putin. “I am going to Moscow to ensure that energy supplies to Hungary are secured for the winter and the coming year,” Orban said in a video he posted on Facebook. His visit flies in the face of EU policy to halt Russian oil and gas imports in order to put pressure on Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Radio Free Europe Hungary – an arm of the bigger independent media outlet financed by the US called Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – has closed. At the beginning of 2025, journalists had already been informed that funding would be cut due to the incoming administration of Donald Trump, which froze 77 million dollars of the annual budget of the US Agency for Global Media. Trump also signed an executive order classifying US public media operating abroad – including Voice of America, RFE/RL and Radio Free Asia – as “unnecessary elements of the federal bureaucracy.” Still, the closure caught many by surprise. Reportedly, Hungarian employees were informed only a few hours before the shutdown. Yet the writing has been on the wall for a while: Kari Lake, Trump’s appointee to lead the US Agency for Global Media (which oversees RFE/RL), wrote to Congress earlier that funding would end because its “programming has undermined President Trump’s foreign policy by opposing the duly elected Prime Minister of Hungary.” She wrote on X: “The Globalists are more than welcome to hate our ally Viktor Orban. What they are not entitled to is the use of YOUR money to destabilize the Hungarian regime via taxpayer-funded programming on Szabad Európa. We’re putting a stop to that.” Lake is an avid supporter of the Hungarian PM; in 2023, when she attended CPAC in Budapest, she said that “America could look to Viktor Orbán as an example.” Originally, RFE served as a voice of the “free world” during the Communist era, but it pulled out of Hungary in 1993, three years after the country’s democratic transition. The service was reinstated five years ago, under the previous Trump administration, to strengthen independent voices in the media. RFE/RL’s president and CEO Steve Capus praised the work of the Hungarian service’s journalists. “Their professionalism, dedication, and unwavering contribution to our mission have shaped our success in meaningful ways, and we remain profoundly grateful for everything they have brought to this organization,” he said in a statement.
Polish president slams ECJ ruling over gay marriage; sham degree indictments
In a case brought by a Polish gay couple who married in Berlin in 2018 but were unable to register their marriage in Poland as the law there does not recognise same-sex marriage, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) on Tuesday said EU member states were obliged to recognise a same-sex marriage between two EU citizens that had been “lawfully concluded in another member state”. The ECJ said that while marriage rules fell within each member state’s competence, “countries were required to comply with EU law in exercising that competence.” As EU citizens, the Polish couple who married in Germany had the right to freedom of movement and the right to lead a family life, the court explained. Since the Netherlands recognised same-sex marriage in 2001, several other EU countries have followed suit, but others, such as Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, have not. Predictably, reactions to the ruling depended on the political spectrum: the leftish parties in the ruling coalition welcomed the court’s decision, with Katarzyna Kotula, the minister for equality issues who is a member of the Left Party, saying: “This is a historic ruling that begins a completely new phase in the legal protection of same-sex couples… It clearly states that Poland is obligated to transcribe foreign marriage certificates of same-sex couples.” The new right-wing populist president, Karol Nawrocki, was less effusive, with his office declaring that Poland “would not succumb to the terror of rainbow rulings” that “completely destroy the family”. Given Nawrocki’s position on same-sex partnerships, passing legislation in favour of same-sex unions would not get past his veto, so in order to comply with the ECJ ruling the coalition must find a non-legislative path to recognise foreign same-sex marriages. If Poland is deemed by the ECJ to have failed to implement the ruling, it could face hefty fines until it does so.
Another eastern European university degree scandal erupted this week, this time in Poland. Prosecutors have issued the first indictments in a fraud and corruption scandal surrounding a private university, Collegium Humanum – Warsaw Management University, which is accused of issuing diplomas to students who didn’t actually do the required work for such a degree. Among the 29 who will ultimately be indicted were the mayor of Poland’s third-largest city, two former members of the European Parliament, and a former presidential spokesman, some of whom used the college to obtain MBAs, which then helped them secure lucrative positions at state-owned companies, according to Notes from Poland. “Searches at the university’s premises confirmed a widespread practice, encompassing not only irregularities in the issuance of postgraduate MBA diplomas, but also bachelor’s and master’s degree diplomas,” said the National Prosecutor’s Office. One of those indicted was Jacek Sutryk, the mayor of Wroclaw, who is facing four charges relating to fraud and corruption. Prosecutors say Sutryk, who is aligned with Poland’s ruling coalition, paid over 2,000 euros in tuition fees to receive an MBA, but didn’t actually undertake any of the required studies. In return, the then rector of Collegium Humanum, named as Pawel Cz. by prosecutors, is accused of receiving a position on the council of a municipal technology park in Wroclaw for which he was paid over 17,000 euros for advisory services that he did not actually provide. Both men deny the charges.
Slovak PM accused of misusing tax office; EU infringement proceedings
Slovak PM Robert Fico is alleged to have abused the tax office to gather information on the family of Marta Simeckova, founder of the NGO Projekt Forum and mother of opposition leader Michal Simecka. Opposition parties Hnutie Slovensko and Demokrati have submitted a formal complaint, claiming that Fico and his appointee, tax office head Jozef Kiss, ordered tax crime investigators to collect data on Simeckova and her relatives, including her husband, journalist Martin M. Simecka. Both parties argue that the documents indicate unlawful use of the tax office’s criminal division. The tax office acknowledges that it examined Simeckova’s organisation, but insists all procedures complied with the law. The opposition disputes this, releasing internal records they say prove political misuse of the tax authorities. While officials confirmed the authenticity of the first document, they labelled the second one a manipulation aimed at discrediting the institution. The case puts Prosecutor General Maros Zilinka in a politically delicate position. Fico’s Smer party has recently criticised the country’s chief prosecutor, who in turn has criticised Smer. His office is already handling several sensitive cases involving people close to the PM. The new complaint explicitly names Fico, raising questions about whether investigators will summon him for questioning or launch criminal proceedings. Fico previously faced similar accusations in 2022 in the so-called “Twilight” case, when he was suspected of deploying police and tax authorities against political rivals. Those charges were later dropped by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Fico, who accuses Simeckova of having the same invoices reimbursed by the state multiple times, has not commented on the claims made by the opposition. Simeckova denies the accusations.
Slovakia faces a fresh confrontation with Brussels after the European Commission launched infringement proceedings over a constitutional amendment asserting the primacy of national law in “ethical and value-based questions”. PM Fico had framed the dispute as an attempt by EU institutions to impose liberal social norms, declaring he “looked forward to the conflict”. But the EU Commission’s action focuses not on gender or marriage provisions, but on a clause suggesting Slovak law can outrank EU law. The amendment, adopted unexpectedly in September, states that domestic rules take precedence in selected areas tied to national identity. Legal experts had warned that the text risked undermining core EU principles, including the primacy and uniform application of EU law. Brussels confirmed these concerns, citing breaches of autonomy, effectiveness and consistency of EU law. Slovakia now has two months to respond. If it fails to satisfy the EU Commission, the case could escalate to the ECJ, potentially ending in heavy fines. The proceedings were triggered partly by a Dutch parliamentary initiative, which argued the amendment could erode LGBTQ+ rights and violate the EU treaties. While individual member states cannot sue directly, the EU Commission assessed the complaint and found grounds for action. Fico insists the constitution will not be changed and that the amendment is compatible with EU law, arguing that national identity remains a reserved competence. The opposition, however, accuses the government of provoking an unnecessary clash that could cost the country both money and credibility inside the EU. A similar scenario may follow, experts and the opposition say, if the ruling coalition goes ahead with its plan to abolish the Whistleblower Protection Office.
Czech president push backs against ministerial nomination; new cabinet unveiled
Czech President Petr Pavel is still refusing to accept the nomination of Motorist honorary chairman Filip Turek to the government, prime ministerial hopeful Andrej Babis told reporters after his meeting with the head of state at Prague Castle on Wednesday. “The president thinks that [Turek] should not be a member of the government,” he said, before adding that he will discuss the matter with the Motorists to try to find a solution acceptable to Pavel. As part of the post-election talks between Babis’s ANO, the Motorists and the far-right SPD, the former MEP Turek was initially supposed to become foreign minister before media reports unearthed some of his old, deleted social media posts filled with antisemitic, xenophobic and homophobic comments. Turek has denied the authorship of some of them and claimed their publication was politically motivated to keep him from joining the next Czech government. Pavel has since been clear he considers Turek’s possible nomination as foreign minister as problematic. As a sign of compromise, Babis arrived on Wednesday with his list of cabinet hopefuls that included Turek as environment minister, swapped with Motorist chairman Petr Macinka for foreign minister. Despite what pundits have described as a friendly gesture, Pavel’s reservations remain. “First of all, it is a concession by Andrej Babis to the president,” political scientist Ales Michal told the CTK news agency. “But it can also be perceived as a strategic retreat by Filip Turek – and it is possible that it will not end here, but also with the withdrawal of his nomination from any government post.” Motorist head Macinka said he didn’t see any legal obstacle to Turek’s cabinet nomination and requested the opportunity to talk about it with the president. Meanwhile, Pavel is expected to hold informal talks with all ministerial nominees starting from Friday.
While Turek’s potential participation in the cabinet continues to be the source of most speculation, other nominees were also unveiled by Babis this week after weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations. As per the coalition agreement signed by the three partners, ANO is getting a little over half of the 16-member cabinet posts, including Babis as prime minister, vice-chairwoman Alena Schillerova as finance minister, and vice-chairman Karel Havlicek as industry minister. Other ANO portfolios include interior, health, education, labour and social affairs, regional development, and justice. While it’s still unclear who might get what, the Motorists should be in charge of foreign affairs, the environment, culture and sports. Meanwhile, SPD is expected to send non-partisan experts to head the ministries of defence, agriculture and transport. According to past statements, Babis is hoping to have his government up-and-running by mid-December and attend the European Council of December 18-19 as the first of his new term. He is, however, still facing scrutiny by the president and the public on how he intends to resolve his conflicts of interest as the owner of the conglomerate Agrofert.
