Anti-graft watchdog Transparency International said the United States had slid to the lowest-ever score on its 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index as it warned of worsening corruption in democracies worldwide. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/02/11/world/politics/corruption-decline-democracies/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #democracy #corruption #hungary #viktororban #ukraine #volodymyrzelenskyy #us #donaldtrump #denmark #europe #eu
Investors are stepping up bold wagers on Hungary’s stocks, bonds and currency amid the possibility of opposition party Tisza beating veteran Prime Minister Viktor Orban. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/02/04/hungary-trade-orban-election/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #hungary #viktororban #markets
The shift toward authoritarianism often unfolds through a series of small and seemingly trivial steps that become consequential once social pressures push citizens to fall in line. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/02/world/democracies-learning-to-goose-step/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #democracy #hitler #nazi #authoritarianism #viktororban #receptayyiperdogan #nicolaeceausescu #us #donaldtrump #farright
U.S. President Donald Trump granted Hungary an exemption from sanctions on purchases of Russian oil, providing a major win for Prime Minister Viktor Orban. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/08/world/politics/trump-hungary-orban-oil/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #us #donaldtrump #hungary #viktororban #oil #russia #ukraine #russiaukrainewar
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants his country to serve as a laboratory of far-right ideas and an inspiration for U.S. President Donald Trump, whom the nationalist describes as "a great friend." https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/21/world/politics/trump-orban-illiberal-model/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #hungary #viktororban #us #donaldtrump #republicans
Advocates of liberal democracy tend to veer between triumphalism and fatalism nowadays. But neither perspective really captures the politics of countries like Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Italy and the United States. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/07/14/world/is-democracy-stalemated/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #hungary #poland #serbia #viktororban #karolnawrocki #democracy
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Pride organizers in late February not to bother preparing for the parade, with parliament then passing a bill banning such events. The organizers decided to rebel. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/07/world/society/budapest-pride-organizers-orban/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #society #budapest #viktororban #lgbtq #europe #eu #discrimination