Latest news in Hungary - 23 Sep 2025

Fidesz Spends Nearly 1 Billion Forints on Facebook Ads: In the last 30 days, Fidesz and associated groups have spent approximately 930 million forints on Facebook advertising, gearing up before new EU regulations cut political ad placements starting October 10. This spending averaged about 31 million forints daily, significantly overshadowing opposition expenditures, which totaled only 3.6 million forints during the same period. Read more here

Aquarium Club Suspends Events for 2026: The Aquarium Club has announced the suspension of all events planned for the first half of 2026 due to uncertainty surrounding the venue's future, as renovations by the Hungarian National Asset Management are anticipated but details are scarce. The club, which has been renting the premises since 2014, is awaiting further information on the impact of these renovations. Read more here

Seeking impartial news? Meet 1440.

Every day, 3.5 million readers turn to 1440 for their factual news. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you a complete summary of politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a brief 5-minute email. Enjoy an impartial news experience.

Join for free today!

Klára Dobrev Offers 5 Million Forints Reward: Klára Dobrev, president of the Democratic Coalition, has announced a 5 million forints reward for information leading to the identification of two politicians involved in the Szőlő Street pedophile scandal. This comes as allegations surface regarding a lack of investigation into the ten-year abuse that allegedly took place at a correctional facility, with calls for accountability growing in parliament. Read more here

M1 Highway Expansion and Toll Sticker Announcement: The M1 highway will be expanded to six lanes over a 78-kilometer stretch between the M0 and Concó rest area, with a regional toll sticker costing 15,000 forints set to be introduced in 2026. This expansion is part of a ten-year program running from 2025 to 2034, which also includes upgrades to the M7 and M3 highways and the construction of 279 expressways. Read more here

Gellért Bath Closure for Renovation: The iconic Gellért Bath will close for renovations starting October 1, impacting visitor patterns across Budapest's other baths. As a result, the Rudas Bath will transition to a daily coed schedule, operating from 11 a.m. until closing while maintaining gender-specific hours for its Turkish bath on weekdays. Read more here

Major Data Breach on Apartment Rental Site: A programmer revealed serious security vulnerabilities on alberlet.hu, allowing access to personal data of over 300,000 users, including emails and passwords, through SQL Injection and XSS attacks. While the site has since patched the vulnerabilities, it has not confirmed whether affected users were notified. Read more here

Imre Juhász Elected as New Ombudsman: The Hungarian Parliament elected Imre Juhász, former president of the Constitutional Court, as Ombudsman for a six-year term, receiving 134 votes in favor. Laura Zsuzsanna Gyeney was appointed as his Deputy, with responsibilities for protecting the rights of nationalities living in Hungary. Read more here

Gault&Millau Returns with New Awards: The Gault&Millau restaurant guide is set to relaunch in Hungary in September 2025, naming Szabina Szulló as Chef of the Year, along with several other awards recognizing culinary talents. This guide evaluates restaurants on a scale of 1 to 20 points, offering a detailed ranking of nearly 400 establishments across the country, and will be available in bookstores soon. Read more here

Long Waits for Cancer and Autoimmune Treatment Approvals: Patients like Mária and Mikó are facing dire circumstances as they wait for months for drug approvals from the Batthyány-Strattmann László Foundation, with over 4,575 individual requests pending, and only 1,888 being processed. The lack of transparency and slow assessment processes are leading to life-threatening delays in treatment for many critically ill patients. Read more here

Hungary Stands Firm on Russian Oil Imports: Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated at the UN General Assembly that Hungary will continue purchasing Russian oil, emphasizing the country's reliance on these supplies for energy security. He described calls from political leaders, including Donald Trump, to cease imports as unrealistic given Hungary's infrastructure constraints. Annually, Hungary imports about 5 million tons of oil from Russia, primarily through the Friendship pipeline. Read more here\

-