Orbán’s Decisions Aren't Made in Budapest

Budapest is accusing Kyiv of delaying repairs to the Druzhba pipeline and threatening to restrict electricity and diesel exports to Ukraine while blocking EU measures to support Kyiv. But are these decisions really made by Viktor Orbán in Budapest, or are they shaped elsewhere?In this episode, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Visegrad Insight fellow Zsuzsanna Szabó, an energy and geostrategy expert based in Oslo, about Hungary’s deep dependency on Russian crude, the political economy of MOL’s margins and the ‘utility bill reduction fund’, and why the Druzhba standoff hits the Hungarian government where it hurts ahead of the April election.They also discuss Hungary’s threats towards Ukraine, Croatia’s potential role via the Adria pipeline and why sanctions veto politics can look less like Hungarian national interest and more like Kremlin interest.Subscribe to Visegrad Insight: https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-levels/Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/piAVKv31AI0Listen on Spotify: Listen on Apple Podcasts:

In this Visegrad Insight podcast, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Sigita Struberga (Latvian Transatlantic Organisation, Organisation Women for Security) about what the 2026 Munich Security Conference revealed about Europe’s strategic direction, defence-industrial reality and the eastern flank’s expectations of partners.We discuss:– Why ‘national interests’ rhetoric is back and what it means for the Euro-Atlantic community– ‘Rearmament without warmongering’ and the politics of long war preparation– Baltic ‘total defence’ thinking, societal resilience and the demand for measurable results– EU defence industry modernisation and the coming competition inside EuropeRead Sigita Struberga's article based on this conversation: https://visegradinsight.eu/europe-is-preparing-but-baltic-states-want-action/Subscribe to Visegrad Insight: https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-levels/Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/EIA6GLeJW7MListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4uoWUeqvhpI5ddsrbxjJnz?si=rUW2CrKqTNeGtyDafbl-VwListen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/europe-is-preparing-the-baltics-want-action/id1515725435?i=1000750307371&l=en-GB

Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Maria Repko, Deputy Director at the Centre for Economic Strategy in Kyiv, about how Ukraine’s economy functions under winter blackouts, missile attacks and a war-driven defence industry boom.In this episode:– What daily life looks like in Kyiv at -20 degrees with rationed electricity and broken heating– Why Ukrainians reject the ‘resilience’ label and what it obscures– Poland–Ukraine cooperation after Donald Tusk’s visit and the shift from ‘emotional’ to ‘rational’ politics– The SAFE mechanism, EU defence funding and why Ukraine’s defence industry iterates faster– What to expect from the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk– Why ‘closing the sky’ matters more than any reconstruction cheque– Frozen Russian assets and what Europe signals by keeping them immobilisedSubscribe for more conversations on democratic security, security policy and political economy in Central Europe.Support independent journalism and analysis: https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-checkout/Podcast listeners’ code: visegrad35 (35 per cent off yearly subscription)Watch on YouTube: Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4wOAm6tjBMzvqgtAX7XaIg?si=qapxXc0JTUKBU0ddYk9RjAListen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/ukraines-economy-is-growing-despite-genocide/id1515725435?i=1000749271637&l=en-GB00:00 Guest intro: Ukraine’s economy under war00:25 Podcast intro and context01:38 Kyiv winter, vulnerability and survival02:08 Heating destruction and electricity rationing04:21 ‘We do not like the word resilience anymore’05:16 Poland’s visit to Kyiv, new cooperation agenda07:58 From ‘emotional’ to ‘rational’ bilateral politics11:16 Subscription message (promo code)11:40 Ukraine Recovery Conference and diplomacy track13:15 Why the conference matters (Berlin, Rome, now Gdańsk)14:23 A new defence pillar and business-driven recovery15:13 ‘Close the sky’: prevention over recovery17:21 Where frozen assets sit and why it stays opaque18:50 Europe’s credibility and deterrence signal29:51 Why financial support underpins state capacity30:56 Deterrence logic and Russia’s military spending32:29 Why Russia is not preparing to stop34:07 Outro

President Petr Pavel accuses Foreign Minister Petr Macinka of blackmail, triggering what may become an emerging constitutional crisis. In this videocast, Wojciech Przybylski and Pavel Havlíček discuss what the scandal means for Czech foreign policy, defence spending and the stability of Andrej Babiš’s coalition, including the influence of the ‘motorists’ movement and Filip Turek.Read the text version of the interview: https://visegradinsight.eu/macinka-pavel-scandal-cohabitation-czechia/Our analysis on the topic: https://visegradinsight.eu/political-cohabitation-in-czechia-turns-into-a-house-of-cards-play/Pavel Havlíček is a 2021/2022 Marcin Król Fellow at Visegrad Insight. He is also a Research Fellow at the Association for International Affairs (AMO) Research Centre. His research focus is on Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine and Russia, and the Eastern Partnership.Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-f1dKl4GlXIListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5trSyFe9Mh4XAZSqAgwr5t?si=-G60rjCtSjyKa-DRLu12VgListen on Apple Podcasts: https://shorturl.at/AqXhN

Wojciech Przybylski talks with Radu Albu-Comanescu (Babeș-Bolyai University, Visegrad Insight Fellow) about what the World Economic Forum revealed about geostrategy, defence and the new rules of engagement from Washington, with uncomfortable implications for Central and Eastern Europe.In this episode: – Why this Davos felt ‘geopolitically consistent’– Reactions to the ‘Board of Peace’ idea from Central and Eastern Europe– Greenland and the High NorthRomania and Poland’s balancing act: economic security in the European Union, hard security with the United StatesThe China question Europe keeps postponing, at its own riskFollow Visegrad Insight for analysis on democratic security, geopolitical risk and the future of Central Europe. Subscribe for our newsletter and more exclusive content: https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-levels/Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zR_rnyT6dzY

Is 2026 the last year of war or the first year of peace in Europe?In this Visegrad Insight online discussion, Monika Sus and Wojciech Przybylski map out the key forecasts for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in 2026 and beyond: where democratic security is most vulnerable, and what ‘war fatigue’ and hybrid warfare can do to elections and institutions.The conversation weighs plausible 2026 scenarios for the Russia-Ukraine war, including the risks of a ‘pause’ rather than a settlement, and assesses how the United States, Russia and China shape Europe’s security system. It also explores Europe’s readiness for turbulence: defence production, resilience against sabotage and disinformation and the strategic stakes of European Union enlargement, from Ukraine and Moldova to the Western Balkans.This episode is for anyone searching for a sober prognosis of what could happen in 2026, from political dynamics to security risks and economic security choices.Recorded online on 15 January 2026.Watch on YT: https://youtu.be/UwKmeijXz-YListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6tRPrp0jZWuWqd1UiNkVGv?si=qZHmFrW6T_29apn_Zt6lMgListen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/the-last-year-of-war-or-peace-foresight-for-2026/id1515725435?i=1000746025538&l=en-GB

In this Visegrad Insight podcast episode, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Anna Gielewska of  ⁨@vsquare_project⁩  about a cross-border investigation with Front Story and Context Romania. They discuss alleged undeclared online support linked to Romanian far-right politician George Simion during Karol Nawrocki’s presidential campaign, what can and cannot be proven, and why Poland’s rules on in-kind support look outdated in the platform era. The conversation also touches on the United States National Security Strategy and the European Union debate on a Democracy Shield.This podcast is supported by the 4-year European Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) framework programme. It is part of our "Foresight on EU Values and Democratic Security" that we have been running in 2023-2025.Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZTkBEeP9os4Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/make-europe-great-again-and-the-cross-border/id1515725435?i=1000742479611&l=en-GB

Does the European Union have an ‘intelligent’ green strategy that is failing in practice while Hungary pursues a ‘dumb’ one that seems to work?In this episode of the Visegrad Insight Podcast, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Hungarian journalist Vilmos Weiler about the surge of Chinese and Korean battery investments in Hungary and what this means for European competitiveness, economic security and environmental safety.This podcast is a part of our Europe Future Forum Polish-Hungarian Perspectives project. Through a programme of meetings with experts, political advisers and opinion leaders from both countries, we aim to explore Poland’s and Hungary’s perspectives on the transformations underway in the European Union at the threshold of an age of economic warfare. Supported by the Wacław Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation.Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ZVjpVC-rAListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5rS975XzpvScfteSbUFuaM?si=fA_K_aAVSkytXZmjQ15A4g

Wojciech Przybylski unpacks the new United States national security strategy and its ‘chaotic hypocrisy’ towards Europe, then turns to Hungary to ask what an honest energy transition would really look like.In conversation with Ada Ámon, executive director of the Budapest Climate Agency, this episode explores:– How deeply Hungary is locked into Russian oil, gas and nuclear fuel– Why successive governments chose cheap energy over efficiency and resilience– How Hungarian households have already shown they can cut consumption by twenty to thirty per cent– How EU funds were diverted away from citizens and into government buildings, weakening real climate action– What smarter pricing, better incentives and local innovation could do for Hungary’s energy futureThis podcast is a part of our Europe Future Forum Polish-Hungarian Perspectives project. Through a programme of meetings with experts, political advisers and opinion leaders from both countries, we aim to explore Poland’s and Hungary’s perspectives on the transformations underway in the European Union at the threshold of an age of economic warfare. Supported by the Wacław Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation.

Why is Ukraine plastered across Hungary’s billboards and campaign ads as if it were on the ballot itself? And what does Viktor Orbán really gain from keeping Volodymyr Zelensky in the minds, hearts and social media algorithms of Hungarians?In this episode of the Visegrad Insight Podcast, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Viktória Serdült, journalist at HVG in Budapest, about how Ukraine became the central prop of Hungary’s permanent election campaign.Together they discuss:How the ‘pro-war / pro-peace’ propaganda line turned into a full-blown anti-Ukraine campaign in HungaryWhy Zelensky, Ursula von der Leyen and Péter Magyar are glued together on Fidesz billboards as the alleged ‘pro-war’ trioWhat ordinary Hungarians actually think about the war and Ukraine’s EU membership, beyond government messagingThe role of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine and long-term mistrust in shaping public opinionHow agriculture, gas transit and EU funds quietly sit behind the slogans about peace and sovereigntyWhy Russia is barely mentioned in Budapest’s rhetoric about a war that Moscow startedWhat to watch in 2025–2026 as Hungary heads into yet another high-stakes electoral cycle with Ukraine at the centreWatch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jdmBOuqQgLwListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6DjmhfAz6U2y4zOqa9zQ5u?si=z-nh1ZYNQj6dtGUp1V3Kbg