Hungary

Under the umbrella of the state of emergency, the government has passed a set of decisions and laws, including a ban on energy exports and an increase in production at Hungary's only nuclear power plant.

The four countries of the bloc - Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia - have never developed a common foreign policy in the 31 years of the existence of the bloc, which emerged in 1991 to help facilitate the region's accession to NATO and the EU. Instead, especially at the EU level, they have tried to coordinate their positions on various EU-related matters.

"Orban is intoxicated by his own success," sighs Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, a former Hungarian state secretary and ambassador, referring to the governing party's landslide election victory. "Frankly, given the current situation, I expect his rhetoric to get even sharper, with no signs of changing his pro-Russian and anti-EU line."

Following this game in November 2020, after initial scepticism over his selection, Nego quickly became a cult hero in Hungary. The name Hajdu had christened him with, "Lajos" - the nearest Hungarian equivalent to Loic - became widespread among Magyar fandom.

Blackmail as policy

"We can never give up on the Hungarians living there and our abducted territories," he tells BIRN, advocating a stealthy approach, "just gently, carefully, diplomatically, step by step", for a revanchist policy that would, if put in practice, represent a major geopolitical shock in Eastern Europe.

Orban also promised he would prevent any pro-migration regulations in the EU, even at the level of recommendations, and underlined his government's belief in the traditional family model, comprised of a man and a woman. Bolsonaro, in return, praised Orban and said the values of his government - God, fatherland, family, freedom - make Hungary a model for Brazil.

Given both Poland and Hungary are the two member states deemed to be the worst offenders, governments of those two countries challenged the mechanism before the CJEU in 2021, arguing that it lacked a proper legal basis in the EU Treaties.

Hungary will not allow the deployment of additional forces on its territory, because the national army is capable of providing national security in the midst of tensions around Ukraine, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pter Szijjrt.

Six months later, the findings are still to be published and, when they are, the NAIH says the public will see only a redacted version.

Data privacy experts are not holding their breath. Indeed, many are worried about what the episode says for the chances of NAIH doing its job when it comes to oversight of another emerging sector - the collection and monetising of public data.