Boris Kálnoky

Boris Kálnoky

BORIS KÁLNOKY (Munich, 1961) grew up in Germany, the United States, Holland and France. His family left Hungary in 1947. He studied Politics and History in Hamburg and went on to work at the German daily Die Welt in 1987. In 1995, he became Balkans Correspondent for Die Welt, based in Budapest, and moved on in 2004 to become Middle East correspondent, based in Istanbul. He is the author of Ahnenland (Droemer Verlag, Munich, 2011), a book about what happened to his family and Hungary since 1952. He returned to Budapest in 2013, still for Die Welt. He also writes for a number of other media in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Since September 2020 he has been appointed Head of Media School at Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Budapest.

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING
OLAF SCHOLZ

Germany’s new government is in trouble after barely six months in office. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democratic Party are sinking in the polls and losing regional elections. What comes next? HUMILIATION IN THE NORTH On 8 May, voters in the northern German Bundesland (federal state) of Schleswig-Holstein delivered

RUSSIA: ORBÁN’S STRATEGIC SHIFT

There is a widespread view that Hungary’s relations with Russia are so close that they represent a betrayal of the ‘West’, the EU, and NATO, and that there is some sort of comradeship between the ‘authoritarian’ leaders of both countries, Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin. In reality, it was Hungary’s

GERMANY’S NEW LEFT-WING GOVERNMENT AND THE FUTURE
FOR CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS

A new government took over in Germany in December 2021. Almost immediately, the multicoloured coalition of Social Democrats (SDP, red), Greens (well, green) and liberals (FDP, yellow) was subjected to withering criticism in the media. Germany’s new government started with a radical-sounding left-wing programme. It is quickly morphing into something

Media Freedom in Hungary

A Nuanced Perspective In parts of the international press, there seems to be a widespread view that free media in Hungary under Viktor Orbán has been greatly reduced, and that the remnants are under immense political pressure. The truth is more complicated when we take in a full view of

HEAVY LIFTING FOR THE GERMAN EU PRESIDENCY

“The EU is attempting to put final touches on three mega-projects, all of a transformative nature. A carbon-neutral transformation of economy, the ‘Next Generation Fund’ (NGF) to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis, and the introduction of a ‘Rule of Law’ (RoL) mechanism all have the potential

THE RULE OF LAW DEBATE – CAN GERMANY GET HUNGARY OFF THE HOOK?

“‘Rule of Law’ has become the battle cry of our times in the arena of European politics. Accompanied by spectacular rhetorical theatrics of leading politicians whenever the media are around, the ‘RoL’, as it is often abbreviated, looks set to become the object of new EU rules aiming to discipline

GERMANY: THE DAM THAT BROKE

“The crisis is so severe that CDU Chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced her resignation on 10 February (effective later this year). Also, she will not be the party’s candidate for Chancellor in the next elections. She had been handpicked and groomed by Chancellor Angela Merkel to become her successor. Who will

2020 – BIRTH OF A CONTINENTIAL EU

“Without the UK, the EU becomes a continental affair in which Germany’s relative weight will again increase. All eyes are on Berlin: how will Germany position itself? Historically, close cooperation between Germany and France has been the EU’s centre of gravity. But that may change. Particularly, the Visegrad countries of

A NAZI MURDER AND THE FALLOUT

“A neo-Nazi attack against a synagogue in the town of Halle, Eastern Germany, has shaken the Germany psyche. Two views have emerged about this. One is that the country is witnessing the return of rightwing terrorism with roots in Nazi violence of the 1920s and 1930s. The other is that

GERMANY: THE END OF STABILITY?

“Regional elections in Saxony and Brandenburg on 1 September illustrated where this will probably lead to: in both states the ruling parties CDU (in Saxony) and SPD (in Brandenburg) lost heavily and are now trying to include the Greens in a larger coalition. This may be exactly what lies ahead