Political analyst Gábor Török had an interesting observation about the parliament recently, writing that during parliamentary sessions, the Socialists, Fidesz and the Christian Dems will only send a few bored MPs to take part in arguments, while both LMP and Jobbik send their MPs well prepared and ready to ask questions, to the point that their prodding got former Socialist chairwoman Ildikó Lendvai to talk about her "activities" prior to system change, which you can see here at the 6 hour mark. Now that's different.

In what is perhaps the best combination of clever and lame in terms of campaign stunts we've seen, Kalocsa mayoral candidate Ferenc Török handed out bottles of water with his mug on them to passers-by during last week's heat wave, we found out via the AltNyil blog. Although the campaign has yet to start for another month or so, the Fidesz politician got a head start on his competition, who no doubt now hope the currently below-average temps continue so they can hand out free sweaters.

So while everyone has either been applauding or freaking out about Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's willingness to stand up to the IMF for better or worse, what's largely fallen into the background is the storm over the government's plan to introduce a new media law. With that in mind, it's worth looking out how things have gone this past month and where they seem to be headed at the moment, because if the "Viktátor" has proven anything, it's that he's a real multitasker when it comes to getting everyone upset with him.

[Editor's Note: We are pleased today to offer our first contribution by Adam LeBor, the long-time Budapest correspondent for the Times of London, and author of numerous books. Note that the piece is also available via this link to subscribers of the Times, which recently put most of its content behind a paywall. Also note that LeBor's recently published thriller, The Budapest Protocol, is available in English from Reportage Press in the UK and in Hungarian from Agave Kiado here in Budapest.]

The howls of outrage are echoing from Brussels to Washington DC. Like the simian slaves in Planet of the Apes, Hungary has uttered the forbidden word: No.

Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister, has rebuffed the demands of the IMF and the EU for more budget cuts and austerity measures. The moneycrats went home muttering about collapsing currencies and fiscal irresponsibility. To which Budapest's glorious answer was: God speed. The forint, Hungary's currency, slid, recovered and slid again but the country is holding firm.

Instead of cutting services and welfare, the Government will go for growth by slashing taxes, whitening the economy and simplifying Hungary's byzantine business environment.

Of course, after the 2008 €20 billion bail-out package, the EU and IMF have a right to negotiate over Hungary's financial plans. And after the IMF-induced privatizations of the early 1990s turned much of this region into an economic wasteland, Hungary has a right to stick to its guns.

But there is a wider issue at stake here: national sovereignty, especially of smaller nations. In today's globalized world, and a streamlined Europe where Brussels and Strasbourg engage in an unprecedented appropriation of political and legal power by stealth, national sovereignty has somehow become a dirty word. Our destinies may be increasingly shaped by globalised financers and multinational institutions, but I don't remember anyone voting for this process, or even being given the option. Ironically, these supranational bodies use the same tactics as the Communists in postwar Europe - stealthily slicing away independence and sovereignty until nobody notices that it's all gone.

A couple of people have sent along links to this unsigned editorial in yesterday's Washington Post, which ominously argues that Viktor Orbán risks "once again" becoming a "pariah" in Washington and other Western capitals by being excessively brutish and nationalist. And as one regular commentator pointed out here, Politics.hu even briefly published a re-write of the piece this morning by our partners at Hungary Around the Clock, before taking it down. So what's the deal?

As in Hungary, this year's national elections in the Czech Republic resulted in some sore feelings over a lack of women in the cabinet. But unlike here, where women saw their already meager share of parliamentarians slashed by 20%, there are now more women in the Czech parliament than ever before. And some of them are pretty hot!

In response to the government's decree that their most glorious declaration be displayed in public buildings, the Budapest government put them on the fence outside city hall, accompanied by a mostly blank sheet of paper asking citizens to tell the government what they think of it.

Supporters of historian Krisztián Ungváry have come to his aid and raised Ft 2 million (€7,200) after a court ruled that he had libeled Judge László Kiss by writing that he was informer during the communist period, index.hu reports. The court also fined him and weekly Élet és Irodalom Ft 3 million plus interest. Ungváry, who held a small demonstration in front of Hungary's Supreme Court on Monday, said that by ruling as they did, the court was falsifying history. Ungváry, who is known for his objectivity and riling both left and right over their selective readings of the past (and has been one of the bigger proponents of shedding light on Hungary's communist era informer network) said that he would take his fight to the European Court, where he fully expects to win.

Fidesz has suggested to Jobbik MP Előd Novák that he resign his parliamentary mandate after an outburst in parliament on Monday, hvg.hu reports. Preceding a vote on suspending Fidesz MP Tamás Meggyes's parliamentary immunity, Novák was heard shouting "lógjon!" (he should hang). Novák has not denied that he shouted it, but responded that it was just a joke. Fidesz MP Péter Ágh mentioned the fate of Fidesz MP Sándor Arnoth, who resigned following a similar outburst two years ago, adding that if Novák is so intent on spreading humor, he could resign and devote even more time to it.

Former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, one of Hungary's wealthiest, can now add fare-dodging to his résumé, as cameras for mandiner.hu spotted him getting on the underground without canceling his ticket this past weekend after the gay pride parade, blikk.hu reports. According to Gyurcsány, he was under the impression that his entourage would take care of it, but since they didn't, he wired Ft 24,000 to the BKV to pay the fine for himself and his wife, no doubt wishing he was still in a position to make life complicated for the folks over at Mandiner.

Those familiar with Hungarian politics over the past century will be aware that a) probably the biggest bummer was the dismemberment of the country following the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, and b) that this bummer was in large part the work of the French. So imagine the shock of discovering, via yesterday's Telegraph, that Le Grand Bummer of French political life today can be traced to… Hongrie:

Before becoming a scandal about money, politics, art, history, café society and power, the Affaire Bettencourt, now threatening the Sarkozy presidency, is the story of two ferociously ambitious young Hungarian outsiders and their success at storming the citadels of the French establishment.

Revenge: Still sweet, even after 90 years!

Thanks to D. M. for sending us a link to the website for the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), which just like the Socialists who mocked the Fidesz decision to post their declaration in public buildings, has launched their own poster remix webpage, in a sarcastic effort to make sure that no one in Hungary goes without their own copy of it. We love it.

[Editor's Note: The following is an op-ed piece by Geza Cseri, a member of the American Hungarian Federation, entrepreneur, and former science and technology advisor to NATO. Politics.hu welcomes submissions for op-ed pieces pertaining to Hungary.]

As the 90th anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon approached on June 4th the previous month, Hungarians across the four corners of the world commemorated the anniversary of the tragic event by which the dismemberment of historic Hungary occurred in 1920. This treaty totally altered the political balance of Central Europe. The Treaty deprived Hungary of 65% of her inhabitants and 72% of her territory, an area as large as Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky combined. The dismemberment also created 16 million ethnic minorities, including 5 million Hungarians.

At that time, the great journalist Walter Lippmann called the event “balkanization”, which unfortunately proved to be true and thus contributed greatly to the events of WW II and more recently the Bosnian conflict and Kosovo. We have not seen the end of it, as Slovakia could be next due to its "Language Police" policy. President Wilson called the treaty absurd; the US Senate never ratified it.

There are many things about the Fidesz plan to display their political declaration in public buildings in Hungary that I don't like, and The Economist has already made two very valid criticisms about it, but what might make this a mighty own-goal for Fidesz is that it's allowed the Socialists to come across as the voices of reason and attack Fidesz in a way that actually stands to give them a boost for the fall elections, something that's not been lost on the folks over at the Mandiner blog.

The Socialist plan to drop Csaba Horváth in favor of a non-partisan mayoral candidate for Budapest's top job who would in turn be supported by the opposition parties died a quick death after the LMP said they would not join into an alliance with the Socialists, origo.hu reported last week. Yesterday, 168ora.hu reported that the Socialists have been unable to find anyone in place of Horváth that they could support in a "coalition" with civil groups, and so today Horváth announced in Népszava that he would not step down as the party's candidate for Budapest, because the party could not agree with anyone on who to replace him. Or perhaps more simply, no group or party wants the Socialist stain on them this fall.