Katalin Halmai
@eublogo.bsky.social
Hungarian journalist. News junkie. Former Brussels correspondent. Lives in Leuven. @eublogo on X
Nothing says “helping the Venezuelan people” like seizing their oil, selling it yourself, and holding the cash in your banks indefinitely 👍
US seeks to control sales of Venezuelan oil ‘indefinitely’ ft.trib.al/pFPnNrH
US seeks to control sales of Venezuelan oil ‘indefinitely’
Crude revenues to be funnelled to American banks as Washington lifts some sanctions on Caracas
ft.trib.al
January 7, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Nothing says “helping the Venezuelan people” like seizing their oil, selling it yourself, and holding the cash in your banks indefinitely 👍
The other good news from Nyíregyháza is that the director general of the zoo, running for the opposition Tisza party, may well beat the Fidesz candidate in the April parliamentary elections.
Hey ho!
(hó is snow in HUN)
Hey ho!
(hó is snow in HUN)
❄️🐻❄️ Finally some positive news from Hungary. As record cold and snow hit Central Europe, polar bear cubs at Nyíregyháza Zoo are seeing real snow for the very first time in their lives. (Video by the zoo.)
January 7, 2026 at 3:41 PM
The other good news from Nyíregyháza is that the director general of the zoo, running for the opposition Tisza party, may well beat the Fidesz candidate in the April parliamentary elections.
Hey ho!
(hó is snow in HUN)
Hey ho!
(hó is snow in HUN)
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
Threatening to disconnect Elon Musk's X in Europe would be unprecedented, but it might be time to play that card (via Bloomberg Opinion)
Musk Won’t Fix Grok’s Fake AI Nudes. A Ban Would
When Julie Yukari posted a New Year’s Eve photo in a red dress with her cat, she didn’t expect X users to tag Grok asking it to undress her. Within hours, nude AI-generated images of her had spread across the social-media website — without her consent and without consequences.
bloom.bg
January 7, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Threatening to disconnect Elon Musk's X in Europe would be unprecedented, but it might be time to play that card (via Bloomberg Opinion)
“That money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America”.
Donald Trump says US to take sanctioned Venezuelan oil to American ports
President says he will control money earned from sale of up to 50mn barrels of sanctioned crude
www.ft.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:03 AM
“That money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America”.
Trump’s libertarian friends have been eyeing Greenland for some time. Peter Thiel, who wants to set up crypto-empowered “network states” on undeveloped territory, has invested in Praxis, a start-up that aims to do just that and which has scouted Greenland.
Greenland could be next
Emboldened by the Venezuelan operation, Trump is seeking a foreign balm for domestic pain
www.ft.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Trump’s libertarian friends have been eyeing Greenland for some time. Peter Thiel, who wants to set up crypto-empowered “network states” on undeveloped territory, has invested in Praxis, a start-up that aims to do just that and which has scouted Greenland.
Viktor Orbán held an international press conference today. It is interesting to note that the room was packed with English-language media outlets supportive of Orbán. Are there no longer enough pro-government Hungarian journalists? 🤷♀️
January 5, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Viktor Orbán held an international press conference today. It is interesting to note that the room was packed with English-language media outlets supportive of Orbán. Are there no longer enough pro-government Hungarian journalists? 🤷♀️
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
And on this kind of garbage hang the fates of nations
January 5, 2026 at 4:07 AM
And on this kind of garbage hang the fates of nations
…”supported by 26 EU Member States”
My statement supported by 26 EU Member States on the aftermath of the U.S. intervention in Venezuela ↓
January 5, 2026 at 7:02 AM
…”supported by 26 EU Member States”
Trump’s new world order is now very much a reality. It consists of no obvious rules, does not respect allies, celebrates the jungle and is almost always about money
@edwardluce.bsky.social
@edwardluce.bsky.social
Trump now owns Venezuela
The US president has a growing appetite for military adventure
www.ft.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Trump’s new world order is now very much a reality. It consists of no obvious rules, does not respect allies, celebrates the jungle and is almost always about money
@edwardluce.bsky.social
@edwardluce.bsky.social
Hungary’s response to Trump’s operation to capture Maduro and run Venezuela? Total silence. Quiet as 💩 in tall grass. Turns out “friends with everyone” isn’t a foreign policy, it’s a trap 🪤
January 4, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Hungary’s response to Trump’s operation to capture Maduro and run Venezuela? Total silence. Quiet as 💩 in tall grass. Turns out “friends with everyone” isn’t a foreign policy, it’s a trap 🪤
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
He's doing foreign policy like a private equity firm.
Trump: "We're going to stay [in Venezuela] until such time as the proper transition can take place…We're going to run it, essentially, until such time."
January 3, 2026 at 4:55 PM
He's doing foreign policy like a private equity firm.
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
try to make sense of it
So fmr Honduran President Hernandez voluntarily surrendered, and was duly extradited, tried and convicted for drug trafficking, and Trump pardoned him 6w ago.
And this morning, Trump illegally attacks Venezuela and abducts its president and his wife purportedly to try them for drug trafficking.
And this morning, Trump illegally attacks Venezuela and abducts its president and his wife purportedly to try them for drug trafficking.
January 3, 2026 at 12:46 PM
try to make sense of it
Dear Mr. President, would you like to try the same thing in Moscow? Kick Putin out of the Kremlin? Just for the sake of peace...🕊️
Breaking news: Donald Trump said the US had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flown him out of the country after weeks of tension between the two nations ft.trib.al/Ulm525i
January 3, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Dear Mr. President, would you like to try the same thing in Moscow? Kick Putin out of the Kremlin? Just for the sake of peace...🕊️
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
🔥Citing “national security,” Viktor Orbán’s government denied my public information request for agreements signed with Maduro’s Venezuela (incl. oil & gas) two years ago. Mentions of FM Péter Szijjártó’s meeting with Maduro are nowhere to be found on the Hungarian government’s website. I wonder why.
January 3, 2026 at 8:37 AM
🔥Citing “national security,” Viktor Orbán’s government denied my public information request for agreements signed with Maduro’s Venezuela (incl. oil & gas) two years ago. Mentions of FM Péter Szijjártó’s meeting with Maduro are nowhere to be found on the Hungarian government’s website. I wonder why.
Long live the policy of non-intervention!🙃
Exporting democracy: no way.
Exporting autocracy: absolutely!
Exporting democracy: no way.
Exporting autocracy: absolutely!
The obstruction of justice is a key US export under Trump. He has attempted to interfere in the criminal trial of Jair Bolsonaro, tried to get charges dropped against Benjamin Netanyahu and is tightening the screws on the International Criminal Court. www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock International Criminal Court judge out of daily life
Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards, transfer money or book everyday services in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary
www.irishtimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Long live the policy of non-intervention!🙃
Exporting democracy: no way.
Exporting autocracy: absolutely!
Exporting democracy: no way.
Exporting autocracy: absolutely!
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
The obstruction of justice is a key US export under Trump. He has attempted to interfere in the criminal trial of Jair Bolsonaro, tried to get charges dropped against Benjamin Netanyahu and is tightening the screws on the International Criminal Court. www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock International Criminal Court judge out of daily life
Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards, transfer money or book everyday services in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary
www.irishtimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:31 PM
The obstruction of justice is a key US export under Trump. He has attempted to interfere in the criminal trial of Jair Bolsonaro, tried to get charges dropped against Benjamin Netanyahu and is tightening the screws on the International Criminal Court. www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
Israel’s foreign ministry has accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of antisemitism, escalating tensions with the progressive leader within hours of him formally taking office.
Israel accuses new NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani of antisemitism on first day in office
Foreign ministry accuses Mamdani of pouring “antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.”
www.politico.eu
January 2, 2026 at 11:19 AM
Israel’s foreign ministry has accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of antisemitism, escalating tensions with the progressive leader within hours of him formally taking office.
There has been no year in US history quite like the first of Donald Trump’s second term. Though Trump warned Americans that he would be their “retribution”, he offered little idea of the scale on which he would seek to monetise his office
Trump’s momentous second year
2026 will test his limits and the extent of America’s pushback
www.ft.com
January 1, 2026 at 5:33 PM
There has been no year in US history quite like the first of Donald Trump’s second term. Though Trump warned Americans that he would be their “retribution”, he offered little idea of the scale on which he would seek to monetise his office
🥳Congratulations to my Bulgarian friends on joining the euro!💶
January 1, 2026 at 12:46 PM
🥳Congratulations to my Bulgarian friends on joining the euro!💶
💰Here's another bluff and lie from Trump. But his family and business partners with shady backgrounds are lining their pockets 🤑
Trump Mobile delays plan to launch gold-coloured smartphone this year
Move marks latest setback for project that originally promised to sell a US-made device
www.ft.com
December 31, 2025 at 9:22 AM
💰Here's another bluff and lie from Trump. But his family and business partners with shady backgrounds are lining their pockets 🤑
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
Predictions are difficult. Especially ones about the future.
So instead here is an argument for why a firewall/cordon sanitaire to keep the far right from power is not somehow undemocratic.
So instead here is an argument for why a firewall/cordon sanitaire to keep the far right from power is not somehow undemocratic.
PS Commentators’ Predictions for 2026
PS editors asked PS contributors to identify national and global trends to watch for in the coming year.
www.project-syndicate.org
December 30, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Predictions are difficult. Especially ones about the future.
So instead here is an argument for why a firewall/cordon sanitaire to keep the far right from power is not somehow undemocratic.
So instead here is an argument for why a firewall/cordon sanitaire to keep the far right from power is not somehow undemocratic.
The writer Henry Miller maintained that Joyce’s Ulysses could not be fully appreciated in any other setting than on the lavatory. In Japan, there is a term to describe the urge to defecate when entering a bookstore — a phenomenon born, perhaps, from some deeply held association of reading and the 🚽
Should you have a library in your loo?
Like much of what goes on behind closed doors, it raises some controversial questions — from position to hygiene to title selection
www.ft.com
December 29, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The writer Henry Miller maintained that Joyce’s Ulysses could not be fully appreciated in any other setting than on the lavatory. In Japan, there is a term to describe the urge to defecate when entering a bookstore — a phenomenon born, perhaps, from some deeply held association of reading and the 🚽
"It was hard to pick only 25. But it was easier than it used to be," Daniel Dale writes
Analysis: Donald Trump’s top 25 lies of 2025 | CNN Politics
It was hard to pick only 25. But it was easier than it used to be.
www.cnn.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:14 AM
"It was hard to pick only 25. But it was easier than it used to be," Daniel Dale writes
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
Russian troops invading Ukraine are "main obstacle" to peace in Ukraine, says mostly everyone else
EU is ‘main obstacle’ to peace in Ukraine, says Russia’s foreign minister
Sergey Lavrov’s comments come ahead of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s talks with Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.
Sergey Lavrov’s comments come ahead of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s talks with Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.
EU is ‘main obstacle’ to peace in Ukraine, says Russia’s foreign minister
www.politico.eu
December 29, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Russian troops invading Ukraine are "main obstacle" to peace in Ukraine, says mostly everyone else
Reposted by Katalin Halmai
A person appearing to be the former Prince Andrew emailed Ghislaine Maxwell asking if she had any 'new inappropriate friends' for him ahead of an official royal visit to Peru. ft.trib.al/CunAjlw
December 23, 2025 at 7:11 PM
A person appearing to be the former Prince Andrew emailed Ghislaine Maxwell asking if she had any 'new inappropriate friends' for him ahead of an official royal visit to Peru. ft.trib.al/CunAjlw