Hungary is facing the latest in a series of missed budget targets after the announcement of pre-election tax breaks by Prime Minister Viktor Orban last weekend.

The EU Court of Justice should rule in favour of Austria in its appeal against the European Commission's decision to approve Hungary's state aid for the expansion of its Paks atomic plant, the court's adviser said on Thursday.

Hungary has threatened to block the latest package of sanctions against Russia unless it receives guarantees on the resumption of gas supplies through Ukraine.

Speaking at an annual State of the Nation address in Budapest to a closed circle of party members and supporters, Orbán described Ukraine as a buffer zone between Russia and NATO countries, and predicted that,

The European Court of Justice's advocate-general says Austria's appeal relating to the legality of Hungary's state aid for the Paks II nuclear power project should by upheld by the court. ;

Hungary wants to remove eight individuals from the European Union's Russia sanctions list and receive fresh guarantees on Ukraine gas transit talks before agreeing to renew the restrictions, EU diplomats said.

The independence of Hungary's courts has been a contentious issue, causing a rift between Prime Minister Viktor Orban's nationalist government and the European Union. Judges began to express discontent in November when an agreement was signed between the government and the three main judicial representative bodies that tied salary rises to broad-based reforms.

Hungary will not consent to rushing ahead with the extension of sanction on Russian individuals at the European Union's foreign ministers meeting on Monday, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.

Hungary will be the one to decide whether Ukraine is able to achieve its hopes of joining the European Union in the future, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday in an escalation of his adversarial posture toward Hungary’s war-ravaged neighbor.

EU diplomats say that Hungary wants to remove 8 individuals from the European Union’s Russia sanctions list, and to receive new

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged the European Union to enter into direct talks with Russia and pointed to “strategic differences” in the region’s approach to Ukraine, laying bare the divisions between Budapest and the rest of the bloc ahead of its emergency summit on defense.