Dorka Takacsy

Jan 9, 2025 | cepa.org | David Kirichenko |Dorka Takacsy |Chris Stephen |Walter C. Clemens

Beneath the rubble of a destroyed building near the frontlines, commanders from the 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade discuss the ongoing battle for Niu-York. What stands out immediately is the striking youth of the soldiers and commanders, many of whom are in their early 20s. Niu-York, a critical frontline town located just south of Toretsk, became a focal point of Russia’s offensive in Donetsk Oblast during the summer of 2024 and nearly fell.

Jan 9, 2025 | cepa.org | Dorka Takacsy |Joshua Stein |Irina Arabidze |Chris Stephen

Antal Rogán, the minister heading Viktor Orbán’s Cabinet Office, was sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under the Global Magnitsky Act, for schemes designed to enrich “himself and his party at the expense of the Hungarian people.”  The decision to impose Magnitsky measures against a serving senior minister in a NATO ally’s government is unprecedented. The decision could be reversed by the next administration, but that will not be easy.

Jan 7, 2025 | cepa.org | Walter C. Clemens |Sergiy Makogon |David Kirichenko |Dorka Takacsy

Both Putin and the Syrian dictator were elected in rigged ballots in 2000. Now Bashar Assad sits in exile with a reportedly unhappy wife amidst the cold of a Moscow winter. He has been granted asylum by Putin, but his presence is an unwelcome reminder of the Russian despot’s failed imperial dreams in the Middle East. Only weeks ago, Assad seemed to the world just as secure as his new host. Now, inevitably, some question whether Putin’s fall might come just as suddenly and unexpectedly.

Jul 23, 2024 | stopfake.org | Dorka Takacsy

By Dorka Takácsy, for CEPAHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s performative diplomacy is aiding the Kremlin’s anti-Western propaganda. Orbán managed to do two favors for Moscow in the run-up to the NATO Summit in Washington earlier in July, and the Kremlin’s propaganda machine exploited both to promote their narratives to domestic and international audiences.

Jul 18, 2024 | cepa.org | Dorka Takacsy

Orbán managed to do two favors for Moscow in the run-up to the NATO Summit in Washington earlier in July, and the Kremlin’s propaganda machine exploited both to promote their narratives to domestic and international audiences. His surprise visit to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin before the summit was live-streamed on Ria Novosty, the Russian state news agency, in an unprecedented step for a Western leader’s meeting with the Russian president.