Seventy-eight year-old (!) Princeton and Harvard trained Jon Greenwald wants to be next US Ambassador to Budapest. He has already contacted the Biden team and declared that he wishes to serve the US in Hungary. Greenwald also wrote a letter to Béla Lipták (Hungarian Lobby) about his past Hungarian experience and motivations and we asked permission to re-publish it. Here […]
This month, we are witness to an eyebrow-raising development in Hungary. A new English-language journal entitled Hungarian Conservative is being launched on April 15th by the Batthyány Lajos Foundation — a non-profit group dating back to 1991 and established by Hungary’s first democratically elected prime minister, József Antall. The Batthyányi Circle of Professors, affiliared with this foundation, has been critical of […]
On October 27th, 2020, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán presented the Hungarian Order of Merit, Middle Cross with the Star, to 82-year-old US Ambassador David Cornstein “for his role in strengthening Hungarian-U.S. diplomatic, economic and trade relations.” Ambassador Cornstein’s tenure has ended and currently there is no US Ambassador in Budapest. It is not clear when the new Ambassador will be named by […]
It’s something of a funeral, although with certain glimmers of hope, at Budapest’s Klubrádió: the last remaining pro-democracy talk radio station in Hungary. Hungarian courts, beholden to the Fidesz party state, have decided to strip the station of its FM frequency, citing legal “infractions.” In essence, the station’s frequency license will expire at midnight on Valentine’s Day and the authorities […]
Authoritarian far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán knows that he can expect tougher treatment from the Biden administration after his bold bet on a win for President Donald Trump backfired. Orbán declared his admiration for Trump many times and viciously (and unwisely) attacked “corrupt” Joe Biden. Recently pardoned White House advisor Steve Bannon even called Orbán “Trump before Trump.” In […]
Just as expected, politicians from Viktor Orbán’s inner circle have started to distance themselves from the authoritarian Prime Minister. Orbán’s grip on power is a bit shaken. According to Hungarian media sources, László Palkovics, Hungary’s Minister of Innovation and Technology attempted to leave the government but Orbán repeatedly refused to accept his resignation. Now Palkovics has made an unusual statement. […]
Hungary is a small country and now the Orbán government has picked a fight with Joe Biden. In a decade Viktor Orbán has transformed Hungary. He commands blind trust from his officials, dissenting views are not tolerated. Bellicose rhetoric is commonplace and his lieutenants are ready to pick a fight with anyone, at any moment, to “defend” Orbán. Speeches are […]
By now you have all heard about Hungary’s recent attacks on American film star George Clooney. Just as Clooney suspected, tightly controlled Hungarian media did not print his full response and we thought that it would be important to publish the full text. Just a brief background. In November GQ Magazine interviewed Clooney who spoke about his movie The Midnight Sky and […]
Antonia Eliason is the Democratic candidate in Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District. Since 2013 Ms. Eliason has been a professor at the University of Mississippi, School of Law. She is the state’s first ever Democratic Socialist candidate focusing on environmental justice, universal healthcare and workers’ rights. I called her on the phone because I discovered in her CV that she speaks […]
A 66-year-old Republican, Agnes Gibboney is running for the Congressional seat in District 31, Rancho Cucamonga, California. Gibboney is an Angel Mom who supports President Trump and has appeared with the President on several occasions. (Angel Moms: a group of mothers whose child was killed by an undocumented immigrant.) Gibboney speaks Hungarian and travelled to Budapest to appear on Zsolt […]
