“This situation is like when someone is accused of murder, he is convicted, yet the murder victim is alive and is pointing his finger at the accused all along,” said a belligerent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during the European Parliament’s special session on Hungary. Mr. Orbán was referring to what the Hungarian leader claims are false accusations leveled against his […]
If students at Budapest’s Ágoston Trefort Secondary School are representative of a new, young generation of educated Hungarians, then that would be very positive news indeed for the future of Hungary. We know, of course, that Trefort is an elite secondary school–almost exclusively for students seeking to attend university. President János Áder visited Trefort to give a talk about environmental issues […]
Former Liberal Party of Canada leader Michael Ignatieff was not alive on April 4, 1945, when the Russian Red Army liberated Hungary from the remaining elements of a dogged, pro-Nazi resistance. That liberation was the start of a 45 year long period of Russian led, anti-liberal rule in Hungary, which only ended in 1990. On April 4, 2017, as Rector […]
Fidesz support in a closely watched by-election in the Budapest district of Zugló has collapsed, with the left-wing opposition winning a sweeping victory. Bence Bitskey, the joint candidate for the Democratic Coalition, the Hungarian Socialist Party, the small Dialogue party and a local civic group garnered 790 votes, compared to just 404 for Fidesz. While the left won in this […]
For years Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been able to control his Fidesz party with an iron fist. Sharp exchanges remained within the walls of Fidesz offices while the leadership always showed a unified front to the public. His recent attack on the George Soros-backed Central European University (CEU), and the Lex CEU law which was approved by the […]
The contrast between the words uttered by the Hungarian and Canadian prime ministers this Easter could not have been more stark. While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Catholic, spoke about how “the Easter story reminds us of the sacrifices made for us, and of the forgiving power of compassion,” as well as called on us to “put into practice what […]
Every Jobbik MP has agreed to ask the Constitutional Court to review the Orbán’s regime’s bill that aims to shut down Central European University. Since all centre-left opposition MPs are doing the same, with Jobbik’s support, they have surpassed the minimum threshold of a quarter of all members of parliament needed to force a judicial review of the legislation. Fidesz, […]
Tens of thousands rallied in Budapest to protest a law that could force the US-accredited Central European University (CEU), founded by George Soros, a Hungarian-born billionaire, to move out of the country. The attack on academic freedom has attracted worldwide criticism, including from North America where hundreds of academics, including dozens of Nobel prize-winners, signed letters and demanded the law […]
Fidesz party co-founder and prominent columnist Zsolt Bayer has threatened to use violence against the tens of thousands of students, youth and other Hungarians who have been demonstrating against the Orbán regime’s new legislation, aimed at closing down Central European University. A mass protest is scheduled for Wednesday, in Heroes’ Square, and in advance of this, Mr. Bayer published the […]
“You have signed it, János. Now the city will burn,” chanted more than 1,000 protesters who are gathering outside President János Áder’s offices and are growing in number, according to reports by Index journalists. Budapest police are calling for calm as the young and visibly infuriated crowd hold an illegal protest in the Castle District, outside the Sándor Palace. President […]
