Writing in Saturday’s printed edition of the Népszava daily, journalist and author Paul Lendvai suggested that Brexit “strengthened Viktor Orbán’s position, almost as much as the recent soccer victories” during the UEFA European Championship. While Mr. Orbán may benefit on the surface, and in the very short-term, I would argue that Brexit will pose a very serious challenge to his […]
Máté Kocsis, Mayor of Budapest’s 8th District and the ruling Fidesz party’s president in the Hungarian capital, launched another homophobic tirade, after a court ruled that a liberal politician’s suggestion that the Fidesz politician was gay did not qualify as defamation. In 2015, we covered the conflict between Klára Ungár and Máté Kocsis, and the Fidesz mayor’s hysterical reaction to […]
The Hungarian Socialist Party (Magyar Szocialista Párt – MSZP) is at a juncture in its history. After June 25th, the newly minted MSZP president will play a critical role in deciding whether or not the party will join forces once again with other smaller, left-centre parties in 2018, in an effort to defeat Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Fidesz. Two […]
I am travelling to Budapest later this month and I’m scheduled to give two public talks in Hungarian, to very different audiences, yet on interrelated topics. Both events are open to the public and all are welcome! On Saturday, June 18th at 2:00 PM in Budapest’s Köztársaság tér, or Republic Square (now formally re-named II. János Pál pápa tér, after […]
Júlia Mira Lévai is a liberal journalist and author, who was a regular contributor to the now folded Galamus Csoport online news site. On Monday, she wrote a column for the hvg.hu news magazine, in which she referred to recent comments by Tibor Navracsics, a Fidesz politician and currently the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, as a “bombshell.” Mr. […]
The contrast between two Transylvanian towns — Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) and Marosvásárhely (Târgu-Mureș) could not be greater. Multicultural Kolozsvár, now that it has completely shaken off the rather dark years of ultranationalist mayor Gheorghe Funar (1992-2004), is truly unique in the region. Its city centre is bustling with students, dotted with every variety of cafés, pubs and restaurants, it attracts large […]
András Schiffer, the 44 year old Member of Parliament and co-chair of the Politics Can Be Different (Lehet Más a Politika – LMP) green party announced Monday night that he is resigning from all party positions and is leaving politics. Mr. Schiffer told the online Index news site, in a thorough interview on Monday, that he would be resuming his […]
With a long weekend fast approaching for our American readers (Happy Memorial Day!), we’re offering a little recommended reading from Denis McShane, a former Minister for Europe and retired Labour Party MP from the United Kingdom. Mr. McShane wrote of the “drift to illiberal Pop-Nat” (populist nationalist) politics in much of Europe, and the gradual decline of moderate, centrist and […]
What the highest ranking representatives of the Orbán government are doing by invoking the name of the 85 year old American-Hungarian billionaire philanthropist George Soros, as the secret source of all evil, is truly unbecoming of any EU member state and is an overall embarrassment. In an effort to distract public attention from the growing corruption scandals around the Central […]
The American Institute of Cancer Research suggests we limit the consumption of red meats and avoid processed meats. “In order to reduce cancer risk, eat no more than 18 ounces (cooked weight) per week of red meats, like beef, pork and lamb, and avoid ham, bacon, salami, hot dogs and sausages. Red meat includes hamburgers, steak, pork chops and roast […]
