Recently in the spotlight

Angela Merkel with Viktor . AFP/Odd Andersen.

Sándor Kerekes to Angela Merkel: Stop Mr. Orbán by suspending EU transfers to Hungary!

Dear Chancellor Merkel: I am impelled to write to you on the occasion of your impending visit to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary in February. I have no doubt that your able staff is more than adequately preparing your visit; however, I wish to add to that a point of view representing the Hungarian perspective. Surely, you are aware […]

by · February 1, 2015 · Focus
DEKA's Sunday meeting in Budapest, with founders Zsuzsa Ferge and Rev. Gábor Iványi (Photo: Facebook)

Tea time in Budapest: Hungarian opposition sits down for more day dreaming

While the radical left-wing Syriza was in the process of winning one seat shy of a majority in Greece’s national elections on Sunday, and as another fledgling, anti-establishment leftist party in Spain, called Podemos, is planning to do the same later this year, elderly conservative, liberal and a sprinkling of centre-left intellectuals sat down in Budapest for an academic and […]

by · January 26, 2015 · Focus
Balpárt and Syriza. Two far-left parties.

The radical left on the cusp of power in Greece – The view from Hungary

In Hungary, political philosopher and public thinker Gáspár Miklós Tamás is the only prominent essayist to write quite flatteringly of Alexis Tsipras,  the hard-left firebrand who will likely become Greece’s prime minister-elect this Sunday. On Thursday, Mr. Tamás demonstrated in Budapest, in front of Greece’s embassy, in support of Syriza, otherwise known as the “Coalition of the Radical Left.” “Hungary’s […]

by · January 24, 2015 · East
Colleen Bell in Budapest

Namaste, Ambassador Colleen Bell!

President Obama appointed Ms. Colleen Bell to serve as the United States’ Ambassador to Hungary and in December 2014 she was finally confirmed by the US Senate. Now she is in Budapest where she released a smart video message, sending greetings to the Hungarian people. Here is the video. She also visited the Sándor Palace where she presented her appointment letter to […]

by · January 23, 2015 · Politics
Mr. Orbán in Paris

Orbán marches in Paris, yet blocks freedom of speech at home

Viktor Orbán is desperately trying to make his countrymen believe that he is a respected politician in the European Union. His participation in the Paris march might have provided a great photo opportunity, but his dismal record in stifling free speech at home has not changed. Reporters Without Borders (RWB) is a France-based international organization that defends freedom of speech. They […]

by · January 13, 2015 · Politics
Éva Voisin

The Orbán government denies Hungary’s WWII collaboration with the Nazis

On October 28 six diplomats based in San Francisco gathered at Congregation Emanu-El to discuss the growing anti-Semitism in Europe. “The New Anti-Semitism in Europe” panel attracted close to 200 people at the synagogue, a surprisingly high number, considering that Game 6 of the World Series was playing on a television in a nearby room. European and especially Hungarian anti-Semitism […]

by · January 7, 2015 · Focus
Mr. Orbán and Mr. Putin (Reuters)

Investigative journalists say that Putin, Orbán are most corrupt

2015 started with a new condemnation of Mr. Viktor Orbán; the embattled Prime Minister of Hungary was declared one of the most corrupt politicians of Europe. The Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) announced on December 31, that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named corruption’s “person of the year” for 2014. OCCRP is an international organization of […]

by · January 2, 2015 · Politics
Hungary's authoritarian Viktor Orbán defended by the National Alliance of Hungarians in Canada.

Pro-regime Hungarian Canadian organization enraged that defence of Orbán goes unpublished

The National Alliance of Hungarians in Canada (NAHC), an openly pro-regime group founded in 2012 to defend the actions of Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government, wrote a letter to the editor to the Globe and Mail earlier this month, after London-based correspondent Mark MacKinnon wrote two pieces in which he was critical of the governing party, and of […]

by · December 29, 2014 · Diaspora
The Liszt statue was donated by Mr. Tamás Fekete.

Liszt statue in Toronto

A whole-figure statue of Ferenc Liszt has been inaugurated at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Jeff Embleton the Manager of Public Relations mailed me the photo of the 7 feet (2.25m) tall sculpture which was generously donated by Mr. Tamás Fekete, a Canadian with Hungarian roots, who arrived to Canada after 1956. Mr. Fekete already donated a similarly […]

by · December 25, 2014 · Diaspora
Mr. Volker maintains close contacts with Mr. Tibor Navracsics Hungary's EU Commissioner of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.

Senator McCain accepts money from the fascistic Orbán government

Don’t you just love it! A couple of days ago, John McCain, a senior Republican told the U.S. Senate: “I am not against political appointees … I understand how the game is played, but … (Hungary) … is on the verge of ceding its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator, getting in bed with Vladimir Putin, and we’re going to send […]

by · December 12, 2014 · Politics