Hungarian Free Press

Hungarian Socialist Party president won’t rule out his party’s disappearance after 2018 elections

Complete dysfunction continues in the Hungarian left-centre opposition and the president of the Hungarian Socialist Party (Magyar Szocialista Párt–MSZP) appeared to exacerbate the situation with a defeatist, bewildering and unnecessary statement. Gyula Molnár was speaking to the conservative HírTV news network within the context of the shambolic negotiations between left-wing, democratic parties aimed at launching primary elections as a first […]

by Christopher Adam · November 6, 2016 · Politics

Lavish 1956 Anniversary Gala in Washington DC

Boycott, no-show at US events commemorating the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

On October 23 about 300 of us were eagerly waiting for Willie Brown at the Green Room of the San Francisco War Memorial Center. The elegant hall has a gorgeous wraparound balcony with a magnificent view of San Francisco City Hall. The bar was packed with California wines, tasty hors d’oeuvres and we were all dressed up to hear Willie, […]

by György Lázár · November 4, 2016 · Diaspora

Gergely Karácsony: Widespread apathy is what keeps Viktor Orbán in power

“We need to understand that its not Soviet tanks that keep Viktor Orbán in power–it’s societal apathy. And we can only overcome this apathy if in specific instances we are able to step out of our own comfort zone,” said Gergely Karácsony, the popular mayor of the Budapest’s Zugló district and founder of the leftist Dialogue for Hungary (Párbeszéd Magyarországért) […]

by Christopher Adam · November 2, 2016 · Politics

The politics of Halloween in Hungary

We don’t have Halloween in Hungary, we have All Saints Day! – states the poster. Halloween is not a desirable holiday for conservative Christian Hungary. In Hungary “Mindenszentek” (All Saints’ Day) and “Halottak Napja” (All Souls’ Day) have always been important Catholic holidays. Quite recently, in 2000, All Saints’ Day even became a National Holiday. Right wing political parties, especially […]

by György Lázár · October 31, 2016 · Culture

Namaste - Amb. Colleen Bell and the Budapest Lad statue

Lads of Pest – or exploited child soldiers?

I was surprised. Actually, I was dismayed to see US Ambassador to Hungary Colleen Bell delivering remarks at the statue unveiling of the Budapest Lad when on Sunday October 16, the sculpture was inaugurated to commemorate the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The unveiling took place in Scott’s Circle at 1500 Rhode Island Ave, NW, Washington DC on the grounds of the […]

by György Lázár · October 29, 2016 · Culture

Artistic director of film Son of Saul to speak at Montreal’s Concordia University

László Rajk, the artistic director of the Oscar-winning Hungarian film Son of Saul (2015) is scheduled to give a public lecture entitled Art and the Holocaust: The Making of Son of Saul on November 4th, 2016, at 3:00 PM at Concordia University in Montreal. The event is being presented by a number of local organizations, including the Canadian Hungarian Democratic […]

by Hungarian Free Press · October 27, 2016 · Culture

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Dion (third from the left) meets with Péter Szijjártó. Bálint Ódor is on the far-right.

A response to Ambassador Bálint Ódor’s “Hungarian tribute to Canada”

Hungarian Ambassador Bálint Ódor published a piece entitled “A Hungarian Tribute to Canada” in a publication called National Newswatch. In this piece, Ambassador Ódor writes: “Canada is a nation that understood the message of 1956 clearly, and also extended helping hands to a large number of Hungarians who were forced to flee their homeland…By its rare display of heroism and […]

by Christopher Adam · October 26, 2016 · Politics

Company with ties to Fidesz party buys Népszabadság’s publisher

On Tuesday, a company called OPIMUS PRESS Zrt announced that it has acquired Mediaworks, the Austrian-owned firm that published Hungary’s largest opposition daily, Népszabadság, which it shut down amidst international scandal just over two weeks ago. OPIMUS PRESS Zrt, part of the OPIMUS Group, is a firm affiliated with Lőrinc Mészáros, the billionare Fidesz mayor of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s […]

by Christopher Adam · October 25, 2016 · Politics

Ian Bradbury and Judith Petényi. Photo: C. Adam

Remembering the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at Parliament Hill in Ottawa

Canada showed great solidarity to Hungarian refugees in 1956/57, after the suppression of the 1956 Revolution, so this is an especially apt place to hold this commemoration–observed Ian Bradbury, founder of The Stand 2016 on the sixtieth anniversary celebration of the uprising. The Hungarian Forum of Ottawa organized the modest commemoration on Parliament Hill, in Canada’s capital city, and participants […]

by Christopher Adam · October 24, 2016 · Culture

Historian Krisztián Ungváry was beat up by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's supporters on Sunday.

Violence in Budapest on sixtieth anniversary of 1956 as historian assaulted

Historian Krisztián Ungváry was physically assaulted and bloodied by supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in front of Parliament, as the nation remembered the sixtieth anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Mr. Ungváry’s sin was that he, along with hundreds of Hungarians, blew whistles out of protest during Mr. Orbán’s speech. The prominent historian of twentieth century Hungary was punched […]

by Christopher Adam · October 24, 2016 · Politics

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