András Siewert, the director of Migration Aid, wore a t-shirt with a yellow star bearing the words “Jude,” and underneath it the line “I am a refugee” when he arrived to give an interview to the HírTV news network. He was speaking with prominent journalist Olga Kálmán right after shameful events in the village of Őcsény, where the Orwellian government-sponsored […]
“Is heterosexuality difficult for you?”–asked conservative journalist András Stumpf of Gábor Vona, the leader of the far-right Jobbik party, in a video interview appearing on the party’s online TV channel, N1TV. Mr. Vona, who has been accused by media associated with the governing Fidesz party of engaging in homosexual orgies, answered with an awkward “no.” What Mr. Stumpf was getting […]
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 […]
Vienna Capital Partners, the Austrian private equity investor, which owns the firm that published Hungary’s now defunct Népszabadság daily, seems to be providing such a stark example of corporate greed and irresponsibility that political foes and economic rivals from all across the spectrum are joining together in protest. Hungarian conservative publications, left-centre publications, a newspaper in Slovakia and even Hungary’s […]
American songwriter Desmond Child’s piece Steps of Champions should have been a major media coup for Hungary’s Orbán government. After all, Desmond Child–an American-Hungarian dual citizen who had worked with music legends such as Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Cher, Bonnie Tyler, Ricky Martin and Kiss–had been successfully enlisted by Hungary’s government to write the official anthem of the sixtieth anniversary commemorations […]
Ákos Kovács is one of contemporary Hungary’s most established singers and songwriters, with over two decades of experience and fame under his belt, not to mention a prestigious Kossuth Award from the Government of Hungary. Ákos – as he is simply known in public – is also well-known for his conservative political and social views and there is nothing necessarily wrong with […]
One of Hungary’s most celebrated actresses, Mari Törőcsik, is turning 80 this month. When she was approached by the conservative Mandiner website for an interview, she indicated that speaking about contemporary politics was not something with which she felt comfortable. “One side kicks me, while the other lifts me up onto a pedestal–that’s not something that I need,” said Ms. […]
András Stumpf is a prominent thirty-something conservative publicist, known most for his self-assured, sometimes aggressive and always irreverently outspoken style. He sometimes reminds me of a young, rigid, right-wing libertarian, who hasn’t come to understand that the world is full of nuance, and that these complexities require some sensitivity. Mr. Stumpf, who once worked for the Heti Válasz weekly, but […]
