Thirty-five year old Valér Palkovits has been named Hungary’s new Consul General in Toronto, replacing Stefánia Szabó this summer. (Yesterday, we reported that Ferenc Kumin will become Hungary’s new ambassador in Ottawa.) Mr. Palkovits previously served as Deputy Head of Mission at Hungary’s embassy in Riga (Latvia) and prior to this, in 2007, he worked for the State Secretary for […]
Forty-three year old Ferenc Kumin, currently Consul General in New York, will become Hungary’s new ambassador in Ottawa. The Index news site reported on this, based on both government and opposition sources. We also learned that Hungary’s former spy chief, István Pásztor, will replace Mr. Kumin in New York, as the new Consul General. Mr. Pásztor, until recently, headed the […]
Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau once quipped, in a good natured way, that living next to the US is like sleeping next to an elephant. After hearing this Sunday’s extraordinarily virulent and unfair attacks on his son, by Donald Trump and his White House lap-dogs, Peter Navarro and Larry Kudlow, Canadians are bracing themselves: the elephant has gone […]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has delivered a serious warning to Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in Washington D.C. In Budapest the government-controlled media claimed that the meeting was a “significant success” and the parties had discussed the situation in neighboring Ukraine. Szijjártó assured the American politician that Hungary would “defend the Hungarian community in Ukraine,” and informed the […]
Hungary’s foreign policy is in chaos. Even the most ardent supporters of the Orbán Government frequently criticize Hungary’s 39-year-old foreign minister Péter Szijjártó. They question his wisdom, political acumen and diplomatic skill. Szijjártó started his tenure by firing most of the country’s seasoned diplomats and replacing them with loyalists with no previous diplomatic experience. The foreign minister has also found […]
At 80 years of age Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright has had a long political career. She served as the 64th U.S. Secretary of State under President Clinton and was the first woman to hold this high level position. Albright has Czech ancestry. Her father was a well-known anti-fascist who worked for the Beneš government-in-exile in London and later became a […]
The conflict between Hungary and Ukraine is getting out of control. The Orbán Government’s retaliatory blocking of Ukraine’s NATO and EU integration have met unanimous criticism. The dispute between Hungary and Ukraine began over the so-called Language Law. Ukraine’s Parliament passed legislation to promote the use of the Ukrainian language. Western Ukraine has a multi-ethnic population, among them ethnic Hungarians. […]
I was quite surprised when the Hungarian Government issued an official report that on Friday, February 9, 2018 Zoltán Balog, Minister of Human Capacities, had a one-hour meeting with Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House. According to the Hungarians Mr. Mulvaney was “urging renewal of Hungarian-US relations.” Better US relations with […]
The Hungarian American Coalition will host its 14th annual Gala Dinner on April 25, 2018 in Washington, D.C. The Coalition will be honoring Dr. Ildikó Orosz, leader of the Ferenc Rákóczi II. Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute located in Beregovo (Beregszász in Hungarian), Ukraine. According to the announcement Dr. Orosz is the “organizer of the Institute, community leader, public figure and politician…” […]
The Orbán government had high hopes that the election of Donald Trump as president would lead to improved bilateral relations between Hungary and the United States–relations that had very much deteriorated since 2010, after Fidesz took power. The Orbán government had been paying Washington lobbyist Connie Mack around $112,000 per month, primarily to secure a much coveted Oval Office visit […]
