Viktor Orbán has lost one of his staunchest supporters in the US. In an unexpected announcement 58-year-old Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) has indicated that he is leaving Congress and won’t seek re-election in November. He is not alone. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has also decided not to run and so far, 59 House Republicans are retiring. Democrats have the […]
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 […]
Sándor Szenczy is a Baptist pastor and President of Hungarian Baptist Aid. This week we learned that a high-ranking official from North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended that Pastor Szenczy build a Baptist House of Prayer in Pyongyang. On a recent trip to North Korea, the pastor was given the opportunity to speak in one of only two Protestant […]
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 […]
Everybody recognizes 74-year-old Joe Namath, the retired American sport superstar, ex-football quarterback and actor. He played college football for the University of Alabama and became a sport icon while he played for the New York Jets. Namath was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. In his 13-year professional sport career he played 143 games in the […]
In 2015, I penned an editorial in The New York Times warning against the growing influence in Europe of Hungary’s right wing prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Last Sunday Orbán was re-elected for a third consecutive term. His hold on power is more entrenched than ever, and his xenophobic, nationalist platform continues to spread beyond Hungarian borders. As U.S. Ambassador to […]
President Donald Trump recently unveiled new sanctions against Russian officials, businesses and agencies. One of the prominent names on the list of targeted oligarchs is 50-year-old Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire. Deipaska has links to former Trump-campaign boss Paul Manafort, who is awaiting trial on money laundering and conspiracy charges lodged against him by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of […]
Last year Good Friday became a public holiday in Hungary. The proposal was submitted by the ruling Fidesz alliance with the Christian Democrats and was approved by 163 votes in support and two abstentions. The idea of introducing a public holiday on Good Friday was first suggested by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at a memorial event of the Synod of […]
On February 23, 2018 the Hungarian House on East 82nd Street in Manhattan hosted another program to celebrate Albert Wass. This is the fifth year that the Széchenyi Society has staged this event. Politicians, Hungarian-Americans, the Wiesenthal Center and other organizations have protested in the past; yet, the organizers were unfazed and the Hungarian House continued the program. (Read the […]
As part of our series on lesser known Hungarian Americans we introduce an American superstar, concert pianist André Watts. We feel that this piece is timely since the Orbán government is supporting “ethnic homogeneity” and envisions a white Christian Hungary defending Europe from the “hordes” of Africa and the Middle-East. André Watts is a living legend, a musical virtuoso and […]
