Ágnes Bátory and Sara Svensson both from the Central European University Budapest co-authored a remarkable paper about public consultations. They analyzed Viktor Orbán’s national consultations in Hungary, these are probably the most wide-scale consultative exercises in contemporary Europe. Some of our readers might not know that the Orbán government repeatedly sent questionnaires to every household in the country in some […]
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Gloria Vanderbilt and the Széchenyi family
Gloria Vanderbilt, the American fashion icon died on June 17th in New York. She was 95. She was born wealthy; her father Reginald was an heir to the Vanderbilt railroad fortune. Gloria, a talented painter,...
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University students victims of violent hate crime in southern Hungary
The Pécs District Prosecutor’s Office has charged two young Hungarians with assault causing bodily harm motivated by hate. The young men physically assaulted two citizens of Yemen, one of whom was...
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Actions not words needed to stop Hungary’s efforts to subvert Canadian democracy
It is time that Canadian Hungarian Academic organizations, such as the Hungarian Studies Association of Canada (HSAC), and Canadian-Hungarians of good conscience, follow the example set by the Canadian...
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Ervin Kulcsár of the Vitézi Rend delivered a xenophobic speech at HungaroFest in Toronto
I recently wrote about the visit of Mr. Levente Magyar, Hungary’s Deputy Minister and Parliamentary State Secretary to Toronto to attend HungaroFest where Canadian officials inaugurated a plaque to commemorate...
Recently in the spotlight
The launch of a new online photo collection of the Holocaust in Hungary
We were asked to share this new and innovative project with the readers of the Hungarian Free Press, and we are happy to do so. A website called HolokausztFoto.hu is being launched on June 21, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. in Budapest’s Nappali Kávéház (Vasvári Pál utca 3) with the participation of historian András Lenárt, journalist János Dési and Miklós Tamási […]
Orbán government politician is lobbying against Trudeau in Toronto
According its official description HungaroFest, a two-day festival recently held in Toronto, was meant “to recognize and celebrate the history, existence and integration of the Hungarian people within Canada.” The festival included Hungarian music, folklore and dance. Local artists were invited along with performers from Hungary such as Republic, Budapest Bár and Tom White & the Mad Circus. The festival […]
Hungarian Academics’ Open Letter to Manfred Weber, the Group Chair of the European People’s Party
Dear Mr. Weber, This open letter is a cry for help. We, Hungarian scientists, scholars and university professors turn to you for help in a most serious matter: The Hungarian Government has proposed legislation that would change the Hungarian research landscape dramatically, which tramples on the rule of constitutional law and on basic democratic principles. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences […]
Bruno Mars – a superstar with (some) Hungarian ancestry
Bruno Mars has Hungarian ancestry? Hard to believe, but the fact is that the pop-superstar has a bit of Hungarian in him, a Hungarian Jewish grandmother on his father’s side. Here is the story. Peter Gene Hernandez aka. Bruno Mars was born in 1985 in Honolulu, Hawaii into a family of musicians and dancers. His beloved mother, Bernadette San Pedro […]
Conflict in rescue operation of sunken sightseeing boat in Budapest
There is disagreement between the Korean and Hungarian authorities on how to conduct the rescue operation of a sunken sightseeing boat. According to the Korea Times, Song Shun-keun, the leader of the Korean response team in Budapest said that “while he respected the Hungarian government’s decision to raise the ship rather than conducting diving operations, he had requested that it […]
Sándor Kerekes’ exchange with Lord Peter Lilley on the deception of Brexit
In January this year Lord Peter Lilley, member of the Upper House, came to Budapest to the invitation of the Danube Institute to give a lecture about the Brexit and its prospects. (The video of the lecture can be seen here.) It was early days to form any judgement about it, but there were questions abound already. His presentation was […]
Memorial Day and the Hungarian Americans
This year we observed Memorial Day, a Federal Holiday, on May 27. On this day the United States honors the military personnel who perished while serving in the Armed Forces. Many people visit cemeteries and volunteers place an American flag on each grave in cemeteries. It is not widely known that at least 50,000 Hungarian Americans served in the U.S. […]
Exploring the problems of the Catholic Church
Fr. Joel Sember serves as pastor of three churches in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. When he shared the audio recording of his most recent homily, entitled “The Problem with the Catholic Church is…,” I found it hard to suppress my curiosity. The homily’s theme was prompted by the cancellation of Saturday evening Mass at St. Anthony, one of […]
Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition becomes largest opposition party in Hungary
The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and Jobbik both had their respective rendez-vous with destiny on Sunday night. At the same time, former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition (DK) and the fledgling Momentum party, both underestimated in opinion polls, caused much surprise by their strong showing in European Parliament elections in Hungary. The results were as follows, with turn-out at […]
US Embassy in Berlin chides László Kövér, Hungary’s homophobe Parliament Speaker
László Kövér is an Orbán loyalist and Hungary’s Parliament Speaker. The 59-year-old politician was born in the city of Pápa where he hails from a privileged Communist family. Mr. Kövér started out as a staunch Communist himself; he even worked for the Politburo. In 1987 as a young liberal leader he received a Soros-fellowship and was one of the founders […]
