For the last few days an unprecedented strike has taken place in the center of Budapest. 600 students and faculty of the University of Theater and Film (SZFE) have joined forces to oppose the government’s “privatization” of the University. They have taken to the street, resolved not to allow the newly appointed head of the University to enter. The man […]
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Cold Warriors – a documentary film about right-wing nostalgia in America
Réka Pigniczky has made an important documentary film based on the “original idea” of Andrea Lauer Rice. The film was released in 2017 and now it is available on the Web. Cold Warriors is about...
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Margit Bokor – the tragic life of the Hungarian American soprano
As part of our series on lesser known Hungarian Americans we introduce Margit Bokor the celebrated soprano of the Metropolitan and the New York City Operas. Margit Bokor was only 49 when she died of cancer...
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Steve Bannon – Orbán’s advisor and former White House chief strategist has been arrested
Steve Bannon has been arrested. He and three associates were indicted in the U.S. Southern District of New York and charged with defrauding donors through a campaign called, We Build the Wall. The...
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Hungary’s National Day — August 20, 2020
The Secretary of State of the United States issued a statement on the occasion of Hungary’s national holiday, August 20th, one remembered by Hungarians living in the diaspora as well. We are sharing...
Recently in the spotlight
Orbán refuses to condemn his friend, Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko
Hungary’s corrupt “Viktatorship” is still stable at this moment, but you never know. Political winds can shift on a dime in Budapest, just like they have in Minsk where 200,000 people demanded the resignation the country’s dictator, President Lukashenko. A couple of weeks ago Hungary’s strongman had a friendly visit with Lukashenko and Orbán called it an “honor” to be […]
Hungary’s new foreign policy – US is a competitor
Mr. Zsolt Németh, a founder of Hungary’s Fidesz party and leader of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has published an unusual English-language essay entitled, Hungarian foreign policy after Covid-19. It appeared in the pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet and it seems that it is intended to be Hungary’s new foreign policy “manifesto.” (Read Németh’s thesis in English here) In the past […]
The collapse of Index – Orbán is dismantling independent media
Hungary’s authoritarian regime is showing its true intentions. The government has declared zero tolerance against independent media outlets voicing criticism of government policies. In 2016 Orbán engineered the shutdown Hungary’s largest broadsheet newspaper, Népszabadság. The official story was “declining sales” and the ruling Fidesz party beamed that the shutdown was “a rational economic decision.” Népszabadság was not in immediate financial danger and got […]
Jeff Sessions – a friend of the Hungarian government loses Alabama GOP Senate runoff
Seventy-three year-old former Attorney General and friend of the Orbán government, Jeff Sessions failed to reclaim his old Senate seat. He lost to former Auburn University football coach, Tommy Tuberville in the Alabama GOP runoff. It was a bitter defeat to Sessions a native Alabaman; Tuberville just recently moved to the state and will face incumbent Democrat Doug Jones in November. This was the first […]
Auschwitz Transports from Hungary
Germany occupied its ally Hungary on March 19, 1944 and the Auschwitz transports soon commenced on a rapid schedule. On July 6, 1944, Hungary’s regent Miklós Horthy issued a decree stopping the deportations of Hungary’s Jewish citizens. He did not do this out of concern for the fate of Jews, but due to the dramatically deteriorating military situation for Germany […]
Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi calls China a dictatorship
PBS NewsHour is one of the most widely watched news program in the US. In the July 8 program the host, Nick Schifrin asked – among others – Hungary’s ex-Ambassador to the US, Réka Szemerkényi about foreign perception of the US during the coronavirus pandemic. Here are Szemerkényi’s responses from the edited transcript. We publish them without any further comment. […]
György Kárpáti (1935-2020) – Holocaust survivor, Communist informer, Olympic champion
György Kárpáti the legendary water polo player was buried in Budapest at the Farkasréti Cemetery. The elaborate ceremony was led by a prominent Catholic priest, Father Imre Kozma. Leaders of the Orbán government lined up to pay their respects. No doubt, he was an extraordinary man with an extraordinary life. He died at the age of 88 and his life […]
Lawsuits and chaos paralyze the Hungarian Reformed Church in America
Two years ago the First Hungarian Reformed Church in Phoenix filed a lawsuit against the Hungarian Reformed Church in America (HRCA) in Maricopa County Superior Courts, Arizona. According to publicly available information the defendants also include Attila Veres, Katalin Veres and the Hungarian Reformed Church in Phoenix. Now the legal battle has spilled over to California. The First Hungarian Reformed Church […]
Lilla Szelenyi was defeated in the primary for Superior Court Judge of Alameda County
Ms. Elena Condes and Mr. Mark Fickes defeated Lilla Szelenyi in the primary for Superior Court Judge of Alameda County on March 3, 2020. Ms. Lilla Julia Szelenyi is a 56-year-old lawyer who works as a Workers Compensation Judge in Oakland, California. She is the daughter of Professor Iván Szelényi, a Hungarian Sociologist whose works criticized the Communist Kádár regime. He was […]
Rep. Steve King of Iowa, Viktor Orbán’s admirer in Congress loses primary
Steve King of Iowa, one of the most controversial members of Congress has lost his bid for re-nomination. King, a nine-term Republican suffered one of the biggest defeats of the 2020 Republican primary season. The defeat will most likely end his political career. 71-year-old King is openly racist. He has befriended European far-right leaders, among them disgraced far-right Austrian politician, […]
