After nine years in the wilderness, Hungary’s opposition parties scored major electoral victories across the country and especially in Budapest in local elections, where a centre-left alliance of parties won the mayoral race, achieved a solid majority on the municipal council and won back nine districts from Fidesz. Moreover, support for Fidesz in the traditionally conservative and affluent Buda districts […]
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A Statement from Scarlett Johansson
On September 24 the Hungarian Free Press reported that Hungary’s government-controlled press widely distributed photos of Budapest Mayor István Tarlós with American filmstar Scarlett Johansson. From...
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Kurt Volker’s McCain Institute received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Orbán Government
As the Hungarian Free Press reported earlier Ambassador Kurt Volker, US State Department’s special envoy to Ukraine, abruptly resigned after the release of the declassified version of the whistleblower...
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Kurt Volker’s departure a blow to Hungarian autocracy
Hungary’s party state has lost a key American ally and an enthusiastic promoter of Hungarian autocracy with the departure of Kurt Volker, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine....
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Eight U.S. Senators are concerned by pro-Putin Hungary
Eight U.S. senators, all democrats, have sent a letter to US Ambassador David Cornstein, calling on him to uphold American democratic values and security interests when dealing with the autocratic regime...
Recently in the spotlight
Scarlett Johansson is shamelessly exploited by right-wing Budapest mayor, István Tarlós
Scarlett Johansson is a 34 year old popular American filmstar, one of the highest paid in the business and now she is part of the Budapest municipal election campaign. She is shooting a film in Hungary and a clever political operative asked her to meet with right-wing Mayor István Tarlós. Why not? 71-year-old Tarlós is a staunch ally of authoritarian […]
Some thoughts on Justin Trudeau’s brownface controversy and saying sorry
By Hungary’s exceedingly low standards when it comes to accountability and political civility, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be commended for what did seem like a heartfelt and unequivocal apology for having appeared in brownface in 2001, when he was a teacher at Westpoint Point Grey Academy in Vancouver. It is nearly inconceivable to imagine that a politician in […]
Budapest Mayor István Tarlós shamed America with the removal of Roosevelt’s name
In 2011 the Budapest City Council led by Mayor István Tarlós renamed one of the most beautiful squares in Budapest. After 64 years Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s name was stripped from the oblong square in front of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This decision was a slap in the face of the United States, Hungarian Americans were offended and the Roosevelt […]
Rest in Peace, László Rajk Jr. (1949-2019)
Hungarian democratic activist, architect and designer László Rajk Jr. died on September 11, 2019 at 71 years of age. Mr. Rajk, whose father served as Interior Minister until 1949 when he was sentenced to death in a Stalinist show trial, was one of the key figures of opposition to communist rule in Hungary during the 1980’s. In the early eighties, […]
Rep. Andy Harris takes discreet trip to Budapest to attend far-right Demographic Summit
On September 5 as Hurricane Dorian was approaching the US East Coast, Congressman Harris’s office sent out a message: “Update on the planned flood insurance workshop scheduled in Crisfield this evening: due to pending weather, the event is postponed to a later date. My office will gladly provide updates on rescheduling when they become available.” Since Congressman Harris represents Maryland’s […]
The Hungarian United Church of Montreal bids farewell to its minister
After sixteen years of pastoral service, Reverend Attila György has left his position at the helm of the Hungarian United Church of Montreal at 50 Graham Boulevard, in the Town of Mount Royal. The community bid farewell to its outgoing minister during a celebration known in Hungarian as Új Kenyér (or New Bread), which is tied to the harvest and […]
Gábor Demszky, iconic anti-Communist leader of the democratic opposition receives award
A couple of days ago 67-year-old Gábor Demszky received the prestigious award of the European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk, Poland. Ms. Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdańsk and Mr. Basil Kerski, director of the European Solidarity Centre introduced and honored three prominent European thinkers and politicians in a televised ceremony. The honorees were: · Mr. Myroslav Marynovich co-founder of Amnesty International […]
Eighty-two year old Hungarian-born Ernie Konnyu is considering a run for Congress
Eighty-two year-old Hungarian-born Ernie Konnyu (Könnyű) is contemplating a run for Congress in the 45th Congressional District, Orange County, California. He is asking for help from the Hungarian American community. We wrote about Mr. Konnyu in the past. As a Republican, he represented California’s 12th congressional district from 1987 to 1988 but was not re-nominated by his party after sexual harassment allegations […]
Orbán’s new pals – Stephen Harper, Lord Ashcroft and Robert Lantos
The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an alliance of right wing political parties, headquartered in Munich, Germany and currently chaired by Stephen Harper, the former Prime Minister of Canada. Mr. Harper and his friend, Hungarian-born Canadian film producer, Robert Lantos travelled to Hungary to spend the August 20th National Holiday with far-right authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Lord Ashcroft, conservative […]
Antal Csicsátka – developer of FM stereo standard
As part of our series on lesser known Hungarian Americans we introduce Antal Csicsátka, the General Electric Company engineer who developed the “stereophonic FM broadcasting system.” FM radio broadcast would not exist in its current form without Csicsátka. On February 25, 1964, the United States Patent Office granted General Electric a patent covering the stereophonic FM broadcasting system adopted in […]
