In the last couple of years the Hungarian government has built a network of diplomats, loyalists and sympathizers in the United States to watch, follow and verbally attack critics of the Orbán regime. This is not a secret operation, it is the official policy of the Orbán government that Hungarian diplomats (and loyal friends) “respond” to those who dare to […]
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As the Orbán regimes shuts down pro-democracy Klubrádió, Canada’s CBC raises awareness
It’s something of a funeral, although with certain glimmers of hope, at Budapest’s Klubrádió: the last remaining pro-democracy talk radio station in Hungary. Hungarian courts, beholden to...
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Baron László Hengelmüller von Hengervár, Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Washington
In the 19th century the Hungarian Kingdom was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so Hungary had no separate representation in Washington DC. Foreign affairs were handled in Vienna. I was surprised...
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Hungarian faith communities that suffered discrimination finally receive good news
The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship, a Methodist community led by Reverend Gábor Iványi, was one of two faith groups to receive positive news this week. The other community is a Buddhist organization...
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How to Cook Hungarian Democracy Goulash
Tip: For this goulash, we recommend that you use a relatively young democracy as the main ingredient. We are basing this recipe on the most infamous of Hungarian master chefs – Viktor Orbán, the current...
Recently in the spotlight
The Orbán government is wooing Secretary of State Tony Blinken, actually his mother, Judith Pisar
Authoritarian far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán knows that he can expect tougher treatment from the Biden administration after his bold bet on a win for President Donald Trump backfired. Orbán declared his admiration for Trump many times and viciously (and unwisely) attacked “corrupt” Joe Biden. Recently pardoned White House advisor Steve Bannon even called Orbán “Trump before Trump.” In […]
Minister László Palkovics is trying to distance himself from Viktor Orbán
Just as expected, politicians from Viktor Orbán’s inner circle have started to distance themselves from the authoritarian Prime Minister. Orbán’s grip on power is a bit shaken. According to Hungarian media sources, László Palkovics, Hungary’s Minister of Innovation and Technology attempted to leave the government but Orbán repeatedly refused to accept his resignation. Now Palkovics has made an unusual statement. […]
Budapest cemetery, Haralson County, Georgia – photos by Ágnes Felber
Budapest is a tiny unincorporated community in Haralson County in the State of Georgia. It is located on U.S. Route 78, about five miles southeast of Tallapoosa. In the year of 1882 about 200 Hungarian families, mostly from mining towns in Pennsylvania, moved to the area and started to plant grapevines. Soon they established a series of flourishing vineyards and Georgia’s wine region was born. Later, as the number […]
Orbán Government insults President-Elect Joe Biden and his family
Hungary is a small country and now the Orbán government has picked a fight with Joe Biden. In a decade Viktor Orbán has transformed Hungary. He commands blind trust from his officials, dissenting views are not tolerated. Bellicose rhetoric is commonplace and his lieutenants are ready to pick a fight with anyone, at any moment, to “defend” Orbán. Speeches are […]
Merry Christmas from the Hungarian Free Press
They might have different shapes, different dough preparation, different filling ratios, different additional ingredients, different finishing touches… But at the end in all of these countries delicious Christmas poppy seed rolls are an indispensable part of the Christmas feast. Have a wonderful mákos bejgli. Happy Holidays.
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. A shared Nobel-prize for mRNA?
I’m not a chemist but I wouldn’t be surprised if the next Nobel-prize in Chemistry would go to Hungarian-born Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the United States. I had a chance to talk to several scientists who know a lot more about this subject than I do and they were all excited. Hungarians are somewhat fixated on the Nobel-prize. […]
Bela Kornitzer – well connected biographer of the powerful and famous
As part of our series on lesser known Hungarian Americans we introduce Béla Kornitzer, the influential biographer and journalist. Béla Kornitzer was born in 1910 and as a young man he became a star newspaper reporter in Budapest. When only in his twenties, he was already a respected Parliament reporter who befriended politicians, aristocrats and hobnobbed with the Hungarian elite. […]
Héjjas after the White Terror and in Hollywood
(This is the last of a three-part series on Iván Héjjas the leader of the Ragged Guard) Héjjas’s brutality had become an embarrassment to Horthy by the summer of 1920, so the government ordered the dissolution of his detachment. Héjjas took his men to the western part of Hungary, Burgenland, where he engaged Austrian troops and, with the forces of […]
The demise of József Szájer — the anti-gay “Christian Conservative” politician who led a double life
I don’t think anyone who has deeper insights into Hungarian politics was especially surprised when it became public that Fidesz co-founder and MEP József Szájer attended an all-male orgy at an apartment in Brussels in November, which was raided by police for violating pandemic gathering restrictions. Mr. Szájer fled the scene and had on his person a backpack containing illegal […]
George Clooney’s response to the Orbán Government’s media attacks
By now you have all heard about Hungary’s recent attacks on American film star George Clooney. Just as Clooney suspected, tightly controlled Hungarian media did not print his full response and we thought that it would be important to publish the full text. Just a brief background. In November GQ Magazine interviewed Clooney who spoke about his movie The Midnight Sky and […]
