Articles by: György Lázár

Ambassador Szemerkényi bids farewell to Sessions.

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 […]

by · July 21, 2020 · Politics
György Kárpáti

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 […]

by · July 6, 2020 · Culture
Pastor Debreczeni with the Hungarian flag in Phoenix AZ

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 […]

by · June 27, 2020 · Diaspora
Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi (left) and Rep. Steve King in his Congressional Office

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, […]

by · June 14, 2020 · Politics
President Roosevelt on horseback

Roosevelt, Mikszáth and St. Peter’s Umbrella

This is a wonderful and true story.  Some of you might have heard it. After serving for eight years as US President Theodore Roosevelt opted not to run for a third term in 1908.  Two years later, he decided to take a trip to Europe and in April 1910 he visited Hungary. Roosevelt was especially interested in horse breeding and […]

by · June 6, 2020 · Culture
Far-right Trianon rally at the Romanian Embassy in Budapest.

Trianon commemoration has no place in North America

Many of us in North America are surprised (and dismayed) by the recent revival of Trianon symbolism in Budapest.  It is part of the Orbán Government’s attempt to re-establish Miklós Horthy’s far-right nationalism of the last century. Several events were planned in Budapest on June 4, the 100th anniversary of the Trianon Treaty. Due to the pandemic some have been […]

by · May 31, 2020 · Diaspora
Hospital ventilator unit - total cost $30-40,000 per bed.

Coronavirus, incompetence and suspected fraud in authoritarian Hungary

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s young minister of foreign affairs & trade is responsible for purchasing protective gear for his country’s fight against the coronavirus epidemic.  Szijjártó organized an air bridge to China and over 100 WizzAir flights brought back gear for the “battle,” as he calls it. According to government sources Hungary has so far received over 131 million masks, 1,928,695 protective […]

by · May 23, 2020 · Politics
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky pays respect to the victims of fascism

Ukraine’s President sends message to Viktor Orbán on the Day of Victory over Nazism

In a speech on the Day of Victory over the Nazis, in the city of Uzhhorod (Ungvár in Hungarian) Ukraine’s young and photogenic president sent a not so subtle message to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.   Volodymyr Zelensky talked about the “expulsion of invaders” from Zacarpathia, a clear reference to the illegal 1939 occupation of the area by Hungarian ruler […]

by · May 12, 2020 · Politics
Don Shula

Don Shula, legendary Hungarian American NFL head coach dies at 90

Donald Francis Shula, a Hall of Fame NFL coach who led the Miami Dolphins to two Super Bowl titles, has died. He was 90. The team issued a statement that Shula passed away peacefully at his home.  “Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years. He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and […]

by · May 7, 2020 · Diaspora
Viktor Orbán and Klaus Iohannis (right) - the smiles are gone

Meet Orbán’s enemy of the week: Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis

Carl Schmitt, the influential fascist German philosopher of the last century wrote that it is a waste of time to conduct politics through discussion, civilized debate and negotiation.  That is a “liberal idea.”  Schmitt believed that politics is a realm of struggle.  As he phrased it, “political actions and motives can be reduced to the struggle between friend and enemy.” […]

by · May 3, 2020 · Politics