Diaspora

Ibolya Ryan

Tragedy abroad: Ethnic Hungarian teacher Ibolya Ryan fatally stabbed in Abu Dhabi shopping mall

News agencies report that an American kindergarten teacher who is the mother of 11-year-old twin boys was stabbed to death in the bathroom of an Abu Dhabi shopping mall by a robed figure dubbed the “Reem Island Ghost.” The weapon used in the attack, a kitchen knife, was found in the bathroom close to where the victim was found in […]

by · December 4, 2014 · Diaspora
The extreme right Historica band lays flowers at the 1956 monument in Los Angeles.

Pro-Jobbik band in California — Sponsored by the Orbán Government

The monument of the Hungarian Freedom Fighter stands at the edge of MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. It was inaugurated and blessed by Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary in 1974; today this corner of the park is named after him. Each October, Hungarian Americans gather here to commemorate the 1956 Revolution, dignitaries give speeches and lay a wreath on the monument. […]

by · November 3, 2014 · Diaspora
Zoltán Vass

Hungary’s honorary consul in Vancouver resigns over dictatorial Orbán regime

Zoltán Vass, Hungary’s honorary consul in Vancouver, Canada, announced his resignation today, Budapest-based Klubrádió reported. Mr. Vass decided to resign in protest over two deep concerns that he had, regarding how Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government was operating both at home, but also in the Hungarian Canadian diaspora. “The Orbán government has incrementally destroyed the pillars of democracy and continues to […]

by · October 30, 2014 · Diaspora
Bálint Ódor

The Democratic Charter addresses Hungarian Ambassador Bálint Ódor

Dear Dr. Ódor, The Canadian Hungarian Democratic Charter has read with interest your address to Hungarian Canadians, published on the website of Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As you may know, we are a civil rights group comprised of academics from both Canada and the United States who have been critical of the decline of democratic checks and balances in […]

by · October 29, 2014 · Diaspora
Historica's logo.

From Jobbik rallies to Southern California churches

Historica is a popular Hungarian rock band. They play “national rock” which is a mixture a hard rock and even harder-core Hungarian nationalism. One of their songs is about the heroism of Mr. Albert Wass, a fascist and a convicted World War II criminal, who received the death sentence in absentia for murdering Jews and Romanian peasants. (Historica’s Albert Wass […]

by · October 24, 2014 · Diaspora
Pulaski parade in New York City

Hungarian Americans marched at the Pulaski Day Parade

The Pulaski Day Parade is an annual event in New York City to commemorate Kazimierz Pulaski, a hero of the American Revolutionary War. Pułaski was a Polish nobleman, a soldier and military commander, and “father of the American cavalry”. Born in Warsaw, he came to America to help in the cause of the Revolutionary War. He saved the life of […]

by · October 20, 2014 · Diaspora
Extra Hungariam

Canada’s Extra Hungariam Foundation entertainer has pro-Jobbik sympathies

A new organization has been announced to support and promote Hungarian culture in Canada. The Extra Hungariam Foundation (yes, Hungariam) plans to create a foundation “of significant financial proportion” which will provide perpetual funding to support Hungarian cultural activities in Canada. “Extra Hungariam non est vita,” in Latin, means “there is no life outside Hungary.” (You may find the foundation’s […]

by · October 4, 2014 · Diaspora
Deputy State Secretary Szabolcs Takács in Ottawa, Canada.

Orbán government’s deputy state secretary met with Democratic Charter’s questions in Ottawa

The Canadian Hungarian Democratic Charter (CHDC) was present at a roundtable discussion hosted by Carleton University’s Centre for European Studies, in Ottawa. The roundtable, held on September 29th, 2014, explored avenues of international cooperation among Visegrád 4 countries. Considering the Orbán government’s overt move away from western-style liberal democracy and nearly constant international controversy, the Charter’s three spokespersons present at the event — […]

by · October 2, 2014 · Diaspora
Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

Canadian War Museum opens exhibit on Eastern European internment

The Canadian War Museum, in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, is opening an exhibit on the internment of Eastern Europeans, including Hungarians, from 1914 to 1920. This represented Canada’s first national internment operations, which resulted in the creation of 24 internment camps, most in remote locations, and the internment of over 8,000 Europeans from the lands of the Austro-Hungarian […]

by · September 26, 2014 · Diaspora
CHEF Board members: Christopher Adam, Kevin Burns, Catherine Bélanger, Mark Curfoot-Mollington.

Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation explores fall programs

The Ottawa-based Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation’s board held its autumn planning meeting on September 9th, 2014 to review some of its work over the past year and to chart a direction moving forward. Now in its ninth year of existence, there was agreement that scholarship and internship programs should continue to form an important part of CHEF’s work, especially building on […]

by · September 25, 2014 · Diaspora