East

Song Shun-keun of Korean response team (left) and János Hajdu Hungary's Counter-Terrorism Center (TEK)

Conflict in rescue operation of sunken sightseeing boat in Budapest

There is disagreement between the Korean and Hungarian authorities on how to conduct the rescue operation of a sunken sightseeing boat. According to the Korea Times, Song Shun-keun, the leader of the Korean response team in Budapest said that “while he respected the Hungarian government’s decision to raise the ship rather than conducting diving operations, he had requested that it […]

by · June 5, 2019 · East
The Székely flag displayed with pride at the Csíksomlyó pilgrimage.

The National Catholic Reporter on the Papal visit to Csíksomlyó, Translyvania

The National Catholic Reporter’s Joshua J. McElwee wrote an exhaustive piece on the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to Romania, emphasizing the trip’s significance from the perspective of outreach to the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, which counts 500,000 adherents. Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek Catholic bishops, recognizing as well the persecution that Greek Catholic clergy and faithful suffered in […]

by · May 22, 2019 · East
All smiles – Orbán with Eshaq Jahangiri, Iran’s First Vice President.

Pro-Iranian Viktor Orbán will visit President Trump in the White House

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s voice is the only heard in Hungary today and his rhetoric is firmly anti–Islamist. At the same time, Mr. Orbán maintains close and friendly relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran is a theocracy. Islam is an inseparable part of the political structure and the government is based on sharia or Islamic law. Iran is […]

by · May 10, 2019 · East
Pastor Bunson prays with President Trump in the White House.

Pastor Andrew Brunson becomes a Hungarian citizen

Andrew Brunson, a 50-year old American pastor who lived in Turkey since the mid-1990s was jailed by local authorities for his alleged participation in a coup against Turkish strongman Tayyip Erdogan. Brunson and his wife, Norine were arrested in October 2016 along with other Americans. Norine was released after two weeks but her husband was held for two years, facing […]

by · March 2, 2019 · East
A sign marking the local Hungarian Office of Immigration and Nationality in southern Hungary's Tompa transit zone.

European Union sees considerable drop in asylum seekers

The number of asylum applications lodged in the European Union’s 28 member states declined by 10 percent in 2018. And the prior calendar year already showed a year-over-year drop of 44 percent. In 2018, the EU saw a total of 634 700 asylum applications, of which the largest country of origin was Syria (representing over 10% of all applications submitted). Within […]

by · February 17, 2019 · East
Canadian soldiers celebrate Romania’s National Day on December 1, 2018.

Canadian and US soldiers participate, Hungary boycotts National Day Parade in Bucharest

On December 1 Romania held a military parade to celebrate the 100th anniversary of The Great Union, the foundation of modern-day Romania. On this day in 1918 the National Assembly was held in Alba Julia (Gyulafehérvár in Hungarian), where 1,228 elected delegates adopted the union resolution. The declaration promised “full national freedom” to all minorities and was read at a […]

by · December 3, 2018 · East
Hungary is now part of the assembly of “Turkic Speaking Countries”

Hungary is now part of the assembly of “Turkic Speaking Countries”

Last year Prime Minister Orbán declared that “Hungarians see themselves as the late descendants of Attila the Hun,” and the country’s citizens are proud of their Hun-Turkic origins and their language which is related to the Turkic languages. Orbán also reminded his audience that there was a time when it was an insult to say that Hungary was Europe’s most […]

by · November 25, 2018 · East
Géza Jeszenszky

Ex-Foreign Minister of Hungary suggests autonomy for Hungarians in Romania

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, told Romanian President Klaus Iohannis that he considers the Romanian national holiday commemorating the unification with Transylvania to also be a European celebration. Juncker said: “Romania will celebrate on December 1 of the current year its centenary, the centenary of the great union, as our Romanian friends say. I wanted to say to […]

by · November 21, 2018 · East
Levente Magyar

Has Ukraine put Hungarians on a “death list”?

The increasingly bitter diplomatic conflict between Hungary and Ukraine reached a new level this week, when Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Levente Magyar said that Ukraine has compiled a “death list” of Hungarians living in Transcarpathia (Western Ukraine). Mr. Magyar added that on the website of Ukraine’s parliament, people are advocating for the mass deportation of those ethnic Hungarians […]

by · October 10, 2018 · East
Don’t blame Obama for the Orbán-Putin love affair

Don’t blame Obama for the Orbán-Putin love affair

A couple of days ago Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks in Budapest with the CEO of the Russian Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom), Alexey Likhachev. The Rosatom delegation discussed the Paks II nuclear power plant project. Rosatom, created by Russian President Putin in 2007, is considered (even by Russian standards) to be one of the most corrupt organizations in the […]

by · September 7, 2018 · East