Politics

Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi calls China a dictatorship

Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi calls China a dictatorship

PBS NewsHour is one of the most widely watched news program in the US.  In the July 8 program the host, Nick Schifrin asked – among others – Hungary’s ex-Ambassador to the US, Réka Szemerkényi about foreign perception of the US during the coronavirus pandemic. Here are Szemerkényi’s responses from the edited transcript.  We publish them without any further comment. […]

by · July 11, 2020 · Politics
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
US Ambassador Cornstein supports the right to demonstrate

US Ambassador Cornstein supports the right to demonstrate

Large crowd demonstrated against racism and police brutality in Liberty Square (Szabadság tér) in front of the US Embassy in Budapest on Sunday.  Participants declared support for the Black Lives Matter movement and pledged “to stand together in solidarity with all victims of racism globally, for justice and unity, for systemic radical positive change.” David Cornstein, US Ambassador to Budapest issued […]

by · June 9, 2020 · Politics
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
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
Viktor Orbán and Donald Tusk (left) - tense relations.

Tusk calls Orbán a Nazi, Sikorski calls him a loser – gloves are off

Oh boy!  This kind of mano-a-mano fistfight is rarely seen even in the murky and often tumultuous politics of Central Europe. Donald Tusk ex-Prime Minister of Poland is the current Chairman of European People’s Party (EPP). Tusk in an interview to Der Spiegel called Orbán the follower of Nazi philosopher, Carl Schmitt.   He said “We have seen many times in […]

by · April 26, 2020 · Politics
Gergely Gulyás speaking on Thursday.

Economic fears propel Hungary to consider reopening the country after May 4th

Although the Coronavirus pandemic in Hungary has not yet peaked and with 2,284 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 239 deaths, the Orbán government announced that it will be prepared to begin re-opening the economy soon after May 4th. On April 29th, the government intends to announce its plan on re-opening the economy. The current model predicts that the coronavirus will […]

by · April 23, 2020 · Politics
Secretary of State Pompeo refers to Orbán as a “bad actor” and a danger to democracy

Secretary of State Pompeo refers to Orbán as a “bad actor” and a danger to democracy

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo’s Remarks to the Press (from the official transcript) 04/07/2020 02:34 PM ED Washington, D.C. QUESTION:  How concerned are you about leaders using coronavirus to weaken democracies in their countries?  There is this specific example of Hungary, which the State Department has commented on.  Are you seeing that elsewhere, and what tools does the U.S. Government have […]

by · April 19, 2020 · Politics
Photo: dailynewshungary.com

Hungarian Rhapsody 2020 – Open Letter Campaign

In early April 2020, three civil societies released an Open Letter to the European Commission in response to Hungary’s so called Authorisation Laws adopted under the disguise of the government’s handling of the COVID pandemic. The letter is intended to express the frustration of 51% of Hungarian voters who in 2018 did not authorize Viktor Orban to continue to hold […]

by · April 16, 2020 · Politics