Hungarian Free Press — Perspectives on Hungary

Proportion of students in Hungarian public schools, by county, who are of Roma origin. Source: MNO's map, based on data obtained from HVG.

Hungary’s demographic revolution? Roma youth comprise a third of all students in eastern Hungarian counties

Attila Z. Papp, a researcher affiliated with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ Minority Studies Institute, presented research findings on significant demographic changes in Hungary that made headlines in the Hungarian media. The conservative Heti Válasz weekly magazine wrote about a “demographic revolution” and how there are now 298 schools in Hungary where Roma students form the majority of the pupil […]

by Christopher Adam · April 9, 2015 · Focus

Miss California, Miss USA – via Hungary

Every Tuesday I have my morning coffee with a group of friends. We talk about politics, sports, films and other unimportant things. A couple of weeks ago, one friend mentioned a gorgeous woman he knew in the 1960s when he was a student at the University of California Berkeley. “She was beautiful. Every boy wanted to be in her class […]

by György Lázár · April 8, 2015 · Diaspora

A rendering of the UK flag, referring to the rapidly growing number of Hungarians living in Britain. Hungarians now number over 300,000 in the British capital and are increasingly forming organized diaspora community associations, often through Facebook. Photo: Londoni Magyarok Közösség Facebook group.

Hungarian emigration almost doubles, as youth leave Hungary in droves

The number of Hungarians deciding to emigrate increased by 46% in 2014, compared to numbers compiled for the previous year by Hungary’s Central Statistical Office (KSH). A total of 31,500 Hungarians left Hungary for a minimum of one year, to find work elsewhere. The KSH notes that the ‘real’ number of emigrants is likely higher than this, as statisticians can […]

by Christopher Adam · April 8, 2015 · Diaspora

Alternative Holocaust memorial in Freedom Square. Photo: Christopher Adam.

Remembering the dead in Hungary: An example of civic engagement

It’s impossible to detach public history and collective memory from contemporary politics. How a society portrays the past is determined by current realities, contemporary values or interests, as well as the dominant, “preferred” narratives of history. But the government and public institutions don’t have a monopoly over the past ; where civic engagement is strong, grassroots organizations and local activists […]

by Christopher Adam · April 6, 2015 · Focus

Sándor Weöres: The Secret Country

Let’s turn away from contemporary Hungarian politics for a moment–especially as HFP’s readers celebrate Easter and Passover–and immerse ourselves in the balmy waters of Southeast Asia, as seen through the eyes of Hungarian poet Sándor Weöres (1913-1989). As far as I could tell, this poem isn’t available anywhere on the Internet, so I am taking the liberty of typing it […]

by Hungarian Free Press · April 4, 2015 · Culture

László Lengyel. Photo: MTI / László Beliczay

Interfering in personal lives of Hungarians will lead to Orbán’s demise

Political scientist László Lengyel gave an excellent interview this weekend to Hungary’s left-centre Népszava daily. The chat, with Népszava’s Tamás Bihari, began with a comparison to Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book and to the king of the jungle, Shere Khan. Mr. Lengyel had previously referred to Viktor Orbán as a tiger, and as the merciless king of the jungle. “Between 2010 […]

by Christopher Adam · April 4, 2015 · Politics

Mr. Balázs Fürjes (right) Hungarian Government Commissioner, Eugene F. Megyesy, Jr., Hungarian-American lawyer and advisor of Mr. Orbán, Ambassador Szapáry and Senator Menendez (left wearing striped tie) at the Rubik’s exhibition.

Senator Menendez – corruption charges and Hungarian friends

New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez was indicted on federal corruption charges. A 61-year-old Democrat, Mr. Menendez was charged with eight counts of bribery, conspiracy, fraud, and making false statements on government documents. He is the first senator to face federal bribery charges since another New Jersey Democrat, Harrison Williams was indicted in 1980, almost a quarter century ago. Menendez has […]

by György Lázár · April 3, 2015 · Politics

An example of a defaced Holocaust monument in Hungary, with graffiti from 2013. Photo: atv.hu

Half of Budapest residents are anti-Semites? The dramatic spread of Hungarian antisemitism

Medián, one of Hungary’s top polling firms, published the results of a comprehensive and startling study into the scope and nature of antisemitism in Hungary. The poll shows a significant rise in antisemitism, with the number of Hungarians who are seen as “rejecting” Jews on a purely “emotional” level increasing from 9% in 2003 to 23% in 2014. It should […]

by Christopher Adam · April 1, 2015 · Antisemitism

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó (left) with Chilean counterpart Heraldo Muñoz (right). Photo: Francisco Leon Puga.

Hungarian Foreign Affairs is serious about its southern “strategy”

I put the word “strategy” in quotation marks for a reason. When Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó, gathered together his increasingly rag-tag group of lackeys and personal football friends-turned-ambassadors and diplomats earlier this month to announce, alongside Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the ministry’s decision to replace its policy of “opening to the east” with a new “opening to […]

by Christopher Adam · March 30, 2015 · Focus

Jobbik’s Gábor Vona made to look prime ministerial in Magyar Nemzet interview

The Magyar Nemzet daily, owned by Fidesz-oligarch Lajos Simicska, who had a very public falling out with his long-time friend and former roommate Viktor Orbán, published a lengthy interview with Gábor Vona, leader of the far-right Jobbik party this weekend. It’s most certainly a long-shot to think of Mr. Vona as a prime minister-in-waiting, but it has also now become […]

by Christopher Adam · March 29, 2015 · Focus

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