Recently in the spotlight

Remarkable drone footage of a Chernobyl ghost town in Danny Cooke’s film

Remarkable drone footage of a Chernobyl ghost town in Danny Cooke’s film

Pripyat, once a model working class city built for the employees of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, is now the world’s largest ghost town. Crumbling socialist era apartment blocks tower over what remains of a city founded in 1970 and evacuated on April 26th, 1986. The city was once home to 49,000 residents, it boasted  over 13,000 apartment units, 25 shops, […]

by · November 28, 2014 · East
Mr. Orbán in Nádudvar, on November 26th, 2014. Photo: Facebook

Fidesz support crumbling ahead of key by-election

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has good reason to feel uneasy. On Sunday, the party lost a by-election in a left-leaning Budapest suburb by a 20 point margin (the governing party had at least expected a close race with the opposition Socialists) and then early this week two prominent Fidesz supporters announced that they may contest — as independent candidates — […]

by · November 26, 2014 · Politics
Ákos Kertész

Ákos Kertész in the Jewish Tribune: Orbán orchestrated the anti-Semitic attacks against me

The Toronto-based Jewish Tribune published an important and startling piece, based on an interview with Hungarian author Ákos Kertész, who was forced to flee from Hungary, following a series of brutal anti-Semitic attacks against him. Canada accepts very few refugee claimants from Hungary, but Mr. Kertész’s claim was approved. For some time, Mr. Kertész was not able to speak openly […]

by · November 25, 2014 · Antisemitism
András Göllner speaking to HuffPost over Skype. Photo: Video capture from HuffPost.

András Göllner in Huffington Post: EU must take decisive action against Orbán government

András Göllner, Founder and International Spokesperson of the Canadian Hungarian Democratic Charter and Professor Emeritus at Concordia University, gave a live interview to Huffington Post, over Skype, from his home in Montreal. Professor Göllner spoke to the growing popular unrest in Hungary and the destruction of the rule of law since 2010. “Hungary has taken a wrong turn. It has […]

by · November 24, 2014 · Politics
The Wandering Muse / Tamás Wormser

Hungarian-Canadian filmmaker explores what it means to be Jewish

Tamás Wormser, a Montreal-based filmmaker of Hungarian origin, was featured in the Montreal Gazette today, in a piece written by columnist Bill Brownstein. Mr. Wormser, well-known for his “road doc” style documentaries, is having his film, The Wandering Muse, featured this Sunday at the Montreal International Documentary Festival (Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal). The fifty year old director, who moved to […]

by · November 21, 2014 · Culture
1992: Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassky Belgrade.

Mr. Orbán’s Bobby Fischer madness

In 1992 chess genius Bobby Fischer was warned against playing a $5-million match in Yugoslavia. The United States had prohibited all commercial dealings in the war-torn country, the tournament was illegal, and Mr. Fischer was cited for participating in the chess match with Boris Spassky. The erratic Mr. Fischer, 49 years old at the time, was known for bizarre behavior. He […]

by · November 19, 2014 · Politics
Day of Outrage. Photo: Balázs Mohai/MTI

Palpable anger on the streets of Budapest

Some 10,000 people took to the streets of Budapest on Monday evening (and up to 5,000 protested in a handful of other Hungarian and European cities) in what was dubbed a “Day of Public Outrage” against the taxes, systemic corruption and anti-western foreign policy of the Orbán government. The demonstrators called for nothing short of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s resignation. What was […]

by · November 18, 2014 · Politics
Klaus Johannis. Photo: Facebook.

Romania’s German turn: President-elect Johannis sends a message to Hungary’s Orbán

Romania’s President-elect, Klaus Johannis, might want to send a thank you card to the 3 million Romanian citizens living and working abroad. And also to Transylvania’s Hungarian population. Without them, Prime Minister Victor Ponta would have been able to change political chairs and become the country’s new left-leaning president, replacing Traian Băsescu, who was completing his second and final term […]

by · November 17, 2014 · East
Fighting in the town of Lysychansk.

Russia, Ukraine and mortar fire: The war in East Ukraine

Open hostilities between the Ukrainian central government and the breakaway eastern province resumed in last week, with the heaviest shelling offensive since the crisis began earlier this year. Russia’s role in this conflict continues to exacerbate the ongoing struggle by providing financing and supplies to the pro-Russian separatist groups based in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian central government continues its […]

by · November 17, 2014 · East
Samantha Power

A warning about Hungary’s institutionalized anti-Semitism

Samantha Power is one of President Barack Obama’s closest confidants and currently U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Ms. Power, who is 44 years old, was formerly Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, and also a noted writer, she won the Pulitzer […]

by · November 15, 2014 · Antisemitism