The very worst authoritarian regimes — the ones that divert airlines in order to arrest journalists, poison and imprison their critics, beat opposition activists and produce hostage videos of forced confessions — also know how to smile. Belarus has decided to shutter its embassy in Ottawa, after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a fairly tough line this week against […]
What happened on Sunday on a Ryanair flight within the European Union ought to serve as a frigid shower for anyone who ventures into opposition or activist journalism. Ryanair was flying between the capitals of Greece and Lithuania on Sunday when it briefly passed through Belarusian airspace shortly before it was due to land in Vilnius. Under the false pretext […]
The publication of Queer Budapest 1873-1961 by Anita Kurimay fills a gap in the history of homosexuality in Hungary. This is the first book in English dealing with the history of homosexuality in Hungary and Ms. Kurimay places the story in the context of Hungary’s turbulent history. At the dawn of the 20th century, Budapest became a growing cosmopolitan metropolis […]
The Hungarian Studies Association of Canada is hosting a book roundtable discussion and a book launch as part of its annual conference, held under the aegis of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, and moving forward in a virtual format this year. While other sessions of the conference are open to registered members, the two book sessions are […]
The improbable romance of flamboyant Prince William of Gloucester and Zsuzsi Starkloff made headlines fifty years ago. Starkloff was a 56-er, an ambitious, capable Hungarian refugee who loved glamour. A recent documentary brought this romantic tabloid story into the spotlight again. The dashing Prince William of Gloucester was Queen Elisabeth’s first cousin and the page boy at her wedding in […]
Seventy-eight year-old (!) Princeton and Harvard trained Jon Greenwald wants to be next US Ambassador to Budapest. He has already contacted the Biden team and declared that he wishes to serve the US in Hungary. Greenwald also wrote a letter to Béla Lipták (Hungarian Lobby) about his past Hungarian experience and motivations and we asked permission to re-publish it. Here […]
András Göllner’s son, Adam Leith Gollner, wrote a long-form essay for The New Yorker entitled “Does Your Wine Really Taste Like Rocks?” with a focus on vineyards and wines in Hungary. The piece, at times quite atmospheric and lyrical, takes off from the land of memories, before weaving its way through the mysteries of wine. The author’s father owned a […]
Eszter Hajdú is a well-known Hungarian filmmaker with an impressive list of films under her belt. (Click here to see the list of her films) Now she wants to reopen the 1982 murder case of Tamás Barta in California and she called numerous US politicians, among them Secretary State Anthony Blinken and California Lieutenant Governor and ex-Ambassador to Hungary, Eleni […]
One of the most charismatic pastors of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America has died. In the past we wrote that lawsuits and chaos paralyze the Church in America. One of the most vicious court battles involved Pastor Debreczeni. Church officials openly called Debreczeni immoral, a liar and cheater who illegally taped conversations. Zsolt Demeter, Presbiter and Bishop Zoltán Lizik […]
This month, we are witness to an eyebrow-raising development in Hungary. A new English-language journal entitled Hungarian Conservative is being launched on April 15th by the Batthyány Lajos Foundation — a non-profit group dating back to 1991 and established by Hungary’s first democratically elected prime minister, József Antall. The Batthyányi Circle of Professors, affiliared with this foundation, has been critical of […]
