Budapest is in the midst of sweltering summer weather and during my stay in the Hungarian capital over the past ten days, I have experienced first-hand tram and metro cars that have interior temperatures topping 35 degrees Celsius. (The M2 and M4 metro lines are air conditioned and the 4-6 tram line is hit or miss, so if you are […]
Summary Despite being a member of both NATO and the EU, Hungary today is no longer a free society or a functioning parliamentary democracy. The entire system of checks and balances has been demolished. The few democratic institutions that survive have been reduced to empty shells and do not sustain the rule of law. The country’s economic, political and cultural […]
Here’s the story behind one of the most endearing wine taverns in Budapest. Imre Balázs Molnár is a Hungarian Canadian, born in Montreal, lived in the same Laval suburb that I grew up in, and ended up in Ottawa much like me. As it happens, he was born at Montreal’s St. Mary’s Hospital, and probably around the same year as […]
Background Each year, Canada’s Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences – comprising a wide range of academic associations in the humanities and the social sciences – gathers in a different Canadian city, to discuss developments in their areas of expertise. Organizers accept papers from specialists within their academic association to present research under the aegis of the Congress. This […]
Gergely Gulyás, vice president of the ruling Fidesz party, expressed concern that the party which once limited its membership to people under the age of 35 has now lost Hungary’s youth vote. “Success is most certainly rather attractive to young people, but let me exercise self-criticism: even if Fidesz is successful, today it is not appealing enough to young people,” […]
A spokesperson for Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed “disappointment” over remarks that a high ranking Hungarian government minister made about the 1920 Treaty of Trianon and demands for an apology to Hungary. János Lázár, in a speech on the anniversary of a treaty which saw historic Hungary lose three fourths of its territory and two thirds of its […]
Zsuzsa Koncz knows from personal experience what it’s like to be a performer, singer and artist in a dictatorial regime. In 1973, even though Hungary’s Kádár regime was more liberal than any other Eastern bloc country when it came to cultural and artistic expression, Zsuzsa Koncz’s album entitled Jelbeszéd (Sign Language) was suddenly pulled from the shelves of record stores and […]
Ripost.hu is one of Hungary’s bottom of the barrel political tabloids: an online publication that specializes in seedy, politically motivated character assassinations against opponents of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party. Ripost is the publication that took a photograph completely out of context, in order to insinuate that Jobbik leader Gábor is a homosexual and participates in gay orgies. Earlier this spring, […]
Ildikó Lendvai, the former Chairperson of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and Member of Parliament for twenty years (1994-2014), has been critical of her liberal and left-centre colleagues who believe that the only way to topple the authoritarian Orbán regime is to enter into a partnership with the once far-right, but now more moderate Jobbik party ahead of the 2018 […]
CHIN Radio’s weekly Hungarian-language program had its final broadcast on Sunday, June 4th, 2017. The radio show has been a staple of the multicultural radio station’s programming for more than 13 years and was among the first multilingual broadcasts after CHIN FM 97.9 received its license to operate in Ottawa in late 2001. The weekly “Hungarian hour,” initially broadcast at […]
