I have known the dark ages of Hungary. As a child, during World War Two, I experienced first-hand Hungarian ultra-nationalism and anti-Semitism. I managed to avoid deportation and murder in Auschwitz by fleeing to Palestine in 1943, along with 49 other Jewish children. Decades later, I returned to Hungary during the years of Communism. As a journalist writing for major […]
This is the third installment of a series of articles appearing in HFP on the meteoric rise of Sebastian Gorka, President Trump’s counterterrorism adviser. Recently questions have been raised about Mr. Gorka’s competence and his connection to anti-Semitic groups and individuals. (See: Part 1 & Part 2.) Hungary’s far-right movement is pro-Iranian, in fact, according to press reports the Iranian […]
Hungary’s governing party got a rare slap on the wrist on Friday, after the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH) indicated in a statement that the country’s intelligence agencies were not to be used by political players for partisan purposes. The statement comes after Szilárd Németh, a prominent Fidesz MP and vice chair of Parliament’s National […]
The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) launched its new campaign and national tour on Thursday and kept its central slogan as simple as possible: “Let the rich pay!” Standing in front of a grey, socialist era apartment block and a billboard featuring László Botka, the Socialist candidate for prime minister in 2018 with the words: “Let’s do justice — Let the […]
March 15th is a Hungarian National Holiday. It commemorates the Revolution of 1848 led by Louis (Lajos) Kossuth, which grew into a war of independence against Habsburg rule. We commemorate this National Holiday with the 2002 speech of Hungarian Ambassador to the United States Géza Jeszenszky. It was included in the Congressional Record by Congressman Tom Lantos. Lantos wrote: “Since […]
Géza Jeszenszky, Hungary’s former ambassador to Oslo under the second Orbán cabinet and the country’s ambassador to Washington under Viktor Orbán’s first term in power, suggested that Hungarians are being brainwashed today, which is why so many in Hungary fail to see the risk associated with the government’s pro-Putin and pro-Russian politics. Mr. Jeszenszky compared this to the brainwashing in […]
János Áder, the technocratic Fidesz politician who was the mastermind behind the electoral map and system that heavily favours the ruling party, was elected by parliament on Monday to serve a second five year term as President of Hungary. Mr. Áder and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have had their differences over the years and not too long ago, it appeared […]
Will far-right populist “peroxide-blond crusader” Geert Wilders be the Netherlands’ new prime minister? And why does he spend so much time in Hungary? On March 15th the Netherlands will elect its new Parliament, the Tweede Kamer or Lower House. According to opinion polls the far-right Freedom party might come out ahead and Wilders has a good chance to become the […]
Polak, Węgier, dwa bratanki, i do szabli, i do szklanki – Poles, Hungarians, two brothers, they fight together, they drink wine together. (Polish proverb) There were few relationships between right-wing political parties closer than the alliance of the ruling Polish PiS and Hungarian Fidesz. Party bosses Orbán and Jaroslaw Kaczynski have pledged to wage a “cultural counter-revolution” and reform a […]
Rózsika Schwimmer was a Hungarian-American feminist, journalist, politician and relentless fighter for woman’s rights in Hungary and the United States. Born in 1877 in Budapest and trained as a bookkeeper, Schwimmer was an occasional journalist for various papers such as Pester Lloyd. She got involved with the Hungarian union movement and became the leader of the National Association for Women […]
