Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, had some sharp words this week, regarding plans to erect a statue in memory of historian Bálint Hóman, Hungary’s Minister of Religion and Education between 1932 and 1938, and again between 1939 and 1942, during the fascistic Horthy era. The statue is planned for the western Hungarian town of Székesfehérvár. While […]
On November 18, 2015, the US Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Anne Richard, met Hungarian Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi at the State Department in Washington DC. There was no Hungarian press coverage, Ms. Szemerkényi didn’t brag about a “turning point” in US-Hungarian relations, she remained quiet. I have a feeling that Ms. Richard had some unkind words about Hungary’s […]
Almost a year ago, Senator John McCain blasted Colleen Bell on the US Senate floor: “We’re about to vote on a totally unqualified individual to be ambassador to a nation which is very important to our national security interest. Her qualifications are as a producer of the television soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful, who contributed $800,000 to Obama […]
Today, no American politician wants to be identified with Hungary; George Pataki, the 70 years old ex-Governor of the State of New York is no exception. His father’s family came from Hungary, while his mother’s parents were Irish and Italian immigrants. He even speaks some Hungarian! Last December at the annual Mikulás dinner of the Hungarian American Coalition, the organization’s […]
Eleni Kounalakis, who was the US ambassador to Hungary from 2010 to 2013, recently published a memoir about her service entitled – Madam Ambassador, Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties and Democracy in Budapest. The book contains critical remarks of the Orbán government. Now Ambassador Kounalakis has written an opinion piece in The New York Times calling Mr. Orbán a […]
Zsolt Németh, the chair of the Hungarian Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, first realized the real extent of troubles surrounding Hungary’s relationship with the United States when he presented at a conference in Washington D.C. earlier this fall. Mr. Németh spoke fairly candidly with the right-wing Válasz.hu website on Tuesday (the online presence of the Heti Válasz weekly, which was founded under […]
If I had to define or characterize the reaction to the news of Barack Obama’s speech, I would call it frustrated and helpless anger. Right-wing pundits and some in government (Lajos Kósa or the Christian Democrats – KDNP, in specific) responded like an indignant teenager with a deep inferiority complex. KDNP politician Imre Vejkey wondered if the “fate of Ökotárs kept Obama […]
Last week, former U.S. President Bill Clinton commented on the Daily Show, that with his brand of authoritarian capitalism, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wants little more than to stay in power indefinitely and become wealthy through dubious means. (“Usually these guys just want to stay forever and make a lot of money,”–said Mr. Clinton.) The collective heart of the Orbán […]
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is hardly being welcomed with open arms, as he plans a trip to the United States for this coming October. According to media reports, not only will Mr. Orbán be unable to meet President Barack Obama, but he stands little chance of a photo-op with Secretary of State John Kerry. The Hungarian prime minister would […]
