Post Tagged with: "Budapest"

Lord Mayoe István Tarlós. Photo: 24.hu

The fate of Budapest may hinge on István Tarlós

If István Tarlós, the 70 year old mayor of Budapest, decides not to run for a third term in the 2019 municipal elections, Fidesz is likely to eliminate the position of lord mayor (főpolgármester) altogether, rather than face the risk of losing the Budapest mayoralty to an opposition candidate. According to sources quoted by the HVG weekly, Fidesz believes that […]

by · August 8, 2018 · Politics
Reflections after a summer vacation in Hungary

Reflections after a summer vacation in Hungary

It seems that an annual summer trip to Hungary has become something of a ritual for me. Initially, now well over a decade ago, I would travel back for archival research–first for my MA thesis, then for my PhD dissertation, or for the odd conference presentation. Then as I became more involved in the country’s public discourse over the past […]

by · August 3, 2018 · Politics
Detail of a building in Fecske utca. Source: Új Kelet.

A Hundred Turbulent Years

Some three years ago I was visiting Prague and there, amongst the few remaining Jewish monuments was the relatively new, elegant Spanish Synagogue. Despite its elegance and attractive style, my interest was rather caught by the representative exhibition in the women’s gallery showing the ample contribution the Jews of Prague provided to Czech and European culture at large. It was […]

by · August 2, 2018 · Culture
Fidesz holds Budapest’s Józsefváros in mayoral election amidst 23 percent turn-out

Fidesz holds Budapest’s Józsefváros in mayoral election amidst 23 percent turn-out

Seventy-seven percent of the residents of Józsefváros, otherwise known as Budapest’s 8th District, decided that it did not matter to them who would occupy the mayor’s office or that as voters, they have no power to remove Fidesz from power anyway. Two morsels of opposition wisdom can be questioned after the results in Józsefváros, which saw Botond Sára (Fidesz) garner […]

by · July 9, 2018 · Politics
A homeless man on Central Budapest's Andrássy út.

Homelessness to become unconstitutional in Hungary

It’s certainly not the first time that Fidesz, Hungary’s ruling party, moves to criminalize homelessness. But this time the Orbán government is preparing to go further than ever before, by amending the country’s Fundamental Law, to make homelessness unconstitutional. The amendment would make it illegal for anyone to “habitually” reside in public spaces. Fidesz MP and Viktor Orbán’s former lawyer […]

by · June 12, 2018 · Politics
Péter Győri. Photo: Balázs Mohai / MTI.

The opposition unifies behind mayoral candidate in key Budapest election

On Monday we learned that the opposition finally did what it should have done before April’s national election: it is rallying behind a single mayoral candidate in the central Budapest district of Józsefváros, in the hope of reclaiming it from Fidesz in a local election to be held on 8 July. With outgoing Józsefváros mayor Máté Kocsis moving to national […]

by · May 14, 2018 · Politics
G.M. Tamás

Almost nobody seems to care

This interview with Hungarian political philosopher G.M. Tamás first appeared in The Dissident Blog–a publication of the Swedish PEN. Mr. Tamás offered us this interview to share with readers of the Hungarian Free Press. The philosopher explains why freedom of speech and democracy are in decline in Hungary and also speaks about how Budapest is a type of intellectual bubble […]

by · April 28, 2018 · Focus
An estimated 100,000, mostly young Hungarian protest in Kossuth Square, spilling over into Alkotmány utca. Photo: Index.

Some 100,000 Hungarians demand new, fair elections in Budapest protest

An estimated 100,000 Hungarians–mostly young adults–filled Kossuth Square and spilled over into Alkotmány utca on Saturday to issue two overarching demands. First, they are demanding new elections–based on a fully free and fair electoral system. Second, they scolded the opposition for their inability to field a single candidate against Fidesz in every electoral district and demanded full cooperation against the […]

by · April 14, 2018 · Focus
The Greek village of Beloiannisz, in Hungary's Fejér county. The community was established in 1950 by Greek communists and was named after the late Greek communist resistance fighter Nikos Beloyannis.

A letter on Muslims and a short history of Hungary as a land of immigrants

Dear Doris, I am glad you make clear your own and János’ position concerning migrants, and the very fact that you are not willing to compromise: “Ok, Sandor. But there is one issue on which Janos very firmly support’s Orbán’s view and policies: mass migration. A quote from Janos, “‘It is crazy to welcome people, especially masses of people, into […]

by · April 12, 2018 · Focus
Márta Naszályi and Gergely Karácsony

Hungarian opposition closer to uniting in key Budapest electoral district

On Easter Monday, six days before national elections, András Fekete-Győr of Momentum announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy in Central Budapest in favour of Márta Naszályi of the Hungarian Socialist Party – Párbeszéd alliance (MSZP-P)–the strongest opposition candidate. Mr. Fekete-Győr followed in the footsteps of Péter Juhász of Együtt, who withdrew last week. Central Budapest, known in Hungarian as […]

by · April 2, 2018 · Politics