Post Tagged with: "Budapest"

Orhan Pamuk

Orhan Pamuk – Don’t be Orbán’s poster boy!

Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian government plans to turn the Budapest International Book Festival (April 20–23) into a political propaganda event. The festival is supposed to be for book lovers. It is an annual four-day extravaganza with panel discussions, book signings, readings where thousands of newly published and older books can be purchased. (Click here to see this year’s program of the […]

by · April 15, 2017 · Culture
Liberty Bridge, Budapest

The Budapest Bridge: Hungary’s Role in the Collusion Between the Trump Campaign and the Russian Secret Service (Part 2)

This is the continuation of Part 1 of Dr. András Göllner’s essay, which appeared in HFP on Thursday.  Introduction In the first part of this series, we argued, that the key players in Trump’s electoral scam have slipped under the FBI’s radar because US laws prohibit the Agency to pursue evidence outside the territory of the US. We also argued, […]

by · April 14, 2017 · Focus
Zsolt Bayer and Viktor Orbán.

Fidesz co-founder threatens violence against CEU protesters

Fidesz party co-founder and prominent columnist Zsolt Bayer has threatened to use violence against the tens of thousands of students, youth and other Hungarians who have been demonstrating against the Orbán regime’s new legislation, aimed at closing down Central European University. A mass protest is scheduled for Wednesday, in Heroes’ Square, and in advance of this, Mr. Bayer published the […]

by · April 11, 2017 · Politics
János Áder

President of Hungary signs legislation to shut down Central European University

After a massive protest in Budapest on Sunday involving more than 70,000 demonstrators–who called for academic freedom and freedom in general in authoritarian Hungary–and after receiving letters and petitions from dozens of universities, academic associations and scholars abroad, President János Áder signed off on a bill that, in its current form, will make it impossible for Central European University to […]

by · April 10, 2017 · Politics
Central European University - Budapest.

Hungary’s parliament votes to shut down Central European University

Starting January 1st, 2018, Budapest’s Central European University (CEU) will no longer be permitted to enrol new students in any programs, unless an agreement is reached between the United States government, the State of New York and Hungary’s Orbán government no later than September and unless CEU opens a new campus in the U.S. A total of 123 MPs voted […]

by · April 4, 2017 · Politics
Lukacs after

The Viktatorship strikes at dawn – the removal of the György (Georg) Lukács statue

It was still dark last Tuesday morning at Szent István Park, Budapest, when the trucks arrived. At dawn as the first light appeared workers dismantled the György (Georg) Lukács statue. They were quiet, fast and efficient and it seemed that they had lots of experience. In a short time the statue of the renowned Marxist philosopher was gone. There is […]

by · March 31, 2017 · Culture
Viktor Orbán

Hungarian regime withdraws Budapest Olympic bid

After days of chaotic and inconsistent communication, the Orbán regime announced that it is withdrawing the bid to host the 2024 Summer Games in Budapest. That only leaves Paris and Los Angeles in the running. Initially, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán simply attempted to distance himself and his government from the fall-out after the Momentum Movement and allied opposition parties exceeded […]

by · February 22, 2017 · Politics
Say no to the Olympics, say yes to our future!

Opposition success in Hungary: 266,000 sign petition against Budapest Olympics

The fledgling Momentum Mozgalom had the challenging task of collecting at least 138,000 signatures within just 30 days, in order to force a referendum on withdrawing the Budapest bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. On Friday morning, Momentum’s young leaders announced that they, along with some of the smallest opposition parties, had collected more than 266,000 signatures. Initially, the […]

by · February 17, 2017 · Politics
The Lukács statue in Budapest – it will be removed

Hungary is removing statue of philosopher György (Georg) Lukács – He was Marxist and Jewish

Removing a statue of a philosopher? You may expect something like this to happen in Nazi Germany in the 1930s but not in Budapest in 2017. A couple of weeks ago the Budapest City Council decided that the statue of György Lukács will be removed from a Budapest park in the 13th district. The renowned philosopher’s statue is currently in […]

by · February 16, 2017 · Culture
András Fekete-Győr of Momentum, collecting signatures in Budapest. Photo: MTI.

Is the Budapest 2024 Olympic bid doomed? A majority of Hungarians oppose it

The Momentum Mozgalom’s campaign to launch a referendum that would force Budapest City Council to withdraw their bid to host the 2024 Summer Games is heading into its final, critical stretch. According to the most recent statistics, Momentum–with the help of the Politics Can Be Different green party (LMP), the Együtt party, Párbeszéd (Dialogue) and some modest assistance from Socialist […]

by · February 9, 2017 · Politics