In just four days, Momentum Movement and opposition parties that have been assisting them, have gathered 40,000 signatures out of a required 138,000 to hold a referendum this spring demanding the withdrawal of the Budapest 2024 candidacy to host the Summer Olympics, according to Népszava. Activists still have over three weeks to keep collecting signatures. In a separate interview, Anna […]
At least 16 students of Budapest’s Szinyei Merse Pál Gimnázium died Friday night near Verona, Italy, when their bus collided into a column and caught fire. Another 39 students were injured and transported to hospital–12 of whom are believed to be in serious condition. This is the deadliest Hungarian bus crash in 18 years–the last time Hungarians mourned such a […]
Far-right media personalities associated with Fidesz, including a founding member of the governing party, Zsolt Bayer, have plans to celebrate President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday night in Budapest’s Szabadság tér, or Freedom Square in English. The outdoor public event will be held in the area between the Ronald Reagan statue and the Soviet monument–the latter was once much-maligned on […]
A group of Hungarians in their twenties and thirties called Momentum Mozgalom (Momentum Movement), which sees itself entering the political arena ahead of the 2018 national elections, has received the go-ahead from both the Budapest Election Committee and the Supreme Court of Hungary for a proposed referendum on withdrawing the Hungarian bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. Momentum must […]
The Trófea Grill restaurant, centrally located at the foot of Margaret Bridge in Budapest, is a popular, fairly upscale buffet, using the all-you-can-eat-and-drink business model. It seems to attract lots of tourists, expatriates and also Hungarians who often go there to celebrate special family occasions. Whenever I’m in Budapest, I’ll invariably visit Trófea on at least a couple of occasions–it […]
Budapest-based photographer Beatrix Gergely had the chance to photograph a unique concert held at the Papp László Budapest Sport Arena on December 28th, 2016. The concert featured the Palladio Orchestra–one hundred guitars on stage playing an eclectic range of music, including the works of Beethoven, all the way to theme songs from major films and even music from Queen. The […]
I am accustomed to seeing photos of the poor and the homeless standing in long lines at Budapest’s Blaha Lujza tér for food and hot meals, mostly provided by a foundation affiliated with the Hungarian branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON), more commonly referred to as Hare Krishna. When my Hungarian friends send me these photos, as proof […]
Zsa Zsa Gábor, the Hungarian beauty whose many marriages, gossipy adventures and occasional legal scuffles kept her in tabloid headlines for decades, died Sunday in Bel Air, California. She was 99. Suzanne Moore writes in The Guardian that Zsa Zsa Gábor is not remembered for her film roles, which were minor, instead, she is being celebrated for being Zsa Zsa […]
Many Budapest residents were stunned to see tanks and other armoured vehicles in the streets of the Hungarian capital on Tuesday. The Counter-Terrorism Centre’s (TEK) personnel were instructed to guard key commercial locations in central Budapest following Monday evening’s terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany. Hungary’s terror risk remains unchanged at “3”, but Minister of Interior Sándor […]
Budapest’s historic skyline is about to change dramatically, with the Fidesz-controlled General Assembly of the Hungarian capital approving a 120-meter high skyscraper, even though all opposition parties expressed concern about the lack of consultation and the lack of time to review the plans before the motion was rushed through council. The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) suggested that investors close to […]
