On October 23 about 300 of us were eagerly waiting for Willie Brown at the Green Room of the San Francisco War Memorial Center. The elegant hall has a gorgeous wraparound balcony with a magnificent view of San Francisco City Hall. The bar was packed with California wines, tasty hors d’oeuvres and we were all dressed up to hear Willie, […]
US Jewish leaders are outraged that Hungarian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Levente Magyar incorrectly claimed that they had described recent comments about antisemitism in Hungary as “exaggerated.” The remarks concerning antisemitism in Hungary were actually made by US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who in a speech about global antisemitism referred to recent developments related to the […]
Hungary’s previous ambassador to Washington DC., western-educated Mr. György Szapáry refused to meet with leaders and supporters of Hungary’s neo-Nazi Jobbik party. He would walk out from the room if Jobbik members showed up at an event. With the arrival of Ms. Réka Szemerkényi, Hungary’s first female Ambassador to the US, all this has changed. Ms. Szemerkényi has personally met […]
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 […]
Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi, Hungary’s top diplomat to Washington wanted to make the dedication of the Hungarian Chapel in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception a major event. She invited all Hungarian-Americans and passionately urged the 1.5 million strong community to be present “regardless of religious affiliation” what will certainly be an inspiring and memorable event. “Let’s […]
At the end of September Péter Turcsány suddenly passed away in Hungary, he was 64 years old and a well-known figure in Hungary’s far-right circles. His Pomáz-based publishing house, Kráter, is the distributor of pro-fascist and anti-Semitic literature. In August he was in the US, at Lake Hope State Park, as a guest of the Hungarian Communion of Friends, also […]
The August 29th dedication of the new Chapel (Magyarok Nagyasszonya kápolna) at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC will start with a Solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wuerl of Washington and Cardinal Erdő of Esztergom-Budapest. Readings and choral pieces will be both in English and in Hungarian. This could be a wonderful religious […]
László Kövér is 55 years old. He is the Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly and also a founding member of the ruling Fidesz party. He started his remarkable political career as a junior “apparatchik” of the Hungarian Communist Politburo in 1986. Born into a Communist family, he earned a law degree, and his contacts propelled him into a job […]
