In a bizarre speech Hungary’s right-wing authoritarian strongman, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, recently called Miklós Horthy an “exceptional statesman.” Admiral Horthy, also an authoritarian (although some called him a dictator) led his country as Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary following the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I. He turned pro-Mussolini and pro-Hitler in the 1930s and […]
Stephen Gergatz, ex-honorary Hungarian Consul in New Orleans and Sarasota, made news in Hungary and abroad earlier this year, when he was arrested on Casperson Beach, in Florida. This month, Mr. Gergatz was acquitted on all charges, yet Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to distance itself from the former honorary consul, who was asked to resign following the incident. […]
This week started with embarrassment for Viktor Orbán’s regime and especially for Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog, who experienced a thoroughly public snubbing by Washington DC on the on-going saga of the planned shuttering of Central European University. On Monday, Mr. Balog, whose gigantic and unruly ministry oversees the education portfolio in Hungary, told journalists of the Index news […]
Many of our readers have probably never heard of Marymount University, a small Catholic school in Arlington, Virginia. A couple of months ago they announced that in May the commencement speech of the graduate program would be given by Hungary’s Ambassador to Washington, Réka Szemerkényi. (The location is DAR Constitution Hall, 1776 D Street NW Washington, D.C.) In the meantime […]
The Trump campaign’s pro-Russian friends who live in the hills, overlooking the Budapest Bridge Epilogue and Postscript By András B. Göllner „All along the watchtower, princes kept the view, while all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too. Outside, in the distance, a wildcat did growl. Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.” –Nobel laurate, Bob Dylan […]
The Trump campaign’s pro-Russian friends who live in the hills, overlooking the Budapest Bridge Part 2 of a 3 part investigative report by András B. Göllner “There must be some way out of here” said the joker to the thief. “There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief. Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth. None of […]
The Trump campaign’s pro-Russian friends who live in the hills, overlooking the Budapest Bridge Part 1 of a 3 part investigative report by András B. Göllner “There must be some way out of here” said the joker to the thief. “There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief. Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth. None of […]
The University of California at Berkeley held a panel discussion this week about the situation at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest. The panel guests were István Rév, the Director the Open Society Archive at CEU, who is currently a visiting professor of History at UC Berkeley, and Gábor Klaniczay, a Professor of Medieval History at CEU. The moderator […]
Tens of thousands hit Market Street in San Francisco on Saturday to march for science. My wife and I attended the lively event which was part of a nationwide call to celebrate Earth Day 2017. Clever, sometimes funny posters criticized Donald Trump and raised alarms over his budget plan which would cut federal funds from research. The Department of Health […]
“All I know is what’s on the internet” -Donald Trump Since I published my two-part series in the Hungarian Free Press, (my favourite blog, the one I lovingly call the “Little Engine That Could”) my phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Some callers breathe hard and tell me to “go back to Israel” and hang up, before I can ask – why […]
