Post Tagged with: "Viktor Orbán"

Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi (left) and Rep. Steve King in his Congressional Office

Rep. Steve King of Iowa, Viktor Orbán’s admirer in Congress loses primary

Steve King of Iowa, one of the most controversial members of Congress has lost his bid for re-nomination.  King, a nine-term Republican suffered one of the biggest defeats of the 2020 Republican primary season.  The defeat will most likely end his political career. 71-year-old King is openly racist.  He has befriended European far-right leaders, among them disgraced far-right Austrian politician, […]

by · June 14, 2020 · Politics
Secretary of State Pompeo refers to Orbán as a “bad actor” and a danger to democracy

Secretary of State Pompeo refers to Orbán as a “bad actor” and a danger to democracy

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo’s Remarks to the Press (from the official transcript) 04/07/2020 02:34 PM ED Washington, D.C. QUESTION:  How concerned are you about leaders using coronavirus to weaken democracies in their countries?  There is this specific example of Hungary, which the State Department has commented on.  Are you seeing that elsewhere, and what tools does the U.S. Government have […]

by · April 19, 2020 · Politics
The Hungarian parliament on 30 March 2020.

Viktor Orbán uses coronavirus pandemic to complete his dictatorship

The party state’s two-thirds majority in parliament meant that with 138 voting for and just 53 against, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has secured the right to rule by decree for an unlimited period of time, and to unilaterally suspend existing laws, ostensibly in an effort to better address the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary. On Monday, the number of Hungarians confirmed […]

by · March 30, 2020 · Politics
Photo: Pastor András Debreczeni with family – his Arizona based congregation wants independence from Budapest.

Attack on Pastor Debreczeni in Phoenix, AZ is orchestrated from Budapest

On September 1, 2019 Zsolt Demeter, Presbiter of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America  published a three-page letter attacking Pastor András Debreczeni of the First Hungarian Reformed Church in Phoenix, AZ.  Demeter called Debreczeni a liar and cheater who illegally taped conversations and demanded  his removal.  Demeter has threatened with lawsuits and made it clear that he had the backing […]

by · December 23, 2019 · Diaspora
Sir Roger Scruton

Trump basher, racist Sir Roger Scruton is awarded by Viktor Orbán

Sir Roger Scruton does not mince words. In a 2017 Hungary Today interview Scruton attacked President Trump’s intelligence: “He doesn’t have any thoughts that are longer than 140 characters.” (Read here) In another interview he talked disparagingly about the Chinese people and declared that they were “robots” and “each Chinese person is a replica of the next one and that […]

by · December 12, 2019 · Politics
Family photo - Lord Ashcroft (left), Mr. Harper, Mr. Orbán, Ms. Novák and Mr. Rogán.

Orbán’s new pals – Stephen Harper, Lord Ashcroft and Robert Lantos

The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an alliance of right wing political parties, headquartered in Munich, Germany and currently chaired by Stephen Harper, the former Prime Minister of Canada. Mr. Harper and his friend, Hungarian-born Canadian film producer, Robert Lantos travelled to Hungary to spend the August 20th National Holiday with far-right authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Lord Ashcroft, conservative […]

by · August 29, 2019 · Politics
Mr. Orbán (middle) with Ms. Wittner and Mr. Szilágyi at Kötcse.

Orbán’s anti-Semitism is prime-time TV news in the US

On August 15th the PBS NewsHour interviewed Danny Ayalon, former Israeli ambassador to the US, during a piece on Israel barring two U.S. congresswomen, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both Muslims. Israel claims that Reps. Omar and Tlaib are anti-Semitic. The reporter pointed out that Israel has welcomed politicians in the past who have used anti-Semitic […]

by · August 20, 2019 · Antisemitism
Paul Anka (left), Ambassador Cornstein and Prime Minister Orbán enjoying the show.

Bizarre US Embassy Independence Day extravaganza with 800 guests in Budapest

Every year on July 4 the US Embassy in Budapest has a garden party with a couple of dozen invited Hungarian guests to celebrate Independence Day. This has become a decade-long tradition. It seems that Ambassador Cornstein likes to give big parties, I mean giant parties. On July 9 he invited 800 guests (yes, eight hundred) to a sit down […]

by · August 10, 2019 · Politics
Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi (left) and Rep. Kaptur at the award ceremony in 2017

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) is not supporting Orbán anymore

On January 24, 2017, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit by Hungary. The award was presented in Washington D.C. with great fanfare by Orbán loyalist Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi and Kaptur expressed her support for the Budapest government. Hungarian taxpayer’s money was not spared. The award ceremony was preceded by a piano concert […]

by · May 18, 2019 · Politics
Viktor Orbán with Donald Trump in May 2019.

Viktor Orbán gets his day in Washington and displays his skill as a communicator

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán last sat next to an American president in the Oval Office 21 years ago, in 1998. At the time, the 35 year old Mr. Orbán, serving his first four year term at the helm of the Hungarian government, sat in the company of President Bill Clinton. Mr. Orbán had then just completed his transformation from an […]

by · May 13, 2019 · Focus