Showing posts with label Hungary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hungary. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Hungary's Orban Says Corks Will Pop If Trump Wins US Election! MEPs Reply Singing 'Bella Ciao'
Es redet Putins Marionette! – © Mark Alexander
Orbán's concern for the rights of gays in the EU due to illegal immigration is a bit rich, isn't it? Especially when the rights of gays in Hungary leave so much to be desired. Check out this article by Human Rights Watch as just one example of Orbán’s faux concern for gay rights in the EU!
LGBT Rights Under Renewed Pressure in Hungary: Children Harmed in the Name of Protection »
And this one:
As Governments Demonize LGBTQ+ Rights, Children Lose the Most »
Wednesday, October 09, 2024
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
America and Hungary, a Far-Right Love Affair
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Former Estonian President on Why Hungary Should Leave the EU – Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Friday, July 12, 2024
What Is Hungary’s Orbán Trying to Achieve with His 'Peace Missions'? | DW News
Jul 12, 2024 | Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to the US state of Florida on Thursday, where he met with former President Donald Trump following a NATO summit in Washington.
The meeting is part of Orbán's self-proclaimed "peace mission" to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is likely to add to frustration among Western allies over similar secret trips he has made to Russia and China in the past few days.
The meeting is part of Orbán's self-proclaimed "peace mission" to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is likely to add to frustration among Western allies over similar secret trips he has made to Russia and China in the past few days.
Saturday, February 17, 2024
This Is the Super-scandal that Should Bring Down Viktor Orbán – and It’s Far from Over
THE GUARDIAN: Hungary’s president quit over the fallout of a child abuse case, but the ‘pro-family’ prime minister still has questions to answer
Screenshot from the Guardian | Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán at a press conference in Budapest, December 2023. | Photograph: Denes Erdos/AP
After nearly 14 years running Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s regime is crumbling under the weight of its own hypocrisies. The country’s president, Katalin Novák, a close Orbán ally, was forced to resign in disgrace earlier this month for issuing a pardon to a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse case at a children’s home. The former justice minister, Judit Varga, who approved the decision, also quit. This followed a tumultuous week of public outcry and protests in Budapest.
The scandal has not only rocked Orbán’s autocratic government to its core, it has laid bare the phoney nature of his self-declared Christian, family-values agenda. It has also exposed what little power even high-ranking political figures wield under Orbán’s de facto one-person rule: at the drop of a hat, he appears ready to dispose of close allies, even the supposedly independent president of the republic, to avoid accountability himself. » | Katalin Cseh | Saturday, February 17, 2024
After nearly 14 years running Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s regime is crumbling under the weight of its own hypocrisies. The country’s president, Katalin Novák, a close Orbán ally, was forced to resign in disgrace earlier this month for issuing a pardon to a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse case at a children’s home. The former justice minister, Judit Varga, who approved the decision, also quit. This followed a tumultuous week of public outcry and protests in Budapest.
The scandal has not only rocked Orbán’s autocratic government to its core, it has laid bare the phoney nature of his self-declared Christian, family-values agenda. It has also exposed what little power even high-ranking political figures wield under Orbán’s de facto one-person rule: at the drop of a hat, he appears ready to dispose of close allies, even the supposedly independent president of the republic, to avoid accountability himself. » | Katalin Cseh | Saturday, February 17, 2024
Thursday, February 01, 2024
EU Agrees on €50 Billion Ukraine Aid Package | DW News
Feb 1, 2024 | Just one hour into the EU's special summit, EU leaders managed to reach a deal that will allow the bloc to send €50 billion ($54 billion) in funding to Ukraine over the next four years, according to European Council President Charles Michel.
The deal had been blocked by Hungary since the previous leaders' summit in Brussels in mid-December. "We have a deal," Michel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine."
The deal had been blocked by Hungary since the previous leaders' summit in Brussels in mid-December. "We have a deal," Michel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine."
Friday, December 15, 2023
Putin Makes Emboldened Speech - as EU Opens Ukraine Accession Talks | Russia-Ukraine War
Hungary Blocks €50bn of EU Funding for Ukraine | BBC News
Dec 15, 2023 | Hungary has blocked €50bn ($55bn; £43bn) in EU aid for Ukraine - just hours after an agreement was reached on starting membership talks.
"Summary of the nightshift: veto for the extra money to Ukraine," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after Thursday's talks in Brussels. EU leaders said the aid negotiations would resume early next year.
The aid blocking was announced by Mr Orbán shortly after the EU leaders decided to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidate status to Georgia.
Hungary - which maintains close ties with Russia - has long opposed membership for Ukraine but did not veto that move.
Hungary blocks €50bn in EU aid for Ukraine hours after membership talks approved: Viktor Orbán says extra money to Kyiv had been vetoed but talks would resume in the new year »
"Summary of the nightshift: veto for the extra money to Ukraine," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after Thursday's talks in Brussels. EU leaders said the aid negotiations would resume early next year.
The aid blocking was announced by Mr Orbán shortly after the EU leaders decided to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidate status to Georgia.
Hungary - which maintains close ties with Russia - has long opposed membership for Ukraine but did not veto that move.
Hungary blocks €50bn in EU aid for Ukraine hours after membership talks approved: Viktor Orbán says extra money to Kyiv had been vetoed but talks would resume in the new year »
Sunday, November 19, 2023
How Jews from Israel Are Seeking Refuge in Hungary | Focus on Europe
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Hungarian Bookstore Fined for Selling LGBTQ+ Novel in Youth Section
THE GUARDIAN: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman was on shelves for young people and did not have closed packaging as required by controversial law
A government office in Hungary has levied a hefty fine against a national bookseller over a LGBTQ+ graphic novel series, saying it violated a contentious law that prohibits the depiction of homosexuality to minors.
The bookseller, Líra Könyv, is Hungary’s second-largest bookstore chain. It was fined 12m forints ($36,000 or £27,400) for placing Heartstopper by the British author Alice Oseman in its youth literature section, and for failing to place it in closed packaging as required by a 2021 law.
The Heartstopper webcomics and graphic novels were adapted for television and the subsequent series was a huge hit for Netflix, with a second season due in August.
The Budapest metropolitan government office, which issued the fine, told the state news agency MTI that it had conducted an investigation into the store selling the title.
“The investigation found that the books in question depicted homosexuality, but they were nevertheless placed in the category of children’s books and youth literature, and were not distributed in closed packaging,” the office said. » | Associated Press in Budapest | Thursday, July 13, 2023
A government office in Hungary has levied a hefty fine against a national bookseller over a LGBTQ+ graphic novel series, saying it violated a contentious law that prohibits the depiction of homosexuality to minors.
The bookseller, Líra Könyv, is Hungary’s second-largest bookstore chain. It was fined 12m forints ($36,000 or £27,400) for placing Heartstopper by the British author Alice Oseman in its youth literature section, and for failing to place it in closed packaging as required by a 2021 law.
The Heartstopper webcomics and graphic novels were adapted for television and the subsequent series was a huge hit for Netflix, with a second season due in August.
The Budapest metropolitan government office, which issued the fine, told the state news agency MTI that it had conducted an investigation into the store selling the title.
“The investigation found that the books in question depicted homosexuality, but they were nevertheless placed in the category of children’s books and youth literature, and were not distributed in closed packaging,” the office said. » | Associated Press in Budapest | Thursday, July 13, 2023
Thursday, May 04, 2023
Hungary’s Far-right PM Calls for Trump’s Return: ‘Come Back, Mr President’
THE GUARDIAN: Viktor Orbán, addressing European CPAC summit, attacks liberalism as a ‘virus’ and says his country is model for world
Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, delivers the keynote speech in Budapest on Thursday. Photograph: Szilárd Koszticsák/EPA
The Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán has called for Donald Trump’s return to office, claiming their shared brand of hard-right populism is on the rise around the world, in a speech to US Republicans and their European allies in Budapest.
Orbán was addressing the second annual meeting of the US Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) in the Hungarian capital, aimed at cementing radical rightwing ties across the Atlantic. He said that conservatives have “occupied big European sanctuaries”, which he listed as Budapest, Warsaw, Rome and Jerusalem. He added that Vienna “is also not hopeless” .
He noted that Washington and Brussels were still in the grip of liberalism, which he described as a “virus that will atomize and disintegrate our nations”. » | Flora Garamvolgyi in Budapest | Thursday, May 4, 2023
The very last thing this world needs now is another term of office with Donal Trump at the helm. Perish the thought! – Mark
The Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán has called for Donald Trump’s return to office, claiming their shared brand of hard-right populism is on the rise around the world, in a speech to US Republicans and their European allies in Budapest.
Orbán was addressing the second annual meeting of the US Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) in the Hungarian capital, aimed at cementing radical rightwing ties across the Atlantic. He said that conservatives have “occupied big European sanctuaries”, which he listed as Budapest, Warsaw, Rome and Jerusalem. He added that Vienna “is also not hopeless” .
He noted that Washington and Brussels were still in the grip of liberalism, which he described as a “virus that will atomize and disintegrate our nations”. » | Flora Garamvolgyi in Budapest | Thursday, May 4, 2023
The very last thing this world needs now is another term of office with Donal Trump at the helm. Perish the thought! – Mark
Tuesday, August 09, 2022
The Lincoln Project: CPAC Texas Day 1
Hi Y’all! Don’t forget, we’re all gonna be seein’ Jeezuz together! – Mark
Friday, August 05, 2022
Hungary PM Viktor Orbán Addresses CPAC as American Right Embraces His Authoritarian Rule
Hungary PM Viktor Orbán rallies US conservatives to fight for ‘less drag queens, more Chuck Norris’: Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has remarked the world needs fewer drag queens and “more rangers” in a keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the US. »
Why American Conservatives Love Viktor Orban: What was the prime minister of Hungary doing addressing a crowd of Republicans in Dallas? »
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Tucker Carlson Under Fire for Fawning over Authoritarian Leader, Touting Hungary as Model for US
Saturday, May 21, 2022
Trump Shares CPAC Hungary Platform with Notorious Racist and Antisemite
THE GUARDIAN: Hungarian talkshow host who has called Jews ‘stinking excrement’ and Roma ‘animals’ addresses rightwing conference
Donald Trump is shown on screen speaking via a videolink at the CPAC conference in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday. Photograph: Szilárd Koszticsák/EPA
A notorious Hungarian racist who has called Jews “stinking excrement”, referred to Roma as “animals” and used racial epithets to describe Black people, was a featured speaker at a major gathering of US Republicans in Budapest.
Zsolt Bayer took the stage at the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Hungary, a convention that also featured speeches from Donald Trump, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
The last featured speaker of the conference was Jack Posobiec, a far-right US blogger who has used antisemitic symbols and promoted the fabricated “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory smearing prominent Democrats as pedophiles.
Bayer, a television talkshow host in Hungary, has been widely denounced for his racism. During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, he wrote on his blog: “Is this the future? Kissing the dirty boots of fucking [racist epithet] and smiling at them? Being happy about this? Because otherwise they’ll kill you or beat you up?” » | Flora Garamvolgyi and Julian Borger in Washington | Saturday, May 21, 2022
Orbán and US right to bond at Cpac in Hungary over ‘great replacement’ ideology: American far right has long embraced Hungary’s prime minister, who speaks of Europe’s ‘suicidal’ immigration policies »
Viktor Orbán tells CPAC the path to power is to ‘have your own media’: Hungarian leader also tells Republicans at Budapest conference that shows like Tucker Carlson’s should be broadcast ‘24/7’ »
A notorious Hungarian racist who has called Jews “stinking excrement”, referred to Roma as “animals” and used racial epithets to describe Black people, was a featured speaker at a major gathering of US Republicans in Budapest.
Zsolt Bayer took the stage at the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Hungary, a convention that also featured speeches from Donald Trump, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
The last featured speaker of the conference was Jack Posobiec, a far-right US blogger who has used antisemitic symbols and promoted the fabricated “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory smearing prominent Democrats as pedophiles.
Bayer, a television talkshow host in Hungary, has been widely denounced for his racism. During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, he wrote on his blog: “Is this the future? Kissing the dirty boots of fucking [racist epithet] and smiling at them? Being happy about this? Because otherwise they’ll kill you or beat you up?” » | Flora Garamvolgyi and Julian Borger in Washington | Saturday, May 21, 2022
Orbán and US right to bond at Cpac in Hungary over ‘great replacement’ ideology: American far right has long embraced Hungary’s prime minister, who speaks of Europe’s ‘suicidal’ immigration policies »
Viktor Orbán tells CPAC the path to power is to ‘have your own media’: Hungarian leader also tells Republicans at Budapest conference that shows like Tucker Carlson’s should be broadcast ‘24/7’ »
Wednesday, May 04, 2022
Hungary Opposes EU's Russian Oil Ban Plan 'In This Form' • France 24 English
Tuesday, April 05, 2022
Hungary Election: Viktor Orban's Victory Hailed by Putin
BBC: Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been congratulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin after he won a fourth term by a landslide in the country's general election.
His right-wing Fidesz party had 53% of votes with almost 99% counted.
The opposition alliance led by Peter Marki-Zay was far behind with 35%.
The Kremlin says Mr Putin expressed confidence that the two countries could develop further ties "despite the difficult international situation".
In his victory speech, Mr Orban criticised Brussels bureaucrats and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling them "opponents".
Mr Zelensky has repeatedly criticised Mr Orban's ban on the transfer of arms to Ukraine, with which it shares a border.
Based on preliminary results, the National Election Office said Fidesz would have 135 seats, a two-thirds majority, and the opposition alliance would have 56 seats.
The victory will be Fidesz's fourth successive win since 2010. With video » | BBC | Monday, April 4, 2022
Monday, April 04, 2022
Orbán’s Victory in Hungary Adds to the Darkness Engulfing Europe
THE GUARDIAN: The pro-Putin nationalist managed to turn the war in Ukraine to his advantage in a win that deepens the EU’s troubles
Orbán won by telling Hungarians he would keep them out of this war, and that their bills would stay low due to his sweet gas deals with Putin.’ Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images
As I stood in a cold, disconsolate crowd in central Budapest late on Sunday night, listening to Hungarian opposition leader Péter Márki-Zay concede defeat in the country’s election, the Twitter feed on my phone filled with images of murdered Ukrainian civilians in the town of Bucha. Some of them had their hands tied behind their backs. Beside one murdered woman lay a keychain with a pendant showing the yellow stars on blue background of the European flag. The Ukrainian horrors are clearly far worse than the Hungarian miseries, but the two are fatefully connected.
It is a bitter irony that, just as we learn of some of the worst atrocities in Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war of terror against Ukraine, Putin’s closest ally among EU leaders, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, is re-elected partly because he turned that very war to his own political benefit. As well as exploiting all the advantages he has already built in to a heavily rigged political system, such as gerrymandered constituencies and overwhelming media dominance, Orbán won by telling Hungarians that he would keep them out of this war – and that their heating bills would stay low due to his sweet gas deals with Putin.
In his victory speech, the Hungarian leader listed the “opponents” he had defeated. They included the international media, Brussels bureaucrats and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has criticised him fiercely for his opposition to the weapon supplies and further sanctions that Ukraine desperately needs. So he tells us exactly who his enemies are – and friend Putin has hastened to congratulate him on his famous victory.
If the Hungarian six-party opposition coalition led by Márki-Zay had won, Hungary would have become a staunch western ally in the face of Russian aggression, as other central European countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic are proving to be. “Russians go home!” some youngsters chanted at the very end of that disconsolate opposition wake in Budapest, recalling a slogan from the time of the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. Walking back at midnight across a deserted Heroes Square, I recalled how in that very place in June 1989 I had heard a young, seemingly idealistic Orbán himself call for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary. Yet now the ageing cynic is flatly refusing to let western arms supplies pass through Hungary in order to help the Ukrainian army send the Russians home. I wonder what he sees when he looks in the mirror. » | Timothy Garton Ash* | Monday, April 4, 2022
* Timothy Garton Ash is a historian, political writer and Guardian columnist
As I stood in a cold, disconsolate crowd in central Budapest late on Sunday night, listening to Hungarian opposition leader Péter Márki-Zay concede defeat in the country’s election, the Twitter feed on my phone filled with images of murdered Ukrainian civilians in the town of Bucha. Some of them had their hands tied behind their backs. Beside one murdered woman lay a keychain with a pendant showing the yellow stars on blue background of the European flag. The Ukrainian horrors are clearly far worse than the Hungarian miseries, but the two are fatefully connected.
It is a bitter irony that, just as we learn of some of the worst atrocities in Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war of terror against Ukraine, Putin’s closest ally among EU leaders, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, is re-elected partly because he turned that very war to his own political benefit. As well as exploiting all the advantages he has already built in to a heavily rigged political system, such as gerrymandered constituencies and overwhelming media dominance, Orbán won by telling Hungarians that he would keep them out of this war – and that their heating bills would stay low due to his sweet gas deals with Putin.
In his victory speech, the Hungarian leader listed the “opponents” he had defeated. They included the international media, Brussels bureaucrats and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has criticised him fiercely for his opposition to the weapon supplies and further sanctions that Ukraine desperately needs. So he tells us exactly who his enemies are – and friend Putin has hastened to congratulate him on his famous victory.
If the Hungarian six-party opposition coalition led by Márki-Zay had won, Hungary would have become a staunch western ally in the face of Russian aggression, as other central European countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic are proving to be. “Russians go home!” some youngsters chanted at the very end of that disconsolate opposition wake in Budapest, recalling a slogan from the time of the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. Walking back at midnight across a deserted Heroes Square, I recalled how in that very place in June 1989 I had heard a young, seemingly idealistic Orbán himself call for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary. Yet now the ageing cynic is flatly refusing to let western arms supplies pass through Hungary in order to help the Ukrainian army send the Russians home. I wonder what he sees when he looks in the mirror. » | Timothy Garton Ash* | Monday, April 4, 2022
* Timothy Garton Ash is a historian, political writer and Guardian columnist
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