If only it was that simple! You have to take some relevant circumstances into account: A Hungarian civil society without…
January 1st, 2023
https://hungarytoday.hu/conservatives-meet-in-brussels-amid-drama-and-intimidation/ Populist Fidesz media are whining about Brussels, the rules and laws so I have one simple question: Why don't…
The Brussels story is all pver the media, everybody is laughing at Farage, Orbán etc. The big questions for me…
Impressing pictures of the Hungarian Holocaust. Not for weak nerves. "Dad saw the huge smoke, the station's inscription: Auschwitz, and…
The police in Brussels, stopped Viktors' right wing conference due to "the possibility of public disorder" Brussels police move to…
Wish you all a happy New Year!
Hungary really needs good wishes or else. If Fidesz continues its politics then we might really see a Hunxit.
Not sure many people across the EU would be sad to see HU leave.
The EU member states are opposing the Viktor, not the Hungarians. The same is for the people across the EU
I know this is not representative but when I read the comments on Twitter about Hungary, you can clearly see that the majority of users commenting have run out of patience.
If you read the comments in the Mandiner you can see that the majority loves the Viktor. I know this is not representative.
In the meantime, it is good we have institutions like the EP, who are chosen representatives of the European people who do not give up on Hungary, and vote time after time against the regime, but not against the Hungarian people.
Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán is the only EU leader who received Happy New Year wishes from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Source: dailynewshungary.com https://dailynewshungary.com/category/politics/
Funny?
And there’s more news on this level on the site:
Gulyás said he saw no need to amend Hungary’s child protection law. “The red line is the aim of the law, which is that children’s sex education is the responsibility of parents and not NGOs, aging Hungarian-American billionaires, or women with man-like characteristics,
Source: dailynewshungary.com https://dailynewshungary.com/orbans-chief-of-staff-european-unity-only-achievable-along-national-interests/
And of course all the money problems of Hungary are the fault of the EU – the teachers’ abominable low wages can of course be raised if the EU gives us ebough billions of € (Of course half of that money has to go to guys who want to buy hotels and villas in Austria, Spain, …)
We’re only in it for the money!
Happy new year everybody.
The regime seems to continue the old way of not giving in.
Teachers will be evaluated and punished with less money for a bad evaluation (I wonder if participating in demonstrations will also be a factor in the review).
In healthcare, the “reforms” were decided without any influence from the healthcare professionals and medical chamber.
They do not dare to stop the price caps because a significant part of the population would not be able to pay for what they want to eat. For many small shops, this is a disaster, already 4000 closed last year.
Scandals in Hungary are still covered with secrecy, like the non-existing movie about tourism in Hungary subsidized with 1.2 billion Huf, or the Vollner case in which Varga, his direct boss, does not have to testify.
The cities and districts led by the “opposition” do not get help to cover the exploded costs of public service.
And 800 million Huf will be spent on a heated soccer field in Felcsut.
The list is not complete.
So, 2023 will be very interesting in Hungary
In Hungary and the other Comecon states the new year starts as crazy as the last one ended!
Just two examples:
On the phone a relative of my wife in Eastern Hungary told my wife that she was shocked to see dark skinned migrants – wearing turbans!
My wife tried to explain to her that these were probably Indian workers which were invited to Hungary because there are not enough qualified Hungarian workers – those move to Austria, Germany etc.
I’ve described this already:
Suzuki in Esztergom just around the corner now has more than a thousand young workers from India. What would be the alternative? Move the whole factory there?
And from the PISsers another piece of crazy news:
Their boss talked about reintroducing the death penalty.
hey, christian fascist Poland wants to be on the same level as Iran? Just kill all those horrible journalists etc because they are active against the government? And combine this with the law against abortion which already killed several pregnant women …
Remember that story about the woman expecting twins where one of the tembryos was essentially dead? The hospital said there would be no abortion so in the end all three died …
Hunxit and Polxit seem like good ideas now.
Well at least Poland is fully supporting the fight against Russia’s war…
And USA also has the death penalty and strict anti-abortion laws…
I read an article on the French-language website Courrier d’Europe Centrale (behind a paywall) about a similar story in Tiszaújváros where Indian workers (but also Turks and Ukrainians) have been hired for the same reason. They are hosted in a local hotel nearby and don’t have much contact with the locals. I guess many would complain that these foreign workers are taking away the jobs of Hungarians but would fail to understand qualified nationals are scarce and probably working in the West as you mention.
Orbanistan has gone totally crazy!
Just read that the change from “megye” (county) to vármegye has become effective – thousands of signs, millions of documents etc have to be changed, even police uniforms.
This will cost billions of Forints!
But wait, the Forint will soon be a thing of the past – Hungary will move to the Euro, sorry Rubel.
PS:
Thanks to Austrian Pester Merkur (formally known as pusztastranger) for this!
https://www.facebook.com/pusztastranger
We just came back from Hungary after celebrating Christmas and New Year with my in-laws. While in Bp we visited the Budapest Retro Museum. For my wife, it was a trip down memory lane with so many aspects of life under
communismsocialism depicted.January 4
Hungary took in $4.25 billion in new loans.
$1.5 billion in 5 year bonds, paying a 6,273%/yr yield,
$1.5 billion in 10 year bonds, paying a 6,509%/yr yield,
$1.25 billion in 30 year bonds, paying a 7,098%%/yr yield,
https://www.portfolio.hu/gazdasag/20230105/megvannak-a-hatalmas-dollarkotveny-kibocsatas-vegso-reszletei-588640
The Viktor shared his wet dreams for his clan.
We will have good relations with everybody except the declining West.
And the propaganda media are selling it as “A strategy to win the decade.”
https://mandiner.hu/cikk/20230104_nem_a_szetbontasra_igen_az_osszekapcsolasra_a_magyar_strategia
I really like the way Telex, 444, etc. are reacting to this kind of speech with very subtle humor. Always putting the words “according to” on the spot where it hurts most.
https://telex.hu/belfold/2023/01/07/regionalis-kozephatalmi-statusz-strategia-osszekapcsolas-kihivasok-tiz-ev-orban-viktor-orban-balazs
https://nepszava.hu/3181203_orban-balazs-osszekapcsoltsag-gazdasagi-modell-evtized
Sounds like a ridicously indifferent attempt to save face.
You can´t say that. He is not indifferent. At least not to his own interests, which seem to be to stay in power.
I would call it a way to explain the world from the position of an autocrat who lost of the overview of reality outside his bubble.
The goal as always is to make his followers believe he has a clue. This already works for 12 years.
If the bubble is the realm, then yes.
If not, then, who cares?
Realities can be ignored inside the bubble, but of course, for all the wishful thinking in the world, there are physical limits.
The bubble contains those people who voted for the Viktor four times in a row now. That´s his realm. Those are the ones keeping him in power, and enable him to destroy the future of the Hungarian people.
On global level it is nothing of course, except for those moments where he still is able to veto.
It’s easy to stay in the bubble with proper use of Pálinka.
You have a strong point there!
A very nice speech from the US ambassador in Hungary.
https://hu.usembassy.gov/45th-anniversary-of-the-return-of-the-hungarian-holy-crown-remarks-by-ambassador-pressman/
The Nemzet reacted, with a beautiful article saying just nothing.
https://magyarnemzet.hu/ahelyzet/2023/01/nem-elado-szabadsagunk
One sentence is worth citing:
“Mr. Pressman hardly understands what the Hungarian intention is. The problem with the American diplomat is that he is too political. He is not a statesman. He doesn’t see the long term, he only thinks in cycles. Compared to it, it is only apparent how broad the ideological background of Viktor Orbán’s analysis is.”
And the author is serious, not joking (:
Why do we talk so badly about the prime minister when he is so well liked?
Besides him only Berlusconi and Gerhard Schröder got holiday greetings from Putin.
And he also sacrificed his valuable time to accompany his wife on a military plane to the Vatican to greet and say good bye to the late accomplice of child abusers, sorry pope.
My wife just told me that telex has nice pictures of the food from him and family/friends visiting a luxury restaurant in Rome:
https://telex.hu/eletmod/2023/01/06/orban-viktor-olaszorszag-roma-etterem-kiprobaltuk-szamla-la-bussola
The EU finance ministers stopped new subsidies for research and educational programs for the foundation universities. These universities are led by (Fidesz) politicians (until they die, and then the board can choose a new member (:).
https://nepszava.hu/3181304_europai-bizottsag-erasmus-alapitvanyi-egyetem-tamogatas-leallitas
The fun thing again is, that the responsible Fidesz politician is simply denying the fact.
Where do they live?
It goes further as Hungarian universities are excluded from the Erasmus+ programme and the Corvinus University will lose substantial subsidies from the Horizon Europe research programme.
Yes, this is so good. The government says it is a misunderstanding, which it is not.
https://telex.hu/belfold/2023/01/09/navracsics-tibor-erasmus-europai-bizottsag-alapitvany-egyetem
The opposition is divided, and I do not understand the ones who are telling the EU to change strategy so that the students are not the victims of government politics instead of the government.
https://hvg.hu/itthon/20230109_momentum_dk_jobbik_lmp_erasmusplus
This could really get big I think when besides the regular school teachers and students now the university students and teachers stand up.
A better assist for opposing the corrupt education system from the EU will not come in the future.
The last word on this hasn’t been said yet. It will be interesting to see where it ends.
Degrading national credentials on this scale, should call for a strong reaction from the graduates who dream of EU-employment.
“should call for a strong reaction from the graduates”
I’ll be waiting.
Orban and his proxy just purchased Vodafone Hungary for more than 1.6 billion euros.
(0.7 million broadband internet, 0.7 million television, 3 million mobile phone customers)
Orban’s control over the internet / mobile telephone networks:
100%: vodafone, digi
25%: former telenor
Another brick put in place in the totalitarian wall.
https://444.hu/2023/01/09/megszuletett-a-megallapodas-a-vodafone-eladasarol
https://www.hwsw.hu/hirek/65037/digi-vodafone-magyarorszag-4ig-felvasarlas.html
I wonder what the new name will be
By Orban’s new decree, the Hungarian “Anti-competition Authority” is not allowed to examine the purchase of Vodafone.hu by Orban’s 4iG.
https://444.hu/2023/01/09/a-kormany-intezkedett-nem-vizsgalhatja-a-versenyhivatal-a-vodafone-vasarlast
4iG is deeply involved in criminal activities (tax fraud, price gouging using unnecessary intermediate companies, etc).
Of course, these investigations will be suppressed by the regime.
https://444.hu/2023/01/10/ez-orbanek-szuperprojektje-a-magyar-jovo-kulcsa-ahova-nyomozok-vonultak-ki-hazkutatast-tartani
Advice taken, it seems.
In the meantime, Fidesz oligarch Habony Árpád has acquired an almost 33% share in Budapest’s casino business, with a license concession running until 2056 – free competition at its best – anyone can compete as long as they have 100% loyalty to the Big Boss…
https://telex.hu/gazdasag/2023/01/09/habony-arpad-garancsi-istvan-casino-kaszino
Here is a nice analysis of the Mandiner piece we discussed.
Their conclusion is that the Viktor´s speech is full of nonsense but still serves inner political purposes.
https://telex.hu/kulfold/2023/01/09/orban-viktor-orban-balazs-regionalis-kozephatalom-blokkosodas-egyesult-allamok-eu-kina-kulpolitika-strategia-geopolitika-fejlett-orszag-kitores-osszekapcsoltsag
Tamás Mészáros who wrote the complex Telex article over thinks in this piece. Mészáros got to the crux of the issue relating to the intellectual pretensions of PM Orban when he wrote relatively straight forwardly “Germany and other European partners remain the dominant destinations of Hungary’s trade and the dominant sources of its foreign direct investment.”
So all of Orban’s discussion of Hungary evolving into achieving middle power status in Central Europe and possibly connecting up with China is delusional. Moreover, since Germany is an economic power supported by US military power Hungary inevitably remains to a very real degree under US global hegemony. Orban remains in fear of Russia to the extent he wants desperately to remain under the NATO nuclear shield which is really the US nuclear shield, yet talks as if Hungary is autonomous from that reality. Orban knows very well without the massive US and NATO support for Ukraine it would have already have returned to being a satellite of Russian fully controlled by Putin.
Putin is not incorrect that now the war in Ukraine has become a proxy war between Russia and the USA, NATO alliance. Strategically in the underlying economics of it all it could become very unclear what the hell the USA will gain by the billions being spent on this war. The mantra over here is the USA is we are supporting the right of Ukrainians to decide for themselves what kind of government they want and their rights as a nation to self determination. We argued similarly for the right of the South Vietnamese and Afghan people, but when our children’s lives became part of the paradigm we bailed out eventually. Putin has regained the crown of the Evil Empire that President Regan once gave to Russia and that I personally accepted being willing to fight communists in Vietnam, Grenada, and possible communists in Panama that was really run by a paid agent of the CIA.
Mészáros calls Orban’s thinking magical realism, “which laces grimly realistic stories with elements of fairytales.” That reference comes from Mészáros deep background in theater criticism, a background I think that also drives him to essentially make things overly complex.
But one of the stories Orban never wants to tell is the one about Hungary being in many economic respects being in a comparable economic relationship to Germany and other European partners as Mexico is to the USA where many US made products are produced shipped back across the border using very low cost labor and declared American made because the components are in some cases assembled in the USA. It’s an aspect of globalization that Orban does not want to look at or ever discuss. When I have made this comparison to relatives in Esztergom outrage followed, it is a painful thought to be honest.
Mészáros also discusses Orban’s theory of the decline of US power and the rise of Chinese power. The reality seems that if the USA and China were to go to war over Taiwan which is a growning possibility, China would likely be defeated by USA, Japanese and Taiwanese forces, but at great cost and loss of life, according to think tank experts who conducted multiple war simulations. The cost would be so high it would take many years for both China and the USA to recover and Taiwan would be in ruins. (see https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2023-01-09/taiwan-china-invasion-war-games-8705471.html ) World trade would decline as a result and Hungary’s foreign owned factories would shut down massively.
Thanks for linking the Mészáros article its a pretty complex world we reside in now.
A very astute analysis from you!
Perhaps generations of nationally endorsed daydreaming about a long bygone past, created an addicted majority of Hungarian fantasists, patiently awaiting their next fix.
Thanks for wonderful and thoughtful cartoon!
You’re welcome Misi.
For all the efforts to analyze the Hungarian nationalists’ state of mind, the paradoxes mount. Somewhere, under the heap, a simple truth exists (the local count of nationalities).
Szívesen.
I think Mészáros was just discussing the ridiculous ideas of the Viktor, not reality.
Thanks, Istvan, for the interesting and also disturbing info.
Imho Hungary and Serbia and Turkey (you may add to the list) are really unimportant so the EU as well as the USA will ignore their silly antics – unless it’s really necessary.
On the other hand I don’t understand Russia’s (or Putin’s …) and China’s activities.
They surely know what would happen (as you describe it) if the worldwide economic system would break down.
Europe and the USA could continue on a high level even with all those price/cost increases, taking back some production facilities from China eg.
But would Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese etc people do if they can no longer sell to the West?
II really hope that “common sense” will prevail.
or should we expect a return to the old times when regular wars were normal and repeated every generation?
Good news!
The mayors of the V4 capitals visited the mayor of Kiev – Telex/facebook have a really nice picture
Karácsony held a joint international press conference with the mayors of Kyiv, Bratislava, Prague and Warsaw. They all expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people and the people of Kyiv who are suffering from Russian aggression.
https://telex.hu/english/2023/01/11/budapest-mayor-is-visiting-kyiv
Good news indeed!
This article in Magyar Nemzet https://magyarnemzet.hu/belfold/2023/01/az-isten-haza-csalad-olyan-kapocs-amelyre-a-magyaramerikai-egyuttmukodes-is-alapozhato (“God, country, family” is a link on which Hungarian-American cooperation can be based) is clearly for the consumption of supporters of Fidesz in Hungary. For whatever reason the idea that there are American cousins and Fox news Trump supporters over here in the USA who think Orban’s Hungary is just great seems to make the day for supporters of Fidesz within Hungary.
What is so absurd about this is that many American Hungarians born here can’t even pronounce their own last names properly. or maybe worse purposely do not. Chicago has local reporter named Liz Nagy who grew up in the south of the USA who pronounces her own name so Americanized I cringe when I hear it watching the nightly news. Now she obviously knows she is pronouncing a very common Hungarian name with the emphasis on the letter A and she did not have to attend Hungarian language school on Saturdays as a child to know that is wrong. In fact there are videos on youtube providing the normal Hungarian phonics for the word and name.
She was obviously trained to use Americanized phonics as a TV broadcaster and applies that to her own family name. But Hispanic TV reporters do not do that to their own names and clearly use normal Spanish phonics as a sense of ethnic pride. That was not always the case, growing up watching US television Hispanic reporters tried to Americanize themselves in order to be legitimate in the eyes of viewers. Now more or less correct phonics are accepted in the mass media in the USA for Spanish names and words, even I make the effort to do it. But for the most part American Hungarians born here just want to be seen as generic white people in no way unique from the amalgam of whites possibly with the exception of some inherited traditions, certainly not Hungarian which can be phonetically challenging.
Back in the 60’s, when I went to scool in the US (until 71), there were special English classes for foreigners. The teachers made a stern point of rejecting anything “un-English” about pronouncing our names and shortened names to easyer levels.
The diphtong at the end of my surname is probably more difficult to pronounce with a native Anglican accent than almost anything Asian and the only ones who didn’t have a severe problem with it, were Hungarians and Turks, Germans and Scandinavians.
Sajnos, sajnos, the first two university foundations led by Fideszniks are offering foreign time for their students from their own money.
I was already afraid that the story was too good to be true.
https://hvg.hu/itthon/20230111_A_Szegedi_Tudomanyegyetem_sajat_forrasbol_fedezne_a_hallgatok_erasmusos_tanulmanyait
https://telex.hu/belfold/2023/01/11/magyar-agrar-es-elettudomanyi-egyetem-erasmus-hallgatok-mobilitasi-program
The scientists on the other hand are demanding the regime to fulfill the EU demands.
https://24.hu/belfold/2023/01/11/erasmus-ugy-felsooktatasi-dolgozok-szakszervezete/#
Let’s see the positive side here:
Nice (:
Hungarians are more clever than their government.
Five years ago around 16% were for leaving the EU, now only 10%.
In Germany the number was reduced just from around 14% to 11%.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/12/support-for-leaving-eu-has-fallen-significantly-across-bloc-since-brexit
This could potentially undermine support for Fidesz. That and the growing negative political/economic account, which weakens Hungary’s membership status, just might tip the balance on the ballots.
Of course, if Putin decides to cancel agreements with Orbán, seeing how the EU has the upper hand, in order to collect deficits before it’s too late, things might change quickly.
But the Viktor does not want to leave the EU as far as I know. According to IPSOS, Hungarians worry more about inflation and healthcare.
https://24.hu/belfold/2023/01/12/inflacio-egeszsegugy-aggodalom-ipsos-globalis-felmeres-2022-december/
And Fidesz loses, but only the number of undecideds increases.
https://telex.hu/belfold/2023/01/13/republikon-januar-kutatas-2023-januar-adatok-felmeres
Hey even a majority of Brits would be against Brexit today. Too bad for them they are stupid enough to believe all the bullshit Brexiters were feeding them. I can’t feel sorry for them though. Interestingly enough, Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement national in France no longer calls for Franxit as everyone saw what a terrible idea leaving the EU was. And as a “good” populist she can do U-turns in no time with her any of her political views without having to fear questions from her base. I heard an interesting explanation as to why Donald Trump was still so popular among his fans even though he had blunder after blunder: his supporters don’t care as much about the man as the ideas that he represents, regardless of how he personally behaves.
US ambassador to Hungary Mr Pressman called Putin a little man …
Now the Russian politicians are going crazy.
I wonder what he might call the Hungarian prime minister?
Telex reports:
Foreign minister Szijjártó proudly declared that Hungary will give another two million € to Lebanon to renovate churches (Christian of course …) after they have already given 1.8 million. To this can be added the millions for Serbia, Romania etc …
What he didn’t say:
Since maybe a Meszaros company will do the works most of the money will flow back into Fidesz pockets of course.
I am not sure why Magyar Nemzet wrote the article today about the death of Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley the way they did. In almost every news report here in the USA I read included something like this; “She had been tor rehab for addictions to painkillers and other substance abuse multiple times.”
There is no some dispute relating whether she was given epinephrine or Naloxone (a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids) after being discovered unresponsive at her home by paramedics. I read both reported. I have paramedic certification and in my car medical kit I do have a preloaded injector of Naloxone because there are so many overdoes cases. See https://magyarnemzet.hu/mozaik/2023/01/meghalt-elvis-presley-lanya-lisa-marie In the media there has been much made how Lisa Marie Presley beat drug addiction so there is some reluctance in the reports. I have seen no medical reports on her blood work up from the hospital as yet.
Among older Hungarians I would say there is some reverence for Elvis I guess because he got media coverage during Kadar days, and some denial that he too had serious addiction problems. I saw him in Vegas not long before he died and he looked pretty messed up then that is for sure.
Fidesz is going even crazier!
Maybe you remember the THE rankings of the world’s best universities which we discussed several times on Hungarian Spectrum. Now the numbers for 2023 have been published:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2023/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/locations/HUN/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats
Now wait! The education ministry claims:
https://dailynewshungary.com/11-hungarian-universities-in-the-worlds-top/
But if you look at the numbers, Semmelweis is in the rank 201 – 250, Eötvös Loránd in the rank 601 – 800, all the others are not among the best 800 …
Ain’t that crazy?
I have to admit to be too lazy to look at all those sh*thole institutions – typical Fidesz level.
But of course it all must be the fault of the EU – not giving enough money to Lörincz, Mészaros etc , half of which they might transfer to the universities or rather their favourite profs.
Dear Istvan,
“Tor” browser no longer can access your website.
Check your settings.
In Hungary, internet providers are local monopolies at most places.
Orban’s proxy (4iG) took over the large internet provider digi.hu a year ago.
By Orban’s decree, the “competition authority” was not allowed to interfere.
(The same thing happened just now, when 4iG purchased vodafone.hu)
1-year price increase of the same internet service,
2022.01.31 vs 2021.01.31
90.32%