If only it was that simple! You have to take some relevant circumstances into account: A Hungarian civil society without…
March 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…
It seems Fidesz wants to totally destroy the health system – forcing doctors to work more for less money?
https://telex.hu/english/2023/02/28/fidesz-kdnp-majority-adopts-bill-on-medical-chambers-one-day-after-it-was-tabled
My wife tells me that all her friends and neighbours are complaining, no appointments with docs, long waiting times, having to travel 50 km or more to the next specialist …
And there are no young doctors anymore – I wonder where they all go after studying medicine?
Or are there no more medical students in Hungary?
It’s really alarming!
At the same time the Forint has reached a new high against the € after having fallen for months. This is probably because of the high ibterest rate here but I wonder how it will turn out in the long run …
https://dailynewshungary.com/positive-prospects-hungarian-forint-at-a-ten-month-high/
Interesting article but did the prices really fall back to pre-war levels? Can anyone confirm?
Who is Jeffrey Sachs if you stumble across his name …
Jeffrey Sachs is an Orban apologist and explains what the U.S. gets wrong about Putin and Ukraine. 😀 He doesn’t know the first thing about Orban’s wet dreams of Greater Hungary. On one hand funny because Sachs obviously doesn’t understand anything on the other hand sad because the Times once celebrated him as “probably the most important economist in the world,”. 😀
The official Russian media today explains to its readers in multiple languages the intersection of crime in Chicago and our mayoral election. I was surprised that a copy cat article did not appear in Magyar Nemzet today. The Russians actually have a fair presentation of what they call the “violent crime rise” in Chicago since our current Mayor Lori Lightfoot was elected in 2019.
So our current Mayor lost in yesterday’s elections and there will be run off election between a get tough on crime candidate and an African American progressive who wants to attack poverty in Chicago as the root cause of crime. In my opinion neither solution will work because Chicago has become like the old west with shootings all over the place. We have crossed the rubicon of urban violence.
The get tough on crime candidate wants the Chicago police to have more freedom to aggressively pursue criminals and probably not be charged criminally for occasionally shooting innocent Chicagoans due to errors in judgment. The progressive candidate looks back at the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman and does not want to see that again.
But the Russians in their articles never mention the fact that due to the increase in crime, more and more Chicagoans are getting a formal state license to carry a hand gun or have one in their car or home. This license right is due to the second amendment to the US Constitution that is interpreted by the US Supreme Court to allow civilians to carry firearms with different degrees of training in different US States. I have had such a license for years initially granted to me because of my training in the US Army.
But something strange has happened in this Chicago where groups of armed adolescents and younger adults are roving the city in stolen cars hunting for robbery victims 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
The armed robbery crews in Chicago take no chances that their potential victims might be armed themselves and their guns are usually drawn even as they approach their victims. Still last year legally armed citizens in Chicago, similar to myself, killed 9 attempted robbers and wounded another 16. Chicago Police killed only 2 and wounded 21. Chicago police are actually under a lot of pressure not to use their guns unless they can demonstrate their lives are at risk.
The Russian media understood none of the deeper violence we see in Chicago now. But since Putin is creating a generation of murders with his war in Ukraine it would not surprise me if Chicago’s wild west character comes to Moscow in the future.
Good that you have Russian media otherwise you wouldn’t know what’s going on.
From what I hear, Moscow isn’t far behind Chicago as far as a rampaging gang-scene goes. But after dark, things take a turn towards the grotesque, with gangs of fake cops (complete with patrol cars and uniforms) and gangs of real cops, moonlighting as racketeers.
“official Russian media today explains to its readers in multiple languages the intersection of crime in Chicago and our mayoral election”
ahum, have those Off.RUS media also reported about increasing crimes by Russians since their presidential elections?
OR do they report only about Russians WITHIN their borders…?
Here’s someone who clearly describes what’s going on in Hungary:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=151598151105631
Somogyi András is my wife’s favourite
András Somogyi’s humor I think would no longer be allowed in Putin’s Russia, from his satire based on Orban’s world of Felcsút to his shots taken of Gyurcsány he gets away with a lot.
Putin is a man without humor I think.
I actually love dark Hungarian humor I would listen as a child to Hungarian jokes for hours on end told after the adults drank too much.
The humor you describe is priceless!
But it also serves as a perpetuated excuse for not getting involved with the realities of responsible civil action. “Esz a világ!”
The world eats ?
That’s right.
Trianonically Hungary is once again a warmonger in this example Orban. Said he nevertheless smoothly beside his globe with Great Hungary today partly Ukrainian. Weltwoche with Noam Chomsky conducted the interview with Orban, as everyone knows critical journalists are not allowed.
Telex has recorded it: “Peace begins in the heart, it must reach the head, which then leads the hand. This is the order: peace must be desired, then it must be wanted, then it must be created. That will is what’s lacking today, at least in the West.”
Of course, he was talking about Ukraine not Great Hungary or Bruessel. 😀
Weltwoche is an extreme right wing Swiss paper, conservative in name only, really against EU, UN!!!, NATO – you name it.
the myghti lidur and “peace in heart and head”
highly recommend to just go through OV’s speeches of the last ten years and count the number of non-peaceful words [e.g.enemy, fight, force, invasion. etc.]
also the trend of using such words [de- or increasing] would reveal much about what’s really in O1G’s heart and head…
Today I honestly can’t understand if the Russian FSB and Putin have fabricated the supposed Ukrainian covert attack in Bryansk or there is some reality to it. At least for the moment Putin is not claiming it was a CIA operation.
No “documents” published yet, some suspect false flag action see https://english.nv.ua/nation/ukrainian-military-warns-of-russian-provocations-amid-reports-of-saboteurs-in-bryansk-oblast-50307985.html
„… Both the North Operational Command and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne that they were unaware of any incidents on the territory of Russia.
Russian media outlets have yet to provide photo or video evidence of any incidents in Bryansk Oblast.
Several Russian media outlets and Telegram influencers began allege there had been incidents involving “Ukrainian saboteurs” in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast earlier on March 2. …“
et voilà “Moscow has said that Ukrainian saboteurs staged a terrorist attack on Russian territory, which a Kremlin propagandist has said could lead to a nuclear response.“
Even if it were true – doesn’t this mean that Russia has been doing thousands of terrorist attacks on Ukrainian territory?
And Putin has coldly claimed that a child and a woman/mother were shot by the terrorists. Orban has been doing something similar for years. But I’m not sure if a Hungarian has noticed it yet.
Who knows what is up or down in this?
That was a claim from Putin in his Probaganda show. Abuses child and mother for his propaganda something that is practiced in Hungary already a few years. I know what is up and down.
Remember CPAC which had a meeting of “conservatives” in Hungary once?
They’ll return to Budapest this year it seems and are having a congress near Washington right now but there are already big problems between Trumpers and others:
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/donald-trump-bleibt-auf-cpac-konferenz-nur-die-nebenbuehne-18716273.html?
I’ll look for a report on this in english.
Who would have thunk?
Hungary is in the lowest group of countries regarding the academic freedom index and its development:
In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, declines in academic freedom clearly relate to autocratization, notably in
Poland, Hungary, Russia, and Belarus. Threats to academic freedom also arise in liberal democracies, however,
as the data for two academic powerhouses illustrate: the United States of America and the United Kingdom
are among countries for which the AFI reports significant declines.
https://academic-freedom-index.net/research/Academic_Freedom_Index_Update.pdf
Avery interesting detailed report.
These statistics show a general global decline (with variations) which is worrying.
Defining the Hungarian situation, the downward curves persist.
What would it take, before the Hungarian student decides for a study and candidacy abroad?
It would need money to study abroad.
Regarding the Hungarian fostering of the American CPAC “world” conference, the Fidesz intelligentia faces a few adaptation challenges.
It seems Trump is old news, and based on current trends, FOX News probably won’t promote Orbán’s enthusiastic Trumpism with the previous enthusiasm.
The Hungarian media will gurantee a domestic success, but perhaps a few questions about paying the bill will ensue?
Can one imagine this? Mi Hazank the biggest party in the group of under thirties?
Here is the survey, among Hungarians under thirty, the Our Country Movement is already the most popular party (nepszava.hu)
10 years ago, 30% of the students had Jobbik affinity and those who know teachers are not surprised.
It seems that not everybody enjoys O1G’s infatuation with Putin.
The new Czech president Petr Pavel feels that the V4 is not reasonable, especially with Hungary being friends with Russia while the other members support Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.
https://dailynewshungary.com/orban-in-trouble-new-czech-president-would-end-v4-cooperation/
Telex writes about a topic “the state’s introduction of family subsidies.” neither those are named who do not receive allowances nor how the system excludes parts of the population. The law was formulated in such a way that the Roma, in particular, are not entitled to benefits. If you do not have a permanent job, issued by your employer, or if you do not earn enough money, you are not eligible for these “benefits”. Unfortunately, many Hungarians do not know this or do not want to know it but are then quickly offended when it is mentioned.
In this further very flat article it concerns the population decrease in Hungary. The environment like single parents or anyway very well earning profit from it are completely left out.
Does anyone know when this law was introduced. I only ask because the writer wants to measure the effect of the law on 14 year olds. 😀 The law has not been cobbled 14 /15 years ago! Maybe they should better write about education 1×1 or something.
„The number of children under 14 has dropped by a smaller degree, but the expert says it is too early to say whether this is a reversal linked to the state’s introduction of family subsidies.“
I can read such texts in the Fidesz media without paying a filler. Keep it up …
Don, what’s your problem with this article?
I found it very interesting and clearly showing the problems with the Hungarian population – getting older and older, many younger people leaving etc
Even if there are more births, they won’t help.
One of our neighbours said that more than half of the school children she sees are children of gypsies or really poor people …
What to think of that?
PS:
I find Telex to be one of the nest news sources in Hungary as well as Dailynewshungary – under O1G’s rule you can’t expect too much!
https://dailynewshungary.com/orban-in-trouble-new-czech-president-would-end-v4-cooperation/
At least several levels above the state owned media!
„you can’t expect too much“ yes only a little is too much – where should it come from, nest news at best.
The Hungarian extortion gang is at it again. After they have disempowered the Medical Association in one day, they need a few months to blackmail Finland and Sweden. And because this is part of the Hungarian culture, it would be an impertinence not to let the Hungarians blackmailing, Szijjártó gave the impression.
Democracy works Orbanocracy not.
„Kövér László: A finnek és a svédek nevesíthető károkat okoznak a nemzeti érdekeinknek“ 😀
Note that O1G’s blackmail tries to connect EU to the NATO.
So far it were individual EU countries* which send material support to the Ukraine
*so not send by the NATO!
Imho this whole blackmailing and therewith connecting EU to the NATO, seems very favourable and in the future a potential argument for the Killer in the Kremlin, i.e.the myghti lidur is [again, sic!] helping the KitK
Trump does something similar at CPAC, musing that he gets along fine with Putin, and a little later that Putin blows up NATO headquarters. Obviously, Putin is above NATO for both of them.
Here is a link to the text of Trump’s CPAC speech yesterday https://time.com/4682023/cpac-donald-trump-speech-transcript/ There is little in it about US foreign policy. Trump said not one word about the war in Ukraine or about a potential invasion by China of Taiwan. He was incoherent on foreign policy except for being an isolationist. By comparison Orban is a political genius.
Here are some examples of what he did say: “We’ve spent trillions of dollars overseas, while allowing our own infrastructure to fall into total disrepair and decay. In the Middle East, we’ve spent as of four weeks ago, $6 trillion. Think of it.”
“We inherited a national debt that has doubled in eight years, think of it, $20 trillion, it’s doubled. We inherited a foreign policy marked by one disaster after another. We don’t win anymore. When was the last time we won? Did we win a war? Did we win anything? Do we win anything? We’re going to win. We’re going on win big, folks. We’re going to start winning again, believe me. We’re gonna win.”
“And we will be substantially upgrading all of our military, all of our military, offensive, defensive, everything, bigger and better and stronger than ever before. And hopefully, we’ll never have to use it, but nobody’s gonna mess with us, folks, nobody.”
“As part of my pledge to restore safety for the American people, I have also directed the defense community to develop a plan to totally obliterate ISIS.”
“And then a day later, I said has anybody reported what’s going on? And it turned out that they didn’t — not too many of them did. Take a look at what happened in Sweden. I love Sweden, great country, great people, I love Sweden. But they understand. The people over there understand I’m right. Take a look at what’s happening in Sweden. Take a look at what’s happening in Germany. Take a look at what’s happened in France. Take a look at Nice and Paris. I have a friend, he’s a very, very substantial guy. He loves the city of lights, he loves Paris. For years, every year during the summer, he would go to Paris, was automatic with his wife and his family. Hadn’t seen him in a while. And I said, Jim, let me ask you a question, how’s Paris doing? Paris? I don’t go there anymore, Paris is no longer Paris. That was four years — four or five years hasn’t gone there. He wouldn’t miss it for anything. Now he doesn’t even think in terms of going there. Take a look at what’s happening to our world, folks. And we have to be smart. We have to be smart. We can’t let it happen to us. So let me state this as clearly as I can, we are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.“
“Global cooperation, dealing with other countries, getting along with other countries is good, it’s very important. But there is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency or a global flag. This is the United States of America that I’m representing.”
Aha, thanks for the excerpt from a total madman that makes Orban seem like a genius. So to say the genius of the rupture pilots. I don’t want to advertise but Aaron Rupar sacrifices himself daily to make Republican genius aspirants understandable. Not for too high blood pressure. Istvan honestly I didn’t even know Trump could formulate coherent sentences. All I ever hear is a kind of stammering. He’s basically talking about his time in office, right? Here are the bizarre moments
The moment the exclusion from Erasmus+ and research projects was announced by the EU commission I started to get new hope for higher education in Hungary.
Free Europe published today further details, and the whole lot of Fidesz board of trustees’ members will have to quit, and cannot be reinstalled within two years, and not at all when they keep their other functions.
As the process started the Viktor bragged that the regime would pay for research cooperation projects and students studying abroad.
What he didn´t think of, that no one wants to cooperate with the regime outside Hungary.
My hope based on the current information is, that there will be a defeat on the whole line for the regime.
Of course, there will be some detail they can sell as victory, but the EU is closing all creepy ways to cheat in this matter.
University boards of trustees would be more thinned out by a counter-proposal from Brussels (szabadeuropa.hu)
Today the Nemzet published an article about a letter the Rectors of the foundation universities wrote to the president of the EU commission.
Of course, no relevant argument was brought forward.
As always when Hungarian institutions who are filled with Fideszniks it is only complaining about not being informed before the decision was taken (this is really a special one since the regime is introducing and imposing new laws every day without informing anyone who could be concerned by the decision, see the MOK), the unwillingness of the EU commission to change their point of view, the unfairness of the decision, that more foreign students are studying in Hungary (only from the east of course).
I hope the Commission stays strong.
Levelet írtak az Európai Bizottság elnökének magyar egyetemi rektorok (magyarnemzet.hu)
Despite the European Commission’s requests, Fidesz quickly voted against the need for all civil servants to leave university boards of trustees (nepszava.hu)
„2023. február 15-ig a saját döntése alapján valamennyi állami vezető (10) lemondott kuratóriumi tagságáról. Ez bizonyítja, hogy nem létezett politikai túlsúly — mutatnak rá.“ Did an Orban genius write this? The logic really doesn’t sting. 😀
Isn’t Hungary under martial law or similar, after all Orban has been ruling with decrees since 2015. That would again prove that there is a political domination. Maybe the Board of Trustees doesn’t even know that when I read the arguments. But Orban can rule directly up to the floor toilet or his henchmen.
Orbans founded think thank Danube Institute calls Aleksandr Dugin’s alias “modern Ukrainians the race of degenerates, that crept up from a sewage and is deserving of genocide. Just to remind what drives RU “anti-fascists”” Ideology Eurasianism “highly influential political philosophy”. I can’t explain why Orban wants so much hatred for Ukraine. Unless he thinks he can infect enough Hungarians with it. He just has to get enough cheap Ukrainian workers into the country and it works. Trianon sends its regards.
A dictator needs more than one enemy. The enemy of my friend (Putin) is my enemy. Here already two spontaneous explanations for the hatred against Ukraine.
It is just the way of thinking these disgusting people are used to.
Even in discussions with well educated people I recognized that they don´t see the Ukrainians as civilized as themselves. They are never able to show up with facts here when questioned about what they mean. The Viktor is feeding this negative opinion. It makes the Russian aggression more understandable.
This is just my opinion, no proof whatsoever (:
Jan “jól képzett emberek” sajnálom, hogy nem tudok példákat mondani.
Nem adok neveket, de vannak.
Jézus Mária és József.
Ez egy nagyon régi oktatás. Bronzkor (:
Thanks to the commercial internet, being a big, virtual dictator has never been easier.
Not only do they have exclusive global channels and social media at their disposal, but they also keep simultaneous contact with each other and coordinate their mass (dis-) infomation simultaneously.
As we know from the US and Western EU, a free press/free national media scenario can’t keep up with the abuse of freedom of speech, carried out by the far-right nationalist movements, their chat-bots and repetetive messaging.
Their messages of hate and their New-Neo-Nazi calls for ethnic/religious cleansing (even in China and India!) find their way to all who are receptive, regardless of their previous personal or geographic orientation.
It’s a steepening uphill race against AI, and the dictators have their feet on the throttle, while internet platforms make huge profits.
Re disinformation/propaganda/fake news/scares:
“find their way to all who are receptive”
Imho there’s only one solution:
Teach people to better understand and be able to separate truth/information and fiction.
There are many sources on the internet which I automatically ignore or start to think “more bullshit”.
Often looking at the headlines is enough.
This goes not only for stuff like RT (Russia Today) or the Fidesz propaganda outlets (which my wife e g totally ignores or laughs about …) but also Western sources like Faux Noise (Fox news …), the New York Post and many more. In Germany we also have Querdenker but for someone with just a few functioning brain cells these are obvious loonies.
Michael and Wolfi, I agree with both of you. On the internet, you can avoid these pages. It is already more difficult on the radio or television. Every full hour the news section on every sender in Hungary is filled with propaganda. If you are watching a football match (I know you don´t watch that Wolfi) there is a “one minute news program” in the break filled of propaganda.
Before the commercial block starts, they project that this program should not be watched by persons under 12 years old. With this they show how they “care” and “protect” children. People still read Origo, Nemzet, Index because in the old times they were decent newspapers. The possibilities for this regime are without borders.
The young people with smart-phones and a strong instinctive urge for being part of a community of sorts, often accept the commercial virtual alternatives, as if they were real-life social settings.
They are the real targets of more direct, but subtle political grooming by propagandists, through algorithms.
So you can say that the youth is not given any tools to separate bullshit from information because the teachers don’t know anything about it. Or they know it but want to keep the students in bondage.
Aha, and the reason for that may be that major education is still on the level of the bronze age. At the time of Joseph Maria and Jezus there were no electronic social networks.
Outside the Bronze Age roughly anno domini 1220, logic and mathematics were increasingly taught, completely without electronics and later rhetoric was added.
That figures!
Fits exactly.
🙂 A. means ante?
Praesens participium developing
😉
Conjugate in the present tense ? I just wanted to understand the joke drawn.
Well, just consider how many and whom actually went to school in the mentioned times.
The Trumpists also Republicans, worse such as De Santis because just as fascist but not such a dolt as Trump, sound like “Let’s Make America Hungary” 😀 Miklós Szánthó, described Hungary as Europe’s “shining city on the hill,” that must be somewhere in hell.
In my and my wife’s family there is not one person which consumes crazy bullshit “news” like BILD or BLICK or …
Of course we in Germany have the advantage that TV/radio and most real newspapers stay away from those right wing Querdenker nut know that there is a large number of people consuming those and taking them for real.
It’s no accident that AfD and the new extreme left movement of Russia lover Wagenknecht have much stronger support in East Germany than in West Germany.
But as the latest elections in Austria show (Kärnten) where the quais fascist FPÖ (remember Haider?) came out strong it is a real problem.
I have no solution except hope that enough people will be clever enough to find out what’s real news and what’s just “Faux Noise”.
If not then good bye humanity!
Far-right nationalism is a major influence in all ex-Soviet, East European countries. To call it a problem is really an understatement, especially since the majority of the followers are under the age of 40 and many of the older sympathise passively.
As for solutions – For a start, I believe that the tradition of presenting politically composed History and conspiracy theories in schools and public media, as facts, must be dealt with without sympathy for liars – regardless of their status.
Of course, this would require the opening of a broad public discussion about ethics in politics and why objective, factual truth in public information matters, which would be no less than a revolution in Eastern Europe.
A majority of people in Eastern Europe (and several other places in the world) automatically assume that any “fact” or view, presented in public, regardless of documentation or witnessing, is the result of some kind of secret selection of manipulative messages and lies. And so, the ideas of strength through wrath, which make up the substance of the far-right propaganda, appeal to them on a more abstract/irrational level. Call it political hooliganism, if you like.
I still think that the way Pink Foyd presented the development of far-right totalitarianism in “The Wall” is one of the better interpretations of the Orwellian nightmare.
Todays youth isn’t physically beaten or otherwise punished in order to appreciate or find satisfaction in wrath – It comes in the form of digital grooming through rewarding, 24/7, specifically and personally tailored by algorithms.
The problem in Hungary is, that we have a far-right regime. You know that of course, I didn´t want to teach you here.
And this regime is killing every initiative for the things you propose. School curricula are the same everywhere, compulsory. Textbooks are the same everywhere, approved by the government. Things develop backwards, not forwards.
Today there was a useful article in the hvg about the program the regime started in 2016 to catch up digitally in education.
The article is behind a paywall, so I will do some copy and paste.
The title:
For seven years, the government has been sabotaging digital education reformTheir own reform (:
“The outrage against the net tax has given rise to the most forward-looking education reform plan in the last 13 years, but it has only been written ever since. Almost nothing of the government’s Digital Education Strategy, adopted in 2016, has been implemented. This was especially painful during Covid and the situation is no better today”
.
“By 2020, the digital transformation of the entire Hungarian education system will be completed. All teachers and trainers will have the opportunity to develop competences largely free of charge, citizens will have the opportunity to acquire basic digital knowledge, and owners and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises will have the opportunity to acquire digital knowledge for the benefit of their company,” said Tamás Deutsch in the summer of 2016, who was appointed by Viktor Orbán the previous year as the “Prime Minister’s Commissioner responsible for the coordination and implementation of the Digital Prosperity Program”.
“In 2020 (two years after the date set in DOS, the year when we were promised that we should have beaten Europe in digital literacy) it was most frustrating to see how much Hungarian education lacks the right digital competences. In addition to the effective quarantine education conducted by a few excellent, well-prepared schools and teachers (because there was an example of this as well), during the pandemic, Hungarian education could hardly do anything with the system that was forced to switch to digital devices.”
“And the Digital Education Strategy is no longer even heard of, it has quietly died out, the Center that helped to implement it was closed, the entire Digital Well-being Program was discontinued in July 2022.”
I know this is nothing new to you.
The fun part is still to come, because the EU plans to ask the money back they paid for this “program”
I can still remember the distribution of EU laptops in chosen schools by Fidesz representatives.
So sajnos sajnos, the far right has already the power here.
Thanks for this display of the “struggle” for keeping up state control of education!
Digitalisation requires some general skills of communication in English, and because the only “cheap” alternative to Google’s digital school-platforms (which provide Google with a wealth of salesworthy information about the users) is to delay and/or excuse the implementation, the Hungarian system has a strong point – Unfortunately, that may not be communicated correctly to the public. But since the prevention of Western influence is essential to the current regime, excuses will do well and the money recieved from the EU is probably not very relevant in that respect. People will simply say: “What money?”.
Deutsch, as a person with deciding competence in any matter beyond his private life, is like putting a cartoon character into a real-life scenario. The same absurdities happen in Poland.
BILD’s report last week on a dispute between Zelensky and his generals over withdrawing from Bakhmut is now largely accepted as accurate by many Ukrainian reporters. It appears that Zelensky forced agreement on the generals not to retreat to more defensive positions outside the city.
Even the highly respected Kyiv Independent has been writing articles about the high casualties Ukrainian infantry is taking in Bakhmut and the possibility that Zelensky’s focus on symbolism of holding the ruined city could lead to disaster.
So in this case BILD may have gotten something right. Really only time will tell.
My own experience in 1972 of having been surrounded by communist forces at the Battle of An Loc gives me a lot of concern for these Ukrainians now fighting to prevent full encirclement by the Russians who are taking massive casualties.
I got flown in by helicopter to the Battle of An Loc after the American officer advising South Vietnamese artillery was critically wounded. I was only six months out of college and had just completed my Vietnamese basic language course.
The South Vietnamese held on with massive aerial bombing support from the USA, but the death in that battle boggled my young mind.
I see a pattern in how Bild and other major German media are active in the information war, on the Ukrainian side. A priority was the long talks about reluctance to providing the heavier Leopard 2 tanks. The focus was kept on a disposible, retired swarm of updated Leopard 1 units (lighter, very fast and accurate shooting + extra long range in hidden formation), while a massive 1st wave of interacting Leopard 2s forms. Also, new and highly mobile long range, fast shooting artillery will support the inevitable spring campaign.
All the while, European ammo producers revive dormant plants and step up production at a rate not seen since WW2.
If this shift of gears is matched by the Russians, attacks on civilian Ukrainian targets will rise steeply.
Destruction guarranteed.
“Slovak minister says ‘neutral’ Hungary also trains Ukrainian soldiers” 😀
Zoltan Kovacs has tried to deny it on Twitter although he spoke in ambiguous terms but since he’s referring to Viktória Serdült, a journalist at HVG who brought up the story and Jaro Nad, Minister of Defence of Slovakia, what else could it be?
https://twitter.com/zoltanspox/status/1633070694182400000?s=20
Truthfulness aside, v4 probably got a bigger crack. In that tone, Jaro Nad sounded as if he had diplomatically called Orban a loudmouth. Kovacs is just a remote-controlled blockhead who lies even by asking a question.
Apart from that, there are many ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine who defend their homeland Ukraine. But it could also be that there are Hungarian national forces there whose loyalty belongs to Orban. I am curious to see what else will come out.
I have always suspected Orban was double dealing the Russians. That would be his style, Putin because of the SVR penetration of Hungary likely knows everything Orban is maybe doing. If Putin actually should win in Ukraine and Hungary leaves NATO Orban could find himself facing being on the disappeared list.
I would be very surprised – don’t think Orbán is brave enough to mess with Putin
This article in Magyar Nemzet today https://magyarnemzet.hu/belfold/2023/03/a-titkosszolgalat-vezetett-a-17-korrupt-hatarrendesz-nyomara indicates there was massive corruption by border guards at the Romanian border. The article indicates 17 border police officers were detained but no information is provided on what they allowed to cross the border or the bribes they received.
Hi! I am a follower and sometime collaborator of this blog, and thought my book _Budapest Twilight_ could be interesting for its readers.
It will be launched in Massolit bookshop on March 23rd, so if you are in Budapest on that date, do come over!
The link to the launch event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/583956063660733
Orban sends his delegation “this is the Hungarian Parliament” to Finland and Sweden. 😀 But they have a good education system and do not fail with answers and questions. What can not be said about Fidesz genius aspirants.
In the Faz one can read: “There, the MEPs from Budapest complained about allegedly distorted perceptions of Hungary’s democracy. For example, head of the delegation Csaba Hende said it would be desirable if Swedish politicians, government representatives and EU parliamentarians did not imply that another country lacked the rule of law. … Hende could not answer questions from journalists about what one has to do with the other.” 😀
Tuomioja very neatly punctures any speculations about the purpose of the visit.
Apparently he is a very well-tempered person, because he could just as well have said that if you knock on someone’s door, bringing a bucket of shit, you can’t expect to be invited inside.
It hasn’t escaped my attention, how government media in Hungary
are busy cooking up a shitstorm against Sweden, as a way of rehearsing the national choir of turkeys.
🙂 They must have thought it was enough to visit and be Hungarian and the money floodgates would open. Unfortunately, this is only enough for the choir.
These Hungarians believe they are a race or something similar and if they don’t like something they are victims of racism.
“The European Commission’s suspension of EU grants to Hungarian universities is an anti-Hungarian, racially motivated revenge for Budapest’s stance on migration, LGBTQ+ communities and the rule of law, Gergely Gulyás, cabinet minister in Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office, said Thursday.”
Typical Fidesz:
Ferencvaros played Bayer Leverkusen yesterday and lost 0:2.
German police were watchful, the well known right wing Fradi fans screamed like crazy and showed “Anti-Antifa” banners in the stadium?
But Fidesz politicians saw it differently …
https://hungarytoday.hu/peaceful-hungarian-football-fans-declared-danger-to-germany/
PS:
I wonder what will happen when Bayer visits the Puskas stadium in a few weeks …
A really good example of the stupid lies that Fidesz honchos produce:
https://dailynewshungary.com/austria-did-not-let-hungarian-fradi-fans-through-german-police-searched-them/
The Austrians were clever enough to not accept the train with Fradi crazies – it had to go through Slovakia and Czechia.
And then the bad, bad German police searched the train and took away their knives, their drugs and the fireworks they wanted to use in the stadium!
And now compare this with the whining minister Péter Szijjártó, Gergely Gulyás and Zoltan Kovacs brought up – the Germans hate us and searched us just because we brought a few knives and explosives, how dare they?
Did I comment on this already, then sorry.
O1G met the boss of the extreme right wing FPÖ (anyone remember Haider?) and agreed with him on most points.
And also a trip to China in autumn was announced:
https://hungarytoday.hu/viktor-orban-meets-president-of-the-austrian-freedom-party/
Orban the street thug warns of world war. 😀 The EU would “burn in war fever” the choice of words of a demagogue. “Only Hungary for peace” In Europe only Hungary is for peace, while all other states are on the side of war. He wants a “powerful army”. In the process, those countries could defend themselves in which the citizens love their homeland and flight is not their first thought, but the defense of their homeland, Orbán stressed.
Does Orban understand what he is saying?
I would like to think that Orban knows the Hungarian military is largely a Potemkin operation. Turing the Hungarian Army and Air Force into a serious fighting force capable of being any type of deterrent without NATO support is likely well beyond the fiscal abilities of Hungary,
Orban prefers building football stadiums to building an Army. Building football stadiums is a whole lot cheaper.
But on the other hand Orban is not totally insane about the dangerous path of conflict the world is going down. The new US budget proposed by President Biden will entail defense spending increasing by 3.2% to a total of $842 billion in 2024, but as always even more expenditures for military research and development will be hidden in other departments budgets. The budget for much of the CIA, NSA, National Geospatial-Intelligence Program, and the General Defense Intelligence Program are secret, called by the media the “Black budget.”
In my opinion the US is preparing for the possibility of simultaneous war with Russia in Europe and a war with China over an invasion of Taiwan. Presumably such a combined conflict would start with conventional war and possibly escalate to tactical nuclear war and then to the unimaginable strategic nuclear war.
My daughter who is still a U.S. Army officer when we have touched on such discussions recently would only say many bad scenarios need to be anticipated in order to hopefully prevent them from happening.
Spoken like a good Lt. Colonel. She is considering leaving Colorado State University and taking a professorship at the University of California at Berkeley in agricultural economics and doing her military reserve duty in California.
China’s invasion of Taiwan is on the list. China has also recently increased military spending. They may be waiting to see how the Russian invasion of Ukraine will affect. But who knows if the donkey is doing too well, he will go ice skating.
For us Europeans there are only two possibilities. Either we stand together (-Hungary) then we have the hope to bring Putin to his knees or Putin conquers as far as he can, the rest will come later. The EU is not prepared for the China problem. I would even say that the Europeans have not really woken up yet.
We can’t prevent anything when a madman decides.
Don, don’t forget – EU is acutely aware of the importance of limiting economic dependency of business with China as a way of limiting Chinese influence on EU-politics (minus the small Hungarian/Balkan kink). Strong hands are on the controls, but it’s a slowly maneuvering “supertanker”.
At the same time, EU knows that there are only two possible outcomes of the Ukraine war – 1. Ukraine comes out victorious, breaking the Russian will to take political control of their territory, while regaing the pre-2010 borders, in which case a peace-deal can be negociated and relations with Russia will slowly become “normalized”. – or: 2. Russia keeps Crimea and a few parts of Donbas, in which case a Korea-solution, without peace, will be the result.
Either way, Russia has nowhere else to turn to but China and India for selling their oil and gas at favorable rates, in order to get a much needed income. European business will be busy investing in Ukraine
But there is a big dark horse: Mongolia and the political upper hand over that territory. – A war-weary Russia will not be able to resist Chinese military pressure on its extremely long south-eastern borders, which after all, for China is far more valuable than Taiwan or any other off-shore location. And the Kazaks (only in it for the kill) will want to cash in on their support for the failed Ukraine campaign, leaving Russia somewhat shy of leverage in the region.
Either way, Russia has to pay up – Politically or economically.
Michael
This opinion piece by Peter Hartcher appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald just on a year ago.
” The fate of Russia’s economy and Putin’s regime is now in the hands of the man he describes as his “best friend”.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/isolated-putin-s-only-lifeline-become-xi-s-puppet-20220304-p5a1xo.html
Thanks Phil!
A lot of digits to fill in some blank spots in the many economic equations of Putin’s war, come up here.
Who knows the true extent or Russian debt to China?
Putin (repeatedly) made a point of a greater Russian capacity of sacrifice being a key factor in defeating “The West”
As for keeping the war going, the US/Nato/EU is in for the duration and there is no indication of a red line, short of nuclear.
I assume China acknowledges this and at the same time tally up, since there’s no establihed alliance.
Perhaps China figures they can cash in on Mongolia – and why not?
P.S. Agricultural economics in California? Don’t they rather need disaster protection? 🙂
Agricultural economics Involves also the calculation of the losses to Cal farms and the national food supply. Global warming and its impact on food supplies on a huge area of research internationally.
Sounds good.
I have been through the Central Valley and rubbed my eyes in awe at the existence of such a vast and intensively cultivated plantation-zone.
The most intriguing things about it were the combination of an obvious lack of coordinated water conservation and regulation (cooperative sharing and distribution of the resource), an unregulated use of nitro-phos fertilizers and pesticides, and what looked like a typically “colonial” approach to mechanisation vs. an ample supply of back-breaking (too) cheap specialized labor.
During these times of climatic instability, a long bill of older, necessary expenses, has tallied up to a monstrous size.
Blogger Rod Dreher resides in Hungary. „The right-wing commentator’s columns, which were unedited and bankrolled by a single donor, will be shuttered Friday after a 12-year run. Sources say it was ultimately a diatribe on circumcision that was a bridge too far.
…
… Dreher, whose stay in the country is being partially funded by a think tank with close ties to the Hungarian government, revealed Orbán’s assertions that NATO is “in a war with Russia” and that he wishes to leave the European Union, comments that ran counter to the regime’s official policies and were not meant for publication. …“
Lives in Hungary and within 12 years is too crazy for the main sponsor. If he would know Zsolt Bayer “If someone runs over a gypsy child, he acts right“‘ or other Fidesz politicians, he would not be surprised. But Rod still has Orban the state “media mogul”.
From Eva https://hungarianspectrum.org/?s=Rod+Dreher
And the beat goes on …
President Novak first visited governor deSantis and then spoke at a private catholic university (!!!) about the success of Christian politics in Hungary.
https://hungarytoday.hu/president-novak-shares-her-thoughts-on-marriage-and-family-with-u-s-students/
Speaking about aspects of Christian principled politics in Hungary, she highlighted freedom, saying that Hungarians are “a freedom-loving nation”.
So crazy that it’s almost funny!
The Orbán-mafia does its best to appear “global” on the home turf.
It might give a little credit somewhere in Hungary, but people generally worry about making ends meet. But of course, they are used to that.
I just read about this blogsite in the book Orbánland
Wolfi have you read the original German version of this plan for a cease fire in Ukraine developed by Wolfgang Ischinger that is discussed in this article https://www.easternherald.com/2023/03/13/the-west-was-recommended-to-draw-up-a-peace-plan-for-ukraine/
Effectively this plan is for the great western powers to create a mediation group to negotiate with the Russians leaving the Ukrainians outside of it until a ceasefire framework can be reached.
The Russians already have supposedly rejected the idea. But it may have some appeal in Europe. President Biden keeps saying he is backing Ukraine for the long haul, but after Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam that Biden statement means very little in my opinion.
Wolfgang Ischinger is a seasoned diplomat who has worked for the German government for a long time in peace talks on Kosovo eg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Ischinger
So his ideas may be helpful but if the Russians don’t accept them?
I’m sure that West European politicians would follow him, but as you say for the Russians?
He is very critical of Putin and the naive way that the german government tried to handle him in the last 20 years.
One of my favourites:
beware of Greeks bringing gifts …
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-germany-putin-policy-ischinger/32296154.html
„… The leaked documents – some of which the Hungarian weekly HVG had reported on earlier – reveal not only that the bank was in a catastrophic situation because of the war, but also that Hungary was the main ally and support of the majority-owning Russians. Officials in the Orbán government tried to help unfreeze the funds blocked by European authorities, and took steps to help avoid direct Western sanctions by plotting possible new shareholding structures that would officially keep Russia’s ownership below 50 percent. …“
If you want to cheat someone (V4 friends) you have to ask Orban is in this post somewhere in the detailed post. 🙂
Don, this link doesn’t work, can you check it please and re-post.
Thank you Reader
https://vsquare.org/leaked-files-reveal-panic-at-russian-led-bank-in-budapest/
That’s a really bizarre story!
All EU countries distancing themselves from the essentially Russian bank IIB except Hungary of course.
I wonder how this will end.
The report describes nicely the Fidesz logic:
Tell the EU you are with them but at the same time whine about Brussels being managed by Soros – and so on …
„being managed by Soros“ means that they are Jews! And “these” Hungarians understand immediately.
Hungarian bank-logic!
https://hungarianspectrum.org/2020/12/04/viktor-orban-struggles-to-cast-his-battle-with-the-eu-as-a-strategy-to-protect-hungary-from-immigrants/
I remember that post.
Well we here in the USA have our own banking woes with SVB and now the crypto related banks being taken over by the Federal regulators.
Moody’s rating agency only about an hour ago has downgraded its outlook on the U.S. banking system from “stable” to “negative” following the sudden collapse of two tech-focused financial institutions.
The ratings agency’s decision comes despite government intervention to shore up the system, as well as growing calm on Wall Street, where banking stocks were staging a comeback Tuesday after steep declines a day earlier. Still, Moody’s cited a “rapid deterioration in the operating environment” as a key motivator behind its decision.
I am confident of only one thing, the banking crisis will for a while spread globally. The Russians were absolutely gleeful about it this morning in their media.
Because my wife and I have established trusts for our daughters that are not really managed day day by us, and of course are not fully insured this is all unnerving for us as we age. Really there is nothing you can do about it.
Of course so many Americans have no real assets to speak of that my wife and I are blessed in comparison.
Thanks Don, interesting article.
Orbán and co. simply push the old, hidden button of hate and loathing and make shure there is no public debate about it.
Back when “Jewish propaganda” once again became a household term in Hungarian discourse, they knew that button was intact.