Official KSH numbers In 2023, you could live in Budapest [in NE Hungary] very well: from $1535 /month [$921] well:…
September 15th, 2023
At USD/HUF = 360
Average (not median) net monthly salaries in Hungary, 2023. Highest: Budapest $1286 Lowest: Szabolcs county $754 https://www.ksh.hu/docs/hun/xftp/megy/234/index.html
On top of the arrests at Chicago’s prestigious Art Institute yesterday we had this development in Chicago https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/05/05/chicago-cinco-de-mayo-parade-canceled-due-to-gang-violence-police-say/ . The…
This development here in Chicago of arrests at Chicago’s Art Institute over pro Palestinian demonstrations sort of stunned me. (See…
Hungarian churches
(Remark: the 2022 census data are still not published !!)
1% voluntary contribution from personal income tax
(2022 tax year, data as of September 8, 2023, published today)
Churches:
Catholic:: 803,070
Calvinist : 348,482
Lutheran : 92,581
Reverend Ivanyi’s Protestant Church
(continuously persecuted by the Orban regime): 73,381
Baptist : 56,294
Faith (Hit) Evangelical Church: 36,108
Jehovah’s Witnesse: 14,672
Salvation Army: 5,916
Unitarian : 4,644
Krishna Hindu: 86,005
Largest Buddhist community: 33,566
Second largest Buddhist: 24,377
Third largest Buddhist: 9,396
Neolog Jewish: 12,612
Chabad: 2,549
Orthodox Jewish: 353
2 Reform Jewish: 905 (=375+530)
https://nav.gov.hu/pfile/file?path=/ado/szja1_1/kimutatasok_elszamolasok/technikai-szammal-rendelkezok/felajanlasban-reszesultek-2023/szja-1-os-felajanlasban-reszesult-technikai-szamos-kedvezmenyezettek_2023.pdf
After several months of delay, the first, not full 2022 census data about the religiousness of Hungarians were published today (September 26, 2023)
Out of the 9.604 million resident population,
3.863 million people did not answer (40.22%)
1.550 million claimed not to be religious (16.14%)
2.887 million declared Roman & Greek Catholic religion (30.06%)
0.944 million Calvinist (9.83%)
0.177 million Lutheran (2.07%)
0.141 other Christian
0.008 Jewish
0.030 other religion
https://nepszamlalas2022.ksh.hu/eredmenyek/vegleges-adatok/kiadvany/
Somewhat different numbers in the detailed data:
3.853 million did not answer
1.550 answered not religious
Catholic: 2.809 million (2.644 Roman +0.165 Greek Catholic)
Calvinist: 0.944
Lutheran: 0.177
Christian Orthodox combined: 0.016
“Hit” Evangelical: 0.023
Jehovah’s witnesses: 0.022
Baptist: 0.018
Pentecostal: 0.009
Unitarian: 0.007
Adventist: 0.005
Methodist: 0.003
Other Christian: 0.055
Buddhist: 0.011
Muslim: 0.008
Jewish: 0.008
Hindu: 0.003
Other: 0.008
Analysis.
1% tax / census data:
Catholic: 27.8%
Calvinist: 36.9%
Lutheran: 52.3%
Jewish: 215.0%
(Catholic+ Calvinist+Lutheran)/(Did not answer + answered not religious)
Budapest: 561,905/1,073,439 = 52.35%
“Megyei jogu” town: 760,681/1,157,151 = 65.74%
other towns: 1,285,037/1,752,554 = 73.32%
villages: 1,399,481/1,418,999 = 98.62%
We can see that the self-proclaimed religious people are in a minority even in the villages.
Hungary total:
4,007,104/5,402,143 = 74.18%
3 major religions: 4.007 million
other religions: 0.195
no or not declared religion: 5.402 million
Budapest Demographic Summit: does anyone know why on a meeting supposedly about fertility rates they put on a show straight out of Logan’s Run carousel scene (which is about euthanasia)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2vx_RCwSs
It’s the over-dramatized style of far-right nationalism.
Demographic conferences are held in many regions/countries at regular intervals, but Fidesz and their allies turn the event into a grand propaganda production, playing on proven emotional historic symbolism, pushing the hidden buttons of fear and prejudice.
And let’s not forget that all the many exaggerated and costly events which take up headlines and tv- coverage in Hungarian media – CPAC, Turks, Sports, Hunting,etc. mainly serve to keep up an image of an internationally successful leader, for the Hungarian public..
Over-dramatized indeed! I suppose that’s also why the irredentist monument on Kossuth tér is a downward slope ending in a cul-de-sac, and the Museum of Ethnography’s shape is that of a building which collapsed in the center…
Everything about the Orbán regime is a scaled-down version of Putinesque/Trumpist populism.
That’s why we call him …
Little Trumputin
Pici Putin has a better ring to it …
There are some MAGA areas (areas that vote consistently for Trump)in the USA with good public schools, but others where many children attend private religious schools are part of a movement called home schooling.
Even in areas that support Trump with higher incomes the schools have very conservative curriculum.
Teaching of the history of slavery is presented as an artifact with little connection to the 1960s civil rights movement.
All of our foreign wars are presented as necessary and patriotism is emphasized.
I am not sure if Trump supporters got their vision of education from Orban or Orban got it from Trump. Basically Trump gives his supporters riddles instead of policies. Orban does the same with his “illiberalim.”
That sounds very much as if the US is losing its grip on itself.
Is it really that bad, or are you focussing on the rotten spots, ignoring the rest of the apple?
I have several friends and family on the coasts (not in the central) who tell me a different story.
September 15. Thousands of students demonstrated against Orban in Budapest.
They are the heroes.
While the EU discusses what to do, the migration continues, relentlessly.
Did you read about that Gymnasium (private??? high school) where during school hours the police arrived to throw everybody (teachers and students) out?
Seems the building had been sold or the school went bankrupt …
https://www.facebook.com/hoffer.geza.56
A really good opposition site – with lots of pictures, very sad – or funny, depending on how you look at them amd whether you are affected.
Back to reality in Orbanistan:
While Fidesz honchos are claiming that the Hun education system is the best my wife was just told by her granddaughter who’s in 6th grade that their teacher doesn’t have/use a computer and of course they have to bring all materials – including soap and toilet paper.
And for that they get their brains washed. Unless a real estate salesman breaks into class with a whispering bag and says everything sold – out – soap and toilet paper is the property of Progressive Hungary.
We all know how the Hun school-system works for the government.
Believe it or not in some low income public schools in Chicago, basic things like soap and a roll of toilet paper were sometimes put on the start of the school year supply list.
By the 6th grade in some Chicago public schools children are using school provided laptops and even what are called smart boards that can interact with the laptops where teachers post outlines and assignments that are downloaded to the laptops.
At other CPS schools that is not happening. So children are given computer classes that look very much like 1950s and 60s typing classes. In Chicago public schools in various high income areas the families raise funds to have better integrated classroom technology, in low income areas the families can’t do that and do not have laptops for each child.
In higher income areas teachers hired are expected to be fully computer literate and low income schools the standard is much lower basically happy to have an appropriately certified teacher in the classrooms. In areas that are the worst and of course the poorest gang infested teachers without proper certificates have to be used because more qualified teachers will not work at them.
In 2011, Trump had called on Obama to release his school grades in an interview with the AP news agency. After he claimed that Obama was a terrible student and too bad for Harvard.
In the WP it was reported that the Military Academy had made sure that Trump’s grades did not get out to the public. I guess they weren’t that good. Orban did not shine with academic success either – on the contrary. So there are parallels between the USA and Hungary.
Only that an enforcer clears a high school in Soroksár during school hours is “impressive”.
Trumps old military academy (New York Military Academy ) was so weak it went bankrupt. (See https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/new-york-military-academy-closing-donald-trump/1091333/#:~:text=The%20126-year-old%20New%20York%20Military%20Academy%20–%20once,good%20last%20Monday%2C%20despite%20promises%20of%20remaining%20open.)
That’s funny 😀 but somehow an omen for the future for Hungary not funny right?
That makes me think of an episode of “Columbo”: “By Dawn’s Early Light”.
Peter Szijjarto refuses to admit Sweden to NATO because it does not want to kiss the Hungarian stinky boots. 😀 Man are the Hungarians losers …
There are stern diplomatic letters—and then there’s the one received on Sept. 14 by Sweden’s foreign ministry, addressed to Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom. The petulant letter is written by his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, and informs Billstrom that unless Swedish politicians and the country’s national public radio stop criticizing Hungary’s democracy, Hungary won’t ratify Sweden’s NATO accession.
There is news in Germany that the Polish PiS party has sold 350,000 visas to “illegal” migrants for up to 40,000 euros, making it the largest smuggling gang in Europe. Probably closely followed by the Fidesz smuggling gang. Inhumane parties like Fidesz and PiS of course also commit crimes against their own population. With Hungary it goes further downhill the voters have decided, 50% of the teachers have voted for Fidesz. Cheers no pity.
Daniel Freund says about EU money – So the real bite will come on the first of January. But Orban could continue to incur debt and disguise it as special assets, or not?
“… – What do you think when the EU funds will arrive to Hungary?
– The moment Viktor Orbán does the necessary reforms, starts repairing the rule of law, and he starts fighting corruption, then this money can flow. If you ask me right now, do I see a real willingness on his behalf to cary out those reforms? No, I don’t.
For now the answer is that lots of money is on ice, but the actual effect so far has been quite limited. Right now all those construction sites that you see in Hungary with the sign “funded by the European Union”, that is all money from the last budget. That will continue until the end of this year.
So the real bite will come on the first of January. That’s when construction companies, for example, will not have the follow-up project when social projects will not have the follow up funding from the European Union.
Erasmus-students are already feeling right now that they are no longer part of this great exchange happening between all Europeans. Hungarian universities and Hungarian students are excluded from that already, so they are the first ones in a way to feel the effect. But the wider effects will be starting to arrive basically early next year. That’s when it will really be felt. …”
Hungary is being invaded by Extraterrestrials!
7 UFOs were seen flying in formation all over Hungary!
All Hungarians are terrified – or at least all Fideszniks should be …
https://dailynewshungary.com/hungarians-terrified-due-to-seven-ufos-spotted-at-night-flying-in-formation/
Just in case that you’re too lazy to click on that link:
Those were Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites …
Or maybe they really were UFOs, possibly scanning for Kryptonite, camouflaged as satellites?
Such “news” have great procrastination potential!
Orban’s problem is that a news channel in Sweden [Media Freedom] published a video describing Hungary as a country where democracy is eroding. Orban obviously wants the Swedish government to ban such media. Otherwise they don’t see eye-to-eye, if I understood correctly.
“Viktor Orbán said that Hungary and Sweden did not see eye to eye on issues of patriotism …”
„… On Sunday, parliament speaker László Kövér, a close ally of prime minister Viktor Orbán, said that Hungary and Sweden did not see eye to eye on issues of patriotism and therefore did not belong in the same alliance. “
I think that Hungarian patriotism is somewhat overused, especially when it is based on instincts.
It’s the usual (and cheap) way Orbánistan plays the gallery.
Fidesz just hitches a free ride in the back of Erdogan’s wagon.
Yes it is about extortion revenge enrichment; you start Erdobaci.
So just like Fidesz left the EPP before they would have been thrown out – Hungary should leave the EU )and NATO)?
Good riddance!
As we say in German:
Niemand weint Euch eine Träne nach …
My feeling is that many non-voters are also quite at peace and those who are in opposition to Orban’s policies carry their patriotism shield in front of themselves and thus serve Orban as the first. In addition, many arguments are not seen or do not want to be seen because they have to be patriotic – however you may interpret that.
There’s a long way from being a nation to acting as a people.
Perhaps fear of losing the (highly decorated) national self-image to facing a less glorious reality, makes people shun the civil responsibilities of a positive democracy. Hard-right politics thrive in such a situation.
The biggest idiot from Tübingen Boris Palmer was almost thrown out by the Greens but then went voluntarily like Orban and the EPP, thinks the German government should change so that the Orban regime can talk again with the federal government in Germany. He thinks both are right just like Trump to the right-wing radicals who drive cars into demonstrators.
In an interview with the right-wing nationalist smear sheet Budapest newspaper. This guy is an insufferable loudmouth.
Boris is really crazy and/or likes to provoke peple.
Seems his best friend now is Putin’s friend Sahra Wagenknecht, formerly a figure in the Left party who might found a new party – and cooperate with the AfD???
Boris and Wagenknecht the same wood they seem much smarter when they keep their mouths shut. They won’t stand out in the AfD. 🙂
János Martonyi former Hungarian Foreign Minister who once lied in Karlsruhe Germany for two hours at a time only to defend Fidesz has published a new book “Nation and Europe”. 😀
https://ungarnheute.hu/news/nation-und-europa-ein-neues-buch-des-ehemaligen-aussenministers-janos-martonyi-77608/
Things are tightening up in Polish-Ukrainian relations, after Zelenskyj accused Poland of indirectly supporting Putin, by denying Ukrainian grain export through Poland.
This prompted Premier Morawiecki to announce a moratorium on arms support to Ukraine.
Western observers see this as a consequence of the Polish PiS’s election campaign, where fortifying Poland against Russian agression is the key issue, and national interests amount to intense paranoia.
It’s not militarily logic, at this point in the war, for Poland to give up supporting Ukraine and prepare their national borders for attacks, they are in Nato and the biggest current threat, is very far away from there.
It seems ironic, if not bizzare. The UN talks about “opening the gates to hell” about climate-politics.
Back in ’69, I was part of a High School project on the greenhouse effect, supported by the data processing of the time. It was a recognized climate-factor, and we combined documented observations in order to make a prognosis.
It wasn’t difficult to document accelleration, but the predicted climate-effects were rejected as “fantasies and guesswork”.
Today, we know a lot more, but too late.
Zelensky’s comments at the UN on the grain embargo by Poland have now created a crisis. All Polish weapons and munitions shipments to Ukraine have been halted as of several hours ago.
Now if Germany and others would halt cheap Polish imports …
How would the PISsers react?
Regarding the EU etc they are like the Hungarians:
We’re only in it for the money!
And to think that they want more of their Balkan brother states like Serbia as EU members and are so angry that many in the EU don’t want more of those little ***expletive deleted***.
Just found this:
Poland has a right wing party even worse than PIS. They might get more than 10% at the next elections:
Opposed to immigration, abortion and lockdowns, Confederation’s co-leader, Slawomir Mentzen, 36, once said his supporters stood against “Jews, homosexuals, abortion, taxation and the EU”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/21/how-anti-establishment-parties-could-shape-europe-this-autumn?
All over Europe around 30% of the people seem to fall into the category “supporters of populist parties”.
Confederation’s rising popularity is the main reason for the appearent panic in PiS, who are very close to losing the coming election to the Civic Platform and Donald Tusk. Either way, a majority coalition will be necessary for the next government.
Where do you see the 30% supporters of populist parties?
If you add the votes for Fidesz, PIS, Meloni, LePen and those parties mentioned by the Guardian you get a number like this.
In Germany around 20% would vote for the AfD right now – and in parts of East Germany they are the strongest party.
Somehow all this reminds me of my time as a student – up until the late 60s the clerical fascists CDUCSU had similar laws re abortion, LGBT etc like today’s right wing.
Personally, I find the popularity of AfD the most worrying.
Juat look at this – no comment necessary:
https://hungarytoday.hu/they-want-to-silence-us-because-we-are-free-says-prime-minister/
He is the new Ceausescu, only a Hungarian one.
The somewhat cryptic comments from the Polish PM and govt. spokespersons, following Zelenskyj’s remark, have caused confusion.
There can be little doubt that this is cause for champaigne and celebration in the Kremlin.
Polish delivery of arms and services already agreed on, is not affected, but the Ukrainian-Polish relationship is being pressure tested right now.
That (media) crisis has been downplayed by the Polish President.
There are no indications of a Polish switch away from national interests regarding Ukraine is happening.
But the coming Polish election calls for extremely dramatic announcements in Poland. That’s perfectly normal in Polish politics, where life/death issues govern.
Since Fidesz is always whining about peace with Russia I have a great idea:
Why not make peace with Russia and leave them Eastern Europe while the USA and Western Europe continue to cooperate?
Maybe the Iron Curtain was a better idea than we thought?
These Eastern countries have so much in common – family (i e antiabortion), religion, nations, fight against anything strange like LGBT ideas …
By his UN-remarks on the Polish-Hungarian stance on the EU-Ukrainaian grain export deal, Zelenskyj poked a finger on a rotten spot in the EU – the Polish-Hungarian far-right alliance.
How the EU reacts to that is yet to be seen.
The political circus (my interpretation) in Poland, is key to any understanding.
The good news there is that now everybody in the EU jnows that you can’t trust Poland and Hungary.
Of course it would get worse if we admitted countries like Serbia eg so either nothing will happen there or the rules will be changed re unanimity.
It will be interesting to see how the far right manages the next elections – in several countries and then for the EP.
The worst thing that might happen is that they get so strong that they have to be accepted as part of the government – then good bye Europe!
Well, maybe it would be best for the world’s ecology if humans destroyed themselves …
Hungary is under economic, cultural and political attack, says Kocsis, and therefore Fidesz is forging a new arbitrary law against journalists, NGOs and opposition politicians. Hungary becomes a Putin state – who will fall out of the window or go to the Gulag?
https://telex.hu/english/2023/09/21/a-sovereignty-protection-bill-to-be-tabled-in-autumn-against-left-wing-journalists-pseudo-ngos-and-dollar-politicians-in-hungary
The Train to Nowhere …
The Chinese can’t finish Budapest-Belgrade, and it could cost us tens of billions more
https://telex.hu/gazdasag/2023/09/22/budapest-belgrad-vasutvonal-meszaros-v-hid-kina-biztositoberendezes
ho would have thunk???
Hungary is among the last 6 in the EU’s IT index:
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/desi
Undersecretary Menczer lies about Sweden to justify why Orban does not support Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
His video about the “bad state of” Swedish democracy:
https://www.facebook.com/menczer.tamas/
Fact: the population of Sweden is bigger than that of Hungary.
Murders in the “immigrated” Sweden in 2022: 116
Murders in the ‘ethnically clean’ Hungary in 2022: 238
The objective truth: Orbán’s mafia state has a deal with Erdogan, to work against EU and Nato. Why? Erdogan (and his family) makes a large fortune on all aspects of the war (arms, grain, oil), and passage of Bosporus in general) and the Orbán gang get “a piece of the action” for playing along.
His video about the “bad state of” democracy” 😀 Orban wants to veto a country because of democracy 😀 His friend Putin shits on democracy/s whether there is one or not. The Fidesz people here all lie and steal wherever they can.
“Gangsters Have a New Way of Avoiding Capture: Becoming Turkish”
Even a Kurd can become Erdogan’s protected Turk.
“Rawa Majid, known as the “Kurdish Fox,” an accused Iraqi-Kurdish drug trafficker and suspected of major crimes in Sweden, resides in Turkey after purchasing citizenship in 2020 through its so-called “Golden Passport” programme, which offers citizenship in exchange for $400,000 in investment.
Despite arrest warrants from Interpol and Sweden, where he is one of the country’s most-wanted criminals, Turkey refuses to arrest or extradite Majid because of this citizenship. ”
https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg58jp/drug-traffickers-turkish-citizenship
‘On September 21, 2023, Russia suspended nearly all oil exports in order to stabilize its internal markets.’
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F6xLuGxX0AAgNAm?format=jpg
On Friday I filled up with diesel for 629 Ft. Since then, the forint has risen by 5 points to 390 Ft to the euro. But the bigger problem for the refineries is that if they have to buy a different crude oil in the composition, they will have to change the refining as well. I expect higher prices for everything, this will hit the poorer 50 percent or so of society. Who would have thought that Putin would go back on his word? All that’s missing is Putin turning off the gas too and whether Orban manages to get the gas past Ukraine through other pipelines. … unorthodox economic policy here we go.
Just read at CarpathianViking – Kovacs says Sergey Lavrov, @mfa_russia confirmed that the supply of natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel will continue.
https://twitter.com/zoltanspox/status/1705276065671700484
Zolt Bayer was given an extraordinary amount of space today in Magyar Nemzet today to pontificate his Fidez madness. He uses Hungarian colloquialisms with recklessness, to possibly appear more authentic.
But in today’s essay he supports Putin’s position that Ukrainians are Nazis, or at the very least some in the Ukrainian leadership are Nazis which is something even his leader Orban has not yet publicly supported.
You can read his article here https://magyarnemzet.hu/velemeny/2023/09/ez-szimpla-nacizmus-vagy-strategia-2.
How Bayer supports Putin is by discussing Mykhailo Podolyak, who is an adviser to Zelensky and a horrendously racist statement he made September 13th when Podolyak came under criticism for a statement in which he claimed: “What’s wrong with India, China, Turkey and so forth. The problem is that they are not analysing the consequences of their steps, these countries have weak intellectual potential, unfortunately.” Bayer of all people sees this awful statement as part of Nazis ideology.
Of course Bayer’s own racism and complete support for blocking of African and Middle Eastern migrants from entering Hungary is not reflective of Nazi ideology, but is reflective of right of Hungary to protect its unique cultural heritage.
Does Hungary have a problem with race? I think so and so do some white people in the USA.
Does that make Hungary under Orban a Nazis state? I think not, but it does indicate among the supporters of Fidesz an instinctual propensity to mimic Russian propaganda.
The scabies-suffering Bayer who, with his party, advocates the segregation of the Roma, fines dissident journalists and opposition politicians, threatens to deny education to the unworthy and makes medical aid unaffordable. In parallel, the personality cult around Horthy, very much to Hungarian taste, who under his leadership enacted the Jewish laws and also had several thousand massacred by the “police”, as well as the renaissance of the blood-and-soil writers who intellectuals equate with Nazis, is strategy and has nothing to do with Nazis? 😀
When I analyse the consequences of these actions, the Hungary of the future will consist of Hungarians suffering from scabies and of unworthy lives of people who call themselves Hungarians and do not have the right to express themselves critically with impunity. Hungary has the right to protect its unique cultural heritage? What a glorious cultural heritage.
The extent of Russian disinformation is very well examplified by whatever comes out of Hungarian govt. controlled media.
Today, Orbán ventured a demand of special priviliges for the Hun. minority in Ukraine (possibly 150.000 people, not much by Ukrainian standards) and the media machine churns.
There is a reason why European media don’t allow for much mention of these things: They are too minor to take up 2023 headlines and too late for relevance.
As for the discussion about Nazism – Look at the facts – from officially embracing Hitler, Hungary turned 180 degrees in 1946, but slowly reverted 180 degrees on the “racial” and “national”.
The travails of a Christian charitable church in the very Christian Hungary:
https://balkaninsight.com/2023/09/25/religious-freedom-in-hungary-hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-prime-minister-scorned/
The AfD in Germany is the same as the Fidesz in Hungary with the difference that it does not govern, fortunately. It is classified by the secret service as proven National Socialist. The head of the Bishops’ Conference, Bätzing, says that the AfD and the Church do not fit together. Ergo, Fidesz and the Church do not go together.
The Orban Hungary has never supported Ukraine, but put all kinds of obstacles in its way. The biggest joke the alleged trouble is the education that Orban suppresses in his own country. 😀 His goal is less criticism from people who do not understand anything. His 127 brave (who are so unscrupulous to follow him, they shit on Hungary for money) only qualification is loyalty to the leader.
*Hungary threatens to end Ukraine support …
… Law in Ukraine causes tensions with Hungary
Hungary has clashed with Ukraine after Kiev passed a law in 2017 restricting the use of minority languages in schools – which also affects the rights of some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians.
They want to turn (Hungarian schools) into Ukrainian schools, and if that doesn’t work, they want to close them.
Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary
He added that his government will fight for the rights of ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine.*
I saw in Magyar Nemzet today a claim migrants inside Serbia opened fire on Hungarian border guards. Magyar Nemzet also stated there was a “migrant smugglers” group and another group it called members of the “killer group” shooting at Serbian police with weapons provided by Albania. Something is up with this story.
Albanian organized crime is a major player in South Eastern Europe, allegedly having many politicians and officials on the payroll, throughout the region.
This is of course a cause for discomfort to the Serbian-Hungarian leadership, who fancy control over the region.
Also, anything that supports Russian stories of rampant crime and disputes among European countries and the EU is pay dirt for Russian-leaning media.
There are elections in Slovakia, so Szijjártó traveled to the opening of a border crossing to interfere publicly. Somewhat naively he said –
“We sincerely hope that in the coming period, Slovakia will have a government that will prioritise developing cooperation with Hungary and will consider the fate of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia a matter of the utmost importance”.
– as if the first priority of Slovakia was to serve Hungary. Trianon sends its regards.
It’s almost a pity Napoleon wasn’t Hungarian.
But Hungary had the blood drinking and torturing blood countess Elizabeth Báthory!
That was quite an achievement, almost as remarkable as count Dracula who also has Transylvanian i e Hungarian roots.
I find the arrogance of Orban’s politics unbearably shabby. Perhaps Orban thinks he is Napoleon – the Dunning-Kruger effect. Hungary’s Napoleon Orban has made Hungary bad. He has failed miserably in all aspects of statecraft. He can’t even lie and steal without being caught, even if he thinks he’s Arsène Lupin.
If anything, Lenin, Hitler and Napoleon understood the importance of controlling media and information.
As different as they were, they (unfortunately) created a European tradition.
The UN has defined a Global Innovation Index for 132 countries.
Switzerland is no 1, horrible Sweden no 2 before the US and the UK, Germany has rank 8.
Hungary and the other Balkan states are in the 30s and 40s ranks:
https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo-pub-2000-2023-section1-en-gii-2023-at-a-glance-global-innovation-index-2023.pdf
What does that tell us?
The March list of the remaining independent, investigative media the Orban regime wants to silence by the impending legislation:
444.hu
Parizan (on youtube)
telex.hu
RTL (German)
szabadeuropa.hu (US Radio Free Europe vestige)
atlatszo.hu
direkt36
k-monitor
lakmusz
https://www.xxiszazadintezet.hu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mediaszuverenitas-trend-1-2023.pdf
Madame LePen met Viktor in Budapest – seems they totally agree on the direction society and the EU should take. You know all those phrases:
national, christian, family ie anti LGBT …
Do they really believe they might get a majority in next years European elections?
https://hungarytoday.hu/viktor-orban-meets-marine-le-pen-in-budapest/
Seems they forgot that surely nobody will get into a coalition with them after their break with the EPP. Even really conservativ polticians like the CSU were called liberal-left by them – so do they expect them to cooperate?
Typically, the national populist leaders can agree on many things in principle, but their narrow national (reactive) thinking and lack of vision limit cooperation.
Yes, Michael, that’s also my hope!
Especially their nationalism – only us, we are the best – leads to big problems.
And the way Fidesz and others treat the Ukraine and the migrants (and LGBT people) shows that they are not really humans – everybody is just a tool for them.
Interesting times …
The “Christian” Zoltán Balog – “the Roma must go through a real catharsis before they can be helped” – is a closet racist, signed an agreement with Ukraine in 2017 on the rights of ethnic Hungarians (Hungarian schools) in the Transcarpathian region. When the minister returned to Budapest, Orban ordered him to cancel the agreement. Because then Orban would not have been able to publicly fuel his projection of hatred towards Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/MartonTompos/status/1707319916800684248
Crazy story:
European Neonazis will met next weekend in Sopron again.
https://telex.hu/english/2023/09/27/news-of-planned-neo-nazi-gathering-brings-together-fidesz-and-opposition-in-sopron
I hadn’t known about this story:
German Holocaust denier Horst Mahler was arrested in Sopron in 2017. The then 81-year-old German man was the founder of the far-left terrorist group Red Army Faction (RAF) and later became a far-right activist.
And:
He was later extradited to the Germans, despite having requested political asylum from Viktor Orbán, or as he put it, “the Führer of the Hungarian people”.
Such desperados have little choice but to tolerate each other’s company.
Tomorrow Slovakia will have elections – former prime minister Robert Fico might return to power.
He is a big fan of Putin and Orbán and hates the Ukraine and the “war mongering” West.
Maybe they really should leave the darn EU together with Poland’s PISsers?
Rebuild the Iron Curtain!
And stop giving them our hard earned money!
End of Sarcasm …
Almost funny:
Bad, bad Austrians have cut off the direct connections between German cities and Budapest!
The real reason for this:
The tracks in Hungary are so horrible that trains had delays of several hours so the whole train schedule in Vienna was destroyed.
Maybe MAV should have invested some money there?
Let’s hope, for the Slovakian people’s sake, that Fico doesn’t get a position of power.
Somewhat incomprehensible, is the attitude in pro-EU political circles, that by taking in as many East European and Balkan countries as possible, there will somehow be a positive anti-Putin/China effect, in those countries. They might as well admit Turkey too, while they’re at it.
It’s as if most Western politicians fail to realize that they are effectively being muted by the noise-transmission that goes on in the world of digital communication.
Re Turkey:
At the end of the last century Turkey was on a good way. I visited several times, not only the touristic highlights but also soas and drove my camping van from one antique building to the next.
People were friendly and liberal, you could drinka a beer with the locals on holy Fridays.
But since Erdogan came topower Turkey has been on a backwards direction – just like Orbanistan.
And you can’t blame it on Stalinism whose memories surely are a big part of Hungarian history like in all Warsaw treaty states. I often shudder reading about the success of the AfD in East Germany.
A bit OT:
Seems that Elon Musk on X congratulated the AfD on their success in Germany!
Unbelievable!
Wolf, It’s good to hear about your personal experiences in Turkey.
I haven’t been there, except for a day as a tourist in Istanbul, but I’ve noticed quite a change in how the many Turkish immigrants interact and express themselves. Back in the 80’s and 90’s/early 20’s they made up a thriving and diverse community, with a great deal of positive social interaction. Today, that is very changed and they are very divided and have many political/religious conflicts. Many Turks integrate more or less seamlessly, but a greater part seem inhibited (or limited) by political and ethnic conflicts relating to the situation of their extended familes in Turkey.
I once had a collegue, who was from Ankara. He told me some things about the ethnic and religious diversity of Turkey and pointed out that without a strong leader, there would be no nation.
What they have now is strong, but not tolerant, and also very despotic.
Slovak election results:
5 AM, October 1.
5943 out of 6014 precincts have reported their results (98.82%)
(but votes cast abroad have not been counted)
Fico (SMER) 23.36%
PS: 16.90%
HLAS-SD 15.02%
Ol’ano: 9.04%
KDH: 6.92%
SAS: 6.14%
SNS: 5.68%
Under 5%, so no seats in the parliament:
Republika 4.81% (that is good news)
Szovetseg (Hungarian party): 4.46%
Demokrati: 2.92%
Fico will have the first chance to form a coalition.
Let us hope he will not be successful.
The liberal PS party won in the largest urban areas of Bratislava and Kosice.
The ethnic Hungarian party won plurality in three “okres”es:
Komarno: 48.78%
:Dunajska Sreda: 46.65%
Rimavska Sobota: 24.96%
Hungarian results in other districts:
Galanta: 19.20%
Nove Zamky: 18.82%
Sala: 18.28%
Trebisoc: 17.44%
Roznava: 16.73%
Vellky Krtis: 15.24%
Levice: 13.48%
Revuca: 11.85%
Lucenec: 10.69%
Michalovce: 5.96%
https://volbysr.sk/sk/vysledky_hlasovania_strany.html
Three ethnic Hungarian parties:
Szovetseg 4.46%
Hid: 0.27%
Hungarian Forum: 0.12%
Total: 4.85% < 5.0%
In Slovakia, like in the Netherlands and Israel, there are no electoral districts, just proportional representation of the parties above the threshold.
So approximate seat distribution (out of 150)
SMER: 42
PS: 31
HLAS-SD: 27
Ol’ano: 16
KDH: 12
SAS: 11
SNS: 10
uncertaiity: 1
SMER + SNS = 52
SMER+SNS+HLAS = 79 > 75
Official, but not final result at 99.43%:
KDH: 13 seats.
The other parties received the number of seats as I calculated above.
On the other hand,
PS + HLAS + KDH + SAS = 82
So HLAS is the kingmaker.