Europe

European cultural project to kickstart tourism in Hungary after re-opening

Danube Bend, Hungary, Visegrád

Even though Hungary is currently suffering from the third wave of the coronavirus, the country is making preparations to restart life soon.

As we recently wrote, tourism could revive and even explode as the country restarts itself. Although there is no definite date yet when it will happen, and the special legal order was just extended to 90 additional days, Hungary is getting prepared to re-open the best and strongest way possible.

To do so, on 26 February, 

a new project, DANUrB+ of 6 countries situated along the Danube, will kickstart. The online conference aims to help tourism in the region.

András Ambrus, head of press of the Municipal Executive Office of Pest County, said that the new project planned to be elaborated between 2020-2022 is the continuation of a previously successfully conducted research program between 2017-2019, called DANUrB.

Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria will be the 6 countries involved in the programme for which the budget reaches 2.7 million euros, reports turizmus.com. 

The partnership otherwise consisting of 19 partners is made up of 6 universities, research centres and agencies specialised in tourism and regional development, local municipalities, and civil organisations. The programme of this project is developed by the department of urban planning of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics; moreover, the university will be in charge as well.

“The objective of the initiative is to create a comprehensive network based on region and culture, a so-called European Cultural Promenade that would link together communities along the Danube and centralise them into one single tourist destination under a brand name,”

explained András Ambrus.

The project aims to prolong and fill tourists’ time spent in the region with a cultural value apart from simply increasing the number of people arriving in the country. To do so, they offer thematic itineraries and developmental possibilities to the participating countries.

András Ambrus explained the participation of the county municipality with the fact that the Danube itself plays a crucial role in the life of Pest County with its value unique in all of Europe. Moreover, the success of the previous project together with the strengthening of regional cooperation technically obligates the county to continue its participation.

“Local values, cultural heritage, and communities can act as the engine of development, for which DANUrB+ provides professional support in the form of know-how, community, and the possibility for united action.”

They give an enormous amount of help so that many more would get to know these villages and settlements. They help to prepare tender applications and competition plans apart from developing support projects.

From Hungary’s side, Makád, Lórév, Szigetbecse, Szigetszentmásron, Szigetújfalu, Ráckeve, Szob, Ipolydamásd, and Letkés joined the initiative. The new project will focus on villages in a peripherical situation, such as the area of the Csepel Island or the Danube Bend and their peripherical settlements. These places, despite possessing a lot of historic and natural treasures, have not become integral parts of the country’s tourism.

The complete and precise plan of the new phase is still undergoing some planning; however, as early as February, an online conference will be organised as the first event. To continue, based on previous experience, workshops, educational trips, training, and presenting well-working and successful practices will help settlements participating in the project. Moreover, in certain villages, concrete touristic plans will be carried out, added András Ambrus.

Budapest Buda castle
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Is it true that Hungary is a porn industry giant?

Erotic Sexy Women Woman Nők Erotika Szexi Pornó

Hungary is often associated with porn by many men around the world. Many think that Hungary is a big player in the porn industry. In Hungary, there is even a billionaire who made his fortune by screening people masturbating in front of webcams. However, only a few know what made Hungary such a fertile ground for porn, how Hungary and Eastern Europe have affected the global industry, and how that industry is influencing what we want to do in bed.

444 interviewed sociologists Fanni Dés and Gergely Csányi about the history of the Hungarian porn and sex cam industry.

How well is the history of the porn industry known in Hungary?

Gergely Csányi: Testimonies and autobiographical books of actresses have been published, and the contemporary press has also dealt with the topic in the past, but there is little scientific research. While examining the development of the Hungarian sex industry of the ‘90s, we came across many surprising things.

Is it a myth then that Hungary is a porn industry giant?

G.Cs.: It is not, at least in the sense that from the early ‘90s to the early 2000s, a lot of porn movies were made in Hungary. However, the history of the Hungarian porn industry is not heroic at all. The conditions in Hungary were better than in other Eastern European countries, so the capital of the porn industry broke into Hungary very aggressively. Women working for cheap, living in limited financial conditions, were exploited by the Western porn industry.

In terms of capital, Hungary was not powerful. Instead, the circumstances made it possible to shoot porn in Hungary.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_RhtQEqycM/?utm_source=ig_embed
Hungarian ex-pornstar Katalin Vad aka “Michelle Wild”

What made the conditions ideal for the Western porn industry?

Fanni Dés: The rest of Eastern Europe was further away, and the infrastructure was relatively good compared to Romania, while the labour was just as cheap. We found many accounts that the western directors got off the plane with a cameraman, and everything else was ready and prepared in Hungary: the studios, equipment, agents with a network of actresses and models.

It is also important that people thought the porn industry was a measure of development. It was said to be normal in the West, and it was a sign of backwardness if the porn industry bothered people. Many contemporary newspapers also wrote that the porn industry is part of the catching-up to the West, so it has not been hampered by anything. Porn was even shot in the Festetics Palace. Virtually any venue could be rented to shoot porn.

G.Cs.: We know from sources that they also used this idea to recruit actresses. They told them that it would ship to West, no one will see it in Hungary and that porn acting would be an entirely accepted career in a few years. It is hard to estimate but

in the late ’90s, and early 2000s, probably about 200 porn movies were shot every year. That is about 800 scenes, with 1,000 to 1,200 actors. Up to four, five, maybe six porn actresses became famous.

How did the international porn competition affect what type of movies were made and what they did in those films? Was there a Hungarian style?

F.D.: The United States has been dominating the porn industry to this day, and at first, pornos were “normal” movies, with a plot and a set or sets. When Europe joined the competition, the gonzo format gained popularity, in which scenes come after the other without any plot or major set. Hardcore porn is also the result of industry competition. Eastern Europe tried to take on the competition by filming increasingly brutal sex scenes. Anal sex, for example, was the trademark of Hungarian porn, which also became part of the Hungarian style.

The “everything can be done to Hungarian women” became the speciality of the region and the overall speciality of Hungarian and Eastern European women.

G.Cs.: It is a snowball-effect in which something new, violent or extreme appears, which only a few would do, and then it becomes a practice for everyone due to the competition. And then you have to invent something again. Ending up in more and more brutal, and more and more extreme sex scenes and porn movies becoming mainstream.

This is basically driven by the market that then penetrates people’s bedrooms and becomes part of their everyday sexuality.

cicciolina staller ilona hungary
“Cicciolina” Hungarian-Italian ex-porn star Photo: facebook.com/cicciolina.cicciolina.798

The kind of industry that flourished in Hungary came to an end around the 2000s. What happened?

G.Cs.: The whole global porn industry was rearranged. The porn industry in which Hungary was outstanding, hardly exists anymore. This is mostly due to technological developments and changes in consumer behaviour. It is no longer important to shoot entire porn movies.

The sex cam industry has made a Hungarian billionaire. He is György Gattyán, the founder of LiveJasmin. Is there any connection between the two sectors?

G.Cs.: I would not overemphasise a connection, though there is. The sex cam narrative has laid the groundwork for the sugar daddy industry similarly to porn movies before it. The other clear link is that it also makes a profit because some women are in need of money.

How does the sex cam industry work? There is an image in people’s minds that “performers” are streaming alone from their apartment.

G.Cs.: In Eastern Europe, it is more common that there is a studio where women can go. Usually, there is also an operator (mostly men) sitting behind the camera trying to uphold the interest of paying viewers on behalf of the model. The operator is the one who tells the performer what someone in the chat is asking for. Most of the time, the actress is being watched by several paying viewers at the same time who do not know about the other. It is the operator’s job to handle the situation, so this is not found out. The owner of the studio often employs both operators and women as illicitly.

What would you say is the main conclusion of your research on the sex industry?

F.D.: That we have to deal with how the economy affects our relationships, family roles, households, caring, violence against women, or sex itself. How it affects things we consider intimate.

G.Cs.: Capitalism penetrates our little personal world through various forms of sex, becoming a commodity, affecting our sexuality and the way we treat our partner in the bedroom. These have a terrible effect on our innermost relationships.

prostitute
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Does Budapest have one of the worst traffic jams in the world?

traffic budapest hungary elizabeth bridge erzsébet híd

When waiting in traffic in your car or on the bus, have you ever wondered whether traffic jams could be worse? That depends on where you live. It might not actually be as bad in your city as you would think at first.

FleetLogging was curious which modern city has the worst traffic jams in the world, more precisely, how big the difference in traffic is during peak hours and off-peak periods. To do this, they first selected the 141 busiest cities in the world and then used the TravelTime API to calculate how far from the city centre you could go in an hour during peak and off-peak periods.

Travelo found the list of FleetLogging, and according to their calculations, the first place, which is actually the worst placement in this statistic, goes to Marseille.

Marseille is the second-largest city in France, and it had the largest difference in the world in terms of the number of kilometres travelled from the city centre during peak and off-peak periods. Within the United States, the biggest discrepancy was in Boise, Idaho.

Tram Villamos Traffic Dugó Forgalom Budapest
Photo (taken before the pandemic): Budapest traffic – Alpár Kató – Daily News Hungary ©

At peak times, however, it is the most difficult to get out of London: you can only cover about 20 kilometres in an hour during peak traffic. Singapore, on the other hand, is the worst in terms of off-peak traffic: you could only travel about 27 kilometres in an hour in normal traffic.

Hungary has been on much worse lists. Recently, Hungary was calculated to have the second-lowest minimum wage in the European Union, and it is estimated that every fifth to sixth death in Hungary can be attributed to environmental pollution.

Although Budapest is on the list, the situation is not quite that bad. Budapest is the 10th worst city in the world in the overall peak hour to off-peak period travel distance ratio, but the reality seems more reasonable.

You can still travel about 80 kilometres from the city centre in a single hour during the most crowded periods, which can only be improved by another 20 kilometres during normal traffic.

When compared to other European countries, however, Budapest, Hungary’s capital, moves up to 8th place in the worst peak hours.

Paris is the 3rd, Hamburg is the 5th, and Prague, which just placed ahead of Budapest, is the 7th. You can find more interesting statistics about traffic if you visit FleetLogging’s website.

HÉV Budapest hungary Suburban Railway Vasút
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Hungary submits project proposals for Three Seas Investment Fund

three seas initiative

Hungary has joined the Three Seas Investment Fund and submitted proposals for 16 projects covering the areas of digitalisation, shipping and energy, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at an online meeting of foreign ministers focusing on the Three Seas Initiative on Thursday.

Szijjártó said at the meeting, the video of which he posted on Facebook, that Hungary had always been a dedicated supporter of the Three Seas Initiative, which he said chimed with the economic interests of central and eastern European countries.

He added it was important at the same time for the initiative not to be a talking shop, and it would only prove useful should projects that promote the development and cohesion of the region be implemented.

The minister said it was clear from Europe’s infrastructure map that central Europe was relatively under-developed along the north-south axis in terms of energy and transport, lacking, for example, a high-speed rail network east of Germany. Three Seas offers an excellent framework to address such gaps, he said.

Szijjártó noted that Hungary is already building gas pipelines with Slovakia and Romania, and there are plans for links with Slovenia too.

The construction of a 230km stretch of Via Carpatia is planned to be completed in Hungary this autumn, he noted. Visegrad Group countries have taken the first steps to build high-speed rail lines connecting their capitals, and Bucharest is planned to be linked to this network, he said, adding that Hungary and Croatia have successfully begun to jointly operate an LNG terminal on Krk Island.

Hungary signed the accession contract to the Three Seas Investment Fund last December, and Eximbank has already transferred 20 million euros to it.

Hungary has submitted proposals for several projects, he added. Szijjártó highlighted the diversification of gas supplies, emphasising that this was a matter of national security.

A Slovenia-Hungary gas pipeline securing gas supplies for the two countries could be expanded to Italy, he said. Also, existing networks between Hungary and Slovakia must be further developed, he added.

These projects will come into their own once pipelines between Bulgaria and Greece are finalised, he said.

Szijjártó encouraged the other ministers to support the inclusion of this project among the priorities of the Three Seas Initiative.

Hungary is interested in the Three Seas Initiative being broadly inclusionary and is working to cooperate with neighbours to the East and West. “Connectivity and joint projects are highly important,” he said, adding that the coronavirus epidemic had shown how “we are mutually dependent” and should act in concert.

Hungarian Seaport Magyar Kikötő Plan
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Jet2 adds Budapest to its summer destinations

Jet2 new flight

Jet2 has once again responded to demand for Summer 22 holidays by adding thousands of seats to a range of popular hotspots from four of their UK bases (Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and London Stansted).

As well as this, they have also added a range of fantastic sun and city break destinations for local holidaymakers to enjoy next summer, including brand new destinations from their newest base Bristol Airport, as well as Birmingham Airport. Today’s announcement means that they have put another 26 routes from across the four bases on sale for Summer 22. They are:

  • Bristol Airport – another two BRAND NEW destinations for local holidaymakers to enjoy in Summer 22 – MALAGA (COSTA DEL SOL) and LARNACA (CYPRUS). This means Jet2.com and Jet2holidays has a total of SIX brand new summer destinations on sale for Summer 22 from Bristol Airport (including Paphos, Alicante, Bodrum and Dubrovnik), taking the number of destinations on sale from their newest base for next summer to 35.  
  • Birmingham Airport – nine additional destinations going on sale today including BRAND NEW PARIS and LA ROCHELLE.

With Amsterdam, Barcelona, Budapest, Rome, Krakow, Prague and Venice also going on sale today, this means there are now 52 sun and city destinations on sale from Birmingham Airport for Summer 22, including recently-launched Lisbon.

  • Manchester Airport – ten additional destinations going on sale today including ICELAND and VIENNA as summer destinations, as well as the reintroduction of Tivat (Montenegro). Seven additional city destinations have also gone on sale – Barcelona, Budapest, Rome, Krakow, Nice, Prague and Venice – meaning 56 sun and city destinations on sale from Manchester Airport for Summer 22, including recently-launched Lisbon.
  • London Stansted Airport – FIVE destinations reintroduced for Summer 22. Tivat (Montenegro), Girona (Costa Brava), Costa de Almeria, Nice and Malta, means 43 destinations to choose from for Summer 22.
budapest airport
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What is a geological Trianon? – Hungary is shrinking by the minute

Geological Trianon Map Shrinking Hungary

However, this time, the so-called “geological Trianon” is not man-induced, rather, it is a natural phenomenon. Due to tectonic movements, Hungary is shrinking by about an average soccer field in the east-west direction every year. The same force is slowly eliminating the Mediterranean Sea and merging Europe with Africa.

The magnitude 6.4 earthquake which happened in Croatia at the end of 2020 still has aftershocks; the last tremor that could be felt in Hungary happened about a week ago, and the Petrinja region is expected to continue to experience the aftershocks for days or weeks. According to 24’s previous article, the earthquake was caused by the collision of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. Most of the time, we do not feel it, but the two gigantic plates are pressed against one another at a speed of about six millimetres a year. This might not sound like a lot, but when accounting for the enormous mass of the two tectonic plates, those are monumental forces, and they are actively shaping the entire Earth’s surface.

This collision will lead to the disappearance of the Mediterranean Sea in about 10-100 million years from now, and you would not be able to tell where the divide between Europe and Africa is.

But what does the nicknamed “geological Trianon” mean exactly for Hungary? Well, at that speed, Hungary is compressed from the west to the northeast, and the two corners of the country get closer to each other by an average of two millimetres per year, which is about an average of 100 by 50-metre area loss every year. Think about it like resizing an image in your documents, but the rate is about a soccer field every single year.

To help us understand what exactly is going on under our feet and what causes it, 24 asked Dr Gábor Timár, a geophysicist at the head of the Department of Geophysics and Space Sciences at Eötvös Loránd University.

Tectonic Plates Kőzetlemezek
Tectonic Plates Source: Wikimedia Commons / USGS

They break, fall, and deform

The scientist says that the easiest way to think about the tectonic plates is to imagine a river in early spring when the water is flowing, but there is still ice on its surface. The flowing water keeps the ice sheets in constant motion, and along the “faultlines” or where the ice broke, they keep pressing against each other. If there were enough space, some may move away, but those that are colliding create enormous tension; the blocks either crack even further, become congested, or one dives under the other, just like tectonic plates.

Pulling forces

Back to Europe and Africa: the faultline between the continents runs east on the line connecting Rhodes and Crete; south of this lies the oceanic remnants of the African plate. Further west, the collision zone goes around the Adriatic Sea.

The collision of the two continental plates on the latter zone is what created the Alps, the Apennine Mountains, and the Dinaric Alps, and it also caused the recent earthquakes in Croatia.

The Aegean Sea Plate is a small tectonic plate in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its southern edge is a subduction zone south of Crete, where the African Plate is swept under the Aegean Sea Plate. This travels towards Africa at a rate of one centimetre a year and tries to pull and stretch the surface behind it, so a pulling tension is created. The scientist explains that this is what caused the magnitude 7 earthquake in Izmir last October.

Timár says that it is hard to predict what will happen exactly, but the motion and deformation are constant. There are certain events that are believed to take place in the future, but they might not come true. If you are interested in what scientists predict to happen, here is an animation of how the Earth could change over the course of the next 250 million years:

Geological Trianon

The most important thing about Hungary is that the Carpathian Basin is geologically located between the anvil and the hammer. The force generated where the African and European plates meet reaches Hungary from the west through complex tectonic movements along smaller faultlines and pushes the Pannonian Basin east. But in the east – roughly where Ukraine is –, there lies the anvil, the almost immovable Ukrainian Shield.

While the displacement from the west-southwest is 5 millimetres a year, on the north-eastern edge of Hungary, on the Szatmári-síkság (Szatmár Plain), it is almost zero. This means that the plates below Hungary are compressed. The border stones on the eastern and western edges of Hungary are getting closer to one another by an average of two millimetres a year.

This tiny change means that the total area of Hungary decreases by about 5–6,000 m2 yearly. Although it is not the scientific name, this might give you an idea of why it is called the “geological Trianon”.

On the Háromszék–Bucharest line, in the Curvature Carpathians, the remains of the plate that dove under relatively often cause earthquakes of magnitudes up to 7. A memento of the tectonic plate diving under is the volcanic crater home to Szent Anna-tó (Saint Anne Lake), from which magma burst to the surface some 30,000 years ago.

Fortunately, the epicentre of these earthquakes is very deep, about 200-250 kilometres from the surface, so the energy of the shockwaves is most often greatly reduced by the time it reaches the surface, but not always. In 1977, for example, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake, mainly affecting Bucharest, caused tremendous damage and killed more than 1,500 people.

hungary sends containers to croatia
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Opposition MEP: PM Orbán’s acts can destabilize Europe as Trump did so in the USA

usa capitol demonstration

Remarks from Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi:

If you followed the events unfolding in Washington on 6 January, you saw some shocking images. Instigated by Donald Trump, who lost the presidential election but refused to admit his defeat, the crowd broke into the Capitol. This botched attempt at a coup was unable to shake the political system of the US.

However, the event has a much larger significance: this example may lead to quite a lot of problems in Europe in the future…

Even though you can be sure that Donald Trump will step down at the end of January at the latest to let Joe Biden’s presidency begin, there’s something frightening about the fact that the United States of America got to this point despite being one of the homelands of democracy. Of course, we are witnessing decades-long taboos being lifted these days, while loud and narcissistic “mobocrats” are busy trying to shape to their image all those political systems that have so far been built upon pluralism, tolerating different opinions, seeking compromises and trusting each other.

From now on, Donald Trump, the role model for the world’s populist leaders, will be represented in the history books as the man who thought that he could use his Tweets to single-handedly control the sophisticated system of checks and balances that forms the very core of the United States, and when he failed, he instigated his followers with conspiracy theories and sparked a skirmish that eventually led to human casualties in the Capitol.

Trump will leave, but the people whom he has been leading by the nose for years will stay here with their questions and their doubts raised by the president’s refusal to acknowledge the election results.

The next administration will have a huge task at hand to restore peace in the American society.

On the other hand, the politicians who considered Trump as their role model will stay among us. Not just in the US, but here in Hungary, too.

As a Hungarian, I obviously cannot ignore Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán’s acts but I think the debate of the EU budget clearly revealed for everyone that he was no longer just a “Hungarian affair” and his acts can destabilize Europe as a whole. Just as Hungary is much smaller than the United States, our political system is that much more vulnerable, which allowed Orbán to completely shape the state administration to his own liking over the past eleven years. Trump could only dream of what Orbán has already put into practice.

While Trump relied on his personal magic and communication to cling to the hope, perhaps even until early 2020, that he might spend a second term in the presidential seat, Orbán methodically reshaped Hungary’s electoral system, wrote a new, customized constitution and put tried-and-tested Fidesz cadres in key state administration positions. This is how Orbán’s loyal servant could become the chief prosecutor, and active Fidesz politicians were appointed to head the tax authority and the State Audit Office.

When he had some concerns in terms of keeping his power in 2018, he used this network to bombard his challengers through administrative means before the elections.

In 2022 however, the next national elections will be held in a different Hungary, which has suffered a significant economic decline due to the pandemic and lost almost all of its European allies, and where the united opposition will nominate joint MP candidates, a joint list and a joint PM candidate to face Fidesz that is weakening according to the polls. Fidesz is likely to keep following the example of its American role model with the same fervour it demonstrated in supporting Trump during the US election campaign.

To illustrate Fidesz’ attitude, it is enough to note that such a key politician as Foreign Affairs Minister Péter Szíjjártó personally accused Joe Biden’s family of criminal acts while Viktor Orbán used every platform to announce that he rooted for Donald Trump’s victory. They insisted on their positions even after Joe Biden’s triumph, in fact, Orbán was among the last to congratulate Biden while Speaker of the Parliament László Kövér has repeatedly said in public that he thought the American election was marred by fraud and Biden was helped into his seat by the same “powers that be” which are also behind the Hungarian opposition, according to Kövér.

All these acts mean that the Hungarian opposition is likely to face a difficult period until the 2022 national elections as well as a less than seamless transition of power in the weeks after. Fidesz’ involvement of the far right to quickly amend the election law in December is probably just the first step of its manipulation scheme to stay in power at all costs. Considering how Orbán and other key Fidesz figures, including those currently heading supposedly “independent” institutions, have constantly been throwing the same accusations at opposition leaders that Trump used for inciting hatred against his rival, it seems naive to hope that the Hungarian elections can be held in order. Fidesz has already begun preparing for such a scenario. Among other things, Speaker László Kövér has questioned the outcome of the election in advance, provided that the winner is not Fidesz.

This is especially frightening because while the US political system clearly determines what happens when a president’s mandate expires, Orbán has built a country where the leaders occupying nearly all key institutional positions are loyal to Orbán and Fidesz rather than Hungary or the Hungarian people. We can only hope that Hungary’s 2022 elections will not bring such events that we saw in Lukashenko’s Belarus.

Populism and the political agenda based on instigating people against each other has indeed lost a major battle in America.

In Hungary however, it still lives with us for the time being. We hope it doesn’t stay much longer

Budapest Zoo is one of the best in Europe – PHOTO GALLERY, VIDEOS

Hungary Budapest Zoo

According to the most recent “census” of the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden, it is home to 881 animal species and 10,528 individual animals. With this, the zoo in the heart of Budapest’s City Park is not only the most populated zoo in Hungary, but the diversity of the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden is also outstanding on an international level.

According to Infostart and the zoo’s detailed summary, the institution houses: 1,368 individual mammals of 133 species, there are 1,262 individual birds of 151 species, 950 individual reptiles of 130 species, 131 individual amphibians of just 30 species, and there are 6,070 individual fish of 218 species.

There are 213 different species of invertebrates, of which 98 species have individual records that constitute 666 individual animals. As for the other 115 invertebrate species, which are mainly insects kept in large numbers, there is no point in having an individual record, so these animals are included in the collection of animals only by species.

The Pet Zoo on Margaret Island is also part of the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden, so the number of animals kept there is also counted towards its full animal collection. Although there are 25 species of animals at the Pet Zoo on Margaret Island and a total of 127 individual animals, 19 species of these can also be found in the main site of the zoo in the heart of the City Park.

Not only is it one of the oldest zoos in the world, but compared to other zoos, the collection of species in the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden is outstanding: of all the zoos in Hungary, this zoo has the most species, and only a few institutions in Europe house more animal species. The park also houses Hungary’s first shark school.

In Hungary, some species can only be seen in the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden. These, for example, include the Giant otter, the Common wombat, and the Short-beaked echidna.

Not only is the number of species presented outstanding, but the diversity of animals is also high, as the animal species in the zoo represent many different groups of animals. Representing and portraying the biodiversity and the general dissemination of knowledge is important for strengthening the environmentally conscious approach, the statement reads.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCviX2CKO98/

They also point out that the specialists at the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden also deal with many rare and endangered species for which, in addition to showing them to the world, breeding for conservation purposes is also of great importance. They write that

the zoo has managed significant breeding results in 2020 for Giant anteaters, Sumatran orangutans, Dholes, Giant otters, South American tapirs, East African crowned cranes, and Waldrapp ibises.

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Hungary Budapest Zoo
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A split Europe: Merkel’s divide between politics and economy

Angela Merkel

Europe’s leading decision-maker, Germany, has persuaded Hungary and Poland to compromise on the rule-of-law sanctions which in turn cleared a huge roadblock ahead of the European Union’s emergency COVID-19 aid contributing to the possibility of the advancement of other pressing matters, but the story is a bit more complex.

According to Politico, although it was Merkel who is due credit for resolving the issue, she is also the one responsible for it in the first place. According to the news outlet, Merkel quietly sat through Viktor Orbán’s and Jarosław Kaczyński’s road to dismantling their respective countries’ democracies.

Merkel, or in other words, Europe’s de facto leader, tried to quietly solve the issues at hand, but with time, it was evident that this political method of patience and tolerance needed to change and tackling the issues needed a different approach, something other than Merkel’s typical behind-the-scenes diplomacy. According to Politico, Angela Merkel’s passivity “[drove] a new wedge between the Western and Eastern halves of the bloc and fanning nationalist flames”. The relations between Germany and Poland have also greatly suffered as Warsaw refused to approve Germany’s new ambassador to Poland. In the end, Poland gave way, but that was a symbolic stab at Germany reminding it of its history. Warsaw accepted the appointed ambassador on September 1, the anniversary of the 1939 German occupation of Poland. Politico highlighted that

“it is difficult to avoid the war when it comes to Germany’s relations with Central and Eastern Europe […] that is one of the main reasons Merkel tread lightly in the face of Hungary and Poland’s rule-of-law abuses”.

There is also an important, non-political factor that – although not secret at all – goes behind the decision-making storefront of Brussels, which is economic interdependence between the countries in question. So, another, and the probably more straightforward, reason behind Merkel’s political stance towards Hungary and Poland is the business sector of Germany. For the past 30 years, Germany has invested great sums of money in Central and Eastern European countries – 30 billion euros just in Poland. The Volkswagen Group and Daimler Group are huge names, but it is true for smaller companies as well. Many invest in these two countries, for example, Mercedes invests 141 million to make fully-EV cars in Hungary.

Such a deep and intertwined economic relationship cannot just be disregarded even in politics on either side.

This is the main reason behind Germany’s and, with it, the European Union’s supposed toleration of Hungarian and Polish measures in their domestic policies. Recently, even the EPP suspended Deutsch’s speaking rights (FIDESZ’s representative) and barred the politician from holding formal positions in the EPP.

“Merkel would postpone [the vote] until eternity,” one German MEP said to Politico.

joe biden usa
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From Hungary to Portugal – what should one expect?

lisbon view sunset

Have you ever wondered what moving to sunny Portugal would feel like? Here are the experiences shared by a Hungarian expat.

Nothing compares to the feeling you get when it is the middle of November and you are on your way to the beach knowing that people in your home country already had to get all the scarves and gloves out of the wardrobe. But other than nice weather, what else does Portugal have in store for someone coming from Central-Eastern Europe? Let us discover all the joy, as well as the nuisances, together.

The small streets of Lisbon. The Portuguese capital has some crazy narrow streets in which it seems extremely tricky to drive for someone that was not born here. I will forever be fascinated by how Uber drivers can drive here so smoothly without evoking fear in the passenger around every corner.

lisbon street

The cobblestones. It is not just driving that seems sketchy, however. I cannot count on one hand how many times I slipped when trying to walk around the neighbourhood in my slippers during my first weeks. Apparently, there is a petition to renovate the old cobblestoned streets because Portuguese people also find them extremely dangerous. The opposing camp, on the other hand, says that cobblestones are part of the city’s appearance and so they have to stay. Whether they stay or not, the lesson, for now, is: however appealing the weather is, do not go walking around in slippers.

lisbon street view

The hills. Let us continue by analysing the streets of Lisbon. The city was built on hills, and basically, a short trip to the local grocery store can equal a proper workout. This is something very difficult – but not impossible! – to get used to for someone that grew up on flat grounds.

lisbon street cat

The tricky weather. However sunny the weather may seem when you leave your house, you should indeed take that coat with you. The wind could get pretty cold, and the nights are very chilly as well. Layering is key. Plus, you should also be aware that most houses, especially the old ones, will not be equipped with central heating.

The pastelarias. On every corner of the streets of Lisbon, you will find these typical Portuguese restaurants and pastry shops. They do not necessarily look fancy, and the staff might not even speak English, but even if you have to act out your order, trust me, you must go in there. These places have the nicest, most authentic Portuguese food you can imagine.

lisbon pastel de nata

The Portuguese language. Most people you will meet will speak English pretty well, and it is also common that TV shows and films are subtitled rather than dubbed. But there are, of course, exceptions, and there will be situations when knowing and speaking at least the basics will help you out a lot – even though it is not the easiest language to learn, it will be rewarding to speak it.

The people. Portuguese people are very friendly and overall welcoming; therefore, making friends should not be a problem here. They have a very relaxed attitude to life, which can feel relieving but might also be weird for someone coming from another culture.

And the views. Overall, Portugal and the city of Lisbon seem perfectly picturesque with the eyes of an outsider. Everywhere I look, my eyes meet a lot of beauty, let it be nature, architecture, or just the sun reflecting back on some colourful tiles. Be careful because it is easy to fall in love.

Jobbik MEP Gyöngyösi: Orbán takes a loan – is it the end of Hungary’s economic stability?

Orbán

Remarks from Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi:

Last week I discussed the potential political consequences of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán’s veto on the European Union’s next seven-year budget and economic recovery plan. This week I want to post my remarks on the considerable economic risks.

Although most critics are right about the authoritarian tendencies in Hungary’s political system or Orbán’s skirmishes in Europe, one thing has never been questioned: Hungary’s economic stability.

Of course, the people of Hungary are fully aware that they were the ones to pay the hefty price for the macroeconomic balance since Orbán carried out a full-blooded neoliberal economic agenda and saved as much money on welfare in the last 10 years as he possibly could. In the meantime, the outside world was hardly interested in such factors as the social system teetering on the brink of collapse or the Hungarian wages being constantly ranked among Europe’s lowest and even if such concerns were raised, Orbán could conveniently point back at the negative example of the Socialist governments of the 2000s who spent the loans on welfare and fell under the impact of the 2008 economic crisis.

Orbán’s slogan was: no matter what it takes, avoid the political and economic dependence that comes with loans. In return for the economic stability, the Hungarian PM was forgiven for such occasional symbolic steps as writing in the Constitution that Hungary’s currency is the Forint.

However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have undermined the Hungarian economic stability very quickly.

The premonitions proved to be right: people ran out of their reserves in no more than a few weeks in the spring, unemployment immediately skyrocketed and the end was nowhere in sight. It was clear that Hungary was going to need financial assistance, just like all the other European states.

The €750 billion recovery plan, of which Hungary could get approximately €6 billion as non-refundable and an additional €8 billion as refundable assistance, would have provided the best ever financing conditions for Hungary as the money would have been raised from the market and jointly guaranteed by the 27 EU Member States.

If Orbán had been consistent in his economic policy or would have had the Hungarian interests at heart, he should have been the loudest advocate of the recovery plan. However, he took a rather different course because it was obvious, right from the beginning, that the EU was going to link the allocation of these monies to rule of law criteria. Orbán’s fondness of strict measures to save money on welfare or public institutions is only comparable to his love for feeding his clientèle and the operators of his regime from the incoming EU funds.

So he made a move that is contrary to his economic line followed so far: he took a €2.5 billion loan with 10- and 30-year terms, from a third-party source. At one fell swoop, he lost everything he had been slowly building up for ten years. 

He made this move to sufficiently secure his position in case his dispute with the EU drags on too long or in case they fail to come to an agreement. The plan seems to have worked, at least as far as Orbán’s personal position is concerned. On the other hand, Hungary will lose its exemplary student status in the one single area where it has been successful so far.

Furthermore, the secretly taken loan, which Orbán casually mentioned in a radio interview, also means that Hungary is beginning to drift dangerously apart from the European Union not only politically but now economically, too, because most EU countries are thinking along the lines of a joint project when it comes to reigniting the economy.

The EU policies of the upcoming years are likely to build on a joint recovery plan, which Hungary will now be left out of due to Orbán’s fear for his power.

Instead, we now have another debt we need to repay under much less favourable terms by 2050.

And why does the Hungarian PM think such a risky economic move can pay off for him? Probably because he fully understands that his position is becoming more and more indefensible. The last two years have brought a dozen fiascos for Orbán. The politician, who has so far relied on communication as his main and unstoppable weapon, seems to be failing ever more obviously in the fight against the coronavirus. The inconsistent, ever-changing decisions and the complete lack of economic assistance packages so abundantly granted to citizens of other European countries have led to a critical unemployment rate. According to the polls, Fidesz’ failed crisis management began to erode the party’s formerly unparalleled popularity. In addition, after last year’s municipal elections, the governing party is no longer facing a weak and fragmented opposition but a united one with serious chances in the 2022 national elections. 

In the meantime, Orbán has almost run out of foreign friends: the illiberal breakthrough did not take place, in fact, the American election may mark the beginning of quite the opposite trend. 

All he has left to rely on are the Hungarian oligarchs but he has to feed them if he wants to stay in power. Apparently, no price is too high for him anymore: just look at the machinations with the electoral law going on in Hungary in the past weeks. But that’s a topic for another post.

ORBÁN Viktor; MORAWIECKI, Mateusz
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Hungary spotted in Portugal’s capital

lisbon alfama

The capital of Portugal is one of Europe’s most beautiful treasures with its iconic houses, colourful tiles, amazing views, and riversides. Let us now discover some Hungarian contributions to the city you may not know about.

Lisbon has some of the nicest metro stations, a lot of them being decorated with art which sometimes even relates to the name of the station. (For example, Laranjeiras – which means ‘orange trees’ – station is full of huge oranges painted on the walls, which are of course covered with tiles.) It happened to me by accident that on one of my first mornings in Lisbon, while rushing in order not to miss the next metro at Rato (meaning ‘rat’) station, on the southern end of Linha Amarela (yellow line), I caught sight of some familiar words written under a statue of a man. ‘Arpad Szenes’, it said. The metro left, and I had now 12 minutes to find out what this memento of Hungary is doing at my local station.

Árpád Szenes was a Hungarian-Jewish abstract painter who lived between 1897 and 1985. In 1930, he married a Portuguese, similarly abstract painter, Vieira da Silva, with whom he – among other places – lived in Lisbon, too. Their art actually gave birth to a museum you can now visit in Lisbon. 

The permanent exhibition of the Fundação Arpad Szenes / Vieira da Silva is dedicated to the art of the two painters, and the museum also offers temporary exhibitions.

The reason why you can now find paintings of Szenes’ on the tiles of the Rato metro station (instead of giant rats, thankfully) is that the museum is located just around the corner, at Praça das Amoreiras, 56 Lisbon, 1250-020.

But one does not have to wander a lot further to connect some more dots between the Portuguese capital and Hungary. If you start walking on Rua Alexandre Herculano and continue on Rua Braamcamp, you will soon find yourself at Marquês de Pombal, which belongs to the iconic sightseeing spots of Lisbon with the huge statue of the former prime minister and Parque Eduardo VII in the background. Marquês de Pombal was the leading character when the city of Lisbon had to be rebuilt after the devastating earthquake and fire of 1755. The prime minister ordered a Hungarian architect, namely, Károly Mardel (or Carlos Mardel), who designed many of the new buildings for the city.

lisbon street

Thanks to Mardel, the attics of the houses also got windows in order to form them into living spaces 

– this is something Portuguese architects refer to as ‘Hungarian style’, and many students living in the city are very grateful for it.

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Budapest, Hungary, sightseeing, capital
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Budapest to become the first European city to commemorate women raped in war times

1945 fortepan_soviet army budapest communism

No official history book mentions women who were collectively raped during wars; they do not even have a memorial monument in Europe. The past years have brought some changes and shed some light on the issue, but still, there are many disputes, and the whole subject itself is viewed from two very opposing points of view, which does not help victims at all, but bring them more pain and suffering. A project for their commemoration initiated in Budapest together with a commemorating exhibition planned for 2023 have the intention to bring a significant change.

More than 70 years after the incidents and a little after the author s death, the diaries of Fanni Gyarmati, the wife of one of the most well-known Hungarian poets were published. It contains a very long and detailed report on sexual assault and the behaviour of Soviet soldiers who were stationed in Hungary after World War II. Her work is unique not only on a national but on an international level as well- writes Qubit.hu.

Sexual assault committed during wars is one of the most taboo issues of modern history. Silence has been started to be broken only the last one or two decades when a mass of women began to stand up and talk about their stories thus illuminating the issue and making it a public interest and subject of research.

Meanwhile, the world is full of huge memorials and commemorating statues of men (almost every Hungarian city and small town have one), those commemorating women raped in war times are not only very scarce, but it does not exist in Europe.

Without the international feminist movement, we would know even less about sexual assault during war times. The movement created a kind of language to talk about these incidents and for survivors to tell their stories and memories. It is thanks to feminist movements that today, sexual assault is recognised as a crime against humanity. Andrea Pető, a historian, scholar of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and professor of the Central European University, told Qubit that women are forced to mobilise themselves when national institutions ignore or betray them, such as in these outrageous cases.

Peto Andrea - Budapest Fovaros Leveltara
Presentation of Andrea Pető – Budapest City Archives

Last summer the Council of Budapest unanimously decided to organise a series of presentations, a project for a communal collection of financial resources, the set-up of a thematic webpage, expositions, an international conference and later the installation of a public monument to commemorate this under-researched topic. They try to mobilise as many civilians as possible to set-up the concept of the memorial, for which they are sacrificing a two and a half year-long period. In September an educational series of presentations was launched, the episodes can be found on the YouTube page of the Budapest City Archives, who also organises the collection of memories of any sort, whether pictures, texts or objects. The director, István Kenyeres said that one of the most important parts of the project is the collection they will build for which they are expecting personal memories as well, even those that were passed from person to person or even from generation to generation since there is less and less chance to tell the stories of those who were not only witnesses but the actual victims.

Art historian József Mélyi at the beginning of the project said that in the case of monuments in public spaces right after their inauguration “they are covered in a coat of impregnation against attention” as we get used to them, and thus they become transparent for the everyday pedestrian.

The so-called anti-monuments, representatives of the modern memorial culture, encourage people to more active participation. The capital s objective is precisely this, a monument chosen by international competition in a global context to commemorate those women who were forced to suffer sexual assault. According to plans, the competition will invite entries starting from next summer, it will be judged by October, and the public monument will be set up toward the beginning of 2023 for the 150th jubilee of Budapest.

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Total lockdown in Austria – will Hungary follow?

During the spring, it was common practice that whatever Austria did to control the coronavirus, Hungary also followed suit within one or two weeks. The Hungarian government has not failed to follow this method; in fact, it became a theme – or did it? Seems like it might not be the case. Not only because there is no two-week or one-week delay between the two countries, but also because Austria and Hungary are taking a different path in the pandemic management.

If we were to compare the data of the two countries, there would be nothing supporting the theory that the Hungarian situation is like Austria’s. Index compared the data of the two countries. The data they used is not the most up-to-date, but it is from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which eliminates methodological differences.

No serious conclusions can be drawn from the number of infected people. In week 44 – the ECDC uses a weekly breakdown –, Austria had 26,800 registered infections and Hungary had 19,900. In proportion to the population, i.e. per 100,000 inhabitants, this means 303 cases in Austria and 204 in Hungary. This would imply that the situation is worse in Austria. It should be noted, however, that Austrians test more, i.e. the higher number of positive cases can simply result from more testing.

Kórházi covid betegek
Data: ecdc.europa.eu

Data independent of the number of tests performed is much more eloquent.

These are the number of coronavirus patients treated in the hospital, the number of patients on a ventilator, and the number of deaths daily or on a cumulative basis. Neither data sets give cause for optimism, and neither shows any indication that Hungary follows Austria in any way.

Hungary pulled away, but not how it was supposed to

From the data, it seems that Austria can control the spread of the pandemic much better than Hungary can. Index compared the data of the two countries between September 1st and November 1st. At the beginning of September, Austria was a little bit worse, but it was more or less the same as Hungary: about a hundred people were hospitalised in both countries, seven were sent to the intensive care unit in Hungary, while this number was 30 in Austria, and about one or two patients died daily.

Two months later, more than 4,000 infected people were hospitalised in Hungary and more than 300 were in the intensive care unit. The daily number of deaths was close to 70 and even went over 100 several times. Compared to Hungary’s 4,205 coronavirus patients in hospitals, only 1,657 people needed care on the 1st of November in Austria.

The most important difference is in the mortality rate. While in Hungary, the daily mortality data is 69, in Austria, it is only 18. The daily data is, of course, somewhat unreliable, as the fluctuation can be significant, so it is worth looking at it in a larger time frame. Cumulative data is not much better either: between the 1st of September and the 1st of November, a total of 364 patients died in Austria while 1,205 died in Hungary.

Koronavírus halálesetek száma
Data: ecdc.europa.eu

Hungary had three times as many deaths caused by coronavirus than Austria in just two months.

The data shows that in Austria, although there are more confirmed cases – the number of tests is higher as well – there are far fewer severe patients, and even fewer are dead.

Two weeks behind

The gap began to grow sometime in the second week of October. During this period, there were no serious restrictions in Hungary nor in Austria, but shortly after, Austria gradually introduced restrictive measures. At first, from October 23, they made the use of masks mandatory, then they prohibited the gathering of large groups of people. From the 1st of November, Austria introduced a curfew, and restaurants were closed. High schools and higher education institutions have switched to digital education in Austria as well.

Hungary implemented these restrictions with a delay of about one and a half weeks. It is said that Austria was Hungary’s “guinea pig”. However, this is certainly not the case anymore, as Hungary already had more hospital patients and a higher death rate in the second half of October than Austria.

After all, Austria, which is in a more favourable position, has taken all the steps sooner than Hungary did.

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How will the Biden presidency affect Hungary?

Joe Biden Office

During the Trump presidency, an open and flexible approach characterised the US policy towards Central and Eastern Europe. However, under Biden’s presidency, the thinking typical of the Obama administration may return. This can have a serious impact on Hungary as well, as the next ambassador will be appointed by Biden.

The presidential administration of Joe Biden is expected to continue Barack Obama’s foreign policy. This focuses more on global issues as a whole, unlike the flexible, region-specific approach of the Trump administration, Gábor Csizmadia of the University of Public Service told Index.

Trump’s administration treated Central and Eastern Europe within the framework of its so-called “fight for hearts and minds” idea, and its foreign policy was openly a geopolitical power competition. Washington’s goal was to entice their partners on their side politically. This is what required the flexibility already mentioned, the researcher said.

According to Gábor Csizmadia, if Biden continues Obama’s foreign policy, the US could treat Europe as a whole, therefore Hungary and its region might receive less attention.

Of course, this is not necessarily true, as it depends on what domestic and foreign policy advisers Biden surrounds himself with and who the Secretary of State for European Affairs will be.

A Democratic presidency is best received in Western Europe, especially in Berlin, which generally has better relations with Democrats.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not get on well with Donald Trump. Trump, who will leave office in January, has ordered the withdrawal of thousands of US troops from Germany without checking with Berlin.

One possibility is that small countries in the region will receive less attention, and ideological expectations over practical cooperation will be imposed. The other possibility is that Biden will pay special attention to Central and Eastern Europe.

“We see what is happening from Belarus through Poland to Hungary,” Biden, who spent his holiday in Balaton in 2009 with his wife during his vice presidency under the Obama administration, indicated in an interview that he does not intend to leave the processes in Hungary and the region unnoticed. In the political journal Foreign Affairs, he also signalled that he would place ideological expectations for America’s allies and those in its sphere of interest.

Gábor Csizmadia points out that under Trump’s presidency, the US Department of State more or less worked independently, and its activities were counterbalanced by the White House. With Biden, this may change.

Presumably, the White House would give way to the US Department of State’s stricter actions against Hungary. Biden would not only not counterbalance but even support that openly. For example, he would openly criticise Budapest in speeches, interviews, announcements, or a high-ranking official would write a critical article in an international newspaper.

This strategy might apply not only to Hungary but the entire region as well. The question remains: what will be the priority of a Biden government in Europe? David Cornstein,

Trump’s appointed ambassador to Budapest, left a week ago. His successor will be appointed by Biden sometime in the first half of next year.

In the last quarter of a century, the US has sent only politically appointed mission leaders to the Hungarian capital.

Featured image: facebook.com/joebiden

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More European nations clutch at “second lockdown” straws as coronavirus cases top 10 million

germany coronavirus streets

To rein in the unrelenting spread of the coronavirus, a growing number of European nations have chosen to swallow a bitter pill — a second lockdown long seen as a last resort.

Taking cues from its neighbors France and Germany, Belgium became the latest nation re-imposing a second lockdown. The country’s COVID-19 incidence, currently at more than 1,600 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, dwarfs all of its European peers.

Since Thursday midnight, France has been under a nationwide lockdown, and Germany will go into a partial one starting Monday.

The lockdowns came as Europe passed the grim 10 million infections mark, fueled by recurring daily records

STRICTER LOCKDOWN RULES IN BELGIUM

Belgium will move to stricter lockdown, with rules valid throughout the country to fight against COVID-19, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced Friday.

According to the rules, all non-essential businesses will have to close, while food stores and supermarkets will remain open.

Tele-working becomes mandatory wherever possible. Belgian borders remain open but travel abroad is strongly discouraged.

In the social bubble, only one contact is allowed. In other words, only one person can be invited at home, and that person will be close contact.

The “rule of four” remains applicable outside. One can meet four people outside, go for a walk or other activity together, but should practice social distancing and wear a mask.

These measures will be in force throughout the country from Nov. 2 to Dec. 13.

The nationwide lockdown came on the heels of the one in France starting Thursday midnight. People in France now can go out only for work, health emergency, essential family needs or short exercise near home. Non-essential shops, including bars, cafes, gyms and restaurants, are closed.

The French government expects that the one-month lockdown would help cut the daily number of COVID-19 infections to 5,000, but experts believed that new restrictions need more time to bear fruit.

Germany announced earlier this week a partial lockdown starting Nov. 2. Entertainment and leisure activities will be largely prohibited throughout Germany as bars, restaurants, theaters, operas and concert venues will have to close until the end of November.

The Dutch government announced a “partial lockdown” on Oct. 13. Cafes and restaurants were closed for one month. So far, the government has not announced additional measures.

INFECTIONS SHOW NO SIGN OF ABATING

Despite the pandemic showing no sign of abating and Europe being dubbed again by the World Health Organization (WHO) an “epicenter” of the coronavirus earlier this week, other European countries thus far still balked at slapping a new round of lockdown. Instead, they made some tweaks to the restrictions already in place.

In the latest developments on Friday, the government of Slovenia extended key restrictive measures. Store closures and the six-person ceiling for gatherings have been extended by a week. The mandatory use of face masks in indoor and outdoor public spaces and the obligation to use hand sanitizers have been extended by two weeks.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters on Thursday that he was not considering a full lockdown, after the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 300,000 in the country.

In Greece, the record of daily confirmed cases has been broken several times in October, triggering a series of measures by authorities on the regional level. But the government has said repeatedly that a nationwide lockdown will be the last option.

As of 4:28 p.m. CET on Friday, Europe has reported to the WHO a cumulative 10,520,014 confirmed cases. Among them are 1,166,010 infections during the first five days of this week (starting Oct. 26), accounting for more than half of the global total.

Meanwhile, Friday saw four European states break daily records again: Poland (20,629), Germany (18,681), the Netherlands (11,141), and Latvia (284).

The WHO Emergency Committee on COVID-19, after a two-day meeting, unanimously agreed on Friday that the pandemic still constituted a public health emergency of international concern and continued to require a coordinated international response.

As the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries across the globe — including China, Russia, Britain and the U.S. — are racing to find a vaccine.

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CNN: Budapest also has a bar among the 10 best worldwide

Kollázs bar 4

CNN has compiled a list of the best hotel bars in the world, and one of the bars on this list is in Hungary.

Kollázs bar 2
www.facebook.com/kollazs

According to the report of Szeretlek Magyarorszag, the list is compiled by travel expert Alia Akkam from Budapest. It could easily help the Kollázs bar to be included on the list. The Kollázs is housed in the Four Seasons (formerly Gresham Palace) Hotel. To make the experience more enjoyable, Akkam even gives advice on what to order.

kollázs bar1
www.facebook.com/kollazs

She thinks a smoky forest is the best choice.

The Connaught Bar in London and the Belmond Grand Hotel in St. Petersburg are on the list from Europe. In addition to European bars, American, Australian, Asian, and African bars are also represented.

 

Kollázs bar 4
www.facebook.com/kollazs

This is not the first time that CNN has chosen Budapest as one of the best locations in the world. For example, last year, New York Café in Budapest was chosen as the most beautiful café in the world. CNN has repeatedly noticed the Hungarian capital. They drew attention to one of the world’s most Instagrammable hotels in Budapest, while they also published a list of the best luxury bars in Budapest.

Kollázs bar 5
www.facebook.com/kollazs

Photos: www.facebook.com/kollazs

What are the most popular mythical creatures in Europe? – PHOTOS

Demon Krampus Devil Ördög

Not everyone is into it, but with Halloween being more and more widespread, the end of October is the spooky season for many. Shops decorate their windows or the entire store with spider webs and cute ghosts. While nowadays it is more of a cheerful and fun holiday, the roots are a bit creepier and more mythical. Bedsheet ghosts, vampires, zombies, and werewolves became a major part of popular culture, but for many countries, there are a dozen different and interesting mythical creatures that are part of their folklore.

To get you into the spooky spirit, CashNetUSA created beautiful maps that feature the most popular creatures of many countries. But it is not just a guess; according to Matador Network – who also featured their maps –, CashNetUSA used plenty of sources, such as bestiaries, and then examined with the help of Google data which creatures were the most searched for in each region.

Thanks to their wide use throughout history, on coats of arms and flags, as well as in legends, movies, and books, it is no wonder that the dragon is one of the most popular mythical creatures in Europe.

It was at the top of creature searches in England, Wales – although the creature is a bit different for Welsh people than some of the other countries –, Italy, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and San Marino.

Mythical Creatures World
Most-searched mythical creatures around the world Photo: CashNetUSA

Another creature that you might have heard of is the ‘Baba Yaga’. It was featured in the more recent Hellboy movie, and Keanu Reeves in the John Wick series was also referred to by this name. She is an old, forest-dwelling witch or a trio of old witches who are an integral part of Slavic culture. Her hut has chicken legs and, depending on the circumstances and different stories, she is either a child-eating monster or someone who might help people who seek her. She is well-known in Belarus, Bulgaria, Russia, Montenegro, Ukraine, and Slovakia.

It is evident from this map that Europe is quite varied; there are a lot of different creatures that are popular in different countries.

One such creature is the ‘Ördög’, the Devil himself. According to the list, it was the most searched creature in Hungary.

The depiction of the Devil may vary, and he may be referred to by many names. Most of the time, he is equivalent to the Christian Satan or Lucifer, sometimes even called Beelzebub. Some cultures see the Devil as an archetype of a creature; devils are more like demons but maybe lesser creatures.

Mythical Creatures Europe
Most-searched mythical creatures in Europe Photo: CashNetUSA

As you can see in the illustration to this map, this creature is depicted as half man, half goat with a trident in his hands. This is typical of the Hungarian and many other European folk depictions of the Devil. In most of the stories, he plays the part of the antagonist, but he is not always pure evil. He is usually a test of faith who tries to tempt the protagonist to sin or fall. Most of the stories end well and are educational for children to behave properly. The Devil was featured in many movies, such as The Ninth Gate, The Devil’s Advocate, or Constantine, and maybe the most recent depiction of him is in Lucifer, the popular TV series.

For the other maps and more information on them, you should read the article of Matador Network, but if you are interested, you can read more about Hungarian folklore and religion in the following articles:

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