Hungarian CoE presidency prioritises minority protection
Hungary’s presidency of the Council of Europe (CoE) prioritises minority protections, a foreign ministry official said on Tuesday.
Péter Sztáray, the state secretary for security policy, noted that Hungary is surrounded by countries where there are large ethnic Hungarian minorities, and the country regards support for these communities in cooperation with neighboring states as its responsibility.
But minority protection is important for all countries, he added, given that minorities make up a significant part of societies, and it is important that the issue is dealt with at European level.
Among the multitude of good solutions and practices, each country must find its own effective way to protect minorities, he added.
Katalin Szili, the prime minister’s commissioner for autonomy, said every seventh citizen in Europe is affected as a member of a minority.
Various kinds of autonomy exist, depending on why they were established and what kind of rights are involved, she said, adding that various forms of autonomy were not mutually exclusive and could coexist.
They are important because they enhance stability and help minorities, she said.
Ferenc Kalmár, ministerial commissioner for the development of Hungary’s neighborhood policy, noted that Hungary has broad experience in terms of minority protection, adding that the protection of minorities in Europe was important for maintaining peace and stability.
Biggest traditional festival of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin – VIDEO
Fifty-five main programmes await the visitors between August 13-15 in Bugac as part of the festival “Ősök napja – Day of the Ancestors”.
After the past year and now that Hungary is finally open, it is time to have fun. The country is more than ready, with endless possibilities to go out and discover what Hungary has to offer.
The Hungarian government decided to organise a three-day-long festival-like event to honour the foundation day of the Hungarian state.
The “biggest August 20 celebration ever” in Budapest to come
If you are looking for something a couple of days earlier, we have a special event for you next week.
“Ősök napja – Day of the Ancestors”, the biggest traditional celebration of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin,
will be organised for the sixth time in Bugac, in the Southern Great Plain region.
The three-day-long event welcomes visitors and anyone interested in
infantry or equestrian muster, traditional battle shows, artillery competitions, concerts, and family programmes.
The main organiser of the event, András Zsolt Bíró, highlighted that the pandemic left all these festivals aimed at preserving traditions in a very complicated situation over the past one and a half years. That is why it is so crucial to realise this event, even with the necessary precautions.
It is an open-air festival, and programmes continue to be free this year as well.
This August’s Day of the Ancestors has more or less the same schedule visitors are used to from the past years.
The biggest infantry and equestrian parade of Hungarian traditionalists in the Carpathian Basin will, of course, be held.
As of now, almost three hundred horsemen with authentical equipment and weapons signed up. The traditional battle show is extended with a new scene: the siege of the Castle of Zala will also be presented.
The nomadic parade is a new feature to recall how the alliance of tribes marched in those times.
On Sunday (August 15), the traditional artillery competitions will be complemented with a long-range shooting event, added Hello Magyar.
András Zsolt Bíró also highlighted that an archaeological and anthropological exhibition based on materials from the past exhibitions will be held in the world’s biggest yurt, the yurt of Attila.
The exhibition called the Heritage of the Huns and the People of Árpád presents the heritage and legacy of the Carpathian Basin, starting from the Sarmatians through the Huns and the Avars until the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin. Weapons, jewellery, and clothes will be showcased.
Csík Zenekar, Mária Petrás, and the Mongolian Domog band will all perform, and those visiting the festival will get to know the Uyghur folkloric dance, too.
The traditional craftsmen’s market and a wide variety of family programmes cannot be missed.
For the time of the festival, the organisers will open a camping area with running warm water next to Bugac. Moreover, visitors will be welcomed by five bigger and several smaller restaurants, drinking fountains, and resting spots.
The detailed programme of the festival can be found on this website in English.
Here is a trailer and teaser of what awaits you at the festival.
Read alsoGet to know autumn folk traditions in Hungary
Hungarian universities to again offer courses throughout Carpathian Basin
The government will again support Hungarian universities offering courses throughout the Carpathian Basin in 2021, an official of the ministry of innovation and technology said on Saturday.
The courses play an important role in the country’s strategy for supporting ethnic Hungarians communities abroad, Tamás Schanda said in a statement. For several years now, the government has been generously supporting such training schemes under a scheme started in 2010, he added.
The ten Hungarian universities involved in the scheme will offer courses
in Komarno (Révkomárom) in Slovakia, Berehove (Beregszász) in Ukraine, Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda), Oradea (Nagyvárad), Odorheiu Secuiesc (Székelyudvarhely), Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely), Sfantu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy), Ilieni (Illyefalva) in Romania, and Subotica (Szabadka), Senta (Zenta) and Sombor (Zombor) in Vojvodina.
Detailed information about the courses on offer is available at felvi.hu,
the statement said.
Carpathian Basin summer university opens in Hungary
The Summer Open University in the Carpathian Basin opened in Sáturaljaújhely, in north-eastern Hungary, on Thursday.
Addressing the opening, Zsolt Németh, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said it was Hungarians’ openness to success, rather than conformity to expectations from the West, that was the key to their own and Europe’s future. He said central Europe had the potential to restart “like a Mercedes-Benz” after the pandemic, and “become a success story in which Hungarians also have a role”.
The principle of “your success is my success” will be the future for Europe, while “national minorities are both the engines behind and the beneficiaries of that approach”, Németh said.
Németh insisted that central Europe was a “region of freedom” with peoples rejecting external pressures “whether from the Habsburgs, the Ottomans or Communists” as well as “the pressure from Brussels, which has recently surfaced”.
“This theoretical basis has a clear ideology, which we could call a right-wing renaissance, which determines the future ideals of a national identity, and approaches to the current state of Christian Democracy and national sovereignty,” Németh said. “Together we can resist divisive attacks, no matter what part of the world they should come from.”
“Respect for national minorities, respect for neighbouring nations, and respect for ourselves, for our own national community,” Németh said.
Read alsoEthnic minority culture, education institutions to receive HUF 1.4 bn this year
Volcano of the Carpathian Basin to erupt?
The MTA-ELTE Volcanology Research Group, as part of an international cooperation, has been monitoring and analysing the Csomád mountain chain in Transylvania for 15 years. Their latest report writes about how a magma chamber containing crystal mush can be found even under a volcano that has been inactive for a very long time. Thus, able to erupt again if conditions change.
The Csomád is the youngest volcano of the Carpathians, causing the last eruption of the vast, Central and Eastern European mountain chain around 32 thousand years ago.
The volcanic eruption itself is a periodic process. Some of them erupt over and over again, after only a short time of rest, like Etna. While others are being inactive for a very long time, only to activate themselves again, just as the Taal volcano of the Philippines.
Thousands evacuated as Philippine volcano threatens with a big eruption
And there is the third group, like the volcano of the Reykjanes peninsula that took a break of several hundred years, writes origo.hu. However, it is still unknown what exactly causes this regular and unregular periodicity.
Until the first half of the 21st century, scientists and geologists thought that magma chambers and their content have a relatively short lifespan. Until they found that the magma itself contains crystals, whose proportion, in an ideal case, is over 50% of the whole volume of the magma. In this consistency, the magma is physically incapable of ascending to the surface. Thus the volcano can not erupt. When the consistency changes, however, and these crystals are not in a majority, the natural phenomenon of a volcanic eruption occurs.
This knowledge changes many things.
How long can this magma containing the crystal mush exist, and what causes the change of its consistency? Moreover, how long does it take for the magma to turn into a consistency able to erupt?
The international cooperation involves scientists from Hungary, Romania, Switzerland and Germany. Their findings bring us closer to answering these important questions.
Based on their geophysical analysis,
the magma chamber under the Csomád can possibly still contain a high quantity of crystals.
After analysing 500 zircon crystals, geologist Réka Lukács found that most of them were formed before the volcano’s last eruption. This means that long before this eruption, the magma chamber was already present under the volcano, continuously containing some form of mush that enabled the zircon and other crystals to form.
Based on these data, together with Swiss scientists, a number of calculations were made to find out what conditions are needed for the magma mush containing the crystals to stay intact for several hundred thousand years on 700 degree Celsius and to try to guess how big of a chamber can be formed during this period.
The quantity of the magma melt has special importance. As long as it is present, independently from its abundance and volume, it contributes to a possible and fast reactivation of the volcano.
The model calculations indicate that the volume of magma necessary to erupt can become bigger and bigger with time. Fresh magma of a high temperature needs to get mixed into the chamber containing the crystals to form this magma mush ready to erupt. If this happens, a quantity of magma capable of eruption can be formed very quickly, depending on the volume of the fresh magma incorporating into the resting and inactive crystals.
All these researches have shown that the magma chamber can stay intact in the Earth’s crust for a very long time, even if the volcano itself is not active at the time. It directly leads to the fact that
even the seemingly inactive volcanos can have crystal-infused magma under them. As long as they do not lose this magma melt, further eruptions are very much possible, even after several thousand years of inactivity.
Fortunately, the Csomád at the moment does not show any sign of wishing to present its underlying, crystal-infused magma to us. Nevertheless, it is more than advisable to keep our eyes open and check on it, from time to time.
Read alsoIcelandic volcano could erupt for years, creating ‘perfect tourist’ attraction – VIDEO
Border crossing, Minority SafePack in focus of Hungarian lawmakers’ forum
Coronavirus-related difficulties in maintaining links with ethnic kin and the Minority SafePack European citizens’ initiative featured high on the agenda of a working group of the Forum of Hungarian Lawmakers from the Carpathian Basin (KMKF) in Budapest on Tuesday.
Tibor Lakatos, a senior official of the operative board handling the pandemic, said that enabling ethnic Hungarians living not farther than 30 kilometres from the border to maintain links with Hungary had been a priority over the past year, and a matter of negotiations with the authorities of neighbouring countries.
The Hungarian authorities allowed ethnic Hungarians to enter the country without special request or registration, after a health check, the general said.
He added, however, that
limiting border traffic is an important tool in fighting the epidemic.
European lawmaker Lóránt Vincze, chairman of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), noted that on January 15 the European Commission had rejected launching legislation concerning the nine-point Minority SafePack. In response, the initiators asked the Court of Justice of the European Union to declare the EC decision null and void.
Vincze said
the EC decision triggered a “large wave of support” for the initiative from western Europe and Hungarian communities abroad.
Read alsoDual citizenship to be prohibited for Hungarians in Slovakia?
Western Hungary shook by an earthquake – people’s accounts
Several people reported that they have felt an earthquake in the evening on the 30th of March around half past six. According to several sources, the epicentre of the earthquake was originating from Eastern Austria.
Index received several accounts of an earthquake with a magnitude of 3 to 4 from Sopron and some of the surrounding areas in the North-western border of Hungary. According to the accounts, the earthquake lasted around 30 to 40 seconds. Luckily, there was no damages or injuries reported that was connected to the natural phenomenon which is quite rare in the area.
One of Index’s readers said the following: “I was sitting at the kitchen table when from under my feet I felt like a football game was going on next door. But we live in the 2nd floor apartment of a quiet house. The hanging chandelier swung very slightly. The roar lasted a few seconds. I have really never experienced this before.”
The Hungarian disaster management shared on their Facebook page the measurement and announcement of the ELKH CSFK GGI Kövesligethy Radó Seismological Observatory, that
on the 30th of March, at 18:25, there was an earthquake in Austria near Wien, only 30 kilometres away from the Hungarian border at an approximate depth of eight kilometres. The magnitude of the earthquake was 4.3 on the Richter scale
and was felt in several places in Hungary, but there were no reports of any damage.
Several websites dealing with geology have also shared their information and confirmed the Hungarian measurements with some slight differences. Most sources put the magnitude of the earthquake between 4.2 and 4.6 on the Richter scale with a maximum possible magnitude of 6.1 in the epicentre. Erdbebennews says that the epicentre was originating from a depth of 10 kilometres next to Neunkirchen, approximately five kilometres away from Wiener Neustadt and around 30 kilometres from the Hungarian border.
The earthquake could be felt in the entire Burgenland region and although this magnitude of the earthquake could damage buildings, there were only reports of small cracks, but no major damage in the vicinity of the epicentre and no damages farther away from it.
“I watched TV and the sofa started to move side to side below me. It was not very strong, but it was definitely noticeable. I looked up at the lamp on the ceiling, it was moving, even though it is fixed to the ceiling. The motion was not very strong, but it could definitely be felt,” – said another Hungarian account.
Featured image: European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC)
Ethnic minority culture, education institutions to receive HUF 1.4 bn this year
Public educational and cultural institutions maintained by local ethnic self-governments will receive central funding of 1.36 billion forints this year, Miklos Soltész, the state secretary for Church and ethnic minority relations, said on Tuesday.
National minorities, he said, formed a natural part of the Hungarian nation.
“It’s important they survive and pass down their language and culture,” he said.
The government, he added, had recognised this by increasing state funding for national minorities fivefold over ten years while handing over institutions to be run autonomously.
While in 2010 there were only five public educational institutions managed by local ethnic self-governments, there are now around 60, he said.
The government is providing support for renovations involving 60 institutions in 13 counties,
he said, adding that 55 institutions maintained by German, one by Croatian and four by Slovak national minorities will be refurbished in 2021.
As we wrote on Sunday, unknown perpetrators damaged and brought down the statue of one of the greatest Hungarian poets, Sándor Petőfi, in Haraszti, Eastern Slavonia, Croatia, details HERE.
Western Europe Hungarians condemn Ukraine’s ‘attacks’ on Hungarian minority
Hungarian organisations in western Europe have condemned the Ukrainian authorities’ “attacks” on ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, calling on European organisations and human rights forums to protest Ukraine’s treatment of its Hungarian community.
“Ukraine’s Government has been violating the national minority rights for years and the actual rough events are part of this unacceptable process,” the Western European Association of Hungarian Country Organizations (NYEOMSZSZ) said in a statement on Monday, referring to raids carried out by the Ukrainian authorities on the premises of ethnic Hungarian institutions earlier this month.
Leaders and organisations of the Hungarian minority “have been accused of treason and separatism despite their proven adherence to all Ukrainian laws”,
NYEOMSZSZ said. It noted that Ukraine’s constitution as well as its Nationality Law of 1992 guarantees minorities the right to use their national symbols within the framework of cultural autonomy.
“NYEOMSZSZ calls on European organisations and human rights forums to protest to the competent bodies of Ukraine to immediately end the attacks and show procedures against the Hungarian minority in Ukraine,”
the association said.
It expressed hope that European leaders and human rights organisations would “stand firm” in defending the security of oppressed indigenous minorities.
Read alsoWestern Europe Hungarians condemn Ukraine’s ‘attacks’ on Hungarian minority
Government working to reinforce cooperation with neighbours, says foreign minister
Hungary is now working to deepen its alliance with “most of its neighbours which used to be enemies”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told parliament’s national cohesion committee on Thursday.
Ukraine, he added however, has “elevated its stance against Hungarian communities to government level”.
Speaking at his annual hearing, Szijjártó said that “it is clear that close cooperation rather than isolation is in the interest of all countries of the Carpathian Basin,” adding that both Hungarian communities in other countries and other ethnic minorities in Hungary were crucial for that cooperation.
The aim is for all countries cooperating with Hungary to have an interest in “our successes, just as we have an interest in the successes of those cooperating with us.”
“The Carpathian Basin’s fortune rests on mutual interest in our respective successes,” Szijjártó said.
Szijjártó said the resources should be provided to Hungarian national communities across the border so they may find their own way to strengthen themselves.
A 60 billion forint investment support scheme is available to Hungarian companies. Fully 465 companies have applied for funding and firms planning cross-border investments have lodged bids for projects worth 110 billion in total. As a result, 7,400 jobs will be preserved and 3,000 new ones created, he added.
Further, companies making investments and creating jobs in Hungarian-inhabited areas have access to government funds worth 63.5 billion forints.
Serbia, he said, saw the potential in strengthening the Hungarian national community in Vojvodina, with a commensurate positive impact on Hungary-Serbia ties. Serbia’s minority policy may be seen as an example to other EU countries, he added.
The committee is in close contact with a Hungarian national community in six of seven neighboring countries, he noted, adding that major successes have been built in five out of six countries this year. Examples include the new bridge in Komarom jointly owned by Slovakia and Hungary, Hungarian involvement in Serbian government work, a high voltage transmission line Hungary is building with Slovenia, and parliamentary representation for Hungarians in Transylvania and Szeklerland.
Meanwhile, the minister noted “incitement to hatred” against Hungarians and intimidation as the focus of Ukrainian government policy “reminiscent of the darkest Soviet times”.
The Ukrainian government’s pledge to make Transcarpathia a common Ukrainian-Hungarian success story was still “at the level of propaganda,” he added.
Even when Hungary has provided tens of millions of forints for Transcarpathian institutions, the Ukrainian state has continued to harass and intimidate Hungarians, he said, calling this “shameful”.
On the issue of the representation of Hungarians across the border, Szijjártó said Hungarian communities had a “stronger voice” wherever there was unified national representation. It would be desirable for unity to emerge in Hungarian politics in Slovakia, he added.
Asked about Croatia, the minister said several corporate and economic issues overshadowed relations, but there were also many untapped opportunities. Hungary is ready for closer cooperation, he added.
Read alsoHungarian deputies in Transcarpathia are investigated on charges of treason for singing the national anthem
Hungary MEPs urge stronger EC support for protection of national minorities
The European Commission should take specific steps to support the continent’s ethnic minority groups, Hungary’s MEPs said in a European Parliamentary debate on Minority SafePack, an initiative urging EU protection for indigenous national minorities in the bloc, on Monday.
Kinga Gál, an MEP for Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, said in a statement that it was time to guarantee the protection of minority rights at European level.
The initiative gives the bloc’s national minority groups the chance to express their need for protection in unison, she said.
Gál said she had turned to the European Commission on numerous occasions when the continent’s indigenous minorities faced some form of discrimination either in education, the use of their mother tongue or when they were the targets of hate speech.
But while the commission has declared 15 times in writing in recent years that cases of discrimination against minorities fall under national competences on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, “it does not bother with observing this principle in other matters,”
she said.
Gál said it was time for the EC to “put aside the use of double standards” and stand up for the protection of Europe’s indigenous national minorities. “After numerous empty replies, I want to see the commission put specific proposals on the table,” the MEP said.
Márton Gyöngyösi of conservative opposition Jobbik welcomed that the EP was preparing to create a legal foundation for the protection of Europe’s 60 million indigenous minority citizens.
“The territories of member states today are protected by international law, and it is time for every single minority to have equal rights regardless of the member state they live in,” he said.
Anna Donáth of the opposition Momentum Movement said Europe had been holding off from taking steps towards the social inclusion of the Roma community for years, adding that certain member states were even blocking it. She said it was time for Europe to protect its minorities, not just in words but also in actions.
The Minority SafePack signature drive initiated by Romania’s ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party and coordinated by the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) was launched in April 2017. A total of 1,128,385 signatures were certified across the 28 EU member states over the year-long campaign.
The EC registered the signatures in January this year.
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Permanent Hungarian Conference and Diaspora Council hold online plenary session
The Hungarian government’s programmes promoting the welfare of Hungarian communities beyond the borders have not been suspended because of the pandemic, but moved online and can be restarted immediately, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén told the Permanent Hungarian Conference (MÁÉRT) on Thursday. The current year and the coronavirus pandemic that has come with it have proven that “we, Hungarians indeed belong together”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video message
In the past decade, funding for those schemes has grown tenfold, Semjén said. Support now is provided for programmes supporting education, economic development and the support of Hungarian political parties beyond the borders, he said.
The government is “rightfully proud” of its policy towards Hungarians beyond the borders, Semjén said.
“Let 2021 be the year of national restart,” he added.
Orbán: Challenging year proves Hungarians ‘belong together’
Welcoming participants, Orbán noted that
2020 had been a year “when, interestingly, two seemingly unrelated matters, namely the centenary of the Trianon Treaty and the pandemic, coincide”.
“Both have been a challenge, making us aware that such trials are not confined to history, but extend to our present days as well,” the prime minister said.
Orbán called the pandemic a test which he said showed “how earnest our heartfelt and sincere wish is that we, Hungarians belong together, even though our country had been cut into pieces”.
He said this past year had demonstrated that this wish was not just “a historical or intellectual idea” but rather “a flesh-and-blood reality”.
Hungary has established the closest possible cooperation with Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia and has been coordinating with Austria on a daily basis, he said.
The Hungarian government has in the meantime also been able to provide assistance to Transcarpathia and Transylvania’s Hungarian communities, Orbán added.
“We have proven that all lives matter to us, both within our borders, and beyond,” the prime minister said.
The biggest Hungarian battles of history
Here are some notable battles throughout Hungarian history, some of which ended in victories while others ended in serious losses.
Battle of Pressburg
The Battle of Pressburg – also known as the Battle of Pozsony or Bratislava – was fought for three days between July 4-6, 907, ending in Hungarian victory. The Hungarian forces went up against the East Francian Army.
Despite being called the Battle of Pressburg (Bratislava), it is not known if it actually took place there; some people claim the battle was fought at “Brezalauspurc” – wherever that may be – or somewhere near Zalavár.
Because of the Battle of Pressburg, the Kingdom of Hungary was established, lands the Hungarians conquered in the Carpathian Basin were secured, and no one tried to invade the Kingdom in the coming 120 years. Another notable outcome of the battle was that the Kingdom of East Francia lost control over the Carolingian March of Pannonia.
The Hungarian casualties were deemed not significant, but the East Francian army was nearly annihilated. From their four commanders, three – Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria, Dietmar I, Archbishop of Salzburg, and Prince Sieghard – died, and only Louis the Child remained. Two other bishops, three abbots, and 19 counts, among many others, were lost as well.
This battle is clearly one of the most significant ones, as it allowed the Kingdom of Hungary to be established and ended the Hungarian conquest. You can read more about the battle HERE.
Battle of Augsburg
The battle that ended with huge Hungarian losses took place on August 10, 955, where German forces defeated the Hungarians near Augsburg.
A year prior to the battle, the son of Otto I, or Otto the Great, Liudolf, conspired against his father, along with his brother-in-law, and they requested help from the Hungarians. Otto I, however, stopped their rebellion before the Hungarians even passed the border. The next year, the Hungarians thought it was time for a new looting campaign, and they sent messengers to Otto I, telling him to pay them taxes, but he only sent presents in return, wrote Dívány.
The Hungarians stumbled into Bavaria in late July and decided to loot and capture Augsburg. The Hungarian forces had fewer than 25,000 people, and Otto I greatly overestimated it, thinking the Hungarian troops consisted of hundreds of thousands of people.
On August 8, the Hungarians started their siege of Augsburg, and the protectors of Augsburg managed to fight them off for three days, when Otto I finally got there, with eight thousand people, divided into eight legions.
When the Hungarians heard the king was on his way, they stopped the siege and went to the other side of the River Lech during the night.
Otto I had figured out the strengths and weaknesses of the Hungarians before they got to the field, and he knew they were not great at close-combat and that they were used to battles on prairies. The rain over the night also helped the Germans’ case, forcing the Hungarians to lower the nerves from their bows.
Although the Germans suffered serious casualties during the battle, it still ended with a decisive Hungarian loss. All three commanders of the Hungarian forces were captured and later executed in Regensburg.
Siege of Eger
Everyone has heard and learned about the Siege of Eger in school and from Géza Gárdonyi’s book, Egri csillagok. It is an emblem of patriotic heroism in Hungary.
The Siege happened during the Ottoman Wars in Europe, in 1552. Kara Ahmed Pasha led the Ottoman Empire to besiege the Castle of Eger, while István Dobó and the defenders of the castle heroically fought against them.
Before the Siege of Eger, two Christian forts fell in Temesvár and Szolnok, which were huge losses to the Hungarians, so when Ahmed and Ali joined their armies before going to Eger, many believed Eger to be a lost cause.
Eger played a key role in defending the remaining Hungarian land from the Turks. Next to Eger was Kassa, a city with important mines and silver and gold resources. Handing those resources over to the Turks would surely result in disaster, as it would allow them to alternate routes and logistics and expand even further west.
The castle was defended by only 2,100-2,300 people, compared to the Ottoman’s much larger army of about 35,000-40,000. The Turks had 16 siege cannons, 150 pieces of artillery, and 2,000 camels, used to transport wood to their site. The Hungarians only had six large and about 12 smaller cannons, around 300 trench guns, and little ammunition.
Despite the odds being stacked against them, the defenders repelled each and every attack the Ottoman army threw at them. Their storage tower exploded and resulted in significant structural damage to the fort, yet the enemy still could not infiltrate. The battle went on for 39 days, and the Ottomans eventually withdrew from the battle, humiliated.
Siege of Szigetvár
The reason behind the siege of the fortress of Szigetvár was that it blocked Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent’s way from reaching Vienna. Sultan Suleiman led his Ottoman army against the forces of the Habsburg Monarchy, which was led by Miklós Zrínyi.
The Siege of Szigetvár lasted over a month, from August 5 to September 8, 1566. It was both Zrínyi and Suleiman’s last battle; Zrínyi died during the last charge while Suleiman passed away of natural causes.
Both sides suffered huge casualties. The Ottomans lost 20,000 people during the attacks, while almost all of Zrínyi’s 2,300 people were killed. The last 600 men still standing were almost all killed on the final day of battle.
The battle may have been a victory for the Ottomans, but it still stopped their attempts to advance towards Vienna.
Cardinal Richelieu, a French statesman and clergyman, called the collision “the battle that saved (Western) civilisation,” because of its significance.
Read more about the battle that “saved civilisation” HERE.
Battle of Temesvár
The Battle of Temesvár was part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and took place on August 9, 1849. The Hungarian Revolutionary Army, with the help of some Polish and Italian volunteers and led by József Bem, fought against the Austrian Empire led by Julius Jacob con Haynau. The battle ended with an Austrian victory.
Despite the Hungarians having slightly more manpower, their people were inexperienced and did not have good equipment like the Austrians did. This Hungarian division was led by Henryk Dembiński, before he retreated to Szeged, just before Haynau’s arrival with his army. Dembiński was forced to step down as commander, and József Bem took over, arriving at the battlefield 11 hours after the battle had begun.
The Hungarians had 55,000 men and 120 cannons, while the Austrians had 90,000 men and 350 cannons. By the end, there were nearly 10,500 Hungarians and almost 4,500 Austrians dead or injured.
Haynau sent 12 cannons to attack the Hungarians, but Bem fought back with a cannon and six cavalry troops, forcing the Austrians to retreat. However, despite doing well and holding their ground at the beginning of the battle, the Hungarians used up munition quickly, and Bem was unaware that Dembiński had moved the munitions elsewhere. Haynau realised the Hungarians were out of munition and sent his army to attack, hoping reinforcements would arrive soon. Bem also fell from his horse at one point and got badly injured, and the Hungarians could not recover after that.
The battle ended in a victory for the Austrians, with many Hungarian losses and casualties, and Haynau captured around 6,000-7,000 men. It was clear after the Battle of Temesvár that the Hungarians could not win the revolution.
Read alsoThe Habsburgs’ rise ensured by Hungarian forces – the Battle on the Marchfeld was fought 741 years ago
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Orbán: End of hostilities between Hungarians and Serbs had been a significant step forward – Interview
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in an interview with Subotica (Szabadka) broadcaster Pannon RTV on Tuesday, urged ethnic Hungarians living in Serbia’s Vojvodina region (Délvidék or Vajdaság) to vote in the country’s elections this coming weekend.
The fate of Hungarians is influenced by all elections, including the one about to take place in Serbia, the prime minister said.
The composition of the government in Hungary has an effect on all Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin,
Orbán said, adding that it was also important for Hungarians beyond the border to elect the right leaders so that they could protect Hungarian interests. “So all elections are important,” Orbán said.
“One disadvantage Hungarians have is that we don’t have relatives; we’re a cultural and linguistic island in the middle of Europe,” the prime minister said. He added that his government’s mission was to preserve Hungarian culture.
As regards the elections in Serbia, Orbán said the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ) was the only ethnic Hungarian party that had the experience, history and prestige that could be taken seriously. VMSZ has what it takes to unify the Hungarian community, he said, adding that István Pásztor, the party’s leader, had kept all his promises and fulfilled his end of every agreement with the Hungarian government.
“So we have good reason to believe that as long as he’s the leader of the Hungarian community in Vojvodina, the relationship between the Hungarian government and Serbia’s Hungarian community will be based on trust,” the prime minister said.
Orbán also said the election will also have a fundamental impact on Hungarian-Serbian ties.
Because of the history between the two countries, Hungary and Serbia need goodwill, trust and friendship to see each other as friends and allies, he said, adding that Serbia’s current government agreed with these sentiments.
He said the end of hostilities between Hungarians and Serbs in Vojvodina had been a significant step forward for the two communities.
He added, at the same time, that there was more potential to establish more companies and create more wealth in the region.
The prime minister said it was important for Hungarians and Serbians to benefit from the good political relations between the two countries.
Budapest should not limit its focus to Vojvodina, he said, adding that it must consider all of Serbia. Accordingly, Hungarian capital must not stop at Vojvodina but should strive to create more and more Serbian-Hungarian joint ventures in all parts of the country, he said. “We need a strong Serbian economy because the stronger our neighbours, the more we will benefit.”
On another subject, Orbán said he believed
the European Union needed Serbia more than Serbia needed the EU.
He said that by having been the first EU member state to reopen its borders with Serbia, Hungary could also contribute to the country’s European integration. The prime minister said Serbia was of key importance to the EU in terms of security. “Europe’s security cannot be guaranteed without Serbia,” Orbán said.
Concerning the upgrade of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, Orbán said work along the Hungarian section was progressing a bit slower than it should.
He added that the two countries could use a few more similar projects that could prove that Serbians and Hungarians could work together. These would also prove to the EU that Serbia is capable of carrying out such projects and that it is important to involve the country in them, Orbán argued, adding that Hungary is in continuous talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic about the opportunities available, for instance, in the energy sector.
The prime minister also said that whereas before 2010, Hungary, as the motherland, had “acted as a stepmother, it now acts as a mother”.
He promised Vojvodina Hungarians that they could continue to count on Hungary as a “real motherland” in the future, as well.
Read alsoVast majority of Hungarians believe Trianon Treaty was ‘unjust, excessive’ – survey
Hungary, Romania to lift quarantine requirement for each other’s citizens
From Wednesday, Hungarian and Romanian nationals will be allowed to cross each other’s borders without being required to go into quarantine, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook.
The ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party has been urging the Hungarian government to reach a deal with Bucharest on lifting the requirement for Hungarians and Romanians to undergo quarantine after crossing each other’s borders,
Szijjártó said in a video message.
Talks on the matter were speeded up and an agreement was reached, the minister said.
He thanked RMDSZ and its leader, Hunor Kelemen, for keeping the issue on the agenda.
Baile Tusnad summer university set to be cancelled amid restrictions
The Bálványos Summer University and Student Camp in Baile Tusnad (Tusnádfürdő), in central Romania, looks set to be cancelled this year amid the situation around the novel coronavirus epidemic,
according to reports by commercial HírTV.
The event, which traditionally features a keynote address by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, is next expected to be organised in 2021, HírTV’s website said.
The event provides a forum for ethnic Hungarians to discuss political, economic, social and cultural issues with each other as well as the many visitors from the Carpathian Basin, the Hungarian government and neighbouring countries.
Read alsoDid this Hungarian man leave Romania because of police harassment?
Hungary expects more respect from Croatian politicians spreading fake news, says ministry
An official of the foreign ministry said Hungary expected more respect from Croatian politicians who had voiced baseless criticism and spread fake news about Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in recent days.
Tamáés Menczer, state secretary for communication and Hungary’s international image, said on the ministry’s Facebook page that Hungary had made a major contribution to the success of the Croatian economy, with 644,000 Hungarians spending 3.2 million guest nights there last year, Hungarian oil and gas company MOL “involved in the largest investment in Croatia” and the Hungarian Electricity Works MVM “about to buy 6.75 billion cubic metres of gas from the LNG terminal on Krk Island”.
“Considering the above, we expect more respect from Croatian politicians voicing baseless criticism and spreading fake news about Hungary,” he added.
Menczer said their behaviour was “especially difficult to understand at a time when consultations are under way about opening borders, an extremely important move for the Croatian tourism season”.
Orbán recently posted a video on Facebook showing a plaque on the newly inaugurated Trianon memorial in Sátoraljaújhely with the words “Fiume [Rijeka] – To the sea, Hungarians!”.
Some Croatian press reports have mistranslated it as “the Hungarian sea” and called the sign a provocation.
The Croatian foreign ministry said it expected an explanation from the Hungarian embassy in Zagreb.
Read alsoTrianon 100 – Orbán: Hungary winning again
Did this Hungarian man leave Romania because of police harassment?
Romanian police officers abused their power in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc) – Ferenc Bartalis, the former owner of a local car wash, says. He wrote his story on Facebook and published a video about what happened for which the police is now investigating. He states that one of the police officers said that he should speak in Romanian since he lives in Romania and gave the owner a 2,000 EUR fine because of which he had to leave the country to work abroad.
According to maszol.ro, the 46-year-old Ferenc Bartalis started his car wash in 2006 in Székelyudvarhely (Hargita county). However, because of the curfew implemented by the Romanian authorities, after the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, they did not have work for weeks. Therefore, all their reserves melted shortly.
Mr Bartalis kept his car wash open even during the epidemic since one or two cars per day showed up even then. That was not enough to have a profit but allowed him and his employees, at least, to buy food. One day, two police officers showed up and wanted to check the documents of his employees. Mr Bartalis gave the documents to the officers. After that, one of them started to complain and asked his two employees why the documents are not filled out correctly. Since she was talking in Romanian none of them understood her, so the officer changed to Hungarian. Hereafter Mr Bartalis jokingly said that she should have started with that language if she speaks it. And
this was the point when all hell broke loose.
The other officer shouted at him that since they live in Romania, they should speak Romanian. Mr Bartalis said that they would not like to continue their talk and asked them to leave. They did so but returned shortly with three cars to conduct a financial audit. They checked everything and finally imposed a 2,000 EUR fine because he did not have a sign in his car wash warning about the importance of distance keeping.
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Therefore, he had to leave Romania, and now he is working abroad. He took a video about what the police did and posted it on Facebook where he wrote his version of the story explained above. He got hundreds of comments,
even vulgar ones so he later deleted it.
However, local police started to investigate the issue because of insulting a public official and hate crime. They are summoning people who wrote comments under the video, and they wanted to ask questions even from Mr Bartalis, who was summoned as a witness.
The spokesman of the Hargita county police, Gheorghe Filip, denied Mr Bartalis’s version of the story highlighting that none of the police officers said that they should speak Romanian in Romania. Furthermore, he added that
both officers were Hungarian.
Interactive website to be launched about the social conditions of the Carpathian Basin
The interactive, bilingual, open-access electronic version of the National Atlas of Hungary: Society (e-MNA Society) will be published in Hungarian and English – www.nationalatlas.hu will present the current state of the entire Carpathian Basin’s social conditions. The website will be developed by the Eötvös Loránd Research Network’s Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences.
According to Nemzeti Atlasz, a national atlas can be defined as
“the given country’s ‘identity card’. […] It is usually a series of maps complemented with textual explanations and various illustrations, which show the given state’s natural, economic and social features through logically and proportionally constructed maps.”
The 02/2020 government decree on the Year of National Unity (Nemzeti Összetartozás Éve in Hungarian) awarded 280.7 million forints (802,000 €) to the project. The website is planned to be launched at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021, Hirado reported.
The digital national atlas covers the entire territory of the Carpathian Basin, its 17,660 settlements, and a total of nearly 40,000 settlements in the immediate vicinity of Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia. In terms of time, it presents the current and recent state of society (population, settlements, living conditions) and the processes of the last hundred years since Trianon. Nonetheless, some maps go back as far as the 16th century. Thematically, the project is divided into three large blocks, which represent the entire socio-geographical spectrum.
Read also100th anniversary of the Trianon Treaty: Csongrád County to be renamed
The topic of the Population block is about population history, population density, natural population movements, migration, population composition (gender, age, family, household, ethnicity, language, religion, education, and social division). The Settlement block examines the past of the settlement, the settlement stock, the cities, Budapest and its region, and the rural areas. The Living Conditions block presents the human characteristics, the living environment, the settlement environment, and the settlement infrastructure.
The presentation of each topic is based on a territorial breakdown (county, district, settlement) and takes into account both spatial and temporal dimensions. This method enables researchers to follow the changes that have taken place in the structure of society and in the social processes since the division of the formerly politically unified Carpathian Basin.
The creation of an interactive national atlas covering almost 18,000 settlements is an ambitious and unique endeavour.
Currently, researchers work on data processing, content development, creating a legal structure to protect intellectual property, and establishing the IT background.
