demonstration

Agricultural chambers of V4, Latvia and Lithuania to hold joint demonstration on this week

The agricultural chambers of the four Visegrad Group countries will organise a demonstration together with their Latvian and Lithuanian peers on Feb 22 to call the public’s attention to their situation caused in large part by the unrestricted inflow of Ukrainian grain and food products, the head of the National Agricultural Chamber (NAK) said on Monday.

The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has gone nowhere over the past years and European farmers have been labelled “climate criminals”, with the term officially codified in community law, Balázs Győrffy told public news channel M1. He called the European Green Deal, a set of policy initiatives proposed by the European Commission, “an unprofessional and unfounded diktat”, adding that “in light of the recent farmer demonstrations, decision-makers are now backpedaling” which Győrffy said he believed “could be because of the upcoming EP elections”.

“The unlimited inflow of grain and food products, mainly poultry, egg and honey, from Ukraine makes the situation worse by creating uneven competition for European farmers and consumers also because they are not subject to strict EU regulations,” said Győrffy.

Speaking to public broadcaster Kossuth Radio, Győrffy said “farmers across Europe are in an uproar and have lost their patience”.

“What we can see is that the elite in Brussels absolutely ignores our opinion and does not listen to our problems”.

As we wrote earlier, Hungarian farmers protested against unlimited Ukrainian agricultural imports – details and PHOTOS

Also we wrote before, that GMO-contaminated Ukrainian seed was seized in Hungary, details HERE.

February 19, 2024

PHOTOS: Mass demonstration held in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square with 150 thousand partakers – UPDATED

Civil groups organised a demonstration in support of victims of child abuse and for “a healthy society” at Heroes’ Square in downtown Budapest on Friday evening.

The demonstration was organised by online content creators, saying they considered it important to speak out for the protection of victims, transparency, human decency and honest social dialogue.

Activist Márton Gulyás of the YouTube channel Partizán thanked those attending the demonstration for standing up for victims and a child protection reform.

Influencer Zsolt Osváth of the channel ZSHOW Time, who mentioned that he, too, had grown up in a children’s home, said he wanted to raise awareness of “systemic problems … of which the clemency case is just the tip of the iceberg”. He said an institute will never be able to fill the void left by the absence of a family, but the state had to do everything possible to mitigate that absence.

UPDATE 1

According to Szeretlek Magyarország, 50 thousand people took part on the demonstration. If that is true, it has been the largest protest since the demonstration for the abolishment of the Orbán cabinet’s so-called Internet tax proposal.

UPDATE 2

The organizers said in an Instagram post that there were at least 150 thousand people on the Heroes’ Square yesterday evening. Here is the post:

A bejegyzés megtekintése az Instagramon

Bántottak.hu (@bantottak) által megosztott bejegyzés

UPDATE – more speeches

YouTuber Márton Szabó asked what the government would do to make sure that children in institutional care grow up in humane conditions, to make sure they get a quality education, and to make sure they have somewhere to turn if they are abused.

Singer Azahriah (Attila Baukó) addressed the event in a video message, saying that the government “was using parents’ concern to incite against something, which is then converted into political gain”.

He called for improving the safety of children. “It’s time to wake up,” he said, calling for change through joining together.

People who abuse children should be “cut into pieces”

Digital content creator Orsi Tapasztó, who spoke as an adoptive parent, said some 7,000 children in Hungary were living in children’s homes, most of whom will never be taken in by a family. She thanked children’s home teachers for teaching children how to love and giving them back the ability to trust. She asked decision-makers to ensure that all children in institutional care can live in safety.

Influencer Eszter Fancsikai said she agreed with the prime minister that people who abuse children should be “cut into pieces”, but if she did that as a mother, it would be considered vigilante justice. That is why there is a need for real child protection and a well-functioning legal system, she added.

YouTuber Edina Pottyondy, former board member of the Momentum party, criticsed the absence of an independent investigation into the decision behind the president’s pardon. She said real child protection would be the improvement of education, the social and health-care sectors and child protection authorities. She called for a child protection law that protected victims.

“This demonstration won’t change the world, but it can change people’s mentality,” she said.

Read also:

Mass demonstration in Budapest downtown: traffic, public transport changes – Read more HERE

Here are some photos:

Mass protest in Budapest — Photo: Emma Kusnyerik/DNH

February 16, 2024

Mass demonstration in Budapest downtown: traffic, public transport changes

Hungarian influencers, YouTubers and, who is currently the most popular Hungarian singer, Azahriah, announced a mass demonstration on Budapest’s Heroes’ Square this evening to protest against President Novák’s pardon for a paedophile helper. The scandal resulted in the resignation of the president and the leader of Fidesz’s EP list, the former Justice Minister Judit Varga. Since the demonstration will be in downtown, traffic changes today in Budapest.

According to Blikk, a Hungarian tabloid, the demonstration and the arrival of the Chinese minister for public security will change traffic in Budapest’s 2nd, 5th, 6th and 14th districts.

The Hungarian influencers’ demonstration will start at 6 PM today on Heroes’ Square. In their joint statement, they said they were fed up and, regardless of political affiliations, as civilians, they would like to raise their voices for the protection of the victims, transparency and an honest social dialogue.

Due to the demonstration, there will be significant changes in Budapest’s traffic order. For example, it will be prohibited to stop on either side of Lendvay Street between the Rippl Rónai and Dózsa György streets, the Rippl Rónai Street between the Andrássy Avenue and the Szondi Street. Furthermore, you cannot stop today between 6 AM and 10 PM at the Széchenyi Square and the Pest Lower Wharf between Markó Street and the Margaret Bridge.

From 6 PM until 8 PM, the Heroes’ Square, the Kós Károly Promenade and the Zoo Promenade will be closed to traffic. Depending on the number of participants, the Dózsa György Street and the Andrássy Avenue may also become closed.

BKK will change the route of bus line 20E, which will not stop at Heroes’ Square. Services 30, 30A, 75, 79 and 230 will commute to Hermina Street on a different route. If the Andrássy Avenue is closed, buses 105 and 210 will also change their routes.

HERE is a map concerning the restrictions. Blue lines mean stopping is prohibited, and red line means the area will be closed to traffic.

There are street and square sections in Budapest where you cannot stop. HERE is another map collecting all those.

Read also:

February 16, 2024

Opposition wants answers from those ‘actually responsible’ for paedophile pardon

Anna Donáth, head of opposition Momentum, demanded answers from “those who are actually responsible” for the affair around a presidential pardon granted to the deputy director of a children’s home who was found complicit in child abuse, at a demonstration in Budapest on Wednesday.

In her speech at the demonstration in front of the Castle District premises of the Prime Minister’s Office, Donáth said “the system has failed from a moral standpoint”, accusing the government of ignoring the protection of children. She said no responsibility had been taken in connection with the presidential pardon, adding that what had been done “is a sin, rather than a mistake”.

She said demonstrations had to be held “until those actually responsible take responsibility” and until an explanation was given and the victims received an apology.

András Fekete-Győr, a Momentum lawmaker, said “Orban’s regime has fallen into a moral and political crisis”.

Fekete-Győr said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Chief Public Prosecutor Péter Polt were threatening him with prison “in a show trial”, adding that this did not discourage him, but confirmed that he was on “the right track”.

He said President Katalin Novak and former justice minister Judit Varga had both resigned “but didn’t take responsibility”. “They didn’t make a sincere apology or reveal who was involved in this obscenity,” Fekete-Győr said, adding that their resignation was “but a moral minimum”.

Independent MP Ákos Hadházy, Péter Juhász, a mayoral candidate for Budapest’s 5th district backed by Momentum, and Momentum lawmaker Dávid Bedő also attended the protest.

Read also:

February 15, 2024

Protesters call for Viktor Orbán’s resignation amid paedophile scandal

On Wednesday evening at 6 PM, several hundred protesters gathered in Buda Castle, on the square in front of the Carmelite Monastery, to demand the resignation of Viktor Orbán and Antal Rogán, the head of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office. The demonstration was announced by the Momentum Movement after the scandal involving the (former) President of the Republic Katalin Novák and former Justice Minister Judit Varga.

Demonstration against Orbán and Rogán

“The resignations of Katalin Novák and Judit Varga are just the beginning. The paedophile pardon case and the information leaked since then or shared by Judit Varga’s ex-husband are proof of the moral failure of the system. The ultimate culprit is Viktor Orbán, the absolute master of the system, and Antal Rogán, the propaganda minister of the system, who lives by mafia methods”, Momentum wrote in the Facebook event of the protest.

Before the demonstration, the organisers played excerpts from the interview with Péter Magyar, Judit Varga’s ex-husband, Telex reports. They repeated many times the parts about Rogán, his role in the system, how the communication machine he controls works, and how Magyar thinks he should “go” from public life.

Links to the Orbán family

The first speaker was András Fekete-Győr, MP of Momentum. He said, “Orbán’s regime has fallen into an ethical, moral and political crisis.” According to Fekete-Győr, there is a justified public outcry in Hungary, as those in power fear that the system will collapse on them and their vices will be exposed.

“That’s why Orbán is keeping quiet about the paedophile scandal, which has thousands of links to his family,”

he said.

According to Fekete-Győr, Orbán must clarify who gave the order to grant the pardon. He recalled that the lawyer of the Orbán family was the one who defended Endre K. “I wonder what the prime minister knows that makes him go into hiding. What kind of state does this to the children in its care?”, he asked, rhetorically.

The second speaker is Péter Juhász. Juhász called on Antal Rogán to think about the situation of children in state care and the victims of sexual crimes. At the end of his speech, Juhász called on Rogán to “resign and get out of public life”.

The importance of independent press

Ákos Hadházy, independent Member of Parliament for Zugló, addressed those who serve the system in some way, but are gnawing at their conscience. According to Hadházy, they should not wait for the system to collapse, because then they can look their children and grandchildren in the eye. He believes that now is the opportunity.

Hadházy said that in the past few days, even the Fidesz regime, which was thought to be unshakable, could be put under pressure. “It is important that this pressure was put on the regime by the remaining independent press,” he said.

Anna Donáth, the president of Momentum, said that she believes that the authorities are doing everything they can to prevent us from talking about what happened, about the pedophile crimes and how this system is saving anyone it cares about and pushing the vulnerable to the wayside. “And there is no accountability,” she said.

Read also:

February 14, 2024

Hungarian farmers protested against unlimited Ukrainian agricultural imports – PHOTOS

Some 1,000 farmers protested on Friday near the Hungary-Ukraine border crossing at Záhony against the European Commission’s proposal to extend the unlimited imports of Ukrainian agricultural products by one year.

The protesters lined up hundreds of tractors and trucks along a 5km section of the road leading to the border station on both lanes blocking regular traffic. They put Hungarian flags on their vehicles and held up at the Záhony crossing banners with slogans criticising Brussels and the EC and expressing support for Hungarian agriculture.

István Jakab, the head of farmers’ association Magosz, said that “incompetent people” in Brussels were destroying Europe’s agricultural sector and the European people. He noted a similar demonstration staged against EU regulations by Hungarian farmers last September to protect the 5 million hectares of the country’s arable land.

Jakab said European farmers could not compete with Ukraine’s large producers and their off-shore registered foreign owners and investors “who want to put their hands on large sizes of arable land in Ukraine with Brussels’ help”. “And they want to first weaken and finally put their hands on the European market,” he added.

Balázs Győrffy, the head of the National Agricultural Chamber (NAK), called the EC’s proposal “absurd”, adding that “Brussels cannot force such a regulation onto Hungarian and other farmers in Europe”.

Read also:

PM Orbán meets farmers protesting in Brussels – Read more HERE

Here are some photos:

February 10, 2024

Mass protest in Budapest: 74 percent of Hungarians believe President Novák should resign

Protesters held a demonstration in Budapest on Friday, demanding the resignation of president Katalin Novák and former justice minister Judit Varga’s withdrawal from public life.

President, minister “faces of disgrace”

The demonstrators gathered in front of the interior ministry to protest against Novák’s presidential pardon granted to a former deputy head of a children’s home in Bicske, near Budapest, who was convicted of being an accomplice in paedophile crimes.

Addressing the demonstration organised by the National Common Will group, Edit Simkó, a teacher, stressed that “we don’t hurt, humiliate or blackmail children”. She said Novák and Varga had pardoned someone “who harmed those who were the most vulnerable”.

“The veil of propaganda has fallen, and the regime’s vile morality and false faith have been exposed,” she said.

“And Katalin Novák and Judit Varga were the faces of this disgrace, and they did all this as mothers.”

Gergő Kiss, a leading member of the Unified Student Front, said Interior Minister Sándor Pinter and investigators “still have work to do” in connection with the affair. He said the state “failed children in several ways” and should at least provide compensation.

The protesters later marched across Chain Bridge to the presidential Sándor Palace for a demonstration organised by opposition Momentum.

Opposition leaders in the protest

The demonstration in front of the ministry was attended by several left-wing politicians, including Socialist Party deputy leader Gábor Harangozó and co-leader Ágnes Kunhalmi, independent MEP István Ujhelyi, Párbeszéd’s Márta V Naszályi, the mayor of Budapest’s 1st district, Párbeszéd group leader Bence Tordai and co-leaders Tímea Szabó and Rebeka Szabó, LMP deputy group leader Antal Csárdi, Democratic Coalition deputy leaders László Varju and Ágnes Vadai, deputy group leader Gergely Arató and Gyula Molnár.

At the protest in front of Sándor Palace, Momentum lawmaker Anna Orosz said Novák’s pardon had been an insult to the victims in the case. “It called into question our faith in a just world and the fundamental principle that we never harm children,” she added.

Orosz said they were protesting because the deputy director was pardoned after “sitting idly by for years as children were sexually abused”. The presidential pardon, she said, meant that he could now go back to being a teacher.

The majority of the victims live in difficult circumstances, but had the courage to speak out about what had happened to them, Orosz said. “And just as they were about to crawl out of the pit, they were pushed back in,” she added. “We’re here for the victims, to show solidarity with them.”

74 percent of Hungarians believe Novák should resign

Párbeszéd lawmaker András Jámbor cited a survey that had found that 74 percent of Hungarians believe Novak should resign. He said what had happened at the children’s home was unforgiveable, and ruling Fidesz’s politicians “should have said so”.

Jámbor said he was “sorry and ashamed” over what had happened, calling for “safety, a future and justice for children”.

He said his party will submit a proposal to parliament on strengthening child protection.

Rita Antoni, head of the Association for Women, said it was not just Novák and Varga who should take responsibility in the matter, but everyone who had failed to try to prevent it.

Varga and Novák are accomplices, says a Momentum post:

Attila Pető, a victim of sexual abuse by a priest, said Novák and Varga had “forgot to apologise to the victims”, and called on them to do so.

DK to initiate criminalising complicity in paedophile crime in European law

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) will turn to the European Commission initiating that any instance of assisting a paedophile crime should be defined as a crime in European law, an MEP of the party said on Friday. DK wants a term meted out to any accomplice [in a paedophile crime] as serious as the term handed to the perpetrator of the crime itself, Klára Dobrev told an online press conference.

She called for strong guarantees preventing the release of any perpetrator who has been convicted of the sexual abuse of minors, adding that such offenders should also be prevented from going back to work with children.

Read also:

DETAILS: PM Orbán submitted anti-paedophile constitutional amendment
President Novák flew to the Middle East amid biggest pedophile scandal in Hungary: will she resign?

February 9, 2024

Budapest police ban demonstration citing public safety

The Budapest police (BRFK) have banned a demonstration regarding the armed conflict between the Hamas terrorist organisation and Israel, BRFK said on the website police.hu on Wednesday.

A private individual has submitted a request to hold a demonstration in Budapest’s 2nd district on 22 November, it said.

Similar events have recently turned into violence in many cities in Europe and elsewhere in the world, and it can be assumed that such a demonstration in Hungary could pose a danger to public order and safety, BRFK said, citing the law on the right of assembly.

BRFK added that attending a banned event would result in sanctions.

Budapest police banned several demonstrations last month since the outbreak of the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Related articles:

November 8, 2023

Large crowd gathered at the anti-government demonstration in Budapest

Civil organisations and teacher and student movements held a protest demanding freedom in education in Budapest on Monday.

The protesters gathered in Heroes’ Square and also demanded higher wages for teachers before marching in streets around Andrassy Street and down to Oktogon.

The demonstrators waving national, European Union and Ukrainian flags stopped outside Kölcsey Ferenc High School, from which five teachers were forced to quit their jobs last September. Here, Bence Tóth related how he left public education after discovering that his colleagues had been sacked.

He insisted that the government was uninterested in finding a solution to problems afflicting public education, adding that Sándor Pintér, the minister of interior who is also responsible for education, had conceded that he did not understand the sector.

On the way to Oktogon, the marchers stopped in front of the Russian embassy building and tied ribbons in the national colours on the embassy fence.

Karácsony: ‘We won’t compromise on Hungary becoming a republic’

Addressing a demonstration on the anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 uprising in downtown Budapest on Monday, Gergely Karácsony, the city’s mayor, said: “We won’t compromise on our country one day becoming a republic, the common home of free and equal citizens.”

At the event held at Oktogon, Karácsony vowed to form an alliance of the opposition parties in Budapest for next year’s local elections.

“October 23 is the celebration of the republic, of the republic born out of the revolution of 1956, of the Third Hungarian Republic established on October 23, 1989, and of the Fourth Republic we carry in our hearts,” Karácsony said.

“Living in a republic means striving to treat each other well,” the mayor said, adding this was the kind of homeland the heroes of 1956 had wanted.

As we wrote before, the Tanítanék Movement was awarded EP’s European Citizens Prize, details HERE.

As we wrote today, Orbán: ‘Moscow a tragedy; Brussels bad contemporary parody’ – UPDATE

October 23, 2023

Hungarian police do not allow a demonstration in support of Hamas in Budapest

The Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) said on Friday that demonstrating in support of a terrorist organisation was not permitted, and Budapest police will not allow a rally in support of Hamas to take place in the capital today.

A statement on the police.hu website notes that a private individual announced the intention of holding a rally in Budapest’s 2nd district in connection with the war between Israel and Hamas.

The police said the rally was prompted by a call by “the terrorist organisation” on its followers around the world to “demonstrate anger”.

The 2018 law on the right of assembly, it said, prohibited holding any assembly that directly imperilled public safety, and punitive action would be taken against anyone taking part in a prohibited assembly.

As we wrote today, Hungarians evacuated from Israel, details HERE.

Read more news about Israeli–Palestinian conflict

October 13, 2023

Minister: multinational big capital would like to conquer Hungarian market

The leaders of the European Union are not protecting the EU’s interests, István Nagy, the agriculture minister, told public radio on Sunday. “We are witnessing multinational big capital’s move to acquire new markets,” he said.

Commenting on the Hungarian government’s decision to maintain and expand the ban on Ukrainian grain produce on its own authority, Nagy said in the interview that the European Union was protecting “so-called Ukrainian farmers” who were “in fact US, Saudi and Dutch companies and investors”.

Hungary proposed that the EU set up a transit fee fund to support land transport of Ukrainian grain produce so that it may be transported to Arfica and the Arab Peninsula from Croatian and Nordic free ports, he noted. The EU ban expired on Sept 15, and the EC decided against prolonging it, saying that the measures taken since May had eliminated market distortions in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, the beneficiaries of the ban. Contrary to those statements, the European markets still suffer from a glut, he said. Meanwhile, the decision to lift the ban emerged after talks between EC President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, rather than consultations with the ministers of the countries in question, he said.

Hungary’s decision to expand the ban to rapeseed, sunflower seed, flour, cooking oil, honey, eggs and certain meats was a “very brave and tough decision” since such decisions are not normally within the power of member states, he said. Slovakia and Poland joined the decision and Romania is also expected to, while Bulgaria demurred, he added. Meanwhile, Janos Csak, the culture and innovation minister, also gave an interview to public radio on Sunday, and said families raising children today would be key to “ensure pensions for future generations”.

Hungarian farmers’ protest at border station

Hundreds of farmers protested on Sunday near the Hungary-Ukraine border crossing at Zahony against the European Commission decision to drop the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain.

Around 400 protesters marched and drove tractors along the road leading to the border station on one lane.

Head of the Magosz Hungarian farmer union alliance István Jakab, which mounted the protest jointly with the national agricultural chamber, said Hungarian farmers found the commission’s decision not to extend the import ban “unacceptable”, and he praised the Hungarian government for prolonging the ban on grain and extending it to other agricultural produce on its own authority. Magosz has written an open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, asking for an EC decision made on a professional basis and according to professional criteria, he noted.

Read also:

Slovakia may close the Hungarian–Slovakian border next Tuesday

September 17, 2023

PHOTOS: Huge demonstration held in Budapest

Huge demonstration for the education in Budapest

The students organisation dubbed United Student Front and other organisations staged a demonstration against the new law on teachers’ career paths on Friday evening.

The protesters gathered at Margaret Bridge and moved to Kossuth Lajos Square near Parliament where a stage had been set up and they placed the flag of the teachers’ trade union PDSZ there. Several opposition politicians and activists joined the protest, including Bence Tordai of Párbeszéd, Ágnes Kunhalmi of the Socialists, independent MP Ákos Hadházy and student activist Lili Pankotai. Here are Hadházy’s photos:

And Ágnes Kunhalmi’s:

Activist of the Tanítanék (I want to teach) movement Katalin Törley said they had experienced “oppression” and “revenge by way of the law on teachers”. Protests held in the past procuded hardly any results, except the joining of forces between teachers, students and parents and the international attention attracted, she added.

PDSZ national board member Zoltán Szendrei announced at the event that he would leave the teaching profession as a result of the low wages and demanded wage increase and the reduction of work burdens for those that remain teachers. He called for increased budget allocation on education and an independent ministry run by a competent person. At the end of the protest, the participants marched to the Chain Bridge to join a climate protection protest organised by the Fridays for Future movement.

Minister hopes for fundamental changes in teachers’ wages

The head of the Prime Minister’s Office expressed hope on Friday that teachers’ wages will undergo radical changes in the next 18 months or two years. Gergely Gulyás told a year-opening event of Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) in Szekszard, in southern Hungary, that teachers should receive wages that reflect the importance of their work.

“I think we are closer to this than anybody would think and a breakthrough may occur within months, resulting in significant wage increases,” he said. Over the past decade, a record number of schools were revamped, the number of places in creches increased to 62,000, and many kindergartens underwent a revamp, he said.

September 16, 2023

Demonstration held in the heart of Budapest for Hungarian teachers

A demonstration organised by civil groups and trade unions was held for changes in Hungarian public education at the square in front of Parliament on Friday evening, on the first day of the school year.

At the event at Kossuth Square, representatives of the United Student Front (EDF), the Civil Basis and the Democratic Trade Union of Teachers (PDSZ) cited “serious problems” in Hungarian public education and called for an education policy reform which they said required a cooperation of civil groups and trade unions.

A representative of EDF called for a new national curriculum to create opportunities for students across the board and for abolishing central control over teachers.

Civil servants union MKKSZ leader Erzsébet Boros urged civil groups and trade unions to join forces and press for collective rights and a “real strike law”.

PDSZ deputy president Tünde Tóth called for immediate measures to remedy the shortage of teachers.

The participating organisations announced a joint solidarity platform dubbed National Common Will (OKA) which demanded a 50 percent immediate payrise for teachers and retaining their right to strike, reforming the national curriculum and scrapping the new law on teachers’ status.

The event was held in preparation for a nationwide demonstration planned for September 15.

Demonstrators at Budapest embassy protested with joint prayer and Bible reading

Demonstrators at the embassy of Finland in Budapest expressed support for Paivi Rasanen, a former minister of the interior, who has been accused of incitement against a minority group.

The demonstration was organised in support of the Christian Democrat politician by Sára Kulifai, a foreign affairs editor at the weekly Hetek. She said Rasanen had been subjected to a trial and accused of incitement after criticising the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s official participation in LGBT Pride celebration events. Rasanen was found not guilty by a district court in March this year but the Finnish prosecutor’s office has submitted an appeal.

Read also:

BREAKING: Hungary’s Parliament ratifies Finland’s NATO bid

Brazilian embassy organises photo exhibitions in Veszprém

Two photo exhibitions organised by the Brazilian embassy in Budapest, will open in Veszprém, in western Hungary, on Friday. One of the displays, dubbed Photo exhibition about Brazil, will offer a selection of works by Kurt Klagsbrunn (1918-2005), an Austrian Jew who emigrated to Brazil during the second world war, where he “found shelter and a new homeland”, organisers told MTI on Tuesday.

The second exhibition, entitled The heritage of exiles (1933-1945) will highlight the life of people that fled Europe for Brazil, focusing on 38 refugees with outstanding achievements in the areas of music, photography, literature, theatre, economics, science, and sports. The exhibitions will be opened by Brazilian Ambassador Susan Kleebank.

Read also:

Hungarian court approves ‘Brazilian Escobar’s’ extradition

August 29, 2023

Despite ongoing protests, Hungarian parliament passes new education law

Hungarian government parliament crisis Hungarian House Speaker

Parliament voted by 134 votes in favour, 60 against and no abstentions on the parts of the bill requiring a qualified majority, and by 136 votes in favour, 58 against and no abstentions on the parts requiring a simple majority, so the new “career-path” law will enter into force on 1 January 2024.

Teachers will be transferred from the public servant status to public education employee status, while a new number of weekly classes and a performance-based system of salaries will be introduced. Employers must inform teachers about the changes by 15 September, and teachers will have until 29 September to decide whether to accept it. The law will come into force next year.

In the future, the education district centre will have the right to transfer teachers to a different location within the district if the commute by public transport does not exceed three hours. Monthly salaries for teachers will be set in four bands depending on grading, with the lowest band ranging from HUF 410,000 (EUR 1,100) to 1,065,000 and the highest from HUF 640,000 (EUR 1,709) to 1,470,000 (3,925).

The interior ministry said that the new law would boost the average teacher wage to HUF 800,000 by 2025, while their maximum classroom time would change from 22-26 to a fixed 24 hours a week. Paid holidays will increase from 46 days to 50 days, or 10 weeks, and their administrative burdens will be reduced, it added.

“These are the facts, despite the fake news generated by the left wing, their actions and protests ending in violence during the preparation and approval of the law,” the ministry said. “The preparation, submission and approval of the law was preceded by comprehensive social and professional coordination,” it added.

The significant salary increase for teachers can continue once Brussels transfers the resources allocated to Hungary, the ministry said. “The left-wing politicians actions connected to the law have been hypocritical: demanding a wage increase for teachers at home while they work for monthly HUF 5-6 million in Brussels in order to prevent teachers from making HUF 800,000,” it added.

Months of protests against the new law

Professional and advocacy organisations have been protesting against the introduction of the law for months, Telex reports. After the draft was published, students, teachers and parents joined several protests to call for its withdrawal. The draft law was originally dubbed the “revenge law” because critics say the government is out for revenge by removing the status of public servants from teachers, making strikes impossible and banning freedom of expression.

Teachers will be informed before the entry into force that their status as a public servant will be terminated and will have to declare whether they wish to transfer to the status of public education employee. So far, nearly 5,000 have indicated that they will resign if the status law is introduced. Those who do not sign the new status will no longer be allowed to work as teachers.

According to the trade unions, the status law does not include their original strike demands: for example, an immediate, large pay rise and a reduction in the workload. They also criticised the lack of meaningful, professional consultation before the law was passed. For example, Olivér Pilz, a member of the Tanítanék Movement, said at a discussion on the problems of public education: “The new status law only exacerbates the workload of teachers, covering up the shortage of teachers by substitutions. This law will drive teachers to their death, they are in a very bad psychological state”.

“What is needed is not a new status law, including a reduction in the autonomy of education workers, but education reforms based on broad social consultation,” the Democratic Trade Union of Teachers (Pedagógusok Demokratikus Szakszervezete, PDSZ) said in a statement earlier.

July 4, 2023

PHOTO: Hollywood star, Breaking Bad’s Hank Shrader is in Budapest!

Hank Shrader in Budapest Hollywood celebrity

Recently, many Hollywood celebrities have been spotted in Hungary thanks to the country’s leading role in movie making. Among others, Breaking Bad’s Hank Shrader (Dean Norris) is also in Budapest, and he decided to partake in a protest to raise teachers’ pay in Hungary.

András Fekete-Győr, Momentum’s previous chairman, posted a photo on his social media page of Norris joining the demonstration in Budapest. The Hollywood actor is of Hungarian origins and is now vacationing in the capital with his kids.

“Visiting land of my grandfather”, he wrote on his Twitter on 16 June. The celebrity also shared four photos. One depicts his grandfather while another one shows his family gorging on traditional dishes like gulyás soup and chicken paprikash in a Hungarian restaurant. The third one is a selfie in front of the illustrious Hungarian parliament. Meanwhile, the fourth was taken of his son sporting a turul tattoo in front of Buda Castle’s turul monument. Turul was the traditional symbol of the Hungarian tribes conquering the Carpathian Basin in 896.

Visiting land of my grandfather #Hungary #Immigrants pic.twitter.com/8TzGN2OMLb

— Dean Norris (@deanjnorris) June 16, 2023

However, it seems the Hollywood star is not only keen to take part in a sightseeing tour, but he also digs deep into Hungary’s social and economic problems. One of the highly-debated issues right now is the dramatically low wages of Hungarian teachers. Opposition and teacher trade unions say the government’s new education law modification makes life even more difficult for people in this profession. Therefore, they organised a demonstration parallel with the parliamentary debate of the bill on Kossuth Square, in front of the parliament.

Hollywood actor spotted at the teachers’ demonstration in Budapest

And Dean Norris was also there. He is not the first Hollywood actor to partake in a Hungarian demonstration. The last time Eddie Redmayne did so as well. Norris snapped a selfie with Momentum’s former chairman, András Fekete-Győr.

Fekete-Győr wrote in the caption that he gave a quick Hungarian political crash course, and Norris expressed his support for their struggle. Below you can have a look:

Protest held at Parliament against law on teachers’ career paths

Protesters including students and teachers staged a demonstration in front of Parliament against the new law on teachers’ career paths on Friday evening. As lawmakers debated the amendment proposal, representatives of teacher and student organisations and unions told the protesters in Budapest’s Kossuth Square that the bill would set Hungary’s education system back decades and destroy the country’s future.

Speakers at the demonstration organised by the Tanítanék (I want to teach) movement and the United Student Front said that the proposal severely curbed the rights of teachers and students and caused irreversible damage. They lamented that teachers had not been asked for their input during the drafting of the law and accused the government of lying about consultations having taken place. The demonstration was also addressed by representatives of the opposition parties.

Ágnes Kunhalmi, co-leader of the Socialists, argued that while the ruling parties accused the opposition of lying, it was the Fidesz and Christian Democrat MPs who had been dishonest during the debate in Parliament. Balázs Barkóczi of the Democratic Coalition criticised the prime minister for “pointing the finger at Brussels when he should be raising teachers’ wages”. Jobbik-Conservatives MP Balázs Ander said the government was “dismantling” the knowledge of Hungary’s youth and turning them into “wage slaves”. LMP deputy group leader Máté Kanász-Nagy said the “lies that Brussels should be financing teachers’ wage hikes and that the new law would give the education system more freedom” had been “exposed”. Párbeszéd group leader Tímea Szabó called it “shameful” that the parliament was debating the “revenge law” behind closed doors. András Ferenc Dukán, a maths teacher representing Momentum, said the government “has no qualms about destroying our students, teachers and the country’s future”.

June 18, 2023

Oscar-winning actor appeared at student protest in Budapest

Hundreds of people gathered in Budapest on Monday to stand up for public education workers on Teachers’ Day. The surprise guest at the demonstration was British actor Eddie Redmayne. The Oscar-winning artist has previously starred in films such as The Pillars of the Earth, The Theory of Everything and Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them.

On Monday afternoon, the Adom Student Movement organised a Teachers’ Day exhibition in Budapest. The protesters gathered on Oktogon and marched to the Ministry of Interior. We reported on this in detail HERE.

The Hungarian tabloid Blikk discovered that an Oscar-winning actor, Eddie Redmayne, also turned up at the protest.

The tabloid reports that Redmayne was presumably unaware that he was taking part in a protest. However, the photos suggest that he was happy to take selfies with the students present. Check out the pictures of Redmayne happily posing for selfies with people at the bottom of THIS article.

Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar in 2015 for his performance in The Theory of Everything. The actor is currently filming a series based on the Frederick Forsyth novel Day of the Jackal in Budapest. Redmayne is rumoured to play the title character Jackal, who plots to assassinate the French president in the book, Index writes.

Recently Joe Alwyn, Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch have also been to Budapest. Read about how Johnny Depp wanted to have dinner in Budapest but couldn’t get a table HERE. If you’re interested what Benedict Cumberbatch thought about Hungarian flavours, read THIS article.

June 6, 2023