National Day

Special Labour Day festivals and celebrations in Budapest and in the countryside

May Day or Labour Day is a bank holiday in Hungary which completes the weekend into a 4-day-long holiday full of interesting programmes. In Hungary, parades, picnics and various festivals are organised on this occasion some of which already start during the weekend in Budapest and in the countryside. If you did not found any interesting programs for May Day yet, this article might give some ideas for a family outing since several Hungarian cities organise interesting festivals and celebrations during the long weekend.

If you still wonder where to spend May Day and whether to stay in the capital or rather visit the Hungarian countryside, then we provide a little assistance for you to facilitate your decision-making. Based on the article of Szuloklapja.hu, we offer 4 venues in Budapest and 4 in the countryside where enriching family programmes are organised on 1 May.

Free programmes in different Budapest venues

1. May Day in the City Park

The May Day programmes of the City Park are organised the 4th time this year, and similarly to previous years, the Vajdahunyad Castle gives a home to this event. The festival takes place between 28 April and 1 May and it provides cloudless relaxation and recreation for both children and adults. While in the morning, colourful children programmes, from bouncy castles to pony rides, await the visitors, stage performances with the most well-known Hungarian singers provide entertainment for adults in the afternoon. Meanwhile, do not forget to taste the gastronomical delicacies of the festival either! 🙂

/youtube/Budapest Városligeti Majális/

2. Retro May Day in Budafok (Campona)

Do you like travelling back in time and reminiscing about the past? If you feel like immersing yourself again in the era of spotted skirts and shirts and retro songs, visit the Campona shopping mall in Nagytétényi Street where this feeling is undoubtedly guaranteed on May Day. Besides arts and crafts exhibition, you can also enjoy the musical performance of one of our favourite chilhood cartoons, that of Panni Pöttyös, who makes us understand that there is nothing more important in life than family, love and home.

3. May Day in Erzsébetliget

This May Day celebration in Erzsébetliget also starts with some children programmes from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. when it gives place to a retro party and some operetta performances. Therefore, the festival proves that music styles can be easily combined even during one afternoon.

Then, in the evening, Feró Nagy and the Beatrice are going to perform and make visitors sing the well-known Hungarian hits.

Meanwhile, diverse programmes such as raffle, face painting and maypole dancing, accompany the stage performances in Erzsébetliget.

4. Fish May Day in Kőbánya

Are you a lover of the great Hungarian fish soup? Then, this festival is absolutely for you. All day long, fish soup is getting cooked in the framework of a fish soup cooking competition. This year, the organisers provide all the necessary equipment for the competitors including the outdoor fireplace, the firewood and the fish. Those who visit this festival will certainly not leave with an empty stomach. 🙂

Free programmes in the Hungarian countryside

1. May Day in Veszprém

The spring welcome festival of Veszprém offers various programmes throughout the day.

From a fishing competition to a dog show performed by the Veszprém County Search Rescue Service to a modern dance performance, there is a lot to discover and enjoy.

During the day, sightseeing flights are organised over the city that guarantee an unforgettable experience for the whole family. However, less adventurous families should not worry either because they can also enjoy themselves by participating in family competitions where the best competitors are awarded at the end of the day.

2. Spring Lantern and Boat Festival in Esztergom

The spring festival programmes organised in Esztergom already start with some afternoon and late night concerts on Sunday while the long-awaited exhibition of veteran cars and racing boats take place only on Monday along with the spectacular parade of lanters. Stage performances, a magnificent firework display and a vibrant fair including a number of stands will ensure the lively atmosphere.

Take a look at the video about the festival organised in 2017!

3. Pálinka and Mangalica Festival in Zalaegerszeg

This celebration has slowly become the biggest gastro-cultural event in Zala county attracting thousands of visitors every year. This is a 4-day-long free festival organised between 28 April and 1 May, which is enriched by the mangalica cooking competition, several concerts, the eye-catching procession of motorbikes and children programmes.

majális — /facebook/Pálinka és Mangalica Majális/

4. Street Art Show in Eger

Unlike any other festival, the spring festival of Eger lasts for 48 days and takes place between 15 March and 1 May. You should not worry if you have not had the opportunity yet to visit Eger since there are still lots of fascinating programmes, concerts and exhibitions awaiting festival-goers. Between 28 April and 1 May, the Hungarian wines and gastronomy are in the center of attention. This is the 6th time that the Egri Csillag Weekend is organised where the best vintners of Eger offer their amazing products along with other culinary delicacies, reports Egritavaszifesztival.hu.

No matter whether you stay in the capital or visit the Hungarian countryside, enriching cultural experiences await you and your family on May Day. Let’s get out the most of the long weekend and spend some time with your family in Hungary! 🙂

April 30, 2018

March 15 – US congressmen commemorate Kossuth in Capitol

Three US congressmen addressed a commemoration marking Hungary’s 1848/49 revolution and freedom fight in the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, on Thursday.

Addressing the event, Steve King, a congressman for Iowa who recently visited Hungary, noted the set of values shared by the United States and Hungary.

Both countries share values rooted in Jewish-Christian culture, respect the rule of law and love freedom “given to all by God”, the congressman said.

He called these the foundations that brought freedom to the world and added that Hungary is a “real golden currency”.

The co-chairs of Congress’s Hungarian-American Caucus, Andy Harris, representing Maryland, and Dennis Ross, representing Florida, noted their Hungarian roots.

Ross noted a visit to the US by Lajos Kossuth, Hungary’s regent-president during the revolution, after its crushing, in 1851-52.

He made reference to the “all for the people” speech Kossuth had given in Ohio about democracy which influenced Abraham Lincoln’s famed “for the people, by the people” speech given at Gettysburg in 1863.

At the ceremony, participants including Elisabeth Millard, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, and Hungarian Ambassador László Szabó, laid a wreath at the Kossuth Bust in the Capitol’s Rotunda.

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March 16, 2018

Two-Tailed Dog Party holds alternative Peace March

The satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party on Thursday held an alternative Peace March in Budapest, aping the official pro-government event. Marching from Oktogon in downtown Budapest, the party’s leader Gergely Kovács called for “the abolition of space relations” and “the censorship of freedom and the abolition of the press”.

Thousands of participants, many in costume, were accompanied by a police escort through central areas of the capital.

Signs such as “The stadium builders are happy” were held up mocking the government and its politicians. Referring to the prime minister, the crowd chanted “Viktor the King”.

Mocking the government’s attack on UN migration policy, they also announced that they would send a declaration of war to the United Nations.

Two-Tailed Dog Party holds alternative Peace March

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Photo: MTI

March 16, 2018

Students demonstrate for better education in Hungary

A huge students demonstration for the better education - PHOTOS from Budapest

Supporters of the Diák Vagyok (I am a student) movement staged a demonstration in Budapest on Thursday, demanding changes to the education system and involvement in decision-making.

Olivér Országh, spokesman for the Independent Student Parliament, said in his speech that his organisation had for years submitted proposals to the government to make courses more up to date and offer skills making graduates competitive in Europe.

“But what we see is that thousands of teachers have changed careers and thousands of students have dropped out of the system; those that stay will leave unprepared,” he added.

As we wrote few days ago, Eurostat’s latest data show that the number of graduates decreased in Hungary again in the last year. They examined how the percentage of the people having a degree changed in the age group 30 – 34. In fact, Hungary accepted that it would increase the graduates’ rate to at least 34%. Read more HERE.

Photo: MTI

March 16, 2018

Vona calls on Jobbik faithful to raise flag of freedom

Jobbik’s leader Gábor Vona, addressing his party’s commemoration of the March 15 national holiday, said he strove to deal with real problems facing Hungary such as security and democracy, a functioning health and social system, a modern education system, a just retirement system, the abolition of migration and fair wages.

Speaking ahead of the April 8 general election, Vona said he invited all well-intentioned, honest Hungarians “to raise a flag of freedom not a banner of fear and oppression”.

Referring to the government’s anti-migrant campaign, Vona said real security was not provided by billboards but by a dedicated border guard. Jobbik, he added, would not accept European Union migrant quotas.

He argued for a strong and just Europe, and “a real democracy with independent institutions and unsparing accountability”.

Vona also said Jobbik wanted a functioning health-care sytstem and social welfare with an autonomous health ministry and a separate education ministry fit for the 21st century. He also pledged a fair and flexible pension system in which both men and women can retire after 40 years of work. Further, he promised to tailor benefits to people’s need.

He promised an administration which respected public-sector workers and people in uniforms, and he vowed to save local councils. He also demanded justice for people holding foreign currency loans.

Vona pledged to stop emigration by offering policies tailored for young people and families focused on home-building and rental support.

Instead of handing out tax incentives to multinational companies, a Jobbik government would support increasing the productivity of domestic micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, he said.

The radical nationalist leader insisted that fear, bitterness, anger, and pain now dominated public life in Hungary. Rather than an external threat, Hungary was endangered by a “growing internal repression and madness”. Whereas in the past he felt the country had fallen back into the clasp of communism, today it is redolent of medieval feudalism, Vona said.

“The current lordships live in hunting lodges … though now they travel in helicopters and yachts,” he said.

Vona said he did not look at what separates but what connects. He declared that he would never fight Hungarians again, adding that “Ferenc Gyurcsány and Viktor Orbán created this kind of policy”.

At the event commemorating the 170th anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Habsburg revolution, the radical nationalist party’s 106 individual constituency candidates swore an oath of allegiance before a reproduction of the Holy Crown.

Photo: MTI

March 16, 2018

Political heroes of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849

These three men are only three examples of the many great Hungarian political minds of the 19th century. It goes without saying that each and every Hungarian person who fought in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-49 was a hero. The 15th of March will forever be a special day in Hungary.

Count Lajos Batthyány (1807-1849)

Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org by Barabás Miklós

He was born into one of the wealthiest families in the country on 10 February 1807. On 17 March 1848, he became Hungary’s Prime Minister appointed by Archduke Stephen, palatine of Hungary. He was ready to take drastic measures for the Hungarian constitutionalism but only within the boundaries of the law. He was the one who organised both the Hungarian militia and army.

During the revolution, he was encouraged to leave the country but he was never willing to do that.

He was arrested on 8 January 1849; then he was court-martialled. He was sentenced to death by hanging on 30 August 1849. He found the sentence to be humiliating and made his wife, Antónia Zichy, smuggle in a dagger for him. The day before his sentence, he attempted suicide with that dagger. He stabbed himself in the neck, but he remained alive. He could not be hanged due to the injury on his neck, so he was sentenced to die by a bullet. While he was being executed, he never let the guards cover his eyes.

Even though he was a politician and not a soldier, he was just as brave as the men on the battle fields.

Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894)

Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org by Prinzhofer

Even though he was born into a poor gentry family, he managed to become one of the best-known figures of Hungarian history.

He was a lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and Governor-President of the Kingdom of Hungary during the revolution of 1848–49.

In January 1841, he was the appointed editor of Pesti Hírlap, a new Liberal party newspaper. The government paid little attention to the Liberal party newspaper and considered it to be weak and powerless. However, Pesti Hírlap achieved unprecedented success. The paper managed to have more subscribers than any Hungarian paper before.

Lajos Kossuth then and there, laid the foundations for our modern Hungarian political journalism.

On 17 March 1848 Count Lajos Batthyány created the first Hungarian responsible government and became the Prime Minister. Lajos Kossuth was appointed as the Minister of Finance. He immediately began developing the internal resources of the country, he re-established a separate Hungarian coinage, and used every means to increase the Hungarian national self-consciousness. Towards the end of the revolution, Kossuth was appointed regent-president. When all hope seemed to be lost by the intervention of Russia, Kossuth abdicated in favour of Görgey who capitulated at Világos to the Russians, who handed over the Hungarian army to the Austrians. Kossuth left Hungary and died in Torino in 1894.

Count István Széchenyi (1791-1860)

Count István Széchenyi was born into the influential, noble and wealthy Széchenyi family on 21 September 1791. Széchenyi travelled extensively in Europe, visiting the leading countries of the continent such as France, England and Italy, and he studied their institutions. He established important personal connections.

Széchenyi became aware of the growing gap between the modern world and Hungary.

For the rest of his life, he was a determined reformer who promoted development in Hungary.

In 1825, Széchenyi donated his full annual income, 60,000 florins to establish the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

He also organised the Nemzeti Kaszinó [National Casino]. He concentrated on the development of transportation infrastructure, as he understood its importance for development and communication. During the revolution, he was appointed Minister of Public Works and Transport.

He supported the regulation of the Danube to improve navigation and to open it to commercial shipping and trade from Buda to the Black Sea. The river had been dangerous for ships and was not efficient as an international trading route. Széchenyi was the first to promote steamboats on the Danube. He was thinking about the merge of Buda and Pest to become the political, economic and cultural centre of Hungary. He supported the construction of the first permanent bridge between the two cities: the Chain Bridge. He had an a long-lasting battle with depression, and he committed on 8 April 1860.

March 16, 2018

March 15 – LMP calls for opposition cooperation

The prime ministerial candidate of the green LMP party has called for cooperation between opposition parties, noting the young revolutionaries of 1848 who “may not have all liked each other but were able to work together for a common cause”.

At a commemoration marking the 170th anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Habsburg revolution on Thursday, Bernadett Szél warned that the opposition would not win the upcoming election “unless there is the broadest possible cooperation between its parties”.

“Most voters want to see a change of government,” she said. “There is no need to threaten each other; everyone must sit down at the negotiating table where LMP is already sitting.”

Referring to the 1848 slogans “independence, sovereignty, and autonomy”, Szél said:

“We must recapture our independence from politicians who have gradually stripped us of it.”

Szél insisted that 1848 revolutionaries “would be even more critical” of the incumbent government, which “respects nothing: not independence, not freedom, not the people.” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “prefers his own power to the future of the country,” she said. “As soon as there’s no rule of law, anything can happen to anyone,” she added.

LMP co-leader Ákos Hadházy said the rulers in 1848 were mistaken when they thought that “Hungarians are stupid cowards who can only fight each other”. “Now the government thinks the same way.” “It will turn out in the next few days whether the opposition parties hate each other or the government more,” he said, adding he hoped that competing opposition candidates would withdraw in favour of those with the highest chance of winning.

Photo: MTI

March 15, 2018

6 facts you may not know about the 15th of March

Even though we commemorate the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849 on a yearly basis, there are many facts we do not (correctly) know about it. Funzine.hu collected six interesting points on this topic.

The bayonet that showed the way

Sándor Petőfi, the best-known figure of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849, was convinced by a bayonet that he fought for a good cause. While he was talking with Pál Vasvári, a politician, about the details of the revolution, Vasvári was gesturing so keenly that knocked Petőfi‘s bayonet from its case. The bayonet lodged into the door frame with its tip clearly showing the way to Wien.

There was no Pilvax Café

All of the history books state that the young revolutionists started their way from the Pilvax Café in the morning. The truth is, however, that the café house that János Fillinger owned was known as the Fillinger Café. The place was rebuilt, but there is a small commemorative plaque even today, indicating how important that location was during the revolution.

The disgraced Nemzeti Dal (National Song)

The National Song is a poem about patriotism. Its poet, Sándor Petőfi, read it out loud in front of the National Museum for the excited observers. The only problem was that there were cows led through this part of the city as part of the preparation for the József nameday-market. Additionally, the revolution was actually planned to be organised on the 19th of March. It was because revolutionists thought that it was easy to make the people at the market turn to their side and create a big crowd this way.

National Museum 1848 revolution — Photo: Wiki Commons

The ruined kokárda (cockade)

The tricoloured flag was born during the French revolution, and it was also the French revolutionists who put the cockades on their clothes first. Júlia Szendrey, the wife of Sándor Petőfi, was inspired by this movement. She sawed the Hungarian cockade for her husband, but she put the Hungaria national colours in the wrong order. Therefore, her cockade looked like as if it was for the Italian (green, white, and red instead of red, white, and green). Some historians believe that Júlis Szendrey might have made a tribute to the Italian revolution this way. Notably, the cockade was so popular that Pest-Buda ran out of the national coloured textiles in three days.

Photo: Wiki Commons by Khalai

Excitement at the printery

The revolutionists brought the 12 points, which contained the demands of the Hungarian people, to the Landerer and Heckenast Printery. That time, documents were allowed to be printed only, if there was a censorial stamp due to the censorship. Obviously, the revolutionists could not get that stamp for the 12 points, but Landerer stood by the revolution’s side. He told the youth there that if they occupy the printery, they can print everything. Just for the “show” to be perfect, he also got locked into his office for his own suggestion.

Lazy revolutionists

Pál Vasvári, the politician who threw the bayonet, was late from one of the protesting demonstrations. His unfortunate reason was that he was paying too much attention to the ladies on his way.

featured image: Wiki Commons By József Preiszler

March 15, 2018

Practical guide for 15 March with traffic restrictions and weather forecast

Between 14 March and 15 March, due to the commemorations organised for the anniversary of Hungary’s 1848 Revolution in different districts of Budapest, the Budapest Metropolitan Police informs locals that temporary traffic restrictions can be anticipated in the capital. Here is some practical information about 15 March focusing on districts affected by restrictions and the weather expected on this day.

Traffic closures and restrictions

As Police.hu declares, traffic restrictions can be expected on 15 March, and parking is forbidden in a number of streets in the capital from Tuesday until Friday evening.

1. Parking restrictions

Parking is forbidden in the following streets in the 5th district from 14 March 8 p.m. to 15 March 8 p.m.:

in Alkotmány Street from Kossuth Square to Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street
in Balassi Bálint Street between Kossuth Square and Balaton Street
on Széchenyi quay between Markó Street and Kossuth Square

As Marcius15.kormany.hu reports, on Kossuth Square, the hoisting of the national flag starts at 9 a.m. on 15 March in which János Áder, President of the Republic of Hungary, also participates. Then, at 2 p.m., Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is going to give a speech.

Meanwhile, family programmes welcome visitors to the castle district where traditional Hungarian specialities can be tried. However, among others, the Museum of Military History and the National Archives of Hungary also organise programmes for the visitors. On 16 March, the Holy Crown of Hungary can be visited in the Parliament.

Parking restrictions are in force in the 8th and 9th districts from 14 March 10 a.m. until 15 March 6 p.m. in the following streets:

on Museum Boulevard where diverse programmes welcome the visitors in the Hungarian National Museum from 10 a.m.
in Puskin Street
in Bródy Sándor Street
in Treffort Street
in Pollack Mihály Square
in Ötpacsirta Street and Reviczky Street

2. Total closures to transport

On 15 March, the Buda Castle district is closed to transportation due to the programmes taking place there. Closure can be also expected on Museum Boulevard between Kálvin Square and Astoria from 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. on 15 March. Between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m., Szentkirályi Street, along with Puskin Street, Museum Street, and Bródy Street are also closed to transportation.

3. Periodic and temporary closures

Kossuth Square, Alkotmány Street, Bajcsy-Zsiliszky Street, Károly Boulevard, Astoria and National Museum route is going to be closed to the traffic between 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on 15 March while traffic closure affects the National Museum, Astoria, Kossuth Lajos Street, Szabad Sajtó Street, 15 March Square, Jane Haining quay, Széchenyi István Square, the Chain Bridge, Clark Ádám Square, Hunyadi János Street and the Dísz Square route from 11:30 a.m. to 12 a.m. on 15 March.

The Budapest Metropolitan Police calls for the attention of people to ride more carefully in the affected areas.

On this map, you can check out the districts and streets involved in traffic closures.

blue – it is prohibited to park

orange – periodically and temporarily closed

red – closed

Weather forecast

Due to a cold front reaching Hungary on Tuesday, showers and rainstorms can be expected in the south-west of Hungary and in Tiszántúl. Due to the arriving front, the north-west wind is going to be dominant, but the average temperature is anticipated to be between 13-17 ℃ based on the weather forecast of Idokep.hu.

On 14 March, besides some sunny periods, clouds are expected to appear on the sky. Showers might occur in Transdanubia and in the northeastern region while bigger rainstorms can affect the southwest parts of Hungary. The temperature is going to be between 9-15 ℃.

On 15 March, more parts of Hungary are going be affected by rainstorms, and with the exception of the northeastern region heavy wind might also accompany the rain. The average temperature is going to be between 2-11 ℃ in Budapest. Therefore, dress in layers and do not forget to take an umbrella with you if you plan to participate in national commemorations!

Unfortunately, at the weekend, the windy and rainy trend continues. By Sunday, the temperature can drastically drop to -2-4 ℃ that is caused by a Mediterranean cyclone.

All in all, get ready for some changes expected from the middle of this week and have a nice long weekend! 🙂

Featured image: facebook/Énekeld a Himnuszt

March 15, 2018

Government relies on diaspora Hungarians, says deputy state secretary in Washington, DC

The government relies on Hungarian diasporas to fulfil its goals, deputy state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad Péter Szilágyi said after addressing an event commemorating the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising at the Hungarian embassy in Washington, DC on Monday local time.

Hungarians today want no more than they did in 1956: to be able to decide freely and independently about their future,

Szilagyi said. The Hungarian government supports minority communities’ right to self-determination, he added.

“We raise our voices at every possible forum against the Ukraine language law and Romanian efforts to close down a church school in Targu Mures/Marosvásárhely,” he said.

Szilágyi listed programmes that Hungary has launched to help diaspora Hungarians nurture their identity and added that from January 2018, a new scheme will be launched to support Hungarian Sunday schools abroad.

“The Hungarian government relies on Hungarians in America to fulfil its goals, and American Hungarians can also rely on the Hungarian government,” he said.

October 24, 2017

1956 – Transcarpathia Hungarians deserve special respect, says justice minister

It was Trancarpathia’s Hungarians who were most isolated from Hungary during the Soviet times, “and we owe them respect for preserving their self-identity and mother tongue under rather difficult circumstances”, the Hungarian justice minister said in Uzhhorod/Ungvár, in western Ukraine, on Monday.

László Trócsányi addressed a gathering in the local theatre that marked the 61st anniversary of Hungary’s ill-fated anti-Soviet uprising.

In 1956, Transcarpathia/Kárpátalja and Uzhhorod/Ungvár itself formed part of a country whose troops brought down the Hungarian revolution, he said.

Although today’s Transcarpathia region has belonged to various different states over the course of its history, its population has remained the same, the minister noted.

Speaking in the context of the endurance and thriving of Transcarpathia’s Hungarian community, Trócsányi emphasised the importance of the community’s right to education in their mother tongue without restriction.

“We firmly stand up for the Hungarian community’s right to the use of their language in education as has been enshrined in international treaties,” he said, making reference to the recently adopted Ukrainian education law.

Trócsányi earlier in the day met Hennadiy Moskal, governor of the Transcarpathia region, to discuss the contested new Ukrainian law.

He told MTI that he pointed out to Moskal that the new law violated several international accords ratified by Ukraine.

Trócsányi said he thanked the governor for supporting the Hungarian community.

During his visit, the minister laid a wreath at the city’s 1956 memorial.

October 24, 2017

1956 – LMP: Hungarians were born for freedom

Hungarians were born for freedom, Bernadett Szél, the green opposition LMP‘s candidate for prime minister, said at an event commemorating Hungary’s failed anti-Soviet uprising of 1956 in Debrecen, in eastern Hungary, on Monday.

“We can only reach our full potential and develop our strengths and creativity in freedom and independence, Szél said in her address in front of the Debrecen University’s main building.

She said Hungary was in need of “a new kind of politics” focused on the people.

Szél said there was a good chance that Hungary could “embark on a new era” in 2018.

Photo: MTI

October 24, 2017

1956 – Jobbik leader Vona calls for unity to oust government

Opposition Jobbik leader Gábor Vona called for unity among those who feel patriotic, consider themselves sober-minded and want an honest government to replace the current one, at his party’s commemoration of Hungary’s ill-fated anti-Soviet uprising of 1956 in Budapest on Monday.

“I no longer care about what separates us, but rather the things that bind us together,” Vona said, adding that there was a time when he had thought differently.

“Enough of this. I don’t care who is right wing or left wing. I don’t care who is moderate or radical. I don’t care who is conservative or liberal,” Jobbik’s candidate for prime minister said.

Vona said he and those who “live with a Hungarian heart, are sober-minded and want an honest government” were on the same side, because they agreed on the most important issues.

He said Hungary had to be protected from having to take in people of foreign cultures but also from the emigration of its youth. He called the former the “Soros plan” and the latter the “Orbán plan”, referring to US financier George Soros and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

He said

the “Vona plan” consisted of protecting Hungary from migration, ousting the Fidesz-led government and holding them accountable and lifting the country’s economy.

In order for Hungary to catch up with the West economically, it must take part in the debate on the future of the European Union and achieve a “wage union” within the bloc, he said.

Vona also called for reforming Hungary’s health-care and education systems.

Photo: MTI

October 23, 2017

1956 – Former PM Gyurcsány: Government ‘enemy’ of free Hungary

Ferenc Gyurcsány, leader of the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), called the government an “enemy of the civic, European and free Hungary” at a ceremony marking Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising in 1956 and the sixth anniversary of the founding of DK on Monday.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s “regime itself is a lie”, Gyurcsány insisted.

“Where the prime minister lies that there is democracy, there is tyranny;

when he protects pensions, he steals them; when he talks about Europe, he is looking for handouts,” he said.

He said that while 1956 united and divided Hungarians at the same time, the essence of the revolution were the dreams that spurred it on.

“Turning one’s back on the essence of 1956 is a serious mistake from a historical standpoint, while politically, it means siding with dictatorship instead of freedom,” the DK leader said.

He said today’s ruling Fidesz party had nothing in common with the liberal Fidesz party founded in 1988,

adding that DK had much more in common with the Fidesz of old.

As we wrote today, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had a speech at a state commemoration of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising of 1956 in front of Budapest’s House of Terror Museum on Monday.

Photo: MTI

October 23, 2017

1956 – Orbán: ‘If freedom is lost, so are we’

“If freedom and national independence are lost, then so are we,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a state commemoration of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising of 1956 in front of Budapest’s House of Terror Museum on Monday.

“Soviet rule tossed us into a space without history; it wanted to destroy our past and our culture,” Orbán said.

The prime minister said “national remembrance” was the “strongest weapon” that could prevent a repeat of the physical and intellectual terror Hungary was subjected to under Soviet rule.

Orbán said the House of Terror Museum which opened in 2002 was a reminder to the world that Hungarians’ desire for freedom could not be stifled.

Concerning the failed anti-Soviet revolution, Orbán said that western Europe “may have admired but could not understand” those developments.

“They failed to understand that we insist on our culture and way of life to the end, that we would not mix up in anybody else’s melting pot”. “We want them to respect who and what we are,” the prime minister went on to say.

“We are a brave and fighting nation, and know that those that are not respected will be despised,”

he said, and added that “they do not understand us in Brussels now because they could not understand Hungary in those days either”.

The prime minister also said that Europe had derailed to find itself heading towards a dead end, adding that the EU and many of the bloc’s member states “are being held hostage by a financial speculator empire”.

In the 20th century, trouble came in the form of “militant empires”, he said. Today, empires are rising in the shadow of globalisation, Orbán added.

“They have no borders, but have a global media network, as they also have tens of thousands of people paid to serve them. They act fast, they are strong and brutal,” the prime minister said.

“Now, three decades later, everything we consider the Hungarian way of life is under threat again,” he said.

“After achieving freedom in 1990, we have again come to a turning point in our country’s history,” Orbán said.

“What we want is a secure, fair, bourgeois, Christian, and free Europe,” the prime minister said.

Orbán said that all elections in Europe were now of “crucial” importance, and insisted that now was the time for Europe’s peoples to decide “if they take political control back over their national causes from European bureaucrats closely linked to the business elite”. “Many may still think that it is impossible,” he said, but added that in 1956, in 1988 and before 2010 people did not believe in the possibility of change, either.

In front of House of Terror Museum, photo: MTI

“We wanted to believe that the old woes could not return,” Orbán said. “We wanted to believe that the communists’ dream to turn us into Homo Sovieticus could never re-emerge.”

“But now we are stunned to see the forces of globalisation prying at the door working to mold us from Hungarians into Homo Brusselicus,” Orbán added.

On the subject of migration, the prime minister said that the “financial speculator empire” had brought the “invasion of new immigrants” onto Europe. It was they who had put together the plan to transform Europe into a “mixed continent”, he insisted.

Orbán said central Europe would be at the focus of the struggle for the future of Europe, arguing that this was a “migrant-free zone” within the continent.

“Until Brussels wins back its sovereignty, Europe’s steering wheel cannot be turned in the right direction,” he said.

Orbán said that all elections in Europe were now of “crucial” importance, and insisted that now was the time for Europe’s peoples to decide “if they take political control back over their national causes from European bureaucrats closely linked to business elites”. “Many may still think that it is impossible,” he said, but added that in 1956, in 1988 and before 2010 people did not believe in the possibility of change, either.

Orbán insisted that “migration can be stopped, globalisation can be kept under control, Brussels could be reined in and the plans of a financial speculator could be thwarted”, but added that central Europe’s “Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians, and Hungarians need to join together”.

“The stakes are high; we cannot take anything lightly,” Orbán said. “We must never underestimate the power of the dark side,” he added.

Concerning Hungary’s general election next spring, Orbán voiced confidence that his Fidesz party stood a good chance of winning the vote. He said, however, that “every voter will be needed” for an election victory.

Photo: MTI

October 23, 2017

1956 – Leftist parties mark anniversary of revolution

Members of opposition parties Democratic Coalition (DK), Socialists, Együtt, the Liberals, the Modern Hungary Movement (MoMa), Dialogue and Solidarity laid wreaths in commemoration of Hungary’s 1956 revolution at martyr Imre Nagy’s Budapest house on Monday.

Ágnes Kunhalmi of the Socialist Party said at the celebration that the current government “persecutes the freedom of opinion, controls the press and obstructs citizens’ initiatives and civil organisations”, which she said was reminiscent of a “very dark era of Hungarian history”, the Stalinist terror. “The real oppressors are not in Brussels but on government”, Kunhalmi said. They “appropriate public wealth, ruin education and Hungarians’ health by letting the health care system rot”, she said.

Speaking at a joint celebration with opposition Együtt, Dialogue Party leader Gergely Karácsony said in Budapest that the revolution was “not the cause of an ideology” but of the nation.

At times “when Hungarian politics have to be renewed”, it is important for the opposition to be able to cooperate and “embrace its multifaceted nature”, he said.

Egyutt’s Viktor Szigetvári said the opposition should accept all “competitors fighting for liberal democracy according to a credible set of values and for their base”. Együtt believes that “the Orbán government can be shaken and their re-election be hindered through clever opposition cooperation”.

As we wrote, Hungary’s national flag was hoisted in front of the Parliament building on this morning, in a state commemoration marking the 61th anniversary of the anti-Soviet uprising which started on October 23, 1956.

Photo: MTI

October 23, 2017

1956 – Flag hoisted at Hungarian Parliament – PHOTOS

Hungary’s national flag was hoisted in front of the Parliament building on Monday morning, in a state commemoration marking the 61th anniversary of the anti-Soviet uprising which started on October 23, 1956.

Hungarians rose up against the inhuman communist regime in October, 1956, and the country of 10 million people defeated the domineering Soviet Union of 200 million people for 13 days! If you never heard about the Hungarian revolution of 1956, than you can watch a video to learn about it.

The ceremony was attended by President János Áder, House Speaker László Kövér, members of government and diplomats.

Official commemorations of the revolution and freedom fight, quelled by Soviet troops which then occupied the country until 1989, will go on with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech at the House of Terror museum at 3 pm. Celebrations will be held nationwide and in Hungarian communities around the world.

Parts of the Parliament building will be open to visitors free of charge on Monday, including the central hall where the Hungarian royal crown is displayed.

You can read our programme guide for the 23rd fo October HERE.

Commemorations will also be held at the Rákoskeresztúr cemetery, in eastern Budapest, where the remains of executed revolutionaries were buried in unmarked graves in 1956.

Hungarian flag — Photo: Gergely Botár/kormany.hu

Photo: Gergely Botár/kormany.hu

Photo: MTI

October 23, 2017

That’s why 23rd October is so important for Hungarians – VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVdQ9PK9Q5o

October 23, 2017