Our articles in the magazine

Hungary-Slovakia: 'Schengen won’t make my life better'

by Nóra Farkas

To get to the Slovakian border in the poor industrial city of Sátoraljaújhely, northern Hungary, you need to cross the street. It starts in Hungary, and ends in Slovakia. 'I'm gonna ride my bike up and down all week!' exclaims eight-year-old Sándor Pintér. His father István has more mixed emotions about Hungary and Slovakia's entrance in the Schengen zone from 21 December 2007.

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International Roma Day: Aladár Horváth on reality TV in Hungary

by Danielle Tyree

Sitting down to seltzer water in Aladár Horváth’s dimly lit office by the ‘Keleti Pályaudvar’ metro station in Budapest, I have to rely on a professor to translate what the chair of the Roma Civil Rights Foundation and the Gandhi Public Foundation is saying. His fight is demanding and intense, yet his air is tempered with hospitality and humility. The broad-shouldered activist gives detailed, thoughtful answers, making it easy to see why he was once an advisor to prime minister Peter Medgyessy.

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Happy fourth birthday to central and eastern Europe

by Krisztina Fogas

On May 1 2004, eight former Soviet bloc countries and two Mediterranean islands joined the club, effecting the European Union’s enlargement from fifteen to twenty-five members.

The euphoria of the accession cooled down quickly as it turned out that Britain was the only country to open its labour market to workers from the eight new member states. Together with Ireland and Sweden, it gave up the right to impose restrictions lasting up to seven years.

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Unpopular Bologna process for Budapest’s class of 2009

by Csilla Major

‘It’s a pity the Hungarian education system was replaced,’ Szidónia says. ‘The old system wasn’t rated one of the best for nothing.’ Up until 2005, Hungarian students spent four years at secondary school, 5-6 years at university or 3-4 at college. The Bologna Process, which aims to establish the foundations of the European Higher Education Area by 2010 and is in place in 46 countries, cut university entrance exams. It implemented a two-level high school graduation, similar to the British GCSE and ‘A’ level exams. It abolished a point calculating method which had become a nightmare for high school leavers who finished their finals in June and calculated their own points, but could not receive official results until the annual ‘night of the entrance points crisis’ (Ponthatárok Éjszakája) in July. Many joked that the Chinese curse Live your life in changing times was cast upon them.

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Housing in Hungary: no Chinese or blacks

by Judit Schvéger and Nóra Farkas

'To let in the green belt city of Óbuda, Hungary: 50 squared metre flat, two rooms. Built in 2002, the flat is situated in a 30 squared metre patch. Garden access, unfurnished. Disqualification: no animal and coloured skin'.
Two estate agencies have highlighted discrimination in Hungary after advertising against 'coloured skin' tenants.

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Touring my city - the real Budapest

by Judit Járadi and Judit Schvéger

Armed with bottles of water, about a dozen people gather on the stairs of the national museum, one of the most romantic meeting points of Budapest. As I approach, I realise that like me, they are participants of Beyond Budapest, a special guided tour that departs from here every Saturday morning.

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Testimony: being young, Hungarian and a football-loving minority in Slovakia

by Judit Schvéger

On 15 November, Slovakian and Hungarian prime ministers Robert Fico and Ferenc Gyurcsány failed to resolve tensions when they met in the border town of Komárno (Révkomárom) . ‘But the mutual apology from both Hungarian and Slovakian political leaders could be a first step towards the peaceful co-existence of the two in Slovakia,’ says Szabolcs. We are having a Sunday afternoon drink in a small café in Budapest, where he is at university. Magyars, 9.7% of the total population of Slovakia, are mostly concentrated on the southern border.

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Perspective: Hungarian-Slovak relations reach their nadir

by Linda lu

On 10 December, Hungarian prime minister Ferenc Gyurscany said he was disappointed with Slovak prime minister Robert Fico's decision to reject a November agreement to improve relations between the neighbours. A look back at the events running up to the baby step that was.

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Shop till you drop

by Judit Járadi

The February 2005 Eurostat survey on the European consumer showed that the addition of 10 new countries to the EU in 2004 made differences in standards of living between member states more apparent than before. A striking example: Luxembourg, which has the highest household expenditure among the EU 25, spends almost eight times more than Latvia, the country with the lowest family budget.

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Pal Frenak, continous movment

by Dóra Haller

As he travels incessantly between Budapest and Paris, 49 year-old Hungarian choreographer, Pal Frenak, talks about his sensual yet violent creations as well as the tormented world of contemporary dance.

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Janus-faced immigration in Europe

by Judit Járadi

Europe’s immigration policy has two faces. Looking out towards the world, Europe is in the process of constructing greater barriers to entry. Looking inwards, Europe is committed to the free movement of European workers within the single market. The citizens of the new member states are party to both faces at once, for while they may have the right to work, they are still treated like workers from outside of Europe. To understand this ambiguity requires understanding the history of immigration between East and West.

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Hungary: The legislative elections in a nutshell

by Dóra Haller

The leading left-wing coalition party and their conservative opposition are neck and neck in Hungary after the first round of the general elections on April 9. This tight vote has come after a series of original electoral campaigns from the Hungarian parties.

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The image of loving life: Karoly Makk

by Zsófia Lipthay

The Cannes film festival is in full swing, and we talk to Károly Makk, the acclaimed Hungarian film director, who won the Jury Prize in 1971. While he lived through WW II. and communism, he still hasn’t lost his love for life and film.

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Livia Jaroka: from activism to politics

by Gellért Rajcsányi

We met the day Vladimir Putin visited Budapest. While all the media attention was directed at the Russian leader, on a quiet backstreet of Budapest equally important talks were going on. Lívia Járóka, a member of the European Parliament (EP), agreed to meet me during a break in these talks. While politicians waited for her in the other room, Járóka talked passionately about her mission: ending the racism against the Roma, and helping them find their place in Europe.

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The madeness of the Sziget

by Judit Járadi

It is the middle of August. There is a scorching sun overhead and the smell of alcohol and sweat in the air. Hippies, crested punks and sundry other characters have begun to gather in front of the main stage. They are mostly speaking Hungarian, but you can hear the sound of German, French, Dutch and Italian… As the band starts to play, the festival begins.

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Hungarian crisis: far-right stages PM's death

by Judit Járadi

On Kossuth square, far-right protesters and opposition supporters gather to demand PM Ferenc Gyurcsány’s resignation. Almost a week after his lies were leaked to the press, the crisis is still unresolved.

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Bringing out unburied dead of the Trianon treaty

by Marton Vay

According to the Trianon treaty, the country lost 72% of its 325.000 km2 territory and some 64% of its 20.900.000 population. This explains why 1/3 of the currently existing 15 million Hungarians live abroad.

Eighty years have passed, but the Magyars have not yet come to terms with this trauma. This may sound absurd, but the Hungarians still pick on the French due to the treaty. At the time of its signature the French delegation firmly pushed the peace dictate despite the heavy opposition of Hungarian politicians.

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Dangerous liaisons: Eastern populists meet Western democrats

by László Végel

On March 18, 2006, Peter Handke joined the crowds at Slobodan Milosevic’s funeral. The former dictator, accused of genocide and instigating political assassinations, had long lost his power after the wide-spread demonstrations following the 2000 elections' scandal. Retired Russian marshals, communist leaders, Serbian politicians accused of war crimes, and shady members of the "new aristocracy" came to pay their respects. Right-wing extremists closed the march. For them Milosevic was an anti-American Robin Hood, the ultimate fighter against globalization. A fight embraced by anti-globalisation intellectuals such as Handke.

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We are not experiencing a "new 1956"

by Veronika Kovács

The tightened economic measures and the PM’s admission that he had lied during past years in government triggered a wave of discontent, especially in Budapest. What do young Hungarians think of the present political situation and its outcome?

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Budapest 1956: a missed opportunity?

by Adrienn Kézsmárki

‘Hungary is not just a victim of, but a participant in history,’ says the professor Charles Gati. Fifty years after the uprising, Hungarian historians are revisiting their past with a much more critical eye. The revolutionaries could have negotiated a compromise with Russia.

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Mária Wittner: “Hungary is still oppressed”

by Oszkár Jankovich

Mária Wittner doesn’t feel free, she never has and she never will. The 69-year old woman points to the attic window of a building in the Budapest city centre. There, on October 23, 1956, she and others hatched a plan to takeover the state-owned broadcasting network. Fifty years later, the struggle continues. “Hungary is still oppressed,” Wittner says, “and we have the politicians’ lies to thank for this.”

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