According to the latest data from an online accommodation platform, the current volume of summer bookings in Hungary is still 19 per cent below last year’s record summer, and it falls just below the pre-pandemic level of 2019.

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told the audience in Esztergom that he had a great relationship with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during his time in public office. The two statesmen were among the first to raise concerns about the incoming wave of migration into Europe back in 2015. Meanwhile, Michael Knowles took a strong stance against transgenderism and talked at length about the difference between the liberal and conservative understanding of freedom.

Hungary submitted the Hungarian string orchestra tradition as an independent nomination, and it has become the latest Hungarian element of intangible cultural heritage to be added to the international list, following the Mohács Busójárás, the Matyó embroidery, falconry, and blue-dyeing (kékfestés).

Today we still often think of war in the Clausewitzian terms, as of the ‘continuation of politics by other means’, conducted by one state against another. However, as argued by Mary Kaldor, many armed conflicts have acquired a completely different, de-politicised nature, becoming a new social condition.

 ‘There are few Hungarian brands in the entertainment industry like the Sziget Festival, and we will forever be grateful to its founders for creating it. We are planning a grand celebration this year, which also signifies the beginning of a new era for us: we not only want to preserve the legacy of the past 30 years but also lay the foundation for the next 30,’ Tamás Kádár stated at a press conference in May.

It is important to remember that, compared to the stable period of 2017–2018, some 80 per cent of the rise in inflation in Hungary could be attributed to external circumstances, and only 20 per cent to strictly domestic reasons. Taking into account the ambivalent effects of the war situation and the ensuing sanctions, these rates are likely to remain important determinants of inflation developments in 2023.