Ukraine’s newest attempt to meet EU expectations regarding national minority rights has again failed to grant sufficient institutional protections to the numerous minorities living in the country.

As communist ideology considered religion, including Christian faith ‘the opium of the people’, as Karl Marx famously put it, its teachings were labelled harmful—and so was celebrating Christmas as a Christian holiday.

While Hungarian national memory of communism is far from being consolidated, the tendency among young people to view their ancestors’ actions under a totalitarian regime with empathy while at the same time to strongly reject communism as a political ideology is a promising development.

As Szentendre is located only a short distance from Budapest, the town is a perfect destination for a day trip—especially during the winter holiday season.

There is a myriad of Christmas carols, some of which come and go, but there is one familiar song that has been consistently among the top favourites of everyone who celebrates Christmas—and that is Silent Night.

The Hungarian comedy The Corporal and the others features a group of Hungarian soldiers who defected and who are bound together by a common objective— to survive World War II. The humorous and entertaining movie full of unexpected twists and turns is a great comedy to watch while preparing for Christmas.

A 2020 study found that snow during the winter holiday season was the most frequent in the 1930s and the 1960s, while nowadays there are significantly fewer white Christmases in Hungary. The rise in global average temperatures is most likely behind this phenomenon.

The EU’s most recent corruption scandal—the second within a short period of time—is a reminder of the lack of accountability and popular oversight of Brussels.

The Czechs and the Slovaks are growing increasingly dissatisfied with Europe’s sanctions policy that makes families bear the cost of the war.

EU memory politics places almost exclusive emphasis on Nazism and downplays the significance of Communism in the historical experience of East-Central European members states.