In the latest episodes of the Reflections from Budapest podcast, Director of the Middle East Action Team at the Religious Freedom Institute Jeremy P. Barker explained that their work aims to promote religious freedom rights for everyone everywhere, recognising and hoping that includes even the smallest and most persecuted religious minorities, whether that’s Christians or Yazidis in the Middle East, or Uyghurs in China and others.

As video games have become an intrinsic part of culture today, it is worth exploring how Hungary and Hungarians are represented in what can be considered an entertainment industry product but also an influential art form.

The high attendance rates of the plays and the frequent standing ovations confirmed the State Opera House’s expectations that it is worthwhile to stage popular pieces from the operatic literature in classic performances with an air-conditioned auditorium in the summer. The July–August performances of the the first full summer season of the Opera were favoured by both tourists and locals from the capital city and the countryside.

The leading political pundit in the US, Tucker Carlson, visited our country again on 22 August 2023. The internationally influential commentator gave a speech at the widely successful MCC Feszt After event at Millenáris Park in Budapest. His speech—in accordance with the traditions of MCC Feszt in Esztergom—was preceded by panel discussions tackling the important issues of our day.

Czech toponyms that include the adjective ‘Hungarian’ allude to the historical, centuries-old relationship between Hungary and Czechia that has not always been perfect, but nonetheless close. This is a region where the fates of the two countries were intertwined for a long time—the Bohemian–Hungarian frontier.

From September onwards, the Rákóczi Association will operate 58 school buses in Transylvania, helping more than 720 ethnic Hungarian children reach school in 48 settlements. The operation of the buses will cost 231 million forints per academic year, which will be covered by the Hungarian state, thus school attendance will impose no financial burden on the families or schools.

Hungarian cinemagoers have been craving enjoyable historical films for a long time. Finally, Hadik arrived, which, although not faultless, is a great example of the genre well done.

Our nation marked the 1023rd anniversary of the foundation of its state. Celebratory events were held all across the country, from Esztergom to Debrecen, with the greatest festivities taking place in the capital city of Budapest. There, the holiday crowd was treated to an Air Show by the pilots of the Hungarian Air Force and Europe’s largest fireworks and lights show, among other things.

In her remarks before she presented the highest Hungarian state awards on the occasion of the 20 August national holiday, President of the Republic Katalin Novák stated: ‘We need role models with whom we speak the same language, with whom we share a common history, who are like us, yet more and better than us, whom we can look up to while recognising ourselves in them.’

The spirit and dedication to God of Cardinal Duka were not broken when in prison as an underground clergyman—he kept conducting masses for his prison mates that he disguised as occasions of a chess club. A couple of years ago, in an interview with Mandiner, he said: ‘My personal experience is, as someone who also suffered imprisonment for the sake of justice, is that the question often arises: “who is really the prisoner?”. It was not clear whether it was us or those who were looking at us from the other side of the bars.’

It could be argued that modern tools and methods are part of what shapes the outcome of war, but not the decisive factors, as they have not brought about the drastic change in the pattern of war that many expected.

Géza Szőcs, a Transylvanian Hungarian poet, writer, public intellectual and politician, who resisted the oppression of the Romanian communist dictatorship, was born exactly 70 years ago today.

National anniversaries, especially 15 March, were regularly celebrated in the Dohány Street synagogue. Mourning services were also held on the occasion of the passing of great Hungarian statesmen. In addition to the regular services, the synagogue also hosted a number of special events. On 20 December 1860, a ‘Jewish–Hungarian brotherhood’ ceremony was held, attended by statesmen, scholars, writers and artists, and for the first time, the Szózat was sung in a Jewish synagogue. On 8 April 1861, a memorial service was held for István Széchenyi, and in 1894 for Lajos Kossuth.

King Saint Stephen’s ‘Admonitions’, with more than half of its chapters addressing Christian faith and the church, transcends legal and religious realms, potentially safeguarding familial unity for generations.

As all the Danube bridges were destroyed by the retreating Germans, tram service could start again between the two sides of the city over Liberty Bridge only on 20 August 1946.

Surprisingly, the earliest royal secular knightly order in Europe was founded in 1326 in Hungary, a country just emerging from civil war, by King Charles I, in honour of St George, the patron saint of knights since the crusades.

This Saturday marks the 34th anniversary of the Pan-European Picnic, when East German refugees, attempting to defect to West Germany, were allowed to enter Austria by the Hungarian authorities. The Picnic is also a symbol of a borderless, free, united and Christian Europe.

Ádám Schmidt called attention to the championships’ mascot, Youhuu the Hungarian racka sheep, a lovable and entertaining character. He also mentioned that, for the first time in the 40-year history of the world championships, short films about the athletes will be shown to the audience before certain events.

At the historic 1926 event, the Hungarian men’s water polo team got the gold by beating all other teams in the tournament, while swimmer István Bárány triumphed in the 100-metre freestyle competition.

Francis Joseph, King of Hungary and Emperor of Austria, was born on 18 of August in 1830. He left a complex legacy, but, at least in Hungary, he is mostly remembered as a benevolent fatherly figure.

The 92-year-old Munkácsy Prize-winning painter, while building upon the legacy of his Nagybánya predecessors, has also reflected on the historical tragedies of the 20th century in his art.

István Abonyi, the decorated Hungarian chess player, laid the foundations for Hungary becoming one of the most successful chess nations in the world.

The Hungarian American media mogul donated $1 million of his own wealth to Columbia University to establish a Journalism School exactly 120 years ago today. Pulitzer went through a lot to amass that wealth, having arrived in the United States as a foreign recruit for the Union Army in 1864, penniless and barely speaking a word of English.

In 1881, the Hungarian State Railways started building the new railway station at a changed location, near Kerepesi Road, at present-day Baross Square. The construction of the Central Passenger Hall was overseen by Gyula Rochlitz, an architect and MÁV supervisor whose designs were also used for the construction of the Hungarian State Railways headquarters on Andrássy Avenue and the first Danube connecting bridge.

Tibor Helényi’s legacy as a Hungarian artist extends far beyond the borders of his home country. His iconic Star Wars and RoboCop posters have become symbols of their respective franchises’ global impact, reflecting his ability to capture the essence of stories through visual simplicity.

The exhibition centres on the founding members of the Pest Workshop, a group that was actively engaged in screen-printing from 1971 to 1988, thereby constituting a defining artistic community of that era.

In the latest episode of the Blue Planet podcast, Hungarian company Waterscope’s patent called the ‘smart hydrant’ was discussed. The invention allows the collection of data in places where it would otherwise be impossible, due to lack of electricity or signal.

Gerő sees classical liberalism as the idea of a constitutionally limited state and individual liberties, based on natural law. According to Gerő, classical liberalism professes the principles of government being accountable to parliament, the separation of powers, and popular rule by suffrage. In that sense, Gerő sees the reform era of Hungary (1825–1848) as the beginning of the equality of civil rights.

As British MP Ian Paisley Jr phrased it, ‘In recent decades, a new language and culture, foreign to the principles and freedoms that have characterised our shared values for generations, have been thrust upon us. The language contains familiar words but with new, enforced meanings: we are under pressure to assimilate new definitions of concepts like “tolerance”, “diversity” and “progressiveness” when it comes to free speech and dissenting opinions.’

Throughout Hungarian history, the country was often referred to as Mary’s realm, the Regnum Marianum. On the occasion of the Hungary’s Millennium celebrations in 1896, Pope Leo XIII sent an encyclical letter to the Hungarian nation, granting permission for Hungarian Catholics to celebrate the feast of the patroness Boldogasszony.