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HVG.HU \ ENGLISH VERSION

There's a problem when most voters think the problems can be solved without making any sacrifices or anybody resigning. Obama's supporters have a quasi-religious faith in him. In Hungary, too, people place unrealistic hopes in the politicians of the future. The problem is not with people thinking their idol is a messiah. The problem comes when the messiah himself starts to believe it.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. május 26., hétfő, 11:12

Istvan Stumpf: "The last nail in the republic's coffin"

The government is headed for a slow and painful death - and the only hope is that the government will refrain from using the national development plan to buy the votes it needs to survive, says Istvan Stumpf. Only government with broad support can hope to lift the country out of its crisis, says the former chancery minister.

szerző Hirschler Richárd idő 2008. május 20., kedd, 13:33

Will a Kadar-era military judge become the president of the court?

A former military judge of the Kadar regime may become president of the supreme court if a successor to Zoltan Lomnici is not elected next month. Colonel Kaposvari found Gabor Rimner and his associates guilty of spying in 1981. Another document shows that he was unwilling to overturn the conviction of another person convicted of spying. The cases of Hungarians who acted as informants for western countries against the Soviet occupier have still not been satisfactorily resolved.

szerző Hirschler Richárd idő 2008. május 20., kedd, 13:19

Scandal at the Hungarian Red Cross

A Hungarian Red Cross director appointed to put the organisation in order had only just been hired when she was summarily dismissed,apparently because he was uncovering earlier management failings at the organisation.

idő 2008. május 19., hétfő, 12:08

Hungary asks US to help clamp down on far-right - paper

Hungary has asked the United States to help investigate far-right activities in the country, according to unnamed sources cited by business weekly HVG.

szerző MTI idő 2008. április 17., csütörtök, 13:39

Reform phobia - the legacy of consumer socialism

Society has trouble accepting that the Hungarian economy as it is currently performing cannot sustain the existing social security structures. The free-lunch social security system appears to be falling apart - regardless of whether the population realises this.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 16., szerda, 16:40

Tamas Suchman on Gyurcsany and the Free Democrats

It is rumoured that the Socialist MP Tamas Suchman has called for early elections and the dismissal of Ferenc Gyurcsany, the prime minister. He denies the claims. His view is that minority government can only work if the Socialist Party manages to cooperate effectively with the Free Democrats, whom he regards as its only possible partner.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 16., szerda, 15:59

Preparing for minority government

Every party is convinced it will gain from the collapse of the coalition. Meanwhile, half the country wants to see early elections.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 16., szerda, 15:45

Arpad Kovacs: Reform is not the same as experimentation

We spent some Ft1,500bn on economic development every year, but it's not doing us much good. And with economic uncertainty driving up the cost of credit, the burden is set to grow by several hundred million more. We spoke to Arpad Kovacs, president of the State Audit Office (ASZ) about the difficult economic climate and what may still be to come.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 13., vasárnap, 10:38

Free advertising for Tomcat

A functioning state and its media does not capitulate to a media hacker whose main aim is to get into the news at all costs and spend as much time as possible on the TV screens. Legislators and government should deal with extreme right wingers and anti-semitic groups in a similar fashion. It's possible to set the limits of free speech and free assembly in a way that stops these groups targeting minorities, whether they be Jews, gypsies or gays.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 13., vasárnap, 10:17

Whose going to make Hungarians swallow the bitter pill?

The sociologist Tibor Dessewffy, director of the Socialist-linked Demos think tank, denies he is Gyurcsany's adviser, but admits that the two are close. He was surprised by the outcome of the referendum and thinks it too early to identify the consequences. He is certain that whichever political camp reaches power will have to force enormous sacrifices on Hungarian society - and the population is still not ready for this.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 11., péntek, 10:25

The reformist intellectuals and the liberal left

There were shades of Orwell when a group of Hungarian intellectuals released an open letter supporting Ferenc Gyurcsany and coalition government. In Orwell's most famous novel, war is waging on a distant front, but at home, every last person is solidly behind the battle.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 11., péntek, 09:43

Jozsef Sipos: a new direction after a major political defeat

The historian Jozsef Sipos, a social policy researcher for the Socialist Party, is one of the few party members who has condemned Ferenc Gyurcsany's strategy from the very beginning. Gyurcsany's approach failed on 9 March. We asked him what the Socialists can do in this situation.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 10., csütörtök, 15:10

Panel estates as protected monuments?

Post-1945 architecture in Hungary is endangered, because public opinion does not yet value the buildings of the period. Public taste may change, but by then it could be too late.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. április 10., csütörtök, 14:05

The road to hell: „Suicide is cowardice”

Hungary is still among the world's leaders in suicide rates. We come fifth among the countries of the former eastern bloc. Death by hanging, poison or suffocation: increasingly, the victims are children. We spoke to specialists about the reasons behind these alarming statistics and about ways to address the situation.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. március 26., szerda, 16:14

"Revolutionaries" with no stomach for the fight

Gyorgy Budahazy is always there at gatherings of the extreme right. In radical circles, his name is almost a brand, one that signifies "resistance". This is remarkable, since though the former restaurant proprietor is happy to urge his followers into battle, he never has confrontations with the police.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. március 18., kedd, 15:41

15 March as celebrated by the radical nationalists

Various nationalist parties and movements held rallies around Budapest on 15 March. Some speeches were entertaining, others bigoted and aggressive. Antisemitism was pervasive.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. március 18., kedd, 14:50

Tamas Barta - victim of a drugs ring?

It was 26 years ago that Tamas Barta, singer-guitarist in the band Locomotiv GT, died in Los Angeles. Many consider him to be the greatest ever Hungarian guitarist. He died from a bullet to his head under circumstances that remain a mystery.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. február 19., kedd, 10:00

Istvan Stumpf on Gyurcsany's reshuffle

Istvan Stumpf reckons Ferenc Gyurcsany has done a deal with Peter Kiss. Tibor Draskovics, whose performance and communication skills have been poor, had to leave the Prime Minister's office. He had to swap his non-portfolio position with the justice portfolio, where his task will be to speed up the process of drafting new laws, according to Istvan Stumpf, who was chancery minister in the Orban government.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. február 18., hétfő, 15:00

Laszlo Lengyel: China's imperial century

If the 20th century belonged to America, the 21st will be China's. This will be the case even if China does not defeat America economically, politically, nor - let us hope - militarily, and only succeeds in counterbalancing it as a world power. To quote from Csaba Gombar, the development of the world follows the sun, passing from the Greeks to Latin Europe, thence to England, then to America's east coast, then to its west coast. And now it has reached Asia.

szerző hvg.hu idő 2008. február 18., hétfő, 11:32