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#hungarian politics
bookwormstarwarsfan · 4 months
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A few days ago I saw some Ducktales here and decided to write about one of my favourite Hungarian historical moments, but then I realized that the anniversary is in less than a week, so I scheduled this post exactly on the 30th anniversary even for the minute, at 18:08 CET. (Edit: fuck Tumblr, it messed up scheduling, but second part is on its way)
So let me to present you the story of the Ducktales generation of Hungary, the children born in the 80s, who were traumatized by the aforementioned cartoon exactly 30 years ago, on December 12th 1993 at 18:08.
The year is 1993. The ill-fated little Central-European Hungary is barely out of the more than 40 years of terrible communist dictatorship, it only elected it's first in decades democratic government in 1990 and the last occupying Soviet soldier left the the country in the Summer of 1991.
The first media war is on full rage, meaning that there is still only two, government owned, tv channel, (and time to time HBO, if you were at the right place at the right time) but unlike during the socialism, Western programmes are allowed. This two facts together mean that every time there is a kid's programme on, practically every children who has access to tv, watches it.
Every Sunday afternoon is for Walt Disney, but most importantly for Ducktales. This one has a chokehold on every kid, the absolutle favourite. (Interestingly never became popular for any other generations in Hungary, unlike other iconic programmes, despite being aired a few more times in the following decades.)
So we get to the Sunday of December 12th. Allegedly 2.2 million children is in front of the tv, accompanied by many adults. The episode "A Whale of a Bad Time" is at its emotional high. Scrooge McDuck (or as we know him, Uncle Dagobert) is histerically jumping on the dinner table, because the ship with his money is lost. At 18:08 one of the most famous last sentence is said: 'A sea monster ate my ice cream!!!'
The screen goes black and white, the programme stops, blackness, then the grey channel logo shows up and Chopin's Funeral March starts playing. For long minutes nothing happenes, except of course for the hundreds of thousands of kids having a temper tantrum. By the time the March is coming to the end, even more adults are in the room, either because of the screaming kid or the sudden change of mood.
After 2 whole minutes again a moment of blackness, then a fat, old man in thight black suit comes up with a flag in the the background.
For many of the children watching, this was the first time to ever come to contact with politics, and for some of them, with death. Because the man, Péter Boross, who at that first moment still unbeknownst to the audience had already been the Prime Minister for less than an hour, had an important message:
'Fellow citizens, Hungarians, here at home and around the world. Destiny gave me a painful duty. Dr József Antall, Prime Minister of Hungary today after 5 pm passed away.'
Of course the passing of the reigning Prime Minister would be breaking news everywhere, especially if he is the first democratically elected one in more than 40 years, but this event became more important for a different cause.
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ghostisredacted · 7 months
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hungarian or not, id appreciate it if you reblogged this. i dont ever see anyone talking about this
i genuinely just want to go on a long fucking rant on how much hungary sucks right now and how bad things are and how little do foreigners care when they post about "hungary is so cheap!!" and "why hungary is the BEST vacation spot" and "reasons why i don't regret moving to hungary!" and "why hungary is a good place to live in"
because if you ask me, a hungarian person, who spent their whole life living here, who was told and taught at a young age to study and do his best to get out of here as soon as i can, who was told that "you're so young, yet you know so much about these topics" by his therapist, i can tell you that it's never rainbow and sunshine over here.
they never say why things are so cheap. they never had to take the a bus or a tram or a metro through the outer districts, theyve probably only seen whats on the side of the danube.
the inflation here is the highest in europe, last year in october (2022) one euro was 432 forint (hungarian currency)
there are gunshot holes from the 1956 hungarian revolution in the walls of the buildings, the panel houses have cracks in them which are badly painted and patched over, many buildings are in horrible conditions and this sadly include schools and hospitals (the Heim Pál gyermekkórház [Pál Heim kids hospital] has been under construction for a good while)
many schools barely have chairs or desks (in my middle school we regularly had to ask neighboring classrooms if they had any chairs because we simply did not have any), we dont have enough teachers, theyre all leaving their jobs due to the new status law, my highschool doesnt have a janitor and we have 3 cleaners in total
the hospitals are understaffed, we have to wait MONTHS for an appointment (i had to wait a month for an MRI scan and 2 more hours to actually get my turn, and this isnt even the worst case)
the pay is horrible, teachers usually work for minimum wage. my teachers everywhere always complained about how much they hate working and how little they get paid but they have to keep going because who will do their job when they leave?
the education system sucks, the status law just fucked us twice in the ass and told us to stand and dont a single fucking word, because if the teachers dare to say anything bad about the government or the system, theyll get fired.
my geography teacher told us that theres one person currently studying to become a geography teacher.
the teachers were protesting for MONTHS and what did we get from the government? furthermore punishment. they are making the winter breaks longer to save money on electricity and heating. they are making our summer break shorter. they do NOT care about us.
the streets are in horrible conditions, there is trash everywhere, homeless people on every corner, i regularly carry a knife around for self defense because at any moment i could get harassed by someone on the bus or on the metro. the metro stations are in unacceptable conditions too, there is literal piss and shit on the streets, most buildings reek of it, unless you live in a better part of the town.
the blatant homophobia, transphobia and racism and sexism. we are getting our rights ripped straight away from us. in 2021, i was a young queer person and i had to watch it through how they basically stripped me, my queer friends and everyone who identifies as such of their basic rights and shoved us under the same umbrella as PEDOPHILES. we cant legally change our names, we cant get gender affirming treatment or anything. im paranoid about having a rainbow pin, because my sibling got threatened because they were wearing nail polish (the guy detailed how he wanted to beat them up and kill them and everything)
the age of consent is 14 (or 12 if the other individual is under 18). the FIDESZ (aka the party in charge of the government and everything for almost 14 years now) has a member, a man, who had GIGABITES of child porn found on his computer. people regularly stare at me, i got catcalled for the first time when i was 11 while i was wearing a large winter coat.
and this isnt even half of the issues we are facing. i didn't even speak about the status law in detail or any of the homophobic+transphobic laws and the racism and everything else.
but of course, im supposed to admire the video posted on instagram with the caption "when the hungarian government throws a party" and not think about what the government spends our tax money on, instead of actually fixing shit.
we are told "stupid hungarians, learn to appreciate your country" "hungarians stop complaining challange lol" and when we tell foreigners to shut the fuck up because they dont have ANY RIGHT to speak in our place we are called "racist and xenophobic" while we are only speaking up about our situation while our country is falling apart in front of us. the government doesn't care about us. they only care if you are straight, cis, white, ablw bodied, christian and a man. but even so, the only thing they want is money.
but sure, the next time i go to the 5th district, ill appreciate the beautiful architecture of the parliament, while trying to ignore how much it stinks from shit
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dramaticwriter · 8 months
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at least alice has our back when noone else does
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"In a statement, the former president’s lawyers said he had been in the embassy “to keep in touch with the authorities of a friendly country”. Alternative interpretations amounted to “a work of fiction, with no connection to the reality of the facts” and were “fake news”, it added."
"The Hungarian ambassador reportedly remained silent during his 20-minute meeting with Brazilian diplomats on Monday afternoon."
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workersolidarity · 2 months
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🇭🇺🇸🇪🇺🇸 🚨
HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SLAMS U.S. ORDERS TO RATIFY SWEDEN'S ADMISSION INTO NATO
Hungary's Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, slammed the United States Thursday for giving orders to Hungary demanding the Hungarian parliament quickly ratify Sweden's admission into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Speaking on Wednesday, U.S. National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, warned the Hungarian authorities that American patience has its limits and that Washington is waiting for Hungary to ratify Sweden's ascension into NATO.
In response to Sullivan's comments, Szijjarto dismissed U.S. concerns and slammed Washington for interfering in Hungarian affairs, telling reporters with Russian news agency Ria Novosti, "First of all, I want to be clear: everyone must understand that Hungary is a sovereign country. And it is not only that everyone must understand this, but that everyone must respect it. Regardless of whether it's a superpower of the East, a superpower of the West or any other country, they must respect that Hungary is a state and the Hungarian parliament is a sovereign body," adding that Hungary will never act on instructions coming from another nation.
"These kinds of statements are completely unnecessary, they show disrespect for Hungary. We never criticize US decisions. We never criticize congressional decisions. We never interfere with what they put on the agenda or what they don't included in it. And we expect the same from others,” Szijjarto warned.
“So, to be honest, we are not concerned about such instructions. Because we are not the 51st state, but a very sovereign country,” the Hungarian Foreign Minister added.
Previously, the Hungarian parliament failed to pass Sweden's admission into NATO due to a "lack of quorum" resulting from a boycott by opposition parties in Hungary's main governing body.
Turkiye's Grand National Assembly previously ratified Sweden's bid to enter NATO in mid-January, meaning Hungary remains the last holdout for Sweden's ascension into the alliance.
#source
@WorkerSolidarityNews
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its-not-she-its-he · 8 months
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“Homophobes are f**gs” love that t-shirt.
(Backstory: He is the lead vocalist of the Hungarian band Carson Coma. He wore this t-shirt to Sziget festival (Hungary’s biggest festival). Since the Hungarian government is openly discriminatory against the lgbtq+ community almost every news site wrote about him and this t-shirt.)
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rebelofhungary · 2 years
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welcome to the 16th 21st century, how may we make you suffer the most
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A bad year for the bad guys
In key countries around the world, 2022 was the year democracy proved it could fight back.
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On the night of February 23, the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I attended a reading group with a number of prominent Washington foreign policy experts and journalists. We had convened to discuss the work of Carl Schmitt, an interwar German political theorist who believed — among other things — that politics is, at base, about violence. The fundamental political distinction, in Schmitt’s view, is between “friend and enemy”; the fundamental political act is killing one’s enemies. A peaceful democratic world is, in his mind, a fantasy; ultimately, politics would always return to brutality.
As we were wrapping up, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared on television to announce a “special military operation” in Ukraine. The mood in the room was dark, full of foreboding; one of the world’s largest and most fearsome military powers appeared on the verge of gobbling up a smaller and weaker neighbor. A world some of us believed was governed by rules and democratic politics felt like it was giving way to Schmittian barbarism.
At the time, the Ukraine war seemed likely to be the first of several catastrophes for the democratic world in 2022. In Brazil, the world’s fourth-largest democracy, a looming presidential election was expected to lead to a democratic crisis — its own January 6 moment. The US midterm elections seemed almost certain to elevate supporters of Trump’s election liesto key electoral administration positions, raising the likelihood of another meltdown. This all came amid a decade-long decline in the number of democratic governments around the world, a global transformation that seemed to herald a new world order with China as its leading power.
But as the year winds to a close, the story has turned out to be quite different. Instead of showing weakness, democratic systems displayed resilience. Instead of showing strength, authoritarian systems displayed vulnerability. It was, all in all, a surprisingly good year for democracy.
In Ukraine, the initial Russian lightning strike was decisively repulsed. It has devolved into a grinding conflict in which Ukraine, despite brutal losses, managed to repulse the Russian attack and even retake significant amounts of territory — with major support from the democracies of Europe and North America.
In Brazil, right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro lost his reelection bid and left office quietly. His most aggressive effort to overturn the results, a lawsuit alleging fraud, ended in a hefty fine for his party for engaging in what the chief justice of the Supreme Electoral Court termed “bad faith litigation.”
In the United States, election deniers lost every swing state race for governor or secretary of state — crushing defeats that may have even undermined the former president’s standing in the GOP.
And in China and another influential authoritarian state, Iran, major protest movements emerged, each calling for democracy and free elections. While the Chinese protests appear to have slowed, they were the greatest popular challenge to the government since Tiananmen Square. And the Iranian protests are still going strong, posing a formidable threat to the Islamic Republic.
These events pointed to an old truth, hard-won knowledge from the struggles of the 20th century: Democracy enjoys some fundamental advantages over its autocratic rivals.
Authoritarian systems have a tendency toward groupthink and ideological rigidity, frequently proving unwilling or unable to properly assess information and change course when existing policies prove disastrous. Democracy, meanwhile, tends to be widely supported by people who live under it, creating problems for authoritarian forces who are too blatant in their aims to subvert the system.
This does not mean that democracy will inevitably triumph in any specific country, let alone across the globe. Democracies have weaknesses, ones that authoritarian-inclined forces inside democratic states have repeatedly proven capable of exploiting. In 2022, elections in Hungary, Israel, and the Philippines all showed that the authoritarian challenge remains enduring and potent.
But when we look at the year’s events in the world’s largest and most influential countries, the story is on balance a positive one. The authoritarian governments that were supposed to outcompete democracy floundered, while some of the biggest democracies staved off major internal challenges.
In 2022, we lived through a relative rarity in recent memory: a decent year for democracy.
Continue reading.
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vrahno · 1 year
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An unconventional example of using Godzilla as a political symbol.
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head-post · 3 months
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EU imposes 12th package of sanctions against Russia
The European Union countries have collectively approved the introduction of the 12th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes a number of measures, in particular a ban on imports of Russian diamonds.
The EU decision came into force on 1 January. The official announcement, highlighting the unity of EU nations in implementing these restrictive measures, stated:
“The European Council welcomes the adoption of the twelfth package of sanctions.”
At the same summit, the EU decided to allocate 10bn euros to Hungary, which had earlier blocked the signing of the official start of Ukraine’s accession talks with the EU.
The EU executive branch is still committed to Ukraine’s early accession to the Union, as well as to providing additional assistance to the state. European Council President Charles Michel announced the landmark decision to start the EU accession process, while emphasising the bloc’s readiness to negotiate accession with both Ukraine and Moldova, which will also start accession talks.
Read more HERE
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miabrown007 · 4 months
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diversity win: as opposed to every other queer book that needs to be covered in foil in the shelves of bookstores by government mandate to protect the children, the book with the aroace protagonist is free!
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bookwormstarwarsfan · 2 months
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I normally don't drink alcohol, but if our dear president announces soon what she should, that deserves a shot of pálinka
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lunias13 · 8 months
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Re: n*vák k*talin
Feltűnt egy nőjogi konferencián és beszédet mondott hogy a magyar nőknek milyen jó (mert természetesen nulla fogalma van a valóságról) 🙃 leginkább most ezért téma
Ahh, thanks. Habár szerintem inkább tagadásban él, mint hogy teljesen clueless lenne, de whatever.
She is just like gay who side with right wingers, but for women. Great.
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faalthien · 1 year
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I don’t even have words for this year. Fuck it all. 
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willcodehtmlforfood · 2 months
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skipp3r · 1 year
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Just wanted to expose the hungarian government bc everytime i see one of these i wanna throw up
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“The sanctions of Brussels are ruining us!”(“sanctions” written on the missile)
I live in a small town but there are at least 15 of these everywhere.
First of all how insensitive do you have to be to use this poster when there are ACTUAL missiles hitting ACTUAL towns and people are dying.
Second of all, i don’t hear any other countries ehining about the sanctions, i dont hear UKRAINE whining about no electricity at all. Gas prices are the highest here in the EU, yes higher than ukraine and any of its other neighbours. So it’s safe to say it’s not the sanctions that are ruining the economy.
And this is not the first insensitive propaganda poster either.
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