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U.S. Embassy condemns Horthy celebration

Saturday, November 9th, 2013

A pro-government daily suggests that the warning issued by the US Embassy in Budapest over the Horthy statue amounts to interference in Hungarian politics. An opposition commentator blames the government for what he calls a new low in Hungarian-American relations. READ MORE

Storm blows on around Horthy statue

Thursday, November 7th, 2013

A centre-right commentator argues that instead of erecting new statues to Horthy, his era should be evaluated by historians. The Hungarian Reform Church has declared that a right-wing pastor’s key role in the celebration will be investigated. READ MORE

Finance Minister accused of falsifying history

Thursday, February 7th, 2013

A left-wing columnist believes that Finance Minister György Matolcsy has joined the chorus of right-wing politicians and intellectuals who try to blame the Holocaust purely on the Nazi German occupiers of Hungary. READ MORE

A judge’s approach to the vandalisation of Horthy’s statue

Monday, October 1st, 2012

Right-wing commentators are appalled by the statement of a judge who convicted but at the same time praised a protester for damaging a statue recently erected to Hungary’s interwar ruler. Left-wing analysts welcome the judge’s position and disagree with the Vice President of the Supreme Court, who scolded his colleague for expressing a personal opinion when issuing his verdict. READ MORE

The street name ban game

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

Left-wing newspapers fear that a ban envisaged on Communist style street names could lead to a ban on their own titles. A centrist conservative blogger sees the bill submitted by right-wing MPs as a new step in the war over historical symbols. READ MORE

Pleas for a more balanced approach to the Horthy renaissance

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012

After an angry and passionate exchange of opinions about a supposed revival of the cult of Miklós Horthy, leading columnists from both left and right call for a less opinionated approach, and caution against the over-politicized simplification and distortion of controversial and sensitive historical issues. READ MORE

Wiesel returns Hungarian award

Thursday, June 21st, 2012

A right-wing columnist downplays the importance of Elie Wiesel’s decision to return the highest Hungarian state honour in protest against what he sees as the government’s efforts to restore anti-Semitic icons. A left-wing pundit, on the other hand, believes that the case will receive international attention and further harm the image of the Orbán government. A centrist commentator notes that the previous socialist-liberal coalitions did much less against anti-Semitism than the current Fidesz government. READ MORE

Interpretation wars around Hungarian history

Monday, June 18th, 2012

Commentators on the left and right trade accusations about hidden agendas and propagating half-truths concerning the charges of anti-Semitism, the heritage of Imre Nagy and the Strasbourg court ruling on wearing the red star in public. READ MORE

History as the main battlefield of the culture wars

Friday, June 15th, 2012

A leading conservative journalist calls for a peaceful assessment of 20th century Hungarian history, and blames the left for refusing to face the negative heritage of the Communist past. READ MORE

For and against Horthy

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

An editorial in Népszabadság protests against what it calls an emerging cult around Miklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary in the interwar years and during the Second World War. A right-wing commentator argues that left wing historians and columnists attack Horthy in an attempt to hurt Viktor Orbán. READ MORE