One of the most commonly held assumptions about Hungary is that the country must have become a dictatorial, one-party state immediately following the end of the Second World War. After all, there was the presence of Soviet troops and the various agreements between the allied powers, both during the war and after, in effect ensured that Hungary would remain in the Soviet sphere of influence. Continue »

The eighth Verzio international documentary film festival will provide audiences with eye-opening, provocative and controversial insights into the topic of human rights from 8 to 13 November.  Continue »

A spy film festival is at the M?vész art-house cinema until Monday. “The Celluloid Curtain – Europe’s Cold War in film”, is organised by the Budapest Goethe Institute to mark the 50th anniversary of the erection of the Berlin Wall.  Continue »

Once the singer of Bossanova punk band Nouvelle Vague, these days Nadeah Miranda takes the stage with a solo project featuring moving and romantic French dance music. Born in Melbourne, Australia, but now based in Paris, Nadeah (in her own words) writes songs, plays the guitar and dances on stages round the world. Continue »

The Croatian Prosecutor’s Office has obtained a closed-circuit-television silent recording showing former prime minister Ivo Sanader and the CEO of Hungarian oil corporate MOL, Zsolt Hernádi, having dinner in a Zagreb restaurant. Continue »

Hungarian oil corporate MOL kept the wholesale price of diesel steady this week but an increase in excise tax increased the price by HUF 13 (EUR 0.042) a litre from 1 November to a record HUF 416-417 per litre at the end of October.  Continue »

The first Agrarian Széchenyi Card was presented by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Volksbank CEO László Balázs to János Darvalits, the managing director of Dabi Kft., last week. Continue »

The investment activity of small and medium enterprises has hit a record low with slightly more than half of such corporations planning some sort of development in the next 12 months, a study conducted by K&H Bank reveals. Continue »

Economic researcher GKI has reiterated its earlier projection that the country faces recession in 2012. Continue »

The Agricultural Office has imposed a total of HUF 345 million (EUR 1.13 million) in fines on five retail chains it accuses of unfair business practices with suppliers. Continue »