“There is no Plan A or Plan B, our only aim is a swift agreement,” the government’s chief negotiator in loan talks with the International Monetary Fund and European Union said on Thursday at a conference organised by the business website Portfolio.hu. Tamás Fellegi sought – on the day after the EU’s executive declared itself… Continue »

It is years since the 15 March national holiday, intended to mark the heroic failure that was Hungary’s 1848 War of Independence, has not been overshadowed by latter-day political battles. “Let’s wash away the shame” Facebook protest group Milla is holding what it expects to be its third large-scale anti-government demonstration at the Pest end… Continue »

“Even by the standards of Hungarian officialdom this is a dumb rule,” Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary told reporters on Tuesday. The low-cost airline is challenging the insistence by Hungarian border police that flight crews landing briefly in Budapest must disembark and undergo security checks before flying out again. Fast turnarounds – in this case 25… Continue »

March is one of my favourite months. It has everything I could hope for by way of entertainment: great rugby as the Six Nations tournament continues, great speeches as the final of the Gift of the Gab draws near (Orfeum, 14 March) and the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Budapest (17 March). It’s a great… Continue »

In his book How Should We Then Live?, Francis Schaeffer established a landmark treatise on life, politics, ethics and the arts from a Christian worldview. It is a great book that I highly recommend. Taking from one of Schaeffer’s main themes in his book, we will be exploring the world of ethics over the next… Continue »

Eleven regions, 120 exhibitors, 5,000 tastes: Hungarian gourmet food production and gastronomy are at the centre of the three-day market taking place in Millenáris this weekend for the third time in just two years. Coming from the nation’s various regions and from across the border in Slovakia, Austria and Romania, small-scale producers and artisan farmers… Continue »

Walking on Váci utca and turning into La Cucina is a bit like entering a spaghetti western film set. Past the obligatory cured hams hanging by the front door, a large, hot room opens up, dotted with tables set with rough and rustic cloths. Napkins are equally rustic, un-ironed and lined with colourful patterns like… Continue »