More in poverty, disparity

Over 17% of households lived on less than EUR 226 a month last year

20 May 2013

The proportion of those living in relative poverty rose considerably between 2009 and 2012, making Hungary what left-wing daily Népszava calls “the country of the poor”. Income inequalities grew, with the share of total income made by those in the lowest tenth of the population dropping from 3.1 to 2.5 per cent. view full post…

The right to decide

Some 60,000 Hungarians living with mental disability are denied the chance to make their own decisions about how they live their lives, activists say. Anaïs Lynn Voski speaks to the director of the Budapest-based Mental Disability Advocacy Centre, an NGO that fights for the human rights of people with disabilities and has been working in Hungary and other Central European countries for more than 10 years.

20 May 2013

Oliver Lewis, executive director of the centre, said their mission essentially “boils down to equality and inclusion”, as many people are placed into large institutions away from their homes, where they do not want to be, and are deprived of their right to make decisions about their lives. “There are about 60,000 people under guardianship…

Violence reaction

Government proposals to protect women don’t go far enough: opposition

19 May 2013

Proposed amendments to the criminal code would mean assailants could be punishable with up to five years in prison, Public Administration and Justice Ministry state secretary Róbert Répássy said on Tuesday as he presented a bill to Parliament. It must be made clear that domestic violence is not a family affair but a serious criminal…

Healthy OTP ready to pounce on rivals

19 May 2013

The country’s biggest financial institution, OTP, wants to buy two banks, both of which are planning to withdraw from Hungary, CEO Sándor Csányi told news radio Inforádió on Monday. In one case negotiations are in the final stage and OTP has made an official written offer. Csányi said OTP also plans to make certain investments…

Fashion photography through the decades

Open until 13 June

19 May 2013

Fashionistas and art-lovers can enjoy tasteful and extravagant pictures in the newly opened Fashion Photographers Exhibition at the X6 Gallery in downtown Budapest. Held in the lobby of Roosevelt 7/8 Office Building, the gallery features photographs from world-famous artists such as Bence Bakonyi, Youssef Nabil and Jacques Olivar. X6 Gallery has just opened its doors…

Sticking point

Hungary, Azerbaijan to put stamp on their friendship but Budapest denies honouring petrostate’s ‘national leader’

18 May 2013

The Hungarian postal service, Magyar Posta, had nothing to do with a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Azerbaijan’s strongman leader Heydar Aliyev, the National Development Ministry said on Monday. The denial came after local news websites had picked up Azeri media reports that the late Aliyev had been made the subject…

Easy but pleasant plot used to pile on history

Review: The Eyes of Venice, by Alessandro Barbero

18 May 2013

Venice in the late 1500s is a powerful republic, a ubiquitous commercial and political actor in the Mediterranean despite long wars with the Ottoman Empire. But at home discontent rumbles as poor weather causes harvest failures, famine, disease and soaring unemployment. Matteo, master mason and one of the early protagonists in Alessandro Barbero’s work of…