21st July 2011
I spent Tuesday in Kecskemet, also known as the “Famous City”, the “City of Tolerance” (on account of the large number of churches in the centre) and, informally, the “Capital of Art Nouveau” – and there are certainly some splendid examples of secessionist architecture there. In addition to meeting the Vice Mayor (photo above), the […]
20th July 2011
If she had lived, we would be celebrating her 90th birthday today. But sadly Hannah Senesh (born Aniko Szenes) was murdered in 1944. Disturbed by the Hungarian education system’s increasing discrimination on religious grounds, Hannah Senesh decided to emigrate from Budapest to the British Mandate of Palestine at the outset of World War II. She […]
30th June 2011
At the end of the Hungarian EU Presidency, and since I started this blog specifically to cover this period, I should say something about Hungary’s performance in this role. When I focus in on the business agenda, and ignore some of the media coverage that has happened, the Hungarian Presidency has gone well. It hasn’t […]
22nd June 2011
The “Bards of Wales” project came to fruition last night with a performance of the world premier of Karl Jenkins’ cantata at the Palace of Arts. Almost all 1800 seats were full and the audience (including President Schmitt) gave the work a rapturous reception. British Minister David Jones of the Welsh Office visited Hungary for […]
9th June 2011
…is the slogan of the Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM) now taking place in Godolo Royal Palace. Minister of State Jeremy Browne is representing the UK and has spoken about live foreign policy issues (the Arab Spring, Iran, Afghanistan, Burma and North Korea) and global economic developments (the rising significance of Asian economies to global prosperity, reform […]
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8th June 2011
Yesterday Ferenc Madl was buried in a moving ceremony with military honours in the Fiume Street Public Cemetery and a mass was held in the Basilica in his honour. President of Hungary between 2000 and 2005, he was respected for his propriety, knowledge and personal humility. As a judicial and non-partisan expert, he sent legislation […]
6th June 2011
I spent early Friday at the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual School of Budapest. They, together with 9 other schools, were participating in a “Connecting Classrooms” Festival event at the end of this academic year. Connecting Classrooms is a British Council global project which aims to build lasting partnerships between schools in the UK and others around the […]
4th June 2011
On 31 May the British Embassy’s conference hall was (not for the first time) turned into a cinema. I co-hosted the evening screening of the film “Call of Life: Facing Mass Extinction” with the Hungarian State Secretary for the Environment, Zoltan Illes. This was far from the first time we worked together. The history of […]
3rd June 2011
Earlier this week we held a very well-attended, high profile press conference at the Embassy at which the Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (MTVA) – the official Hungarian media sports TV/radio organisation spoke about the London 2012 Olympics and all the international sporting events leading up to the Games in which Hungary is involved. Agnes Cserhati […]
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19th May 2011
”Well, he would [say that] wouldn’t he?” Last week I took part in the 10th Hungarian Business Leaders Forum Financial Summit and found myself on a panel of Ambassadors arguing about the transformational power of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The UK is one of the biggest foreign investors in Hungary, so I might be expected […]