In Reform Era Hungary, on Easter Monday in the countryside maidens would be grabbed by boys, dragged to the nearest river and ‘dipped’ in it. If there was no river nearby, they would be taken to wells, laid in troughs and doused with cold water. On more than one occasion the poor girls would get a stroke from the cold water or die of pneumonia a few days later.

‘This is the message of Easter. Sharing the most ordinary beautiful experiences with each other: that is transforming the world. It just takes courage. For believers and non-believers alike. We should respect each other. Because none of us can create life. Destroy it, all the more.’

With the early arrival of spring this year, the country’s arboretums and botanical gardens are in full bloom now. Magyar Krónika collected a set of arboretums worth visiting this March.

‘Strategic uncertainty is not a universal elixir, but merely one of the tools in a politician’s and a strategist’s toolbox. It is important to know when to use it, but it is perhaps even more important to know when not to. For strategic uncertainty to be an effective tool, serious kinetic action must sometimes be added to the bluffing and the show of force.’

Our Lenten traditions include some elements that promote cooperation, while others are about cleaning up our environment or purifying our bodies and souls. By transposing these into the present day we may gather much needed strength in these difficult times.

Old-aged men from the Great Hungarian Plain standing or sitting straight up face the camera and indirectly us, the viewers of these portraits today. What was previously only known from history books and clichéd speeches at the 15 March commemorations becomes, when seeing these pictures, the unvarnished truth, a gesture of an encounter with the past.

The cockade is one of the best-known and most significant Hungarian symbols, which has played a decisive role in our history. Over the centuries, the cockade has become an emblem of patriotism and Hungarian identity, which we have proudly worn on all our national holidays ever since the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

‘On the evening of 4 March, the two houses of the French Parliament voted 780 to 72 in favour of a constitutional amendment of the Fifth Republic to protect women’s freedom to have deliberate abortions…All it indicates is that the French people no longer regard foeticide, this infernal evil, as merely necessary but also as valuable.’

The European Union’s migration and asylum policy is an area that is the focus of major political debates on a daily basis…This is particularly the case when national authorities seek guidance in individual cases from the ECJ, which has the binding power to fundamentally determine or change legislative practice—often leading to new political debates or new layers of political debate.

Regardless of the season or century, the Gerbeaud House has always been one of the gems of the capital’s city centre. Both the beauty of the late Art Nouveau building and the Gerbeaud Café on the edifice’s ground floor attract tourists and sweet-toothed visitors to this day.

One of the EU’s appeals is its ability to integrate economic regions in its immediate neighbourhood, where it can reap mutual benefits. This is also true for the candidate countries of the Western Balkans, whose future membership has geopolitical and security policy benefits in addition to economic advantages.

‘Europe’s most powerful nation is now led, without exaggeration, by political extremists. The heads of the other large nations, France and Britain, are all cynical, complacent, and indifferent to the problems of their citizens to a degree not seen here since the French Revolution.

It is an interesting situation for us. So far, we have been the ones always divided up: by the Ottomans, Habsburgs, Germans, and French. Now they are the ones being sliced up and bid on by the hungry peoples of the Third World and the coldly calculating networks of people smugglers.’

‘When we put on the costume and the mask, we are busós, not men. A busó without a mask, even if he is wearing a cowbell, traditional trousers, or a haversack, is not a real busó, but a clown showing himself off to tourists.’ A Magyar Krónika report about four masks, four characters, and four different stories, linked forever by the same city and passion!

Hármashatár Hill, Camel Rock, Iron Gates, Lad’s Cave and Epöl Rocks: all wonderful hiking destinations that can be easily reached if you are based in the Hungarian capital.

On the last day of Carnival, we share the thoughts of education scientist Mária Bajzáth, founder of a pedagogical storytelling workshop, on the role of masks, the magic of tales, and the community-building and community-preserving power of the festival.

Here in Hungary, few people know the name of Baroness Éva Kohner, but in professional circles, she is well known, as her work, particularly her research on the effects of diabetes on the eye, is internationally outstanding.

Despite climate and clean energy transition targets, the current energy crisis has forced many countries to increase coal-based power generation. The question is: can we expect a turn in coal use in the shorter or longer term, and closely related to this, is there any other reason for the rise in coal use for energy than the energy crisis itself?

May all penmen remember when they write their next article that the precise use of terms is the alpha and omega of all communication. And those who allow their words to be hijacked will fare ill—and they can only blame themselves.

Perhaps the best-known and one of the most beautiful buildings in Ferenciek tere (Square of the Franciscans) in Budapest, the Párisi Passage, has been recently renovated and its original beauty restored. The history of the magnificent edifice dates back to the early 19th century.

Similarly to the French president, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck also spoke sharply in his assessment of Europe’s place and competitiveness. In his view, the progress made in the first decades of the existence of the EU has made Europe complacent, ignoring the pace of development in the US and Asia, as a result of which it is far behind its competitors today.

A brief review of the European policy of the Hungarian Government and of that of the domestic opposition.

‘There is something in our national anthem that makes it mean something important and inexplicable to every Hungarian. The hallmark of great pieces of art is that the reader or listener feels as if they express something very important that they cannot. As if they speak from their heart, expressing their innermost, most sincere desires and dreams. It is this mysterious quality that Hungarians feel when listening to the National Anthem: that it really comes from our hearts, it is our prayer, the prayer of every single Hungarian to the Creator.’

The ‘coffee house cult’ in Hungary started to take off in the 1800s. From that time onwards, they functioned as a community space, the main arena of cultural and political life, and a place where visitors could easily access all the information they needed and wanted.

January is the saddest month of the year for many: the holidays are over, but winter really begins only then—long, cold, and dark days one after the other. Let’s make sure we have something to look forward to in January: Magyar Krónika has collected some great activities to fill our grey days with light and colour.

As for 2024: once we have passed the most difficult and dangerous year, we can move on to the next one, the year of sovereignty protection. We who are interested in Hungary remaining a Hungarian country.

We can say, albeit cautiously, that 2023 was a year of struggle for many of us, but a year of achievements and success, too. If we take the word ‘struggle’ out of the previous sentence, we could even turn this assessment into a New Year’s wish.

In the year 2023, a political mechanism was broken in Hungary: even downturns and runaway inflation could not dramatically alter the balance of political power.

‘It may very well be that in a few decades’ time, it will become clear to all analysts that the US’s rise to being a hegemonic power has carried the seeds of its downfall, too.’

‘It’s a bit overblown, this ‘Hollywood dream’ thing. All you have to do is work hard, that’s the secret. I am one hundred and ten per cent sure that nothing was in vain, and my dreams will come true.’

German Green MEP Daniel Freund thought that 23 October was the right time to publish the report on Hungary by the EP’s so-called Supervisory Body. He is proud to have been involved in its preparation, which is a shared pleasure for all of us, as his involvement is a guarantee that the document cannot be taken seriously.