Latest news with #Hungarians
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukrainian students speaking Russian more often
Students in Ukraine are increasingly speaking Russian, according to a state university lecturer. The reported surge comes despite Kiev's ongoing 'Ukrainization' campaign aimed at eliminating the native language of around a quarter of the population from schools, media and public life. The remarks were made by Ekaterina Nikonyuk of Boris Grinchenko Kiev University, who told TV channel on Tuesday that more students are speaking Russian compared to previous years, although she did not provide specific figures. 'This shows that language ombudsmen are falling short and that the state isn't doing enough to promote Ukrainian – instead of simply banning Russian,' Nikonyuk stated. She blamed Ukrainian public figures for using Russian, warning that their influence risks discouraging young people from learning the state language. 'When bloggers and celebrities – followed by millions – say that 'their jaws aren't set up for Ukrainian,' it's demotivating,' she added. In 2019, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law requiring Ukrainian to be used exclusively in nearly all aspects of public life. There are limited exemptions for certain ethnic minorities, including Hungarians and Crimean Tatars, but not for the largest minority group – ethnic Russians. A significant portion of the population, particularly in eastern regions, speaks or understands both languages. Around 40% of the Ukrainian population spoke Russian as their primary language back in 2012, and approximately 26% at the end of 2021, according to polls. As of 2024, only 12% admitted they exclusively speak Russian at home. The language debate has long divided Ukraine and was a contributing factor in the 2014 Western-backed Euromaidan coup. Since then, the government has curtailed Russian language rights and accelerated efforts to sever cultural ties with Moscow, especially after hostilities escalated in February 2022. Ukraine's former language ombudsman, Taras Kremen, has acknowledged that many Ukrainian citizens remain uncertain about which language they primarily identify with. His successor, Elena Ivanovskaya, has branded the Russian language a 'tool of destabilization.' Moscow has repeatedly denounced Ukraine's crackdown on Russian language and culture, insisting that 'forced Ukrainization' violates international law and infringes upon the rights of native Russian speakers.
Budapest Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Orbán: We will never support foreign policy that threatens Hungary's survival
The prime minister argued that Ukraine's EU membership would turn the region into a battlefield. 'If we admit Ukraine, we admit the war,' he said. For Hungary, a neighbor to Ukraine, this would bring direct military and economic consequences. 'Many Hungarians would die, our youth would be taken away, and our economy would be in ruins.' He reiterated that the government is not acting out of hostility but out of necessity. While Hungary has offered to help broker peace, its offers have been rejected by Ukrainian leadership. Instead, Brussels has continued to press for full membership, which Prime Minister Orbán called an existential threat. The economic dimension of this debate is equally serious. Hungary would be expected to contribute to a massive financial package for Ukraine—one the prime minister described as astronomical. 'The money they want to send to Ukraine in a single year equals 18 times the total pensions paid in Hungary,' he said. 'We are burning money in Ukraine for no reason,' he added, claiming that only large multinational corporations stand to benefit. Hungarian farmers are especially at risk, he warned. Not only would EU agricultural subsidies be redirected, but unfair competition would also follow. 'It's outrageous that Tisza Party experts called Hungarian farmers 'chimpanzees' just for adapting to the support system,' he said, condemning the insult and defending those who have played by EU rules. 'You simply don't talk about people like that.' Beyond economic and military issues, the prime minister also addressed growing pressure from the EU under the banner of the rule of law. 'The rule of law is nothing but a political cudgel,' he stated, accusing the European Commission of using legal rhetoric to pursue ideological goals. 'It's a political blackmail tool, nothing more.' Cultural tensions were also in the spotlight following the government's decision to ban a controversial Irish band from performing at a major music festival. Prime Minister Orbán said the move was necessary to protect public peace. 'If you come to Hungary, you must respect our laws,' he said. He also pointed to what he described as a growing alignment between artists and liberal politics, particularly in the lead-up to elections. 'Artists and the showbiz world line up behind the liberals. It didn't help in America, and it won't help here,' he said, adding that such campaigns often misjudge public sentiment. 'I think voters don't appreciate it when popular performers try to tell them how to think about life and politics.' In his view, this alignment may ultimately work in favor of the government: 'Politically, it doesn't hurt us. In fact, it may even help.'
Budapest Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Deputy PM: Tisza Party is an empty vessel bereft of ideas
Zsolt Semjén said the Tisza Party was incapable of saying anything meaningful about any relevant issue. Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said the opposition Tisza Party is an empty vessel bereft of ideas, and all it can do is hurl hatred and slander at Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. During a podium discussion at the 34th Balvanyosi Summer Free University and Student Camp in Baile Tusnad (Tusnadfurdo) on Thursday, Deputy PM Semjén said the Tisza Party was incapable of saying anything meaningful about any relevant issue. 'They don't have party experts, which is why they're not setting up a shadow government,' he said, adding that Tisza could not name their candidates for Hungary's 106 individual constituencies 'because they don't have 106 people' available as candidates. He said the 2026 general election would be won by parties that win 60 individual electoral districts and do well on national party lists, 'especially if the Hungarians in Transylvania, too, support them'. Commenting on Hungarian-Romanian bilateral relations, he said much closer cooperation should be maintained between the two countries, which would serve the interests of both Hungary and Romania and therefore the interests of Transylvanian Hungarians, too. President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, Hunor Kelemen, told the podium discussion that it was a fundamental interest of Transylvanian Hungarians to strengthen bilateral relations and make dialogue permanent. He said he had attended the informal meeting of Orbán and Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan on Wednesday evening. He added that the two prime ministers had immediately found a common wavelength and had been able to consult about important issues. The nearly two-hour meeting was characterised by mutual respect and sincere dialogue, he said.
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Weekend essay: An expat's daydream for a perfect Napier day
I'm here right now, and it's pretty nice, I have to say. Balmy evenings, endless, benign sunshine (no ozone hole), Marina's new album blasting on my speaker on the banks of the Danube, Aperol spritzes till I'm sick of the fake-orange sight of 'em. And even so – must be a grass-is-always-greener kind of thing – I'd rather be in Napier. I can't help it: I have this thing about that little city. It's a love affair, and I'm still in the honeymoon phase. I grew up in Havelock North, and Napier being 'my' town still feels new. I can't get enough of her; she drives me crazy; I can't get her out of my head. The stunning Napier Hill from Westshore Beach. Photo / Daisy Coles Even sitting here on a terrace dotted with geraniums and oleanders, with a tiny bitter coffee on a red-checked table cloth beside me, sweating in a caftan and gold sandals, I miss the hell out of her. And so, I daydream. And I'm indulging my obsession, imagining my perfect Napier day. I close my eyes, tune out the Hungarians around me discussing the football and their doomed politics, and I'm there ... I drive in to town early, and my first stop is Uncle, where I chat to Ryan about school because our kids are in the same class, and he makes me a perfect little flat white. I take it with me as I drive through Ahuriri – hello, sleepy little village – and over the hill on Shakespeare Rd, where I'm lucky enough to find a free park on the town side (this is a daydream, remember). I walk down through the old telephone exchange and past the cathedral. Everything in this wee quarter seems somehow too big for its boots, in the most endearing way ('You call it a 'cathedral'? Really?" the Europeans would laugh). I dump my stuff at my desk. But this is my dream – I'm not going to work today. I just wanted to say hi to the Folkl team and the gang of likeminded souls who share their co-working space. I pat Juno, listen to Henry rant about one social issue with a hot take that's impossible to argue with, stay to the end of one of Will's carefully selected tracks, and I'm off. I go to Georgia, and Ella yells out my name before I'm even through the door. Georgia's flat whites. Benny makes me an even more perfect little flat white. It's a heart, its borders ever-expanding, and it seems to me to be a picture of my own heart, ever-expanding too, from this point in Tennyson Street at the centre to Waipātiki Beach at the edges. Benny's wearing his red beanie, so I know it's going to be a good day. I sit in the sun with my coffee. Mark Sweet, the best writer I ever worked with, is here, so I have to stay until he's definitively set the world to rights for me plus given me some advice on how to organise my love life. Then I'm off down Tennyson St towards Wardini. I like the traffic lights at this intersection because while you wait, you can cast a surreptitious glance into Tennyson Gallery to see what Lizzie is wearing today, and it's always amazing. Whatever colour it is, it somehow always goes with her hair, her lipstick and her shoes. God, she's fabulous. Daisy Coles might live in Hungary at present, but she yearns for Napier's delights. In the bookshop, I spend some luxurious time browsing, after I've done the obligatory rifling-through of books that I know have my name in them ('Thank you to my editor ... '). Not only can Ro tell me the plot of every single book I'm interested in, she also gives a pithy, reliable summary of each one, because she's some sort of walking, talking book wiki with crazy shoes and a cute dog. I buy the latest Catherine Chidgey. I head to the library next, where I check out the second-latest Catherine Chidgey and three semi-current Vogues. Libraries are the best. (Napier deserves better than this pokey, temporary one, but it's charming all the same, with its Narnia feel of walking from one wardrobe into the next and its reliable cast of friendly librarians. There's even a hot one – the mark of a good library is a hot librarian, right?) Back down the road to my favourite block again; I pop into Chantal. Because this is my dream, all the organic produce I like best is in season and luscious; I buy heirloom tomatoes and those glorious Japanese grapes and as many blueberries as I can carry. I continue on to Vinci's for lunch because where else would I go? The special is somehow always delicious even though it's an insane combination of foods. It's, like, venison sausage, roasted kūmara puree, watercress pesto, crushed-up Hands Down tortillas and Japanese mayo with Vinci's famous hot honey. (I'm making this up. But it could work?) Always get the special. Everyone who works here is 57 times cooler than me and the miracle of it is that, unlike the cool folks in a place like Wellington, or Budapest, they're nice. Vinci's is ingeniously designed so that one slice isn't quite enough, but instead of buying a second I dip back through Chantal and into Hāpi, where I get the berry version of those raw cheesecake slices that used to have a gluey-mouth feel but seem to have had their recipe refined recently, so that they're now perfect: like something the fairies would stir up together on a girls' night in. On Hastings Street, as I head back towards Shakespeare Rd for my car, I spot Freeman White, art god of Havelock North High School in the nineties, who has somehow since become even more famous. I act like he remembers who I am and say a warm hello; he's polite enough to nod and smile back. It's time to indulge in my favourite Napier hobby (after café-hopping). The joys of op-shopping in Westshore. I hit the Carlyle Street op-shop strip first. In Vinnies, my man gives me a huge smile (he once told me I look like Leona Lewis; I love him). In the Sallies, my favourite lady is working too. A while back, she sold me a pair of cowboy boots that had an $80 price tag on them for $30. Perhaps I looked like a down-and-out? But I prefer to believe it's because she recognised in me the rightful, predestined owner of those boots. My favourite op shops for true vintage dresses and fill-a-bag deals are Knox Church and Westshore respectively, and the atmosphere in those two is superior and just how an op shop should be. Dusty and dim, with the smell of Yardley in the air, the radio tuned to Magic but quietly enough that you can hear every word of the op-shop ladies' chat. Dee and Karen at Westshore know me by name because they were teacher aides in my kids' classes, and they've always got personal recommendations for me. I'm full of good food, good coffee and good cheer, and my car is full of books, organic produce and op-shop treasure. It's time to head home to the sleepy, green Waipātiki Valley. This has been such a perfect day, and I'm glad I spent it with you, as Lou Reed would say. We can say we spent it together, because it exists only in my head and on your screen: our collective imagination. But you, reader, are lucky, lucky, lucky: because you're there, you have the luxury of walking these paths, going to these places, talking to these precious, lovely Napier characters in your real life. Go! Now! Say hi to them for me! And I'll see them, and you, in the spring – I'm counting down the days already.
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Felipe Perrone enjoys fairy-tale finish to career as Spain win World Aquatics C'ships men's water polo gold
Spain's Felipe Perrone (left) led by example at both ends of the pool in the 15-13 win over Hungary in the World Aquatics Championships men's water polo final at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on July 24. SINGAPORE – During his 20 days in Singapore, Felipe Perrone picked up an autobiography about the Republic's founding father Lee Kuan Yew to learn more about his leadership, the culture here and how the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) hosts evolved from Third World to First. On July 24, the men's water polo legend capped his illustrious quarter-century-long career with a storybook ending as Spain beat Hungary 15-13 in a record-breaking final on July 24 for their fourth, and his second, world title. Fittingly, in his last match before retirement, the 39-year-old ran down the clock in front of a sell-out crowd at the 3,000 seater OCBC Aquatic Centre, then turned on the afterburners to sprint clear and score his team's final goal of the match to seal victory in the most goal-laden WCH water polo final. Finishing his final match with a perfect two goals from two shots, he told The Straits Times: 'This was really like a movie and I couldn't believe it. I'm so, so happy and so proud of the team.' 'I was crying for the last six months every time the guys said beautiful words about me. These are people whom I spent more time with than with my family, so to finish like this with them next to me was really special.' Even the Hungarians congratulated and appreciated Perrone for his illustrious career as he stayed behind in the pool to receive a standing ovation from his Spanish teammates, before they and the coaching staff dived in, as a video tribute was played for him. Hungary's Vince Pal Vigvari said: 'What's worth more than all the medals and all the achievements is the fact that we always firstly talk about what an amazing person he is – I think that's wonderful.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Asia 11 Thai civilians killed as Thai and Cambodian militaries clash at disputed border: Reports Asia Singapore urges all parties in Thailand-Cambodia border dispute to exercise restraint Asia Deadly Thai-Cambodian dispute puts Asean's relevance on the line Life Hulk Hogan, who helped turn pro wrestling into a billion-dollar spectacle, dies at 71 Singapore Avoid water activities around Tuas Second Link, Raffles Marina after chemical tank accident: NEA Singapore Khatib Camp to make way for housing, with its functions moving to Amoy Quee Camp Singapore Mindef to set up new volunteer management unit to grow volunteer pool Singapore Primary 1 registration: 29 schools to conduct ballot in Phase 2B Having missed the 2025 World Cup triumph, the stalwart was convinced by his former captain and current Spain coach David Martin to delay his retirement because he would be of value to the team at the WCH. And Perrone truly showed his leadership and ability to augment defence and attack and lead the team to glory. The finalists had already met earlier in a Group B match on July 16 when Spain clawed back a 5-8 deficit to beat Hungary 10-9. The final also started as a tight affair as world No. 1 Spain took advantage of their rivals' exclusions to score the first two goals, but third-ranked Hungary made it 5-5 at the end of the first period. The goals dried up in the second quarter as Spain led 7-6 at half-time before four-time world champions Hungary rallied to edge ahead 10-9 at the end of the third period, although Perrone scored with a brilliant no-look shot for the last goal of the quarter to keep the opponents within sight. While both teams committed to attack, there was an interesting difference in strategy as Spain relied heavily on star attackers Bernat Sanahuja and Alvaro Granados who split 10 goals equally, while Hungary had eight different scorers. The final eight minutes was an expectedly intense finale, but Spain proved to be more clinical when they had one man up – outscoring Hungary 9-5 in the extra-player situations – as they finished stronger. While Perrone leaves the pool for good and is '100 per cent sure' he will not return as coach, he leaves behind a strong legacy and big impact on his younger teammates. Granados said: 'One of the most beautiful things that sport ever gave me was being able to be his friend and his roommate for the last four years. 'He has zero ego despite being one of the best players in history and always puts others ahead of him for the best of the group. We all learnt a lot from him. He's super humble, a super good person and a great friend.' Deservedly, Sanahuja, who scored his five goals from just six shots, was named Player of the Final, while Granados was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player. The top goalkeeper award went to Greek Panagiotis Tzortzatos, while the top scorer was Canada's 26-goal Reuel D'Souza. Meanwhile, world No. 4 Greece recovered from their heartbreaking semi-final penalty shoot-out defeat by Spain to thump Olympic champions and fifth-ranked Serbia 16-7 to collect their third WCH bronze in the past decade. Serbia could not recover in time from their own hangover after losing the other semi-final by a single goal to Hungary, and a run of eight goals conceded across the second and third quarters that left them trailing 2-10 proved fatal ultimately. Greece captain Konstantinos Genidounias said: 'I want to say I'm happy, but the feelings are very mixed right now. We deserved something better. Our team showed in three games, in my opinion, that we're probably the best team here. Today, I don't know if we were that good... but we needed this more, we wanted it more. We don't have too many medals like Serbia, so it was very important for us. ' Serbia skipper Nikola Jaksic acknowledged his team put up a 'disaster' of a performance. He said: 'You could see in the game that we felt not as ourselves, probably because we still hadn't recovered from the loss to Hungary, and Greece was better.' 'I just hope we manage to pull ourselves together, because we have the European Championships in Belgrade in five months. This is not us and if we plan to play like this there, then it's better that we don't.' In the other classification matches, world No. 2 Croatia came from behind to beat eighth-ranked Montenegro 19-13 for fifth place, while world No. 6 Italy pipped seventh-ranked United States 9-8 for seventh place.
