The 60th anniversary of 1956

In their articles on the eve of the anniversary, commentators sharply disagreed on the message of the Hungarian revolution for contemporary generations. READ MORE

Conference on 56 to be hosted by the Pentagon

The number one left-wing daily thinks the US Defense Department saved the conference proposed by the Hungarian Embassy because, unlike the State Department, they are satisfied with Hungary’s performance. READ MORE

The Imre Nagy anniversary

A pro-government correspondent hopes that the Prime Minister will always keep in mind the importance of the moral principles that guided him 27 years ago when he made his historic speech on the day of the reburial of the martyred Prime Minister of the 1956 revolution. READ MORE

Béla Biszku receives suspended sentence

A pro-government commentator finds the light sentence handed down to a former high-ranking Communist leader outrageous, and accuses the court of falsifying history and encouraging delinquency. READ MORE

October 23rd — a dull anniversary

The political rallies organised on 23rd October, the anniversary of the 1956 revolution were attended by very few people, for the first time since such meetings were allowed in 1989. Commentators analyse the context – dwelling on the most disparate factors, from the weakness of the Left to the migration crisis. READ MORE

Division on the anniversary of 1956

Newspapers contrast the current divisions Iin Hungary to the short lived national unity of the two weeks of the 1956 revolution. The dailies are not published on national holidays, including October 23, but devote editorials to 1956 in their Thursday editions. READ MORE

First reactions to Putin’s visit

Left-wing and liberal columnists accuse PM Orbán of assisting Russian President Putin in his geopolitical tricks. A pro-government pundit contends that Hungary, like Europe, needs to maintain good relations with Russia for pragmatic reasons. READ MORE

Competing claims for ’56

Commemorating the anniversary of the reburial of Imre Nagy

As Hungary commemorates the 1989 reburial of Prime Minister Imre Nagy and his colleagues executed following the Revolution of 1956, political commentators try to trace the contemporary relevance of this event, strictly in line with their current political affiliations. READ MORE

Right-wing comments on Béla Biszku’s sentence

According to a pro-government daily, the Hungarian left is soft on Béla Biszku, and asks for a symbolic sentence, but did not protest when the Wiesenthal Center accused Hungary of not being tough enough on Sándor Képíró, who stood trial for War crimes in 1942, and was acquitted. Another pro-government daily says Biszku cannot be forgiven for he never admitted his guilt. READ MORE