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(JTA) – Hungary recognized a Jewish sociologist, Andreas Kovacs, and two citizens accused of making anti-Semitic statements with prestigious national awards.

Kovacs, 65, was one of 17 people presented the Szechenyi Prize on the occasion of Hungary’s March 15 national day. The prize, given to Kovacs for his decades-long research on postwar Jewish identity, anti-Semitism, minority rights and social history, recognizes outstanding contributions in academic life in Hungary. He has tracked anti-Semitism in Hungary as well as Hungarian Jewish identity since the 1970s.

Also March 15, Ferenc Szaniszlo, a television presenter for Echo TV, was awarded the Tancsics Award for journalists, despite the anti-Semitism accusations and calling Roma “apes” — a comment for which his station received a $500 fine from the Hungarian state media regulator in 2011.

JTA

Around 4,000 Hungarians rallied in Budapest Sunday against Prime Minister Viktor Orban, branding their leader a dictator after his right-wing government passed a highly controversial change to the constitution.

Protesters carried EU and opposition party flags and held banners dubbing the prime minister “Viktator”.

The rally, which was organised by civil group Milla (short for “One Million for Press Freedom in Hungary”), was moved from Friday, Hungary’s national day, when snowstorms paralysed much of the country.

GlobalPost

I have been complaining for some time about the state’s meddling in artistic and intellectual life by awarding hundreds of decorations and prizes to “worthy” individuals. This practice began some time in the nineteenth century, albeit on a very limited basis. There was the Order of St. Stephen, established by Queen Maria Theresa, which ceased to exist after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In 1930 Regent Miklós Horthy established the so-called Corvin Chain. From the list of recipients it is clear that ideological commitment was an important consideration in the selection process. Viktor Orbán already during his first stint in office worked to revive the spirit of the Horthy era and reinstated the Corvin Chain. After the lost elections, the socialist-liberal government scrapped it. I wrote about these old and new decorations in November 2011.

HungarianSpectrum

Today is Revolution Day in Hungary, an annual celebration marking the Hungarian people’s 1848 uprising against the Habsburg Monarchy. Often observed with political demonstrations, this year’s holiday comes at a significant moment, only days after the country’s Parliament passed a constitutional amendment that many citizens consider a violation of Hungary’s democratic principles. The controversial law is only the latest in a series of major political overhauls pushed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In 2011, his conservative Fidesz Party used its parliamentary supermajority to ratify a new constitution that has been criticized by the European Union and the United States for its eliminations of institutional checks and balances. To discuss the implications of Hungary’s new constitution, recent legislation and the broader political situation, artist and activist Gabriella Csoszó turned to Gábor Attila Tóth, a constitutional lawyer who is a founding member and, since January 2013, president of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union.

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