Washington, DC – The “Hungarian Review”, the English-language affiliate of the bi-monthly journal Magyar Szemle, edited by Gyula Kodolányi and John O’Sullivan, has published its fourth 2015 issue.
On the cover: József Rippl-Rónai, Portrait of Aristide Maillol, detail. 1899. Oil on canvas, 100 x 75 cm. Paris, Musée d’Orsay. All paintings are reproduced by courtesy of the Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest.
This issue deals mainly with the divisive phenomena of migration and its obvious and possible consequences. In his editorial note entitled “How to Help Refugees – Really”, John O’Sullivan warns that “the world refugee crisis is now much bigger. Refugees are not only people on the move. Economic migrants in their millions want to leave places like Afghanistan, Somalia and Burma and settle in the welfarist West. Enjoying fewer rights than refugees under international law, they seek either to pass as refugees or to break into the West and establish a modern legalistic version of squatters’ rights. Unlike the passive DPs of post-war Europe, they come from a potentially limitless pool of future migrants. Given both their numbers and their willingness to override our immigration and other laws, they plausibly threaten our security, identity and national cohesion – especially under a multiculturalism that treats all cultures as equal or that (in reality) privileges the culture of the Other.”
In his article entitled “Hungary’s Double Migration Crisis is also Europe’s Problem” Mark Almond also draws the attention to the complexity of the issue and to an existing double standard in finding solutions. He states that “Burden-sharing” is the buzz-word in Brussels. The Italian government’s calls for a “Europeanisation” of the response to its migration crisis gets a sympathetic hearing in the international media, if not from the British or Baltic governments for instance. But Hungary’s response to its difficult position as the other major entry point into EU territory receives negative coverage.” He also points out that “what is happening to Hungary is a symptom of profound structural problems facing us all in the EU. But facing similar problems does not mean that there is a single solution which will suit all EU members. Part of Hungary’s difficulty is the obligation to apply rules devised to fit the whole EU which are not appropriate to its frontline status in the migration crisis.”
Two more articles are devoted to the topic of migration in the ‘Current section’ written by Ronald Majláth entitled ‘What Drives Kosovo Refugees to Hungary?’ and by László Földi entitled ‘A Note on the Great Migrations in the 21st Century’.
The last article in the ‘Current’ section is by David Goodhart: Has the Left had its Day? Yesterday’s Big Ideas Enter the Wrong Tomorrow.
The periodical then continues with a ‘Documents’ section that contains an article written by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán entitled ‘Notes Towards a Definition of Civic Conservativism – Reflections on Five Years of Governance’ and it also has the first part of a Hungarian Review interview with Gyula Kodolányi entitled ‘May 1990: József Antall Launches His Government’. In the interview, Gyula Kodolányi praises Former Prime Minister József Antall as he says: “Antall was a highly appealing, witty and courageous man of outstanding intelligence. Time and again I saw him completely win over strangers of substance after 30 minutes or an hour of discussion. Yet he also paid attention to undistinguished, ordinary people. He was curious, a good listener – and a fascinating conversationalist. He could be acerbic, and then produced wonderful adages on human behaviour.”
The ‘Documents’ section is followed by an ‘Essays’ section that has articles by Géza Antal Entz: Miklós Németh, the Premier of a Peaceful Transition 1988-1990; Árpád Kadarkay: War and Art – Memoirs of a Hungarian Childhood – Part IV; and Dóra Bittera – Tamás B. Molnár: Fishy Country – On the Medieval Traditions of Hungarian Cuisine.
Finally, the ‘Arts and Letters’ section has two articles, one by Anna Szinyei Merse entitled ‘Rippl-Rónai, the “Hungarian Nabi” and Friends – An Impeccable Exhibition’ and one by Thomas Kabdebo: Pendragonia – In Memoriam Klári Szerb.
Currently, twenty-seven issues of the Hungarian Review (from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015) can be ordered from Amazon.com, or directly from the publisher, or by calling the Coalition office in Washington.