Hungary’s demographic debate often asks why younger generations are not having children. A more difficult and perhaps more useful question is what kind of economic and social environment has made family formation feel increasingly risky rather than natural.
Sometimes a single gesture can travel further than words. A ring given by a mother in Africa to a woman she had never met becomes a symbol of the quiet, invisible bond between women, and of the shared strength of motherhood across continents.
Hungary’s demographic crisis is often framed as a problem of individual choice, with younger generations accused of refusing family life and parenthood. Yet the roots of the country’s population decline lie much deeper, in long-term historical, political, and social processes that began decades ago.
Hungary’s diplomatic network has expanded well beyond what its foreign policy priorities, institutional capacity, and professional standards can reasonably sustain. Any serious reform of the foreign ministry will have to address not only questions of cost, but also the structure, purpose, and staffing logic of its global presence.
Simon Wintermans’ life story connects Dutch family legacy, Central European transition, rural Hungary and a warning about the fragility of democracy.
Almost two months ago, I promised to write about my work in the UK. Instead, I was swept up by the long‑awaited political change that finally took place in Hungary. The journey leading up to the night of 12 April was rocky and deeply emotional. It began two years earlier, with a presidential pardon granted by the then head of state, Katalin Novák.
It appears that Viktor Orbán may soon withdraw from the front line of politics. It is therefore time for us, too, to reflect on what renewal means for us.
On April 12, Hungary voted, and since then young people, many of whom were voting for the first time, have been blamed. Based on earlier turnout rates, young people had not seemed interested in politics, yet this time a significant wave of mobilization took place. I found two possible reasons that may explain this shift, and in this article I examine the social, economic, and other conditions that produced this remarkable level of participation, as well as what shaped young people’s new political consciousness.
In Central and Eastern Europe, the question of social inclusion has remained a recurring policy challenge for decades. In communities facing structural disadvantage, interventions are often built around external programmes, financial support, and institutional solutions. Less often do initiatives emerge that seek to produce lasting change at the local level by relying on internal resources and community-based agency.
There can be no meaningful reconciliation in Hungary while Viktor Orbán remains untouched by legal and political accountability.
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