Over a year ago, in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was designated as the next Bulgarian Ambassador to Hungary. At the time, there were not too many options to travel by air, so I decided to reach Budapest by car and this gave me the freedom to pick the date of my entry. […]
In Diplomacy & Trade’s Witty Leaks series, diplomats give their personal account of the experiences of their 'excursions' to Hungarian culture, art, gastronomy and landscape. This time, it is about how musical collaboration becomes a tool of cultural promotion. It’s still a very fresh memory how I came to visit Hungary for the first time, […]
As we have entered a new year, I look back at 2021 with very mixed feelings. As in 2020, the COVID pandemic continued to affect our lives negatively, sometimes even with tragic effects. One year ago, my father passed away in Switzerland – not from COVID, but with COVID – and we were not able […]
A diplomatic career appears interesting and even exciting to some, but in reality, it is filled with various routines and ceremonies, which are monotonous at times. At the same time, diplomacy requires dealing with a series of tense, if not conflicting, situations in which one must often find carefully measured compromises and solutions, when it […]
In the WittyLeaks section of Diplomacy&Trade, diplomats accredited to Hungary give account of their personal experiences or some lighter aspects of bilateral relations. In the December 2021 issue, the Portuguese ambassador writes about his experience gained when walking his dogs in the Buda Hills. Lucas is six years old and Angie is six months younger. […]
Naturally, the more of a country you see, the more you'll come to know it. This is why since my arrival in Hungary as Irish Ambassador in August 2019, I set myself the target of visiting at least one Hungarian region, town or city outside Budapest every month. While the COVID-19 pandemic has unfortunately curtailed […]
This September, the municipality of the southern Hungarian city of Pécs lifted the ban on tango dancing introduced in 1922. On this occasion, a ‘Tango Feast’ was held and I had the pleasure to visit the city. Among other activities, I had the opportunity to talk about my country and my people at the University […]
It’s a beautiful summer morning – warm, but between a patchwork of clouds and the elevation of the Kőszeg Mountains, the temperature is pleasant. As I wind my way through birch and pine trees and among white and pink foxglove flowers, I relax into the stillness of the forest.Standing there, it is hard to believe […]
In 2022, Belgium and Hungary will celebrate the 100th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. A joyous event that will certainly be a great opportunity to highlight the many bonds that unite our two countries in so many different ways. One cannot help but wonder what happened before 1922. Our bilateral interactions and contacts between what […]
Located in a small street of District II in Budapest, shaded by robust trees, a middle-sized villa gives home to the Dutch ambassador’s residence. The building has an intriguing historical background. The story of the occupants of the house is a bit of a mirror of Hungary’s recent history. Changing famous handsThe house was built […]
As an environmentally conscious citizen, active transportation is very important to me. It is a way to reduce our impact on the environment while maintaining an active lifestyle that integrates physical exercise in our daily activity. These modes of transportation also bring important economic and social benefits, from infrastructure investment to sustainable urban planning, to […]
In the WittyLeaks series, Diplomac&Trade regularly publishes the personal accounts of ambassadors and other diplomatic mission leaders accredited to Budapest. This time, the Ambasador of Thailand describes his pursuing of photography both in his native country and Hungary. “Life is like a camera, just focus on what is important and capture the good times.” This […]
In Diplomacy & Trade’s Witty Leaks series, diplomats give their personal account of the experiences of their “excursions” to Hungarian culture, art, gastronomy and landscape. This time, it is about similarities between Hungarians and Kazakhs in the past and in the present. In October 2019, arriving as my country's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Budapest […]
In the WittyLeaks series, Diplomac&Trade regularly publishes the personal accounts of ambassadors and other diplomatic mission leaders accredited to Budapest. This time, the Irish ambassador shares the story of an artist connecting his country with Hungary. Art and culture has the power to connect people, to bridge divides, either physical or emotional. I come to […]
Opposite the Central Station in Brussels, at the entrance from the ‘Spanjeplein’, a statue of 20th century Hungarian composer Béla Bartók was inaugurated in 1995. It was a gift from the city of Budapest on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bartók's death. That year, a series of concerts ‘Jubilate Hungaria 95’ around the […]
