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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · 2d

It seems that in the Czech parliamentary election, there was a successful effort by voters to elect female candidates.
denikn.cz/1859395/vysl...

Výsledek je pro nás šok, překonali jsme kritickou masu, říká vedoucí iniciativy Zakroužkuj ženu

„Před čtyřmi lety jsme co chvíli četli, jak si vymýšlíme a že si tu ženy přece žijí úplně stejný život jako muži a my chceme jen tupě prosazovat jedno pohlaví bez ohledu na kompetence,“ říká v rozhovo...

denikn.cz

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · 3d

In the Czech parliamentary elections, parties from the left to the centre-right received 89.59% of the vote, and A. Babiš's "populist" ANO only 3.24% - among Czech voters in Canada. (Not quite so back home.)
www.seznamzpravy.cz/p/vysledky-v...

Volby 2025 a Kanada - Výsledky voleb online

Volby 2025: Kanada – aktuální výsledky online – průběžné i konečné. Všechny informace o volbách a jejich průběhu přehledně.

www.seznamzpravy.cz

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · 11d

Orbán's mouthpiece newspaper Magyar Nemzet revels in Trump's plans to prosecute George Soros, Orbán's long-term obsession. This is perhaps the most striking of the many parallels between Hungarian and American autocracy today.
magyarnemzet.hu/kulfold/2025...

Sorosék ellen hamarosan vádat emelhetnek

A Trump-kormányzat ezzel a USAID leépítése után a baloldali korrupciós hálózat másik fontos pillérét ütheti ki.

magyarnemzet.hu

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · 27d

The Progressive Slovakia party is the country's most popular, ahead of the leading "populist" Smer.
www.politico.eu/europe-poll-...

POLITICO Poll of Polls — Slovakian polls, trends and election news for Slovakia

POLLING FROM ACROSS EUROPE. UPDATED DAILY. Slovakia — National parliament voting intention What is Poll of Polls and how does it work? Read more here. Slovakia — European election 2024 results…

www.politico.eu

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Sep 5

Looks like even Fico could not refuse to sign this statement; Orbán could.
www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/ukraine...

Ukraine/Russia: Statement by the High Representative on the latest Russian attacks against Ukraine

This statement is supported by 26 EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembo...

www.eeas.europa.eu

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Sep 2

Even his mentor Viktor Orbán is not doing this.
www.reuters.com/world/china/...

Slovak Prime Minister Fico to meet Xi, Putin, Zelenskiy this week

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at China's World War Two anniversary celebrations in Beijing this week, Fico said on Monday.

www.reuters.com

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Sep 1

For his sake, let's wish him a speedy recovery and for the country's sake, let's wish this doesn't make him more likely to be elected.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Andrej Babis: Czech opposition leader hit in head with crutch at rally

Andrej Babis's party blamed the government for creating a climate of hate against the ex-PM.

www.bbc.com

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Aug 21

Orbán's geopolitical ideology in a nutshell: Hungary is a "Western country," but the only one with a good relationship with Russia.
telex.hu/english/2025...

Szijjártó: Trump did not call Viktor Orbán after his talks with European leaders

The reports about such a call are false according to the minister. He did not, however, exclude the possibility of Budapest hosting talks between Zelensky and Putin.

telex.hu

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Aug 11

"Ukraine should not be admitted to the European Union, bringing in the war with it – even if the whole of Brussels responds by throwing a fit." - Viktor Orbán
miniszterelnok.hu/en/lecture-o...

Lecture of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the 34th Bálványos Summer Free University and Student Camp - The official website of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Attendees at the Free University.

miniszterelnok.hu

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Aug 5

Interesting word of the day: tsundoku 積ん読 (Japanese) - to buy books and not read them or only read a part of them. Apparently this is considered to be a positive thing in Japan, as you may possibly read the works later.

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jul 31

The idea of Central (and NOT Eastern) Europe has been around for some 200 years. Is it anti-E-Eur racism? Is it the vision of a global role for a marginalized area? Nationalities Papers has now accepted our Special Issue proposal on the topic. @salvapappalardo.bsky.social @brasky.bsky.social

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jul 25

There is a Horizon Synergy grant call out, on antisemitism in Europe. If anyone is involved in that and would like me and the University of Toronto to come on board with a project connecting antisemitism and Islamophobia, then let me know.(Or if you know someone who might be interested.)

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jul 25

Remember when people said Western democracy failed in the East because the Eastern Europe was "so different"? Well it's been failing in the West too—because the crisis of liberal capitalism is global. Glad @ambpressman.bsky.social avoids that tired East-West trope.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

Opinion | I Watched It Happen in Hungary. Now It’s Happening Here.

www.nytimes.com

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jul 20

"Ivan is a Ukrainian name. Ivan is a big guy who lives in a village and works for his family. It's a hard punch, Ivan." Might Usyk have named his left hook after Rocky's Cold War nemesis, Ivan Drago? Was Ivan Ukrainian?
www.bbc.com/sport/boxing...

Usyk vs Dubois 2: Oleksandr Usyk & 'Ivan' - the untouchable duo who can't be beaten?

BBC Sport looks at where Oleksandr Usyk ranks among the all-time heavyweight greats and who in the current generation could beat him.

www.bbc.com

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jul 18

The Polish ambassador to Budapest has been recalled, marking perhaps the worst turn in Polish-Hungarian relations since Donald Tusk became the prime minister of Poland.
notesfrompoland.com/2025/07/18/p...

Poland withdraws ambassador to Hungary in row over asylum for opposition politician

notesfrompoland.com

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jul 13

Trump is lying again. EU-US tariffs on each other are similar overall. (The EU does protect its farm products, while the US gets a large surplus from exporting services.) Don't expect this nonsense to stop, though.

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jul 6

Czech poll shows the "populist" ANO party way ahead of the rest, with about 30% support.
www.lidovky.cz/domov/volebn...

SPOLU oslabilo v průzkumech méně, než se čekalo. A co ostatní formace?

Podle průzkumu společnosti STEM by sněmovní volby v červnu opět vyhrálo hnutí ANO s 30,9 procenta. Preference koalice SPOLU lehce klesly, stále by ale zůstala druhá s 20,5 procenta. Třetí by skončila ...

www.lidovky.cz

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jul 4

"Since Donald Trump took office, practically everything has changed in the world. (...) We Hungarians are pround that we are among the standard bearers of this revulution." Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó.
444.hu/2025/07/02/s...

Szijjártó: A határ a csillagos ég Magyarország és az Egyesült Államok kapcsolatában

„Trump elnökkel a világ biztonságosabbá vált. Az újabb háborúk rövidebbek lettek, a régiek pedig, úgy tűnik, hogy kifulladnak.”

444.hu

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jun 30

Great article by @zsolt.bsky.social and B. Stanley. As I've been trying to say also, illiberalism in "Eastern Europe" has never been unrelated to "the West" or "anti-Western." Also because, as Z and S show, the West isn't what it used to be.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Farewell to the liberal consensus: the intellectualisation of political projects in Poland and Hungary - European Political Science

The article investigates the intellectual foundations of the political projects led by Jarosław Kaczyński and Viktor Orbán. We demonstrate that next to homegrown populist and traditionalist ideas, the...

link.springer.com

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jun 29

"I am so bored of fascism," one poster said.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Thousands party at Budapest Pride in clear message to Orban

A giant crowd throngs the Hungarian capital, championing LGBT rights and defying PM Viktor Orban.

www.bbc.com

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jun 28

It's not really a culture war. It's a clash opposing people who respect others and love in its many forms, to people who don't respect others and also don't respect love. Both kind are found in all cuiltures, in Hungary as much as elsewhere.
www.politico.eu/article/orba...

Orbán vs. von der Leyen: Budapest Pride takes center stage in Europe’s culture war

Dozens of prominent European politicians are heading to Hungary for Pride, but the country’s conservative government insists the parade is illegal.

www.politico.eu

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jun 25

The Orbán government declares that it has the right to buy any Hungarian company before it is sold to foreigners.
forbes.hu/uzlet/fevasa...

Mostantól az állam elővásárlási jogot kaphat minden eladó magyar cégre - Forbes.hu

Módosították a külföldiek részesedésszerzésére vonatkozó rendeletet, ami teljes bizonytalanságot hozhat a magyar cégpiacra.

forbes.hu

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jun 24

It's very likely that this is directed from Russia, but the methodological problem is how to prove it - that it's not just Russia sympathizers spontaneously reposting.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

The Telegram channels spreading pro-Russian propaganda in Poland

Telegram channels sharing disinformation in Polish are pushing the Kremlin’s narrative, experts warn.

www.bbc.com

Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · Jun 3

Etsuko Kato, who lead the translation team, says that the new, Japanese version of my book White But Not Quite got excellent reviews in the leading national newspapers Asahi Shimbun (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Asa...), Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) & elsewhere (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nik...).

The Asahi Shimbun - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Ivan Kalmar @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social · May 31

"Viktor Orban's promise to make Budapest the intellectual capital of dissident European conservatism has come true."
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Europe's US-backed conservatives hope this is their moment to go mainstream

Donald Trump's return to the White House helps Europe's nationalists and populists find their voice.

www.bbc.com

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