Hungarian Situation Research Articles

Relevance and legal background of tourist guiding in Hungary

The profession of tourist guide has recently been subject to a significant loss of prestige in Hungary. There have been many career leavers who have been prevented from working due to an unregulated legal framework or a lack of government support during and in the post-COVID-19 period. The first problem - an ineffective and poorly regulated regulatory environment - has led to a significant increase in unauthorised tourism-related activities, undermining the reputation of the profession. As a result of the unregulated legal environment, the country - and Budapest in particular - is losing significant revenue and the situation is damaging the city’s image. Today, personal knowledge and experience are likely to be rendered worthless by the development of new technologies, tools and fast-paced lifestyles. Many people do not even know who exactly a tourist guide is, what their duties are and what regulations apply to their activities, despite the fact that tourist guides spend a lot of quality time with tourists visiting our country, providing them with information and acquainting them with our traditions. The transfer of value, which is the essence of their activity, is an important factor in shaping the image of the country and the perception of Hungary by visitors. Most people may not be aware of the remarkable difference between a qualified and licensed guide and an unqualified and unlicensed guide. The former presents a place authentically. This study aims to present the legal and professional background of this activity and the importance of this work in the light of current regulations, highlighting the important role of guides in the transmission of values today. It also focuses on the main changes and reactions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the uncertainties and concerns created by the legislative background. In order to illustrate the unique situation in Hungary, regulatory procedures and tourist management practices are also covered.

A munkahelyi egészségfejlesztés és az egészségturizmus kapcsolata Magyarországon

Demographic changes have made it particularly important in European societies with an ageing population to ensure that workers' health is as good as possible, so that they can continue to work reliably and to a high standard for as long as possible. However, for a number of reasons, workers are unable to meet this expectation, based on workplace health surveys and absenteeism rates. Health promotion at the workplace has therefore become a priority not only for employees but also for employers, with the aim of enabling people to remain active for as long as possible and to prevent the onset of chronic diseases. In the present study, we will discuss the interconnection between health promotion and healthy lifestyles, and the possible means of achieving this, primarily by describing the Hungarian situation in the context of health tourism.

Semmelweis Caring University Model Program: A Holistic Approach to Promoting Healthy Ageing through a Longitudinal Cohort Study, Preventive Services and Workplace Health Promotion

Abstract Hungary is facing an alarming public health situation due to the unhealthy ageing of its population, calling for innovative and effective approaches to promote healthy ageing. This presentation showcases the Semmelweis Caring University Model Program, a unique and holistic program developed by the leading health sciences university in Hungary to address this societal challenge. The program serves as a model for the ongoing primary care reform, which incorporates preventive services, the first study to address determinants of unhealthy ageing in Hungary, and includes a workplace-based health promotion program that could be implemented nationally. The Semmelweis Caring University Model Program aims to promote the health and wellbeing of its 8500 employees and provides potential answers to the unfavorable public health situation in Hungary. The Semmelweis Study, a longitudinal occupational cohort of university employees, investigates the complex relationships between lifestyle, environmental, and occupational risk factors and the development and progression of chronic age-associated diseases. Data is collected through computer-assisted questionnaires, physical health examination, physiological measurements, biomarker assessment and data linkage to national registers. The results of the Semmelweis Study inform the development of the Centre of Preventive Services (CPS), which provides health risk assessment, screening, and counseling services to employees, with medical specialists in preventive medicine and primary care, public health professionals, dieticians, physiotherapists, and psychologists. The CPS units also serve as practical training sites for medical and health sciences students. The Semmelweis Workplace Health Promotion Program is a personalized public health model program that utilizes infrastructure and human resources of Semmelweis University to encourage healthy behaviors and environments in the workplace, with a potential for nationwide implementation.

Violence in the Education: The Post-Revolutionary Situation in Hungary (1956-1957)

Background: The author attempts to introduce an unusual approach towards schools, universities, and dormitories, including their users (professors, teachers, parents, and students): How can the educational issues be seen through the lenses of special police forces in a specific historical moment? After the 1956 Hungarian revolution, a brutal pacification process took place all over the country, supported by the Soviet troops and special armed forces, police battalions of the restarting communist power. Methods: In this historical study, I used mainly military archive documents to show the perspective of the communist restauration and confront their viewpoints with party reports and some oral histories by eyewitnesses, who suffered several injuries during the repression. The paper is based on narrative analysis, as the official explanation presented various stories to justify their actions, while the reality in the background might be very different from this. Results: Between November 1956 and May 1957, these soldiers or officers became a familiar image in educational institutions. They blamed teachers and professors for misleading their students and thus creating a narrative of the counter-revolution of October 1956, while they identified themselves as parents or teachers (instead of the real ones, who lost their rights to do this, due to the participation in the revolution). Conversely, physical and verbal aggression was a widespread routine of the army officers. Conclusions: In extraordinary situations, during historical crises violence became suddenly real, allowed, and/or supported by many political actors to achieve their goals. After the consolidation of power, these special army and police forces were released and their activities were stopped by the authorities of the Ministry of National Defence because their presence was realized as an uncomfortable situation for the politicians. Such studies may give lessons us to learn, about how these scenes escalate into a point of no return.

West Nile virus infections in Hungary: Epidemiological update and phylogenetic analysis of the Hungarian virus strains between 2015 and 2022.

Following the introduction of the West Nile virus (WNV) into Hungary in 2004, it has shortly become one of the most important human arbovirus infections, with a gradually increasing number of cases. The study aimed to summarize the current epidemiological situation in Hungary and sequence the WNV PCR-positive clinical specimens and virus isolates by next-generation whole genome sequencing (NGS) to obtain a detailed phylogenetic analysis of the circulating virus strains. Whole blood and urine samples from confirmed WNV-infected patients and WNV isolates were investigated by reverse transcription PCR assays. Genome sequencing was carried out by Sanger-method, followed by NGS on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Altogether 499 human infections were diagnosed between 2004 and 2022. A particularly remarkable increase in human WNV infections was observed in 2018, while the number of reported cases significantly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2015 and 2022, 15WNV isolates, and 10 PCR-positive clinical specimens were investigated by NGS. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the major European WNV lineage 2 clades, namely the Eastern European (or Russian) and the Central European (or Hungarian) clades, are presented in Hungary. Strains of the Balkan and other European clusters within the Central European clade are co-circulating in the country, following a characteristic geographical distribution. In Hungary, the presence and co-circulation of multiple lineage 2 WNV strains could be identified in the last few years. Therefore, in light of the 2018WNV outbreak, sequence-based typing of the currently circulating strains could highly support outbreak investigations.

Fókuszban a gyermek: A gyermekek érdekét sértő bűncselekmények büntetéskiszabási gyakorlata

Összefoglalás. A KDP keretén belül lefolytatott kutatómunkám magját a gyermekek érdekét sértő, valamint a család elleni bűncselekmények képezték. Kutatásom nóvuma a gyakorlati oldalban rejlett, egy egyedi szellemi terméket létrehozva az országos, illetőleg a Fővárosra kiterjedő aktavizsgálataim révén. Jelen írásom – mely tulajdonképpen a lefolytatott kétéves kutatásom rövid összefoglalójaként fogható fel – alapvetően a kutatási eredményeimre épít, így az – a jogerős ítéleteken keresztül – bemutatja a magyar helyzetképet, kiemelt figyelmet szentelve a büntetéskiszabási gyakorlatnak, valamint az arra hatást gyakorló tényezőknek. Summary. This is to summarise the main ideas and findings of my two-year research that I have conducted in the framework of the Cooperative Doctoral Program. One of the key goals of my research was to draw attention to the necessity of the increased criminal law protection of families, and especially of minors, and also, to provide a comprehensive view of how, by applying what means and how efficiently, this group of society can be protected through the application of the currently effective rules, i.e., mainly criminal substantive law and criminal procedural law. I think that the criminal law protection of the family is undisputedly a hot issue: just to take a look at the intensive media coverage of this topic. The protection of children in the family as a social unit should be paid special attention to, as they are in an especially vulnerable position. The effective Criminal Code (Act C of 2012, Btk) essentially broke with the regulatory scheme in the Criminal Code of 1978, which discussed the provisions aimed at the protection of children and families in the same chapter as the delinquencies against sexual morality, as now it deals with these in a separate chapter (Chapter XX). The core of my research was basically Chapter XX of the Criminal Code, which deals with the crimes that violate the interests of children and that are committed against the family, however, I attached primary importance to the former. The following is meant by delinquencies that violate the interests of children: the endangering of minors, child labour, preventing the exercise of visitation rights with a minor, changing a minor’s custody; while the following statutory definitions will qualify as crimes against the family: failure to observe the maintenance obligation, domestic violence, violation of family legal status, bigamy. Both regarding the crimes that violate children’s interests and those that are against the family, it was my goal to conduct an in-depth dogmatic analysis, in order to explore the theoretical side of delinquencies in question as comprehensively as possible. However, the major novelty of my research lay in the practical aspect, where I exclusively focused on the crimes that violate the interests of children, creating a unique intellectual product based on my case-file analysis on the national and Budapest levels, as thus, I had the opportunity to examine this scope of crimes and the related legal practices from a pretty broad perspective. This short article, which is basically a brief summary of the research that I conducted for two years, is fundamentally built on my research findings, which are primarily practical conclusions. I have presented the Hungarian situation through the binding court decisions, drawing special attention to the Hungarian sentencing practices and the factors that affect these.

Helping the forcely displaced persons - situation in Hungary

AbstractIn recent years, the state-funded side of the Hungarian psychiatric system has been struggling with a serious lack of resources. During the pandemic the level of organization, which was also not perfect, continued to deteriorate. Immediately after the breakout of Ukrainian war the civilians started to make significant efforts to support refugees. From the beginning our Association joined activities of Solidarity Network organized by EPA. We made efforts among other things to find Ukrainian-speaking psychiatrists to tackle the language barriers, connect the needs with the offers psychologists. When a refugee is admitted to a psychiatric unit as a patient, they receive all mental health care as any Hungarian citizen would. Overall however, mental care is insufficiently organized and the patient pathways for refugees - as those of the population - are not well-defined. The coordination between government services and civil organizations helping refugees is unsatisfactory. There is no steady support system that could provide regular, professional mental health care for those in need, thus a mental triage process is also missing to uncover the perhaps less severe mental problems, that nevertheless might require professional attention. Consequently there also seems to be a lack of assistance in trauma processing. There are some official civil organizations (e.g. Maltese Charity Service, Hungarian Red Cross) that are doing all they can for the refugees, but most of their staff is not professionally equipped to provide mental health care or to reliably identify when it is needed. When refugees show symptoms of a severe nature (psychosis, mania, severe depression, suicidal thoughts) they reach out to the professional mental health care system, but refugees struggling with less obvious mental health problems generally stay out of sight of professional psychiatric or psychological care.Keywordscivilian efforts, unmet needs, lack of human resourceDisclosure of InterestNone Declared

THE HISTORY OF THE GREEK CATHOLIC EPARCHY OF MUKACHEVO IN 1848–1849

The article addresses the problem of role of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo in the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849. Considerable attention is paid to analyze the religious and political activity of Bishop Vasyl Popovych of Mukachevo. The author highlights that the spring events of 1848 created a new situation in Hungary. First in the history of the country a government accountable to the legislation was formed, whose first measures included the abolishment of serfdom. The so-called «April Laws» of 1848 sanctioned by Ferdinand V, the Habsburg king of Hungary had a great influence on the feudal system. The last Diet of Reform Era adopted laws, which paved a way for the bourgeois transformation of the country. It is alleged that one of the most important issues was the determination of the relationship between church and state in spring 1848. This time, the relationship between the Batthyány Goverment and the leaders of the Catholic Church of Hungary was not free from difficulties. The Catholic Church has lost its state religion status. The history of the Eparchy of Mukachevo in the revolutionary events of 1848–1849 is one of the less researched issues. On the basis of analysis of the review of archival sources and historiography of the topic, it is established that the Eparchy of Mukachevo played an exceptional role in support of hinterland of the Hungarian War of Independence. As noted, it had jurisdiction over seven counties in Northeastern Hungary (Zemplin, Ung, Bereg, Ugocha, Sotmar, Sabolch and Maramorosh) and the Hajdú District populated by Rusyn-, Hungarian- and Romanian-speaking believers. Thus, the Greek Catholic clergy had a strategic role to ensure peace between the different peoples. The author comes to the conclusion that Bishop Vasyl Popovych and his prelacy trusted in the goodwill of the Hungarian liberal leaders. The bishop focused on the interests of his eparchy in all circumstances. The years of 1848–1849 were abundant in political and military turns. Popovych was always far from any form of extremism, calmness and prudence controlled his actions. In the end, it is revealed that the Greek Catholic clergy believed: the Hungarian government wanted to create a country, where the Byzantine rite community gets into a favourable, more honoured position. Key words: Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, Bishop Vasyl Popovych, Northeastern Hungary, Lajos Kossuth, Catholic Church of Hungary.

Demographic and labour market situation in Hungary in the light of global trends

Demographic and labour market situation in Hungary in the light of global trends

The discussion of the “Hungarian Question” in the UN and the problem of Hungary’s Exit from the political isolation, 1957–1963

The most powerful uprising in Budapest on October 23, 1956, which immediately threatened the existence of the communist regime in Hungary, and the entry of Soviet troops in order to suppress it caused a wide international resonance, which on October 28 led to the discussions on the Hungarian question at the UN Security Council, and later, in November, at the UN General Assembly. In November, as tensions in the Middle East following the British, French, and Israeli attacks on Egypt, which had nationalized the Suez Canal, eased, discussions of the situation in Hungary came to the fore at the UN. Facing the opposition from the USSR, the adoption by the UN General Assembly in November-December 1956 of numerous resolutions on Hungary did not bring any real effect, with the exception of those that made it possible to improve the situation of 200,000 Hungarian refugees who rushed to Austria and Yugoslavia after the suppression of the revolution. In 1957, the General Assembly discussed the report of the special UN committee on Hungary, formed to study the situation in the country that had developed as a result of the Soviet military intervention. In the subsequent years, the United States and their allies used the discussion of the “Hungarian question” in the UN for propaganda purposes, in an effort to weaken the Soviet influence on the countries of the awakening “Third World”. At the same time, it occupied an increasingly peripheral position every year. Its subsequent fate was directly dependent on the further evolution of the János Kádár regime. The removal of this issue from the UN agenda in 1963 was a response to the announced general amnesty for the convicted participants of the 1956’s uprising. It finally brought Kádár’s Hungary out of the diplomatic isolation, in which the country found itself after the illegal change of power with the direct Soviet military support in November 1956.

A nemzetiségi nyelven való egyéni névhasználat helyzete Magyarországon

Proper Name Usage in National Minority Languages. The Situation in Hungary On July 30, 2021, the Deputy Commissioner for the protection of the rights of national minorities living in Hungary issued general resolution 3/2021 regarding the use of personal names in minority mother tongues. The Deputy Commissioner explained the complexities of using proper names in minority languages in Hungary. The resolution also discussed the difficulties in registering and using these proper names under the rules of national minority legislation when issuing official certificates in Hungary. Considering the Commissioner’s investigation results, this paper presents the findings to researchers dealing with applied onomastics. The paper provides an overview of the Hungarian constitutional and international legislation regarding using individual names in national minority languages. It also introduces the current legislative and institutional framework of birth registration in nationality languages in Hungary. The topics of the present discussion include the general questions regarding proper name use in minority languages; the procedural, professional and technical conditions of birth registration; the relevant tasks and authority of the minority self-governing bodies; the legal aspects of minority name change; and the use of family and first names in nationality languages in official documents in Hungary.

사회주의 체제전환 이후 헝가리 재외 국민 정책 연구

The issue of overseas Hungarian citizens arose as a result of World War I and World War II. Hungarians living in the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the First World War were unintentionally 'foreigners' due to the end of World War I with the defeat of Hungary and the establishment of subsequent countries following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Hungary's overseas citizens problem is a complicated in which the political interests of the Allied Powers and allies, and the victorious and defeated countries are at stake. Hungary's overseas national policy has no choice but to consider complex aspects. Moreover, the situation in Hungary after Hungary became communist in 1949 became a factor that made it impossible to carry out the Hungarian policy for overseas citizens normally. Hungary's policies for foreigners residing abroad are largely divided into the communist period and the post-communist period. During the communist period, the Hungarian government recognized that the problems of Hungarian overseas residents and ethnic minorities were individual issues of the country in which the Hungarians reside, that is, internal issues within the scope of their sovereignty.

Met de kindertrein naar België

By children’s train to Belgium. Socially engaged lantern lectures by Floris Prims on the Belgian-Hungarian Children’s Campaign (1924-1927) From 1923 onwards, children’s trains travelled from Hungary to Belgium (and back). Upon arrival, the children were placed in Catholic foster homes. There, they could recuperate from the hardships they had endured during the First World War and the subsequent revolutions in their home country. The attitude of Belgian Catholics toward foreign countries can be broadly framed within an ‘internationalist turn’ of contemporary Catholicism. As a result, there was extensive propaganda in Belgium for this Children’s Action. One of the pivotal figures was priest and historian Floris Prims. In August 1924, he travelled on a children’s train to Budapest, after which he gave dozens of lantern lectures throughout Flanders about the situation in Hungary and the importance of this Belgian-Hungarian Children’s Work. In this article, we frame Prims’ lectures within the Catholic struggle against the rising of socialism and communism. Thus, the central question of this article is on how the lantern was used for the social mobilisation of the Catholic population.

Georg B. Michels. The Habsburg Empire under Siege: Ottoman Expansion and Hungarian Revolt in the Age of Grand Vizier Ahmed Köprülü (1661–76).

Georg B. Michels. <i>The Habsburg Empire under Siege: Ottoman Expansion and Hungarian Revolt in the Age of Grand Vizier Ahmed Köprülü (1661–76)</i>.

„De Stefanuskroon niet Habsburgsch”

Following the election of Miklós Horthy as Regent and the dethronement of Charles IV, a special public law situation developed in Hungary, during which the state form of the country remained, in fact, but no one had become authorized to occupy the Hungarian royal throne. The fact that a kingdom existed without a monarch in the heart of contemporary Europe served as an almost constant topic for the political and gossip columns of the domestic and international press, and also earned itself a prominent place among the conversation topics in the rather extensive network of European aristocracy. The importance of the Hungarian problem in the post-‘Great War’ period was also indicated by the lively interest taken by the diplomatic corps of some countries of the continent. Of course, many organizations and individuals tried to win their own ideas in the chaotic situation after the Trianon Treaty and get the Hungarian crown for their candidate or for themselves. This study attempts to introduce the Dutch press narratives in connection with the Hungarian ‘royal question’ between 1919 and 1921. During these years because of the fragile post-war Hungarian internal political situation this problem was at its most acute, and when most of the „candidates” and self-candidates for the Hungarian throne emerged. The paper also looks at the background to some of the motivations behind the candidates and how the news was spread in the international press of the time. The issue raised is of particular interest for the Hungarian-Dutch relations for two reasons. On one hand, there was a fundamental mutual sympathy between the two countries during this period. On the other hand, both countries were monarchies at the time, the public perception of a monarchical state about the predicament of another country with a similar form of government can tell us a lot about the public opinion of the time.

Interest Representation Preconditions in Illiberal Poland and Hungary

Poland and Hungary have been widely recognised as countries affected by illiberalism. This has undoubtedly created a challenging environment for interest groups; groups which are a touchstone for the quality of democratic processes. In this article, we aim to understand how preconditions for interest representation have changed due to illiberal drift through the eyes of interest groups operating in these two selected post-communist countries. In order to examine their perception of opportunity structures, interaction infrastructure as well as the level of political coordination under the new circumstances, we rely on quantitative research in the form of a survey carried out among interest group representatives. Our results indicate that the political systems of Poland and Hungary are still a mix of pluralist and corporatist features, however, the Polish political opportunity structures are still more open to input from civic society and interest groups have stronger positions compared to the situation in Hungary.

Thoughts on Elemér Pólay’s early work: National socialism and Roman Law

Abstract The paper deals with the publications of Elemér Pólay before and during WW2. It seeks to analyse them in their context, embedded in their contemporary political and academic environment. It focuses on one of Pólay’s early works, entitled ‘The German National Socialist Conception of Law and Roman Law’ (1938). Pólay’s paper is a valuable source on the academic situation in Hungary in the 1930s and 1940s, on the views of young scholars around Paul Koschaker in Berlin, and, indirectly, on Koschaker’s personal views concerning the National Socialist party’s manifesto.

Private Religiosity – The Religious/Spiritual Dimensions of the Participants in the Everness Festival

In the following study, we publish the results of our multiple cross-sectional study conducted at the Everness „lifestyle and awareness” festival in Hungary since 2016, focusing on the deviation from the religious situation in Hungary, the difficulties in conceptually defining the term ‚spirituality’, and the analysis of some empirical data. The growth of the increasingly popular ‚religious in its own way’ category since the second half of the 20th century and various research show that alternative approaches are emerging in addition to the traditional religious approach. The use of the concept of spirituality may provide some insight into these alternative methods, but due to its difficulties of typology, it does not fully cover reality. Festival religion provides a methodological and empirical framework for these inquiries that demonstrate the nature of alternative approaches. This kind of private religiosity deserves special attention and may encourage researchers to do more research on similar topics. Visitors to the Everness festival visit the event for mainly three reasons: to perform esoteric, spiritual activities, to perform psychologically relevant, self-knowledge exercises, and to practice healing methods that focus on physical and mental balance. We explored these three sets of visitor motivations empirically and present their results within the concept of festival religion.

Economic effects of African swine fever at Hungarian and European level

Examining the pig sector in Europe, it can be said that the emergence of African swine fever (ASF) has a major impact on the sector. In connection with this, the aim of this article was to highlight the trends of the Hungarian pig sector, as well as the sales prices of Germany for a more accurate analysis, to give a comprehensive picture of how the Hungarian market trends developed with the appearance of ASF.&#x0D; For this, a three-year cycle was analyzed using different timeline analysis methods. After evaluating this, it was confirmed that compared to the period before the outbreak of the epidemic in Hungary, market fluctuations increased, and in the trends of weekly sales prices per kilogram, the predictability decreased.&#x0D; Based on this, it can be concluded that in such a globalized and price-tracking sector, it is a serious lesson for Hungary that due to its small size and low degree of integration, it is much more disadvantaged during crisis situations than other larger pig-keeping countries. All participants in the sector need to learn from this situation and, together with the policy, change the situation in Hungary as soon as possible, by raising the vertical integration of the sector.

“To think that a communist society will be within the borders of the Soviet Union is to understand nothing about communism”. An unpublished speech by N. S. Khrushchev in Hungary (April 1958)

In April 1958, a year and a half after the most powerful Hungarian uprising, which shook the very foundations of the communist power in this country, N. S. Khrushchev arrived in Hungary as the head of the Soviet delegation. During the ten day trip, the Soviet leader was shown the success of the normalization of the communist regime in the country. We are publishing a recording of Khrushchev’s speech at a reception on the occasion of the day of the liberation of Hungary from Nazi occupation. Since this particular speech was not originally intended to be reflected in the press, the Soviet leader, by his nature, in principle, prone to violation of the ritual, improvisation, deviations from the texts written in advance by speechwriters, could more freely address subjects, the coverage of which in the open press seemed inappropriate or premature. The published source is valuable for various reasons. It provides little-known from other sources details on the coordination between the USSR authorities and leaders of other socialist countries regarding actions about the situation in Hungary. It also reflects Khrushchev’s reaction to the independent policy of Tito’s Yugoslavia, especially to the preparation of the New Program of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, adopted at the 7th Congress of the latter, which took place at the same time, in April 1958, and was recognized in Moscow as revisionist.