As I mentioned in earlier posts (here and here), I was a counting officer on the April 3 parliamentary elections and referendum. It was hard to even start writing this post, I gave it a lot of thought in the past three weeks, because it’s almost impossible writing about this topic in a neutral tone, and that’s the only tone I should use here. I am not (never was, never intend to be) involved in party politics. I went to great lengths during this whole thing to emphasise that although I was delegated by “the opposition”, I am not affiliated…
I was saddened by the news of the death of the first woman who served as Secretary of State of the United States whom as a foreign diplomacy enthusiast, I considered one of my idols. Ever since I read her first book and became familiar with her work and her personality, I was always looking forward to learning her take on whatever happened in the world. The last time she shared her thoughts was about the war in Ukraine, published one day before it started, and about a month before she passed away. Though I have never met her in…
This March was busier than my past two years altogether and still feels like it went by in a blink. I did still go on making the 1 second videos every day, and amazingly enough, even though so many things happened, it was the hardest month to keep doing it so far. There were days when it was obvious what to include, but other times I could forget about it altogether. First of all, we went back to work from the office full time from March 1. The next week from March 7 all Covid restrictions were lifted in Hungary,…
In Hungary we get to vote on elections after the age of 18, and I’ve taken voting very seriously from the beginning. I can’t say I was very consistent with my party preference over the years, although I can definitely say that I was and still am consistent with the principles I follow. It’s the specificity of Hungarian party politics that certain parties changed colours. Of course I will not share how I voted, but here is a quick account of my memories of all the elections I’ve voted on. The first ever elections I’ve voted on was the 2002…
In Hungary the elections are carried out by Vote Counting Committees consisting of counting officers. On election day (parliamentary elections, municipal elections and referendums alike) in Hungary we vote in a very old-fashioned and not very sustainable way. The ballots are on paper with the alternatives (parties, representatives, questions) listed and you have to use a pen to mark your vote. This of course requires a good number of personnel not just to oversee the voting procedure, but to do all the paperwork it entails (registering the voters, counting the ballots, keeping a record of all the happenings of the…
I’ve been planning to write about my favourite destinations before I’ll be able to resume traveling, but that came sooner than I thought, so ahead of my next trip to London I’m sharing why I love this very cosmopolitan city so much. First of all, although this trip was planned and paid before the war broke out Russia invaded Ukraine, I am having second thoughts ever since the news broke. The other day I went to a book launch event of a famous Hungarian writer (highly recommend!) and he shared that he was having second thoughts about the event too:…
Many of my favourite international law/world affairs podcasts dealt with the war in Ukraine in the past two weeks, here’s what’s worth a listen. It feels kind of insensitive to indulge in brilliant professional conversations or clever writings when it’s on the account of millions of people suffering, but at the same time it’s more important than ever to find trusted sources and be well informed. When the situation is unfolding and things can change by the hour, news items have a pretty short expriation span, and I think the ones that stay useful even after the facts change are…
March 8 is the international day commemorating women’s cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements. At least that’s the definition in the books. I was always annoyed by the way International Women’s Day was celebrated where I live. First of all, it feels like some tradition left behind from the socialist era that I could happily live without, and second, I don’t like to be celebrated for things I didn’t achieve myself. (I did not work to be a woman, I was born this way. Same with “namedays”, what are those for?) I don’t have anything against getting flowers, but I don’t…
In light of all that’s happened in the past week, all of February seems meaningless now, but I am sharing this post out of optimism that better days are coming. I almost resumed my social life in February. Well, still far from it, but I took the first steps. Went out to see a movie two times, attended some other social events. All masked up, and not too many people, but still. I went hiking one weekend, which was much needed time spent outdoors. And I have more dates in my calendar for this next month than all of the…
The Bejing 2022 Winter Olympic Games just concluded. While the games have their own rules and traditions, it’s always been inevitable for international politics to play a role. The International Olympic Committee currently recognises 206 National Olympic Committees, meaning 206 nations joined the olympic movement. Since the exact number of the states of the world depends on different variables (what definition of a state we accept, states not recognised by every other state, etc.) and sports are still the one thing that brings together most of them regardless of politics, this is the closest number we know. Note that the…
