The truth is, we had difficulties when planning this EP election campaign. Last time everyone lied even greater than us, so our well-established promises didn’t work.
Although we are still adamant on introducing mandatory siesta, we’ll finally be (mostly) serious about how we, the Dog Party wish to utilize the unprecedented popularity we can thank you for.
We never thought the European Union is perfect as it is. How could it be when, for example, there isn’t a party like ours present. And besides Hungarians, people of the decaying West are also dissatisfied with their politicians, so we must get to Brussels!
Can’t teach an old dog new tricks
As we see it, traditional representational politics is in crisis not only in Hungary, but on a global scale. Suit-and-tie politics is completely deflated and only delivers empty promises. It’s alienated its own constituents, and doesn’t attract enough people anymore. This is the reason behind the rise of extreme, mad and demagogue tendencies in politics. Obviously, members of the “anti-elite” elite – Trump, Orbán, Salvini or Wilders – are all to the core, old-school politicians, they just say weirder things than the rest.
And of course, there are strange little creations such as the Die Partei, the pirate parties or the Five Star Movement – but these are either purely joke parties or some funny person’s initiatives that in the meantime, in the vicinity of power, have morphed into traditional, serious parties. The good news is that there’s another road to take, and that’s the dogparticisation of politics.
We don’t fit this formula. Neither in Hungary, nor in Europe is there a party taking the road the MKKP (Magyar Kétfarkú Kutyapárt, or Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party) is taking. Our policies are based on proactivity. Every single demand is paired with tangible action, and backed by long years of honest work performed in public life. This ensures the formation of a union along common issues between politicians, citizens and civil organizations.
So far, we’re the only ones doing politics this way.
Let’s at least try not to lie!
Once in the European Parliament, it’d be nice to continue telling the truth. There’s no guarantee that we’ll agree on this with political experts, but we’re used to it.
Obviously, it’s every politician’s duty to lie and we’re not an exception, but at least in our case it’s obvious. A fairly small group of our supporters believed us when we promised free beer and eternal life, so that’s they remain as for the time being: promises.
The authority of Members of the European Parliament (MEP) is limited. The only way to achieve anything in the EP is through lengthy negotiations and infinite compromises, so it’s stupid to make statements (that is, to promise) that us or any MEP will be able to push through a suggestion of their own.
| Let’s take the EU minimum wage as an example: The reason why that agreement was reached wasn’t that the DK (Democratic Coalition, a Hungarian party with representatives in the EP) wished for it, but because the other 705 representatives supported it. Whoever knows what the EU minimum wage actually means, please put their hand up now. We bet no one has explained it! If you think that minimum wage is now going to be the same all over Europe, you’ll be disappointed. Thank Goodness that’s not the case otherwise Hungary’s economy would collapse in a day. The suggestion passed by the EP regarding the EU minimum wage concerns the way minimum wage is calculated, that is, what factors must be taken into account when it’s being set. Don’t think of a formula! These are only factors that help with the calculation and in no way will they make anyone’s minimum wage higher. This is subject to negotiations between employers and employees who will make deals the same way they always have. Or there’s another one, Momentum (another Hungarian party) had a previous campaign header about how Hungary should spend as much EU funds as possible on education and health care. Sounds good! Too bad EU regulations don’t allow it in this form. And then, ultimately, it became part of the government’s program – just think of their lies such as “the EU is paying for our teachers’ salaries”. Beware! If your lies are too big, Fidesz might steal them! |
Despite to all the grand promises and Brussels-bashing, truly nuanced criticism aimed at the European Parliament is rare in the public discourse of Hungary since it’s not in the interest of any of the parties. Not one word about unnecessary spendings or any of the other real problems concerning the EU.
Now, this is a real question of sovereignty
It’s wrong to expect European institutions to dethrone Viktor Orbán. It’s not the duty of any other country.
In addition to the EU not having the means to achieve it, we’ve seen in recent years that the Fidesz government could always turn criticism coming from the EU to their advantage, becoming ever more popular by waging a war with Brussels.
It’s a matter of fact: there’s always something collapsing in the country, and most of the criticism made by the European Union is well-grounded. Some think that this continuous demise will ultimately arrive to a point where the masses will be disgruntled enough with the government for democracy to prevail. We think that cheering for such a scenario is misguided.
Spending the financial resources of the EU effectively is no doubt important. The question isn’t whether the EU should send money or not, but whether there are high enough expectations regarding measures taken by the government to reduce corruption. For example, measures that will force real competition upon the public procurement procedures. So far, these expectations have failed to make a change.
The mega entrepreneurs of the NER* have divided this market called “Hungary” amongst one another, and the NER adequately helps them in maintaining an image of economic competition. (*System of National Cooperation, a supposedly nation-forging vision of Fidesz; in reality, the network of political and cultural institutions and private corporations closely aligned with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the party) The EU’s control mechanisms are always a step behind the innovative Hungarian methods of corruption.
Take the Integrity Authority as an example. It’s all fine and dandy, the government had to create this administration body (BRUSSELS!!!). Let’s assume it wants to battle systematic corruption effectively, it lacks any of the powers to do so. The Authority issues marvelous recommendations which are wiped off the desks of the Prime Minister’s office without any hesitation.
That’s why we’ll be working on getting the EP and the Commission to redesign the whole anti-corruption toolbox.
We your help, we might even have a program.
We realized that we could engage people in tasks of public life without lying to them. In fact, that’s when it works the best. In the EU, we’d like to work with you in the long term. Not only during but also in between elections – just the way we’ve always been doing it in Hungary.
Our soon-to-be-launched communal programme creating initiative will be open to civilians from all corners of the country who wish for their suggestions to be included in our programme. We’ll set up a council of randomly chosen volunteers that will collect, assess and develop these suggestions and ideas.
This package of suggestions will then be approved by the party membership and, together with pre-existing elements of the programme, turned into one, truly very serious programme. In addition, we’ll ask Artificial Intelligence to write an extra chapter because it expressed its dislike over the EU’s current AI-regulation.
Communal programme creation is only the beginning of us advocating participatory operation on EU level.
We’ll bring Europe closer to you by letting you know what’s really happening there in real time.
Because important things are happening there, things that affect our lives as well.
It’s clear that the EU’s institutional framework strives to get closer to the European citizens in effect, and to show us how we can influence important EU matters. We understand that we can learn from them in doing so.
Make Hungary famous, not infamous
We won’t go away from here but instead we’ll make sure that Hungary will be a good place, and that Andris Derdák will come home.
And those who left the country – send us money!
Even though Hungary is disproportionally well-covered in the international media, we can be only moderately happy about it. Anyone who goes abroad can experience how it has become embarrassing to be Hungarian.
No one has to agree with the West on everything, neither does anyone have to vote for everything without any pushback. But to constantly wage war against the entire Western system of alliance, no matter what, all while rubbing shoulders with dictators; that’s far beyond European norms.
The government’s foreign policy inflicted great damage upon this country – that’s one thing. There isn’t much we can do about that at the moment. But the image of us, Hungarians, abroad is always more terrifying.
Our job would/will be to provide the image of another Hungary.
The perception of the EU in Hungary, or what does Europe ever give to us?
Europe – the once rich, low life mean uncle who won’t give money until immigrants are allowed to surgically alter Hungarian children into children of a randomly selected sex; meanwhile, their parents are dying senseless deaths in the war Ukraine has already lost. “And certainly, a fag!” many add in their heads.
The good news is that, based on the per capita stupidity rate, this can be changed.
It seems that during this whole tug of war – to freeze or not to freeze the funds – everyone forgot that the EU is not a wallet but a representation of liberty, human rights, equity and a great bunch of other important values. Our EU membership means that we are obliged to protect these values. We have our lord lieutenants* once again, and the main reason why we don’t yet have serfdom is precisely because of our EU membership. (The government re-established certain pre-WW II administrative titles in 2022 and 2023. Lord lieutenant – Főispán – was one of them. The Főispán still have the same jurisdiction and powers as before as government commissioner, they merely have been renamed to satisfy conservative sentiments and to create diversion from actual issues.)
If it were up to us, we’d join the EU twice!
Act first, bark later! So, what will we actually do?
In the European Parliament and beyond:
- We’ll do everything a MEP can against disinformation and corruption, as well as everything for the climate and for civilian participation. And everything that there is to do with supporting education.
- Let’s have an EU minimum standard in education. Let’s not expect the EU to fix the budget deficit of the Hungarian educational system. On the other hand, they may have higher central expectations, especially due to the current Europe-wide education crisis. Education is a competence of the Member States, although there are areas controllable on Union level, such as public service, children’s rights, or minority rights.
- We have recommendations on anticorruption strategies and we’re definitely going to be pushing them.
- We have a few things to say about racism too: we’ll agitate against the populists agitating against migrants and minorities!
- And of course, we’ll create our own committees such as the Inter-Committee for Terminating Redundant Committees or the Preparatory Commission for the Adoption of Our Nations’ National Holidays
- We’ll initiate a communal programme creating experiment to channel in your suggestions too.
- We’ll regularly inform you in a not-too-boring manner about what’s happening with both Hungarians and non-Hungarians who are currently “wrestling” in the Parliament.
- We’ll try to further deteriorate the image of the sovereign Hungarians and the perception of the EU in Hungary with the help of posters, action, all the bells and whistles and our beloved Chicken.
- We launched the TótEndre poster competition to jump start a European campaign before the elections, with the aim of showing a different face of Hungary.
- There’ll be a “Robin Hood Euro Squandering Fund”: you can compete for funds the same way as in the “Sándor Rózsa” campaign finance competition.
Only one thing left: if there’s no one in Europe to join, let Europe join us.
Lead candidates
1. Marietta Le
Participatory expert and urbanist, founder of Járókelő.hu. Passivist since 2018 and wrote her thesis on the Dog Party. She was an employee of the Party during our 2022 campaign. She founded the Citizen Participation team of the Municipality of Budapest in 2020 and launched the city’s participatory budgeting program.
She completed the Department of Urban Studies and Planning program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2023 as a Hubert H. Humphrey scholarship recipient. Initially, she was a sympathizer and voter of the party, and later got closer to our team. She wrote her thesis on the Dog Party at the Central European University (CEU) in 2019-2020. She was a passivist during our 2019 campaign, and also took on some PR tasks and the coordination of volunteers within projects of our “Sándor Rózsa People’s Campaign Finance Squandering Fund” projects during the 2022 campaign.
“Like many other people in Hungary, I’m being pulled to the Dog Party, instead of any other parties, because they put the emphasis on proactivity and on giving people hope that they can take decisions into their own hands. In my work it has always been important to consider the distorted power dynamics between the people and their decision makers, and most importantly to restore this seemingly irreparable dynamic to its proper place. We tell politicians what decisions to make, and we make sure that legislations work for, and not against us.
- Active EU citizen programme and participatory decision making.
- Dogparticisation of Europe
- Community-focused funding for regional and urban development
2. Katalin Törley
A teacher of French, literature, and civilisation studies for 23 years, she was sacked in 2022 due to her participation in the civil disobedience movement.
Currently she works as a consultant, as an activist of the Tanítanék (I’d Like to Teach) Movement, and for the Romaversitas and Polgár Foundations (helping the latter as an education expert).
“I graduated in 1992 at the Janus Pannonius Science University in Pécs. After working for two years at the university as an associate professor, I became a freelance translator and interpreter.
I entered the world of public education in 1999: I taught for 23 years in the bilingual section of the Kölcsey High School. I was sacked in October 2022 due to my participation in the civil disobedience movement.
Together with Olivér Pilz, I was a founder of the Tanítanék Movement, of which I am one of the public faces since the beginning. Tanítanék is the most influential civil movement of the past decade. We are fighting for the redesigning of public education, for the reform of its structure and the content of the textbooks, for a democratic school system built on autonomy and dialogue between all of those who are part of this educational system. We are doing all this against fierce headwinds and by making use of a great variety of means, such as open letters, petitions, media-presence, demonstrations, debates, creating a strike fund, and organizing and coordinating a civil disobedience movement.
In the past years, we’ve reformed the public discourse on public education, made its most important problems comprehensible, broadened our reach (currently about 100,000 subscribers), formed alliances with other actors of the educational movement, gained valuable experience in building an organisation and collecting donations, and also initiated a long-term network-building project.
Jelenleg a Tanítanék Mozgalom aktivistájaként, illetve a Romaversitas Alapítványnál és a Polgár Alapítvány oktatási ügykoalíciója mellett dolgozom szakértőként, tanácsadóként. Participation in the European Parliamentary elections, the campaign and the prospect of getting elected into the EP means a great leap forward to our movement. It gives us more chances and means to keep communicating our goals and demands.
The Dog Party is the one party we can imagine cooperating with. We respect the grassroots character of the party, their standing up for civil issues, their determination and proactivity and their social sensitivity.
- The matter of Hungary’s public education
- Perception of Europe in Hungary
The public education system is intertwined with many other fields and their respective problems: children’s rights, human rights, workers’ rights, public service, the situation of the Roma, segregation, etc… It is generally known that education is a competence of the Member States, still, by discussing these previously listed issues, we can involve education as well. Also, Europe is not immutable: almost every Member States struggles with an education crisis, which could justify a move towards a common minimum programme (values, competences, content).
3. Veronika Juhász
Vice president of the Dog Party, local government representative in Budapest’s District 2. She focuses on social affairs, community development and NGOs.
“I hitchhiked all over Europe as a child street musician to support my family. This lifestyle gave me unmatched diplomatic skills. I got so far with this that high ranking foreign men often asked me to marry them after some singing and chatting. I never accepted their offers though namely because I was only nine years old at the time. So, I carried on with busking, then I got to the Netherlands, and there I attended a music conservatory and stayed for eight years. Then came two and a half years spent in Berlin, and then Budapest.
I became an active passivist of the Dog Party during their “Did You Know?” anti-anti-immigrant campaign. The movement got me hooked immediately after the first club event at Müszi in Budapest. During the monumental poster campaign that involved their distribution, posting and their scraping off; I also took up on the the coordination tasks of the Plants action group of the party. I was a member of the central operational team of the 2018 local elections campaign.
I was a member of the HotDogz Dog Party Electronic Chamber Orchestra and participated in almost all other fields of party activities from street art and green and social projects through the Public Dog Choir to the writing of the Active Citizen programme.
I’m the party’s vice-president and head coordinator of the People’s College for two years now.
I became a local representative of Budapest’s District 2 in 2019. In addition to improving the methods of invitations to tender (condominium renewals, programmes for civil organisations, social housing), I also launched two new tenders. One of these is a social programme to assess the situation of the homeless and the other one is “DIY Society”, a fund for creative and community organising individuals. This is the local manifestation of the party’s active citizens programme.
My team and I aided the elderly of the district during COVID, while I also regularly organised soup kitchen events for the homeless. I was working night shifts at the train stations during the Ukrainian refugee crisis as coordinator and contact person.
I spent a lot of time reading about community development and facilitation. I transformed my constituency office hours into civic education meetups that gave birth to adoptable methodological models, for example the game called “I am the mayor”. The Condominium Survival Programme is based on similar principles.
I fought for the reduction of my salary at the district’s municipality – I consider this to be a major achievement. The country, or better, the EU and the whole world can thank me for District 2 having decided not to reinstate the cumulation of honorariums given for committee positions. I know I’ll be eternally remembered for this, even the local opposition media is going to cover it (strictly posthumous) between two articles about our mayor Gergely, unclogging the sewer.
One of the most important questions to me is how can the civil sphere and political lobby interests move closer to each other. I’m happy to be closely involved in this coming together process as well as the debates. I ‘m supported in this by the Civil College Foundation’s Local Democracy Programme.
I speak German, English, Dutch and a bit of French and Italian. Now that I speak languages of the EU, it’s time to teach them bark!”
- Dogparticisation of Europe
- Let’s be good neighbours to one another, even in the EU – social housing, tackling the housing crisis
- Effective defence of Natura2000 natural areas
- People’s College network – cooperation between Member States
- International good practices of local governing
4. Imre “Bruti” Tóth
Comedian, musician. He wrote songs and speeches and created videos for the Dog Party. In 2022, when we were “gifted”* a 5-minutes appearance on national TV during the general election, the whole country could see him talking on the phone with his girlfriend for almost the entire time. *the public TV is bound by the election law to provide at least 5 minutes air-time for representatives of every running party before the elections, which hence is generally the absolute maximum they get – the transl.
“My professional history, since I’m not a politician, wouldn’t predestine me for this job. But hey! let’s not forget, Lőrinc Mészáros started as a gas fitter, just like myself!
My performances in last 16 years, the time spent in front of the camera, and my fame prepared me well for this task.
I’ve been following the party for quite some time, since its early Szeged years, then we started to collaborate ten-something years ago after a meeting with Suzi and Gergő. We first made funny videos in Debrecen, then we created memes, and later I ran for office in Zugló (Budapest, District 14) where I received 7% of the votes, promising not to go there if I’m elected.
Later, I entertained the participants of the Dog Party camp with my stand-up acts, campaigned, and performed for party supporters in Óbuda where I also ran for office. I helped the party with ideas, memes and through my own channels. I wrote songs, an anthem and speeches for the party. I also took on the 5-minutes appearance at the national TV before the 2022 election. We shot a music video together and we launched the party’s self-investigating parody video series “Bruti’s Investigations”.
We have the same mentality and I like their kind of criticism of the system, one that’s not necessarily about mudslinging and pointing fingers at the other parties. We are very much on the same page about how we think of the world, about helping others, about wanting to do something, all through humour.
I find it most important that people start seeing the Dog Party for what it is. Many aren’t familiar with the party’s activities’. They only learn about it from the news or a few funny posters, so they simply don’t take the party and its work seriously.”
- Informing the public about our work in the EP
- Dogparticisation of Europe
5. András Becker
Ex-journalist (Átlátszó, Magyar Narancs), currently truckdriver at an Austrian company.
“Previously, I was a journalist for Átlátszó, where I focused on corruption cases for seven years. Perhaps my biggest story was the Elios-affair: In 2013, I was the first one to cover how the Orbán-machine and the Fidesz-led local governments were providing the prime minister’s son-in-law with businesses.
My last article was also linked to Elios, although only indirectly. In this paper, I accused the National Bureau of Investigation (which, as I stated, sabotaged the investigation) and the Chief Prosecution Office of Pest County with abuse of office and complicity. This wasn’t a simple commentary, I backed this strong statement with even stronger facts and data. I hoped that the Prosecution Office would sue me/us so I could prove at court that the legal body responsible for the State’s right to punish is an offender itself.
Would’ve been nice but there wasn’t even a minor scandal around it, so I decided to leave this whole circus behind and went to Austria to become a driver.”
- The characteristics of corruption in Hungary
- Election fraud
With the tightening of conditions and controls, Fidesz is increasingly shifting the focus to Hungarian budget-funded projects, so that the corruption risk indicators for EU-funded projects are falling nicely. What can be done about this in the EP?
1) More effective action by the EU bodies (OLAF, you’ve got a call!) against systematic corruption
2) We could bring the average Hungarian voter to their senses by using the tools of the Dog Party, to get them do more than shrug their shoulders when they’re told that the Lady Mrd was bought on their expense, and that as a consequence of the above, these types of financial exploitations are becoming more and more commonplace.
6. András Derdák
Cultural facilitator. He was leader of the late legendary Banán Klub, later artistic director of Millenáris and director of the Collegium Hungaricum in Paris. He is a promoter for Sziget and other Eastern European festivals since 2011. Since COVID he’s been developing his own project in the spirit of ecotourism and sustainable development. He is a Hungarian-French double citizen.
“I believe that an EU membership is the only thing that guarantees Hungary’s belonging to a normal world. A Huxit would once again catapult the country to the wrong side.
I’ve been working for three decades: I had ten (good) years in the non-profit world of Budapest as leader of the Banán Klub. I had ten (interesting) years in service of the public as cultural director of Millenáris, head of a cultural institution and as a diplomat. Then I had ten (pleasant) years in the for-profit sector as the francophone representative of Eastern European festivals.
In my very first job I was a horse stunt rider, this experience will now come in handy again (no, I can’t shoot arrows backwards). I have two degrees (I am a cultural facilitator) and although I started a PhD in sociology, that’s work in progress.
I was the youngest local representative (and Fidesz faction leader) in Óbuda, but I also served as representative of the General Assembly of Budapest (I left the assembly in 1993*). *mainly due to political reasons which are too wide-ranging and local for our foreign readers – let’s say it was because of the all-too-familiar corrupting power of politics and a frighteningly ambitious future leader- the transl.
I’ve been a cultural attaché and chaired an international organisation bringing together diplomats from dozens of countries. I have experience in living in two countries and I’ve been to almost all of the EU countries. I ‘m currently trying to turn our 400-year-old building, which we bought with the support of investors, into a community space for ecotourism in a small French village.
I restlessly cling on to public life, and I have to be frank with myself, I am far more interested in Hungarian politics than French politics. To my friends still doubtful whether their votes will be lost on the Dog Party, I’d like to make it clear: it won’t. On the contrary!”
- Perception of European values in Hungary
- Perception of Hungarians in the EU
The creation of the EU and the dissolution of borders was the greatest European idea of the 20th century. I’m gladly willing to die on the hill for this idea. I also find it important to take a stand in the areas of culture, tourism, sustainability, and anti-racism. Partly because that’s my expertise and partly because I believe these are the areas where we can be the most visible.
7. Balázs Sándor
Regional coordinator of the Dog Party. Graduated in Politology, currently last year MA student in International Studies with specialization in EU Studies. He knows the best canteen of the European Parliament building.
“I am an active contributor of the Dog Party for six years. Initially, I was only active in my hometown, Ajka, later I coordinated the candidates and the campaign in Veszprém county during the 2022 election, after which I was promoted regional coordinator. I am now responsible for two counties.
I’ve long had the wish to do something within the EU in the long-term, which is why I chose to study politology and why I’m currently an MA student in International Relations, specialising in the EU. I have a high level proficiency in English and I also speak Spanish. I’ve seen EU materials, voting sessions, more, I even applied for an EU project. I participated in many trainings organised by the European Parliament, last time in a program for junior diplomats, and I worked as a volunteer in the EU’s participatory campaign in 2019.
People still view the Dog Party as a cute bunch of people painting the asphalt. They might say: ‘Sure, they are fun, but that alone is not worth our votes.’ Our popularity rocketed after the 2022 election, and I hope that we can prove that we indeed have a serious face (as our local representatives have done already) and that we have an opinion on more serious matters – and that we are going to do so while also cutting the bullshit.
- Dogparticisation of Europe
- European values
- Bringing Europe home
8. Tamás Zakota
Regional coordinator of the Dog Party. Landscaper, garden designer and environmental engineer.
“I’m a white, Christian, heterosexual man born over the Triathlon borders. My rakish, not-limp mustache can attest to it. My continuous return to university might be considered an abuse of the educational system: I cumulated diplomas in Landscape-, Garden Design-, and Environmental Engineering, as well as another one in Business Development Management (alright, I paid for some of them).
I invested great energy into never ever working in any of these fields. I’m currently a PhD student, I research the efficiency of urban tree inventories.
I learnt about the Dog Party in around 2016, during Hungary’s anti-immigrant referendum. Back then the club sessions were still at MÜSZI. I was an active poster campaigner in District 8, and I also brought campaign material back to my hometown, Szombathely, where I organised a team of 5-6 people. I resumed from my organisational duties in Szombathely since I already mainly lived in Budapest, but I still helped the local team whenever I could.
Suzi passed on the Közmozi (Public Cinema) project to me, but we had to cancel the screenings in 2020. We didn’t know at the beginning whether it was allowed or not during COVID, then everyone was doing it.
I was abroad in 2021.
I was hired by the party as regional coordinator after the 2022 election, and now I am responsible for the coordination of the passivists of Győr-Moson-Sopron, Hajdú-Bihar, Vas, and Zala counties.
I was part of the the most intriguing teams, assembled last-minute to visit Brussels and Strasbourg, and I was responsible for the administrative and financial accounts of the last of these trips.
I organised a fun little poster-destroying trip to Ljubljana at the end of the local election campaign of the Slovenian pirates, who then came to Budapest in return. I tried to introduce many of you to them. I invited Mikulás Peksa to our members’ council and to the party camp to introduce the pirates to us.
Given my background, I’d probably be involved in the areas of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), the Rural Pact (Long-Term Vision for EU’s rural areas), urban forestry, and landscape protection policies. However, thanks to my Phd research and my professional history as geospatial informatics expert, I could also be active in the fields of remote sensing, space imaging, and space research. Just think about it, I could be the new Lord Lieutenant of Space Affairs!”
- A non-black-and-white criticism of the EP
- Perception of the EP in Hungary
In relation to the payment of EU area-based agricultural subsidies, I ‘ve seen how EU legislation is transposed into Hungarian law to favour domestic interests, while the EU is getting fingers pointed at as being the reason why it had to be done that way.
I spent half a year in Berlin with a DBU scholarship working for a small company, where I first experienced greenwashing as a marketing tool in order to sell an innovation of questionable significance to investors, simply because it can be written off as a CO2 reduction for marketing.
I took part in a StartUp competition and acceleration programme on insect meal, which allowed me to follow the long process of getting the legislation to allow the use of insect-based proteins in the EU (in case the Member State transposes the rule into its legislation). Since it’s not obligatory, our homeland was once again saved by Fidesz, although it still is a great tool of scaremongering (not to mention that there are relevant Hungarian researches under way).
9. Richárd Szin
Employee known from the nightlife scene.
He completed the Master of International Public Relations and the Master of International Water Governance and Diplomacy in English and completed his internships at the International Department of the Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration and the Embassy of Hungary in The Hague. He is ranked 5th on the most submitted Dry Humour jokes list of favicc.hu with 149 submitted jokes to date.
“It was 2017, and although the party’s activities were to his liking for a while already, the bourgeoise consciousness only budded in him that spring. He was at some bar on a date when he bumped into Suzi, who handed him a bunch of stickers, and he soon he some pins as well. These moments sealed his allegiance to the party. He started with stickers on lampposts of empty streets of the night, then at bus stations in peak hours, and he gradually arrived from shaking hands to confidence, convincing his friends about the party and involving them in street decorating activities. At this point, he and his fellows created a Facebook page for the Dog Party supporters of Rákosmente (an eastern area of Budapest). The rest is history.
The party’s sense of reality and effectiveness in social matters are what make it the one sensible choice for him. The arrogance, negligence, and puffiness present in his professional circles are what bother him the most in his daily life. This behavior is not present within the Dog Party. Quite on the contrary. Similarly to him, the members and the spirit of the party are in the counter-stream of the “status quo”. According to him, for the right and left, conservatives and liberals, pro-market folks and proponents of the re-distribution; for anyone, the Dog Party is the most authentic party today, and this alone makes all other parties meaningless.
From 2018 on, he graduated every two years in the following fields: International Public Service Relations, International Water Governance and Water Diplomacy.
He was founder of the party’s Facebook pages of Rákosmente the Netherlands.
He worked in hospitality for five and in informatics for four years. He’s capable of blind typing and running with pots.
He lived in Poland for nine monthsm, followed by the Netherlands for four months. He travelled to Belgium three times in 2023 alone!
He ran for office as a Dog Party candidate twice: 2019, Zugló XII (Budapest, District 14). Single-member constituency (IKEA) – 197 votes (6,33%). 2022 Budapest XIV. Parliamentary single-member constituency (Rákosmente) 2172 votes (3,86%)”
- Water management for the climate change era
- Union with Eastern Hungary
- Engaging Hungarians from within and outside Hungary in the question: What has the EU given us?
- The search for a healthy, cross-border national consciousness.