Hungary
Until recently, I was the honorary consul of hungary in the north of england. My role was to further trade, investment, culture and connectivity between hungary and northern england. This page highlights some of the, well, highlights. There's a nice shiny new consulate in manchester now with a full range of services available.
historical hungarian prime minister in manchester
The core of the hungarian community here in manchester are a highly-dedicated,active and generous group, and on 15 march they organised a tremendous event to mark hungary's national day for which we were joined by the ambassador. An exquisite plaque was unveiled in the town hall to commemorate the visit of its most famous prime-minister, lajos kossuth, who led the nationalist revolution in 1848 but subsequently fled when it failed. The streets of manchester, we are told, were lined to welcome him, and a fair few turned out in 2016 too for music, verse, an exhibition and some not-so-hungarian cucumber sandwiches.
Attached File: kossuth.pdf
beautiful people in cheshire
Though not as many as in this hasbara video, which makes the point about invention and innovation (much of it jewish) in hungary over the years. It did its job at a very well-attended trade mini-conference at astrazeneca hq, with the hungarian energy minister, the ambassador, ex-minister bob neill and a high-quality supporting cast, led off by the honorary consul of course. Next comes a trade mission...
hungary in the north
We are almost ready for a soft launch of a sustained effort to build bridges between the north of england and hungary, focusing on trade, investment and tourism. In the first instance there is a trade event in cheshire on the way, a manchester camerata performance at the liszt academy, bringing focus to the budapest spring festival, possibly with a concert here. The show is on the road.
healthy hungarians
My first "official" outing, as a guest of the magyar klub for a very well-attended dinner with some of northern england's magyar medical community, which turns out to be huge and to include senior doctors and consultants with a wide-variety of specialities, as well as south manchester hospital's chief executive. We have already identified healthcare as one of the key sectors with the greatest potential for trade and investment, so this was a welcome outing for the narrative which will hopefully hook some helpers.
Attached File: 2, medics (photos).pdf
opening act
On 19 june 2014, the hungarian ambassador, peter szabadhegy, appointed me as hungary's newest honorary consul, making me somehow a member of the diplomatic corps and the proud owner of a foreign and commonwealth office card, a large brass plate, an impressive official stamp, a signed letter from the hungarian foreign minister and two enormous (hungarian and eu) flags. It also brought various duties, though in the main for me it is about trade and investment, both ways, and broader connectivity (see 20 june, hungary in manchester for more).
Attached File: appointment.pdf