Hungarian leader admits he feared deaths after lifting Iron Curtain

On August 19 1989, Hungary's prime minister, Miklos Nemeth, symbolically lifted the Iron Curtain by briefly opening the border with Austria at the Hungarian village of Sopronkohida.

Hundreds of East Germans who had taken refuge in the country cheered and cried as they poured out to start new lives in the West. It was the moment which set off the chain of events that would lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. But on the 20th anniversary of that moment, Mr Nemeth has admitted he feared a bloodbath could follow as he had only a verbal promise that Soviet troops would not move in.

His decision to trust a personal promise from Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, that there would be no repeat of the brutal and bloody military suppression of Hungary's 1956 uprising sounded the death knell for Communism.

"This was a test to see whether what Gorbachev had told me held true, or whether the Soviet Union would respond by ordering several of its battalions stationed in Hungary to intervene," he said.

Two decades ago, Hungarians and Austrians organised the now famous Sopron pan-European picnic to mark the dismantling of a notorious fortified border between Hungary, in the Soviet bloc and Austria, in the free West. Mr Nemeth knew the opening of the border gates for a few hours, would mean thousands of East Germans would make break for freedom.

A crowd of more than 600 East Germans crashed through the border in the first mass exodus to the West since the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, an event that set the pattern for the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Without any instructions from Mr Nemeth or the authorities Hungarian border guards spontaneously countermanded their standing orders and refrained from shooting.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, who lived in East Germany, yesterday (WEDS) visited the border crossing, just outside the Hungarian city of Sopron, to mark the 20th anniversary of events there.

Hungary's western border eventually opened for good on September 11, just weeks after the events at Spron. Up to 50,000 East German refugees flooded through Hungary until October 7 without any Soviet intervention. Two months later on November 9, the Berlin Wall fell.

Hungarian Wine: An Undiscovered Gem

Hungary's wines are not well known in the broader consumer market, and because they are undiscovered, the price you pay for them is still reasonable.

Hungarian wine-making dates back 2,000 years, Klara Sztakovics, export promotion manager for Wines of Hungary, an industry marketing agency said “’Wine’ is the first written word in Hungarian history,”.

There are 22 distinct wine regions in Hungary and 14,000 wine producers, said Ms. Sztakovics. “There is a unique taste for every wine region,” she said. “Everyone can find the wine style they like from Hungary.”

Hungarians love their own wines, consuming 75 percent of the national output. Customers in the European Union buy much of the rest.

Realistically, there is little chance of importing mass quantities of Hungarian wine to the U.S and other countries as the wines are not a mass produced product so quantity is limited. However the scarcity of Hungarian wines makes them all the more appealing.

Hungarian soccer chief blocks Madonna ‘Sticky and Sweet’ Show

Madonna concert organizers are scrambling in Budapest after a bid to move her concert from a horse-racing track to Hungary’s biggest sports stadium was rejected by the Hungarian soccer authorities.

The sport’s local governing body won’t allow Madonna to use the Ferenc Puskas stadium on Aug. 22, to protect the field for a potential Champions’ League game four days later and two World Cup qualifying matches in September.

Madonna’s concert, part of her “Sticky and Sweet” tour, was scheduled to be held at the Kincsem Park race track near the tail end of her European tour that started in London’s O2 Arena on July 4. MLSZ, the soccer federation, has rejected an offer by local organizers to replace the stadium turf for the games.

Slovaks defiant over language law

Slovakia has dismissed protests by neighbouring Hungary over a new language law which would impose fines for using minority languages.

The Slovak foreign minister said "it's necessary to return this hysterical atmosphere - which hasn't been caused by the Slovak side - to normal".

Miroslav Lajcak was speaking after Hungarian MPs on Monday jointly urged Slovakia to rescind the language law. Slovakia's 5.4 million population includes more than 500,000 Hungarians.

The law, due to come into effect on 1 September, envisages fines of up to 5,000 euros (£4,315) for people who use minority languages in public services. It would apply in cases where the minority forms less than 20% of the local population.

Janos Koka, leader of the liberal Free Democrats (SZDSZ) party group in the Hungarian parliament, said "what we need is a diplomatic offensive so that this law is rescinded before it comes into force on 1 September".

In the European Parliament last week a deaf Hungarian MEP, Adam Kosa, used sign language to protest against the Slovak law.

Search on for most beautiful Hungarian words

The Balassi Institute of Hungarian culture has called a public vote to find out which Hungarian words people find the most attractive and which ones they would like to preserve for the use of future generations, national daily Magyar Nemzet reported on Thursday.

The word contest, which follows earlier Hungarian and international examples, is “important and useful fun” in that it raises public awareness of the mother tongue, the paper quoted linguist Geza Balazs as saying.

People can cast their votes electronically, or personally at a bus which the institute is sending around the country.

Though the polls will only be closed in November, interim results of the contest are available from the web page. The word which has received the most support so far is szerelem (’serelem’-love), followed by édesanya (’eideshanya’-mother) and szabadság (’sabadshaag’-freedom). Sweet-sounding cipőfűző (’tsipoefhewzoe’-shoelace) is number nine in the competition.

The initiative is part of the Year of Hungarian Language 2009 programme, marking the 250th anniversary of revered language reformer and author Ferenc Kazinczy.

Lake Balaton in Hungary

Lake Balaton is situated in Hungary, 89 Kilometres South West of Budapest. It is the largest lake in Europe. Due to Hungary being a land locked country it is also sometimes called the Sea of Hungary. It stretches 77 Kilometres along the southern foothills of the Bakony Mountains of Hungary and its width ranges up to 2.2 metres. Its surface lies at 104 metres above sea level.

The main inflow, the Zala River, empties into the southwestern end of the lake, while the Sio-canal drains the water from the eastern basin into the River Danube. The entire contents of the lake are replenished about every two years.

The Lake is very popular as a Hungarian tourist attraction due to its picturesque setting and its large shoreline.