Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner BBC Andreas Schiff "Why I Won't Perform in Hungary"

Hmmm. This article makes me wonder if we are wise to visit Budapest. We are planning Vienna / Budapest trip now.

My husband grandfather is from Hungary. Lots of older generation in his extended family members are racists. I thought it was limited to only his family. I stopped visiting them because I don't enjoy their company. I'm an Asian. For example they have a little dog. I think it's a cocker spaniel mix. The dog barks at me ferociously. Only to me in the family. His father proudly told me that the dog could "sniff out" non whites. Indeed the dog barked at a black neighbor and Mexican mailman beside me. I realized that the dog is a reflection of the family mentality. I cannot tell you all the unpleasant things I experienced before we got married. If my husband is not wonderful, I would have never carried out our wedding. His brother and friends (younger generation) are all super nice.

It's a problem in football (soccer), see as just one example FIFA sanctions, and sadly this applies to many other mostly east European countries, such as Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Ukraine ... the list goes on (you can confirm with Google search on recent FIFA bans).

I hardly consider the rise of neo-Nazi and skinhead movements to be limited to Hungary.