Have you ever noticed similarities between your country’s and other countries’ traditions for Christmas? There are many symbols attached to this holiday in Europe, and each country has kept its own identity and traditions, while enriching them with influences form various other sources. This diversity and richness prove the importance given by Europeans to the Christmas holiday. This year the AEGEEan asked and found out how people celebrate Christmas in Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.

Let’s start from the place where the festive period begins really early. In Romania, celebrations start on November 30th, the day of Saint Andrew. Customs say everyone should hang plenty of garlic and a crucifix next to all doors and windows of the house to keep evil spirits away from their home. At the beginning of December, the Christmas lights are turned on all over the streets. Moş Nicolae comes and gives children presents. Children receive their gifts early in the morning of December 6th, or late at night on December 5th; traditionally, gifts are put in their laced up boots. On December 20th, Saint Ignatius Day, Romanians start the last preparations for Christmas. On this date, they slaughter pigs for the Christmas Eve supper. “Around this date, people usually buy their Christmas trees from public markets or supermarkets.”, Ioana Nedelcu (AEGEE-Ploieşti) told us.
December 24rd it’s Noaptea de ajun, the day children usually start caroling their neighbours. Music is an important part of Christmas celebration all over Romania. There is a special genre of music, related to Christmas carols but with more traditional/Christian lyrics. These are named colindă, which are also popular in Moldova. On the same date, women bake traditional cookies to give children for their caroling. By this time, the Christmas tree must usually already be decorated. During Christmas, Romanians bake or buy various special dishes, including desserts and sweets. Romanians most usually bake cozonac, a type of sweet bread. You can fill the cozonac with walnuts, cocoa, raisins, Turkish delight and in Transylvania: poppy seed paste (cozonac cu mac). Plates heaped with small pastries and cakes (corni și baclava) are prepared to serve to carollers when they call. A boiled vegetable and chicken salad held together with mayonnaise and decorated with olives and boiled eggs is often prepared. It is called Salată de boeuf (from French), although it usually does not contain beef. Other Christmas dishes include piftie, sarmale and pork dishes.

In Moldova, although Christmas is celebrated on December 25th like in Romania, January 7th is also recognised as an official holiday. On Christmas Day, families are having breakfast and/or lunch together.

In Greece, Christmas caroling is also very popular and there are actually three official caroling days. The custom is that children go from house to house singing the carol, with the accompaniment of a triangle, and residents of the house give them a small amount of money. Greek Christmas carols (calanda) are sung on the mornings of Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and January 5, the Eve of the Epiphany. About thirty to twenty years ago, carolers were getting cookies for singing the calanda.

Homemade kourabiedes

Melomakarona and kourabiedes are the two varieties of Christmas and New Year’s cookies in Greece. The first are semolina, cinnamon, and clove cookies drenched in honey, while the second are fresh butter cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar that are normally served on New Year’s, but many succumb to temptation and begin consuming them earlier. Vasilopita is a cake that is eaten on New Year’s Day. Before the cake is baked, a coin covered in foil is placed in it. The person who cuts the cake makes the sign of the cross three times above it and then starts serving the pieces, one to each person, the house, Christ, The Virgin Mary and Saint Vasileios. Whoever has the coin in his piece of cake will have luck for the rest of the year.
On the 1st of January, Saint Vasileios (Saint Basil the Great) from Caesarea, Cappadocia (Turkey), brings the gifts to the children. People in Greece also celebrate Epiphany on the 6th January. In the Greek Orthodox Church, Epiphany celebrates Jesus’s baptism when he was a man. There are many events throughout the country where young men dive into really cold lakes, rivers and the sea to try to be the first to get a cross which has been blessed by a priest and thrown into the water. Whoever gets the cross first is meant to have good luck during the coming year.

“Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun” this is how you say “Merry Christmas” in Turkish. However, how Christmas and the new year is perceived depends on where you are in Turkey. Christians who live in Turkey celebrate Christmas at churches or with family gatherings. In many districts of major cities the lights, Christmas decorations and trees appear in early December. In Turkey Christmas is of course not celebrated as a religious holiday. It can, in many ways, be comparable to Father’s day, Mother’s Day, Valentines Day and so on. Christmas is brought to Turkey by the major stores and supermarkets who have seen their chance to implement this festive celebration. There are some very natural differences to the way other Christian countries celebrate Christmas. In Turkey there is no dancing around the Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols, just like Christmas cookies and socks over the fireplace are not a part of the tradition yet. But they have Christmas trees and Santa Claus and gifts! In the last years in Turkey they started celebrating the New Year by exchanging gifts.

On the other hand, in Ukraine the festive period starts on New Years Eve. Ukrainians usually congregate in a house of their families and/or friends. They have many dishes at the table, so they start with food, watching different TV shows and chatting. When it is 00:00 the champagne is opened, and there are exclamations “Urrraaaa” (Hurrah) and people wishing everyone Happy New Year. “After midnight, children find their presents under the New Year tree, some other people are just exchanging presents, telling nice words to people. Then Ukrainians call other friends, who are not celebrating with them and congratulate everyone they think is important. Very often the mobile network is overloaded. Then we have parties till the morning, and go to bed at 02:00-08:00 (it depends). In the morning celebration continues.”, says Hanna Polishchuk (AEGEE-Kyiv).
On the 6th of January it is Sviat Vechir (Holy Evening). In the evening, after 6pm all family congregates at the table, which has 12 dishes (obligatory). The main dish is called Kutia (sweet grain pudding), and everyone should eat at least one spoon of this dish first. After dinner, children (and sometimes adults) wear traditional clothes and go around carol singing. People give them sweets and close friends give also money. The next day (January 7th) is Christmas. In the morning people tell each family member “The Christ was born”, and they answer “Glory to Him”. They tell this three times, and each time people kiss the cheek of the person, to whom they tell these words. On this day people continue going round carol-singing. There is a tradition to forgive everyone on this day.

Photo by Szabina Hellinger

In Hungary, Santa is called Mikulás and comes on the 6th of December instead of Christmas. He brings presents to children in their boots in case they have been behaving well all throughout the year. If they have been naughty, they get some rods (for being whipped with) from krampuses instead. “On Christmas night, the 24th of December (Szenteste = Holy Night) we decorate our Christmas tree indoors and “Little Jesus” (Jézuska) is supposed to bring nice presents for the kids untill the next morning, placing them under the tree.”, Balázs Kovács (AEGEE-Debrecen) told us. The Christmas decoration involves szaloncukor, special Hungarian goodies.

Hoping you enjoyed reading this article, the AEGEEan would like to wish you Merry Christmas anywhere you are!

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Kastoria/Sofia

The Hungarian government has recently made headlines (again) with the government announcing it is going to erect a 4m high and 176 kms long fence along the Serbian-Hungarian border, investing 23 billions Forints (Hungarian currency, approx. 75 million euros), “protecting the borders of Hungary and protecting the borders of the EU”. Denying help from masses of people fleeing their war-stricken countries and treating refugees like criminals with aggressive border-patrolling measures are acts against inalienable human rights and the Hungarian government’s actions are the manifestation of how the misguided ‘illiberal state’s government is rotten to its core – the international media loudly agrees pointing all fingers at the country.

Do you agree with condemning Hungary’s actions? Do you agree with condemning Hungary’s actions while being fully aware of the circumstances and the reality of the country? You might be surprised to learn some of the internationally lesser-known facts about the migration situation in Hungary.

Imagine Agora sleeping conditions, lasting for 4-6 months and only 5% of you would manage to get the papers for a start of a new life.

1. Hungary is one of the main points of entry for migrants into the Schengen passport free zone and has received more refugees per capita than any other EU country apart from Sweden. Over the past three years the number of people illegally crossing the southern border has become twenty times more. Only in 2015 around 60.000 migrants have entered the country and 95% of those cross from Serbia, which is not a member of the EU but has started accession talks. This massive influx has gone way beyond the capacity of what the national authorities can handle in terms of the evaluation of individual cases; who is a refugee – who is a migrant? The camps are slowly unable to provide even the bare minimum for civilised living conditions for refugees, or proper surveillance for the migrants’ activities of the southern areas of the country. The sudden peak in the number of people entering the country has left the (only!) three existing refugee camps of the country unable to keep up with the workload of providing proper healthcare, shelter and aid with the paperwork for these people.

2. But Hungary did offer help and has opened its borders to refugees in the 1990s, when people from mainly Afghanistan, Iraq, Bangladesh started arriving. The country also accepted around a 100.000 refugees from Romania during the Ceausescu regime and kept its borders open when asylum-seekers from the Former Yugoslav Republic started arriving in masses, fleeing from their war-torn country. Because of the EU requirements Hungary’s policy concerning refugees has become stricter since 2010. Hungary means the Schengen border, therefore neighbouring countries try to defend themselves from illegal migration by putting extra pressure on Hungary. Meanwhile, border patrol stations, detention camps and police lock-ups started filling up with the people waiting for their refugee status to be approved and when they started overcrowding these facilities, the refugees were released to live on the streets.
The United Nations Commissioner for Refugees reported already in 2010 that the decreasing financial resources did not allow the assimilation process to begin for these people. Isolated, unable to learn anything about the new country, the language or culture has been making it increasingly hard for refugees to sustain themselves in the country. Also facing hostility from around 80% of the Hungarian population who do not believe the country should accept refugees – the situation has been getting worse and worse for years.

3. Anti-immigrant propaganda is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how the public opinion handles the immigrant question. Besides firmly defending its political actions in Brussels, the Hungarian government also had to provide its citizens with a clear message on their official position on the matter: trying to highlight how the drastic measures are all being evoked in order to protect Hungarian citizens against the “foreign invaders”. Huge billboards with anti-immigrant slogans were erected all over the country, spending billions of Forints (once again) with the propaganda messages of the “National Consultation” – aiming to gather the opinion of Hungarian citizens on the matter.
After being 10 months away from my country, I came home to see signs like this:

“If you come to Hungary, you cannot steal jobs from the Hungarians!
National Consultation on immigration and terrorism”

The main message of opening a “National Consultation on immigration and terrorism” on the matter is already suggestive enough; the general public is more exposed to the anti-immigrant sentiments, than the humanitarian aspect of saving other human beings who are seeking refuge. With the migrants depicted as invaders “stealing jobs” from the Hungarians and even as terrorists, the public opinion is already against border-crossing and in favour of the fence as a more spectacular than practical tool to make the message clear: the country is reaching its limits regarding illegal border-crossings.
The billboards, radio and television advertisements on the National Consultation are actions of a government that has been facing growing unpopularity in the country as a result of a chain of corruption scandals, and is resorting to rather desperate measures to reconnect with its citizens by means of uniting the country against a common “enemy”.
Several civil society organisations, humanitarian foundations and statements from the political opposition are criticising the government’s plans for the fence, some are even organizing demonstrations. At the same time, in other parts of the country, people are protesting against the establishment of new refugee camps. It is hard to decide who is right.

“We don’t want to be afraid!”
T-shirts: “There is no place for a refugee camp here!”

4. Mr. Orbán Viktor vs. Brussels – Round 145. “Hungary has been trying for months to have the EU recognize that a third of the immigration pressure on the continent is focused on Hungary, with around one third of illegal migrants registered in the country.” (From Magyar Hírlap – Hungarian newspaper, auth. )
While wildly attacking the Hungarian government for its drastic measures, several sources fail to mention that close to a dozen other countries of the EU (including Germany, France, Belgium etc.) are issuing notices for deportation of immigrants from their own countries – sending them back to Hungary, based on the Dublin Regulation of the Schengen Treaty.
The Visegrad Four (alliance of Central European states – Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary) all agree on the misguided EU attempts on trying to remedy the situation. All four countries were strongly lobbying against the compulsory migrant quota proposed by the Commission, urging more effective measures than “superficial act of goodness”.
The Hungarian government is also keen on emphasising how it is protecting not only its own borders, but the borders of the EU, and the Schengen zone. Mr Orbán also makes the claim there is a huge difference between refugees escaping persecution and “existential immigrants” – while the former need humanitarian aid, the latter have a clear intent of not staying in Hungary after they receive their papers to travel with.
With all this said, it might come as a surprise that:
5. Foreigners visiting the country still quickly fall in love with Budapest and Lake Balaton, the easy accessibility in the heart of Europe, the country’s cuisine and culture and a holiday being significantly cheaper than in the western parts of Europe. In the less touristic and developed parts of the country however, the reality strikes as a shock to many, with 40% of the population earning below minimum-wage, with the highest rate of alcohol use disorders in Europe, a middle-class standard slowly disappearing and the rising frustration and desperation over social inequality and a widening chasm between the shamelessly rich and the starving poor.

Many independent observations would testify to the fact that Hungarian people in general are not so welcoming towards foreigners settling in the country, mainly because of the increasing economical and social tension, the working hours/salary ratio being way behind western European standards, and the feeling of uncertainty about the future for many families. The ‘Erasmus generation’ is not only leaving the country to study abroad for half a year, but young people are leaving the country in unprecedented numbers, being unable to find a stable and well-paid job after completing their education.
When we talk about a country whose very own national anthem is a gloomy recollection of hundreds of years of being ravaged by wars and territorial occupation as an glimpse into the mentality of the people, we might realise that the gradually aging society does not see how some of the western ideals of tolerance, solidarity and the dominance of a pro- or anti-European ideology would help them make ends meet at the end of the day.
I am proud to be an AEGEEan who has the chance to look at Europe and the world from a more open-minded perspective, being able to travel and relocate freely in the continent and be an activist fighting for a good cause, for the good of a community and the good of the continent. As AEGEEans, we are striving for a borderless Europe and any act of intolerance against its citizens or violation of basic human rights of those in need should be condemned.
Erecting the fence along the southern border of Hungary is not the solution to the problem. But you cannot pass a valid judgment on the country’s attitude without walking a mile in our shoes.

Written by Réka Salamon, AEGEE-Aachen

If you want to know more about the situation you can read some articles here:

– 444 (Hu) 

– Index (Hu)

– Magyarhirlap (En)

– Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (En)

– 4024 (Hu)

– Reuters (En)

– The Guardian (En) 1 – 2

– The Telegraph (En)

– Fotomemoria (En)

Why does Hungary matter?

This question was asked recently by the US Helsinki Commission, and also exactly a year ago by the Nobel prize laureate Paul Krugman. Why does Hungary, this small, landlocked country with around 10 million inhabitants in Central Eastern Europe, matter to the US or to any other EU country?

However, the recent events, namely the latest, Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of Hungary, put this country into the spotlight and brought international responses. It is not the first legislative act which was highly debated – let’s recall reactions to the media law for example and the criticism of Venice Commission since the change in the constitution in 2011 – but the critics sound even louder this time.

The 15-page amendment, which has been passed by the Hungarian Parliament on 11th of March, contains parts about the definition of marriage (“the union of a man and a woman”) and family (“based on marriage and the relationship between parents and children”), implicitly excluding the recognition of same-sex marriage. It also reinforces the heavily criticised contract between the university or college students and the state, which defines the conditions of state-supported years in higher education: Students have to stay and work after graduation in Hungary for the same period of time they have studied in their college or university and received state support. Finally, it grants an option to declare homelessness illegal (“declare illegal staying in a public area as a permanent abode with respect to a specific part of such public area”).
Besides “the new constitutional amendment (again) kills off the independence of the judiciary, brings universities under (even more) governmental control, opens the door to political prosecutions, (…) makes the recognition of religious groups dependent on their cooperation with the government and weakens human rights guarantees across the board. Moreover, the constitution will now buffer the government from further financial sanctions by permitting it to take all fines for noncompliance with the constitution or with European law and pass them on to the Hungarian population as special taxes, not payable by the normal state budget….”, as Kim Lane Scheppele, head of Law and Public Affairs program of Princeton University, states (Scheppele, 2013).

Since AEGEE stands for human rights and democracy and promotes unlimited access to education, the Comité Directeur demands full respect of these principles. We consider the Fourth Amendment to be an undemocratic step back in the development of the country. We would welcome the EU to put pressure on the Hungarian government to remove the articles from the Amendment that does not respect fundamental rights.
We acknowledge the relevance of the problems of brain drain, immigrating intellectuals and raising poverty, but we urge Hungary to find an appropriate solution to these issues.

If we come back again to the original question: Why does Hungary matter? As Paul Krugman said: “if you believe in democracy and peace, you have a stake in that idea’s success — which is why all of Europe’s current troubles are a tragedy for all of us.
And now we have a nation in the heart of Europe, a member of the EU, a nation that emerged from dictatorship, which is at the very least backsliding on democracy. This is terrible — and terribly important.
If you can’t see this, there’s something very wrong with your priorities.” (Krugman, 2012)

Written by Beata Matuszka, Comité Directeur

Sources:

Scheppele, K. L. (2013) Constitutional Revenge http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/guest-post-constitutional-revenge/ Reached on 20/03/2013

Krugman, P. (2012) Why Hungary matters? http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/why-hungary-matters/ Reached on 20/03/2013

Fourth Amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary. http://www.parlament.hu/irom39/09929/09929.pdf Reached on 20/03/2013

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