According to one of the first reports (HUN), published by a southern Hungarian news site Délmagyar.hu (HUN) about the case of 15 illegal immigrants disappeared in the Tisza River at the Hungarian-Serbian border, a member of the group who tried to cross the river, father of a 2-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl, was the one to call the police from a public payphone in the border village, Röszke, at dawn on Oct. 15.

Nagyobb térképre váltás

Csaba Bálint, a blogger with Serbia Insajd (HUN), commented on the case, using the report of Délmagyar.hu, and also proposed to start an investigation personally on the relations between Hungary and Kosovo:

[…] Child, child, help!

That's what the Kosovo Albanian guy, whose children almost froze to death on the bank of the Tisza River, was repeating, when he was trying to escape to the EU one night. If somebody isn't familiar with the story, I'll retell it in a nutshell. […]

The weirdo had gone by that he would pay the human smuggler well, it's a trendy profession there, and what would be, would be, he would step into the new world at Szeged. He hadn't reckoned with the fact that cold rain would fall on his kids at night, that they would be worn out because of this irregular forest hike. When our man saw how big the trouble was, he left the children back in the October rain, and went to ask for help. […]

The children hardly breathed when they found them. A 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, I'm just mentioning that! They were totally run cold. One child of the cross-border violator mister had fallen into a coma, but got better since then. They came off with a whole skin, but the story is sad. Sad and makes you wonder. At least some questions come up with it.

What's the reason for that from the independent and free Kosovo Republic, hundreds of independent and free citizens are escaping? Probably, it's not easy to live in a ‘democracy' built on delinquency? Tell another independent country in Europe from where dozens of free people are coming illegally every week! Probably, the states that urged to recognize a Columbia of the Balkans, hereafter are not working so hard anymore on making the country a country? If a 29-year-old man with two little children is heading off to the forest at night in the middle of October, then I have to say: no.

In the next episode we'll look at what Hungary, the big European friend of Kosovo, has done so that the people living there wouldn't have to escape to the West. […]

Balkan Insight reported that investigations have been started by an EU rule of law mission, EULEX, Kosovo police and the Hungarian authorities. According to the website, migrant family groups had to pay €6,000 to €8,000 to get to Hungary. Contrary to the media referring to Koha Ditore, Balkan Insight emphasized, no arrests have been made yet.

By Monday, Magyar Szó reported (HUN) that a body of one man was found on the Hungarian border of the Tisza River, and on the Serbian border bodies of two women were found. One of them was Agron Rama's wife and the mother of his children.

Gábor Nagy, a Hungarian immigration officer, also commented (HUN) on the case on his blog, showing the same incomprehension of why Albanians escape so desperately from Kosovo:

[…] Of course in cases like this the question can always be raised, if the parents are so careless as to start off with babies to the ‘big world' or the situation is really this horrible in Kosovo? Though it should be mentioned, nobody is after them from Kosovo, as they ‘achieved their independence.' At least on paper. And that also can't be forgotten that these people are always helped by human smugglers for weighty Euros. But if we consider that it's not even to Hungary where they want to escape, then I have a negative stance on the things, too.

András Földes of Képgyár blog ('Image Factory', HUN) reported:

It could be known about the luminous igloo mounted at Blaha Lujza Square that it was the work of young artists and architects, and it cleans the smoggy air by biological means. Which is a noble goal, polluted air is bad after all, clean air is very healthy on the other hand. But still, the euphoria around the futuristic construction was surprising at first. […]

According to the website of Placcc festival:

Although the group includes future architects, they felt it was important to approach space from other aspects, not only and exclusively an architectural point of view, therefore they explore the relationship of man and space through art in public space. The starting point of the work they are making for PLACCC Festival is the belief that we are not mere observers of (public) space, but can actively shape it and participate in its transformation.

This photo, taken by Rozmy, shows the inside of the plastic igloo where the algae filtration was taking place:

András Földes asked the leader of Téreltérítés Munkacsoport about the functioning of the so-called 'smog reducer':

[…] The leader of the project and [university] professor, Antal Lakner, explained ardently the functioning principles of the algae filtration bio-catalyzer, adding after each of his sentence that this thing really worked, that it wasn't just an object of art.

“Here an artist, an architect, a biologist and a technician worked together to resolve an existing problem,” said Lakner, a Hungarian Algae working helmet on his head. “A detecting car came here, and demonstrated that the plantation produced a significant amount of oxygen,” he said as he looked lovingly over the glass bubble occupied with silent oxygen production.

As she explains in the above video, Marietta joined Global Voices after coming to the 2008 Global Voices Summit in Budapest to cover the event as a journalist for a local newspaper. A self-described technophile, Marietta likes how Global Voices uses technology to encourage dialog between distinct communities that often don't interact. Her latest posts about the Hungarian blogosphere look at recent protests against the Hungarian Guard, Budapest's gay pride parade, a law banning nightlife after 10 p.m. in Budapest's District VI, and a showdown between cyclists and drivers during a Critical Mass event.

After the first CM in 2004, in Budapest, cycling enthusiasts organized several other rallies every year not only in the capital of Hungary but in almost every other big city (HUN).

The main website of the event and the movement of cycling enthusiasts proudly announced that they broke the international record of the number of participants in 2006, and it could still increase:

[…] The first Critical Mass ride in Budapest was organised on Car Free Day, September 22, 2004, though it was preceded by at least 50 similar bicycle events initiated either by organisations, groups of bicycle couriers, or other pockets of non-affiliated individuals. The September 2004 ride, however, was significant in that it combined almost every previous organiser into one mass of cycling enthusiasts and concerned citizens. That event drew a surprising 4000 participants. By Earth Day 2005, the number of Critical Mass participants reached 10,000, and doubled again for the September 2005 event, reaching 20,000. On Earth Day 2006 an international record of 32,000 participants was reached, to be topped only by next year’s similar event, with a turnout of 50,000, reaching as many 80,000 by April 2008. […]

This photo was taken at Critical Mass Budapest last year by Zsolt Bugarszki of The Budapest Daily Photo. Bike lifting is always the main attraction of the Budapest Critical Mass (HUN, ENG) events.

This year there were two bike lifts preceded by a new cycling movement united with the ride. The Kidicalmass (HUN, ENG), the children’s protected ride, was to promote healthy lifestyle among children and to create appropriate cycling conditions for the future generation.

The first bike lift took place at the City Hall in the afternoon. As you can hear in the video below, not only Hungarian but foreign citizens also ride and lift at CM:

The second, event-closing bike lift was held in the evening at Deák Square:

In the evening, the Cycle Chic (HUN) blog had a cycling chic party with a cycling clothes fashion show (HUN) tied to the event.

Cycle Chic uses an alternative way to get people's attention by taking photos of ‘chic' cyclists in the city. This photo below of Gréta Gaál about the fashion show illustrates well their definition of trendiness in riding a bicycle:

By bike? How does that look like? There are more and more who realize that there're other styles than trash waistcoat [high visibility waistcoat] and cycling tights. This site is about them, you, who are cycling chic. Woman, man, Hungarian, tourist, riding to work, to school, to party, in the countryside, or in Pest, their place is here. Because cycling is not only a sport but the most natural thing in the world!

However, CM is also a way of having fun together, it covers many different topics of society. Journalist Greg Spencer warned on his blog (ENG) the participants and other citizens concerned that Car Free Day is more of a political event:

[…] Unlike the Earth Day Critical Mass in the spring, which is a celebratory, weekend parade for the whole family, the ride on Car Free Day is more of a hard-nosed, politically-pointed affair. It takes place during a weekday rush hour, and only parts of the route are cordoned off from other road users. For the most part, participants ride in traffic as they would during a normal evening commute. It's in the spirit of the original Critical Masses in San Francisco, which were spontaneously organised rides to show that cyclists are part of the traffic. […]

Organizers write on Critical Mass website, they are aware of the power that could be used for party-political intentions, and they try to do their best to stay independent but fight for the rights of cycling citizens using all the means they can:

[…] Critical Mass is completely independent of any political parties, organisations or movements. It is not a registered organisation, but rather an “organised coincidence” (as it is often called in other places). […]

The largest ride so far was the April 22, 2008 Critical Mass/Earth Day demonstration, which attracted an estimated 80,000 cyclists, and was officially launched by the Dutch ambassador to Hungary, Ronald A. Mollinger, symbolising the popularity of cycling in the Netherlands now spreading to Hungary. László Sólyom, president of the Republic of Hungary also participated on two occasions (in 2006 and 2007), and rode along with the participants, rendering – at that time – unprecedented esteem to an unprecedented turnout in Hungarian as well as international terms. Other prominent individuals among participants included government ministers, the Mayor of Budapest, and many celebrities.

The Budapest City Council gave Critical Mass a Pro Budapest award for their efforts in promoting cycling as an alternative mode of urban transport and improving the transportation culture in the capital city. […]

As the number of the participants gets higher and higher, Critical Mass is more and more supported also by foreigners. Preceding the event of September 22, Greg Dorey, the British Ambassador in Budapest, sent a video message to bike-riders who fight for a more environmentally-friendly world:

Greg Dorey mentioned that critics say CM wouldn't make any difference, but it seems the event started a tense debate on the capital's transportation system. Several bloggers reposted the announcement of this week from Emberibb Parkolásért Mozgalom (EMPAMO) (HUN, ‘For A More Humanoid Parking Movement'), which is an organization representing car-drivers' interests. The scandal broke out because of several statements in the announcement:

The Critical Mass is more and more violent, though it fights for its own rights, it doesn't consider the rights of others in traffic! Though it lifts up the voice for the protection of the environment, it induces giant traffic jams, and by appropriating additional routes of transport it would generate even bigger traffic jams. Though it [still CM] promotes: bicycle is an alternative, but it would use openly fascist methods against car-drivers, its organizers in turn run enterprises which use cars too for deliveries. […]

A well-known Hungarian right-wing blogger Tomcat also reposted and commented (HUN) on the message of EMPAMO:

[…] I kiss your hand [Hungarian greeting phrase], Critical Mass is an interest-protecting demonstration. It doesn't just exist for the hell of it, but those hundreds of thousands people want to achieve something. It becomes “more violent” because there are more who participate in it. […] I didn't know until now that we definitely need the Critical Mass to make traffic jams, until now I thought that cars can manage it by themselves. […]

CM website collected the reports and interviews (HUN) covering the recent scandal, emphasizing that two weeks ago CM didn't make it to the public TV's show debating public life Az Este (HUN, ‘The Evening'), but “fascist” Critical Mass is already interesting enough to broadcast.