Thread by @panyiszabolcs

The personal story of Michael Kovrig, who just stood trial in Beijing, is just extraordinary.

Michael was imprisoned by China’s communist regime in December 2018.

His grandfather, János Kovrig was arrested and sent to labour camp during Hungary’s communist takeover.

THREAD

2/ Today, Kovrig stood trial in China after 2 years in detention. The Canadian ex-diplomat who works for @CrisisGroup is widely seen as a victim of hostage diplomacy - his arrest in Beijing came days after Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was detained in Canada.
bbc.com/news/world-asi…

3/ Michael Kovrig, born in Canada, is the son of a Hungarian immigrant. Michael also holds a Hungarian (hence an EU) citizenship.

However, this is rarely known, partly because Hungary’s pro-Chinese gov't never once spoke publicly about Michael’s arrest: direkt36.hu/en/kemjatszmak…

4/ Today, in a show of solidarity, 28 diplomats from 26 countries turned up outside the courthouse at Kovrig’s trial in Beijing.

Michael is a Canadian-Hungarian dual citizen - but there is no mention of Hungarian diplomats supporting this joint action.
reuters.com/article/us-can…

5/ This is not the first time Hungary lets down the Kovrig family. And the similarities are just unbelievable!

In the 1930s, Michael’s grandfather, János also lived and worked in China as a journalist. Historian @matyas_mervay has all the details:
thestar.com/news/canada/20…

6/ In the 1930s, “his reports from the inaccessible Sino-Japanese frontlines and dingy rooms of the Hungarian enclave (in China) made him famous in the right circles of Budapest.” Later in the 1940s, János Kovrig became a government official at the ministry of agriculture.

7/ As @matyas_mervay writes, his work with the ministry "gave him and his family reasons to fear postwar retribution. Indeed, in 1946, Kovrig’s arrest by the Communist-controlled secret police would make headlines in Budapest.”

János Kovrig was sent to internment (labour) camp.

8/ "In 1948, 49-year-old former gov't official Janos Kovrig is staring at the beams of his barrack in a Hungarian internment camp. In 2020, his grandson, ex-diplomat Michael John Kovrig, is eyeing, just as hard, the concrete ceiling of a Chinese prison cell" @matyas_mervay writes

9/ János Kovrig finally escapes Hungary, immigrates to Canada though France. "Seven decades, three generations and two continents apart, the two men share the same fate, state detention. In a year, Janos would escape from Budapest to become Jean in Paris, then John in Toronto.”

10/ János’s son, Bence Kovrig becomes Bennett Kovrig - and a successful historian and political scientist in Canada.

Later in the 80s, Bennett heads @RFERL’s research department in Munich.

Bennett is seen with his son, young Michael on this picture:
nationalpost.com/news/canada/mi…

11/ “It was under his (Bennett’s) influence that Michael discovered his Hungarian roots, learned Hungarian and acquired citizenship", one of Michael’s Hungarian friends told me. In the 90s, Michael moved back to his ancestral home, Hungary, and lived in Budapest for several years

12/ Michael was teaching English as well as writing for Budapest Week, an English language newspaper. Michael Kovrig was also singer of Bankrupt, a Budapest-based punk rock band. Here’s a picture of him and a song (recorded in 1999) with Michael’s vocals: gcrecords.bandcamp.com/track/listen

13/ Despite studying later in the U.S., then becoming a diplomat for Canada, Kovrig regularly visited Hungary.

In April 2017, for example, when Bankrupt performed in Budapest, Kovrig joined them onstage and even sang one of their old songs, his bandmate, Balázs Sarkadi told me.

14/ Even just a few weeks before his arrest, Michael was in Hungary. "On September 25, 2018, Michael was still meeting with his Hungarian friends in Budapest’s party district. “Let’s go to the Szimpla Kert!,” he suggested to one of his old acquaintances.” direkt36.hu/en/kemjatszmak…

15/ Soon, Michael Kovrig was arrested in Beijing and accused with espionage.

"As protecting its own citizens is one of the most basic responsibilities of a state, Canada and Hungary consulted each other on Kovrig’s case”, a Canadian source told me. direkt36.hu/en/kemjatszmak…

16/ Hungary’s foreign minister assured Canada he’s personally following the issue. His diplomats even claimed that Kovrig's case was always in their preparatory briefing materials when meeting with Chinese.

However, it is not known whether they were actually raising the issue.

17/ However, it turns out that Hungary treated Michael’s case not as a political, but a simple consular matter.

Hungary has never once expressed anything in public about Kovrig, never joined statements calling for his release nor expressed any concerns.

18/ Hungary is the only EU member state not supporting the coalition of 58 countries condemning arbitrary detention in state-to-state relations.

This initiative was launched by Canada because of Michael Kovrig & Michael Spavor’s arbitrary detentions.
international.gc.ca/world-monde/is…

19/ So why is Hungary absolutely silent on Canadian-Hungarian dual citizen Michael Kovrig’s detention? Viktor Orbán’s government wants to maintain a good relationship with Beijing at all costs.

They just never criticize China’s human rights violations. direkt36.hu/en/csendben-cs…

20/ Moreover, Kovrig’s detention is widely seen as China’s retaliation for the Canadian arrest of Huawei’s CFO. But Huawei is just too important for the Orbán gov't. The Chinese company has a serious presence in the country - something not worth risking. direkt36.hu/en/kemjatszmak…

21/ Hungarian diplomats didn’t show up at Canadian-Hungarian dual citizen Michael Kovrig’s trial earlier today, a correspondent present at the scene confirmed to me. However, 26 other countries all sent representatives in a show of solidarity with Kovrig. cnn.com/2021/03/21/asi…