Peace, Propaganda, and the Cold War

Evenings on Peace Square, Pt. 1.

September 17, 2026 6:00 PM –
September 17, 2026 8:00 PM
The first event of the series “Evenings on Peace Square” will feature a roundtable discussion with György Majtényi and Zoltán Bíró Sz., moderated by András Mink.
The first event of the series “Evenings on Peace Square” will feature a roundtable discussion with György Majtényi and Zoltán Bíró Sz., moderated by András Mink.

The emergence of the Peace Group for Dialogue in the early 1980s coincided with the beginning of the final, increasingly tense phase of the Cold War, following the period of détente in the 1970s. This conversation will explore the broader international and domestic historical context of the formation and activities of the Peace Group for Dialogue. Topics will include Soviet peace propaganda at the time, the resurgence of peace movements in the West, the official peace policy of Kádár-era Hungary, and the ways in which the regime responded to the emergence and activities of a movement independent of the state.

Participants:
György Majtényi, historian and archivist
Zoltán Sz. Bíró, historian and Russian studies scholar

Moderator: András Mink, historian (Blinken OSA Archivum)

The event will be held in Hungarian.

The exhibition On Peace Square – The Peace Group for Dialogue is open free of charge through October 25, 2026 at the Blinken OSA Archivum’s Centrális Gallery.

The series is organized in cooperation with the Blinken OSA Archivum, the Historical Archives of the State Security, and CEU’s Department of Political Science.

The event will be live streamed on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/d5Qjy4zZyqg