Hungarian Conservative

16 April has been observed annually since 2001 as the Memorial Day of the Hungarian Victims of the Holocaust. On the 80th anniversary of the ghettoization of Hungarian Jews state dignitaries, including the Hungarian prime minister, and leaders of the Jewish community commemorated the victims.

Brussels police has attempted to shut down the National Conservatism Conference that began this morning in Brussels. The gathering features, among others, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The left has been striving to obstruct the right-wing event for days, seemingly resorting to extreme measures to suppress dissent.

‘In the Hungarian leader, the EU faces a new type of Eurosceptic, one who doesn’t want to leave the bloc but instead shape it, putting his stamp on policies from support to Ukraine to the fight against climate change to migration,’ POLITICO wrote in their recently published analysis about PM Orbán’s foreign policy approach to the Brussels leadership.

According to Nicola Procaccini, those who attempt to demonize Viktor Orbán are seeking to impose their minority political perspectives onto others. The remarks made by the co-chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists signify another indication that Fidesz may indeed join the conservative political group following the European elections in the summer.

In his speech at the event, Viktor Orbán emphasized that in the debate with liberals, it will not be the Soros Empire or Brussels bureaucrats, but nations that will prevail, highlighting that the ideal of an open society has not taken root in Central Europe.

In his 15 March address Viktor Orbán focused not only on national sovereignty, freedom, and unity but also placed significant emphasis on the upcoming European Parliament elections.

The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade summoned Ambassador David Pressman on Tuesday in response to US President Joe Biden’s statement, in which he had implicitly referred to Viktor Orbán as a dictator.

‘A double standard is to be expected. It is what we, conservatives always have to live with, because the left controls all these institutions and communication channels, and the left will do everything it can to help their favoured candidate win.’

‘Donald Trump is the president of peace,’ Viktor Orbán said in an interview with public M1 television. The interview focused, among other topics, on the Hungarian prime minister’s visit to the US last week.

The ceremonial events in the Museum Garden commemorating the 1848–1849 revolution will kick off next Friday, 15 March with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech.

Addressing the Russo–Ukrainian war in his remarks at the opening event of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s annual economic conference, Orbán said only ‘a new player, who had no role in the outbreak of this war, can pave a way out,’ clearly alluding to former US President Donald Trump.

According to press reports, Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán are scheduled to meet in Florida on 8 March. As the perhaps two most prominent figures of the international right, they are gearing up for crucial elections in 2024, and their alliance is deemed more significant than ever.

Viktor Orbán and the governing parties refrained from paying tribute to Alexei Navalny in the Hungarian parliament earlier this week. Considering the less-known views of the recently deceased Russian opposition leader, the Hungarian prime minister’s decision is likely to resonate with the majority of Ukrainians.

As the European Parliament elections approach, Manfred Weber, President of the European People’s Party, has entered campaign mode, with a focus on demonizing Viktor Orbán and the European right. Meanwhile, speculation continues regarding which political group Fidesz will align with in the next EP.

In his regular Friday morning interview PM Orbán discussed, among other topics, the upcoming ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession, and the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The two-day parliamentary group meeting of Fidesz–KDNP began with a speech by Viktor Orbán on Wednesday. The gathering holds particular significance, given that the selection of the candidate for the head of state is on the agenda.

On Saturday, 17 February, Viktor Orbán will deliver his 25th annual State of the Nation Address. This year’s speech holds particular significance as the European Parliament elections draw near.

Orbán told public radio that Hungary only consented to financial contributions allocated towards efforts to prevent the collapse of the Ukrainian state at the Thursday Council meeting. He said peace was the crucial issue as regards the war between Russia and Ukraine but ‘the situation is not good in this respect, since Brussels is suffering from war fever’.

The Prime Minister expressed concern about the lack of proper respect for agriculture as a crucial element of the European economy within the European Union. He criticized unfavourable regulations imposed in several countries, making the situation difficult for farmers.

In his regular Friday morning interview, the Prime Minister stated that there was ‘no money in the world’ that would get Hungary to allow migrants into Hungary and ‘take the country away from us.’

During their meeting in Budapest on Tuesday, the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia agreed on the need to rework a European Union plan to provide financial assistance to Ukraine.

The politician from the EP group Greens has been an avid opponent of PM Orbán of Hungary for years. Donald Trump’s victory in the Iowa caucus prompted him to disparage the Hungarian Prime Minister on social media yet again.

The European Parliament is threatening to revoke Hungary’s voting rights, with 120 MEPs petitioning for the launching of the next level Article 7 proceedings against Hungary ahead of a key EU summit in February.

According to press reports, Giorgia Meloni is in an endeavour to persuade Viktor Orbán to withdraw his veto on the €50 billion EU aid to Ukraine, offering a unique deal in return. Kyiv could soon face severe challenges or even collapse without substantial foreign financial assistance.

Miklós Szánthó announced that the conference will be taking place between 25–26 April, and the keynote speaker will be Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary.

Emmanuel Macron will preside over the national tribute ceremony for Jacques Delors at the courtyard of the Invalides Cathedral in Paris on Friday morning.

At the year-end press conference, PM Orbán explained why he chose to veto the €50 billion aid package to Ukraine at the recent EU Summit, how he views the potential Ukrainian and Swedish NATO accession, and what he believes the biggest struggles of 2023 were. He also talked about what hopes he has for the new year of 2024.

The Prime Minister said the EU was in the habit of making bad decisions, and he listed the 2008 financial crisis and migration as examples, as well as the decision regarding the war in Ukraine to go ‘towards war and sanctions’ rather than in the direction of peace.

Arriving for the two-day EU summit, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary’s position is very clear. ‘When we talk about enlargement, the Hungarian stance states that it is a merit-based, sophisticated, legal procedure,’ he explained.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday said it was a mistake for the European Commission to be pushing for EU leaders to put Ukraine’s European Union accession on the agenda, opining that the bloc should first sign a five to ten-year strategic partnership agreement with the country.