Hungarian Conservative

The 2022 opposition prime minister candidate announced the official establishment of his new Mindenki Magyarországa Néppárt (Everyone’s Hungary People’s Party). At the scarcely attended press conference, he revealed that they plan on not taking any funding from the central government, and operating on donations alone; as well as eventually joining the European People’s Party.

Whether Budapest will remain a stronghold of the left is at stake in the municipal elections to be held on 9 June 2024. Mayor of Budapest is practically the highest political office directly elected by citizens in Hungary, but the outcome of the June election is exciting not only because of that but also because the capital has been the scene of daily party political battles ever since the last election in 2019.

Despite focusing his campaign on fighting against corruption and for more transparency in politics, opposition firebrand Péter Magyar decided to jump into the 2024 EP and municipal elections in a very unusual: he founded a civil organization around himself, then that organization partnered with a ‘phantom party’ founded in 2021 to get Magyar’s candidates on the ballot.

Supposed historian Michael Beschloss called PM Viktor Orbán of Hungry a ‘brutal dictator’ in reference to his meeting with Former US President Donald Trump. Rod Dreher, the renowned American columnist living in Budapest wrote a satiric open letter to him in response, drawing attention to the absurdity of that statement.

In the latest revelation from the undercover footage shot of Action for Democracy operatives, a progressive activist shared how he would bombard heads of major news outlets and low-level journalists alike with requests to cover the Hungarian election according to their narrative. One of the journalists for the American news agency Associated Press has admitted to having received such requests through emails.

Following Emmanuel Macron’s statement on sending Western troops to Ukraine, NATO allies are distancing themselves from the French President. In the run-up to the European elections, radical pro-war rhetoric may have serious consequences—the case of the Hungarian opposition in the 2022 parliamentary elections is a cautionary tale.

Retired General Wesley Clark has been caught on a secret recording, claiming that George Soros had been trying to influence elections in Bosnia and Hungary, and admitting that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary is rightful in having objections to his influence.

While political festivals are not unique per se, there is something unique about how the Hungarian right organizes its gatherings. Their continuing success is not due to populist chauvinism, or to making them mere echo chambers. In fact, plenty of world views, including opposition voices highly critical of the Orbán administration, clashed on stage in front of captivated audiences many times this summer.

The daily operation of the Hungarian railways is hampered by profound structural problems. It is not only a lack of sufficient funding but also the absence of a consistent and comprehensive development strategy that causes the ever-growing woes.

The confetti cannon has been fired and the Polish campaign is officially underway: at the beginning of August, President Andrzej Duda set 15 October as the date for the parliamentary elections, an event that is making not only the Poles but also Hungarians hold their breath.

István Pálffy, who returned to television as an on-screen talent after 13 years, was interviewing 2022 opposition candidate Péter Márki-Zay when he inexplicably made the claim that ‘we should demonstrate certain patience towards an illness like that of paedophiles’. He was fired after just one day.

Gergely Karácsony’s 99 Movement received over 650 million HUF in funding, mostly after they went inactive with the Budapest Mayor dropping out of the primary race for prime minister. The organisation claims that the bulk of its revenue came from ‘microdonations’ collected in cash in drop-boxes at live events. However, even opposition media admit that this is more than unrealistic given the large sum, and the fact that much of it came in foreign currencies.

A report recently released by the Hungarian Information Centre points out that despite all denials, the election campaign of the opposition parties was funded by sources coming from the American Left. Moreover, the overseas Democratic elite, led by George Soros, had direct ownership influence over the company DatAdat, which managed the campaign.

Famed American internet personality and political commentator Dave Rubin sat down with writer and columnist Rod Dreher, also from the US, in Budapest, Hungary to discuss the state of conservatism in their home country and Hungary. They both see Prime Minister Orbán as a good model to follow for conservatives in America, and agree that he is being misrepresented in American mainstream media.

Both statesmen won their respective elections by around 19 percentage points last year, but the similarities do not end there. Their stances on immigration, the Ukraine war, and, most notably, the restriction of teaching gender theory in schools, have been very much akin to each other in the past.

Not only has the left-wing camp become more fragmented due to Péter Márki-Zay’s movement becoming an independent party, and the former leader of Jobbik founding a new movement, but it has also shrunk in terms of popular support.

‘We can only speak of civil disobedience if the perpetrator makes it public that they have consciously broken the penal code and accepted its ramifications. This is therefore not a legal, but a moral decision.’

According to a recent poll, the prime minister and the head of state are the most popular among young people in the country.

Protestors have been gathering on the streets of Budapest for days now, however, the turnout is not quite what they expected.

The rainbow coalition envisioned in the opposition party headquarters and progressive think tanks did not necessarily resonate with the wishes and expectations of the Hungarian voters.

It seems that the louder the international left fights for Hungarian ‘democracy’, the stronger the Fidesz governments the democracy in question elects.

Given their considerable numbers, Roma could be a decisive force in Hungarian politics, however, due to the fragmentation of their political leadership, in the last thirty years Roma representation has not left any significant mark on Hungarian public life.

How was it possible for the situation of Jews in the Western world to deteriorate to such an extent that one Jewish media outlet senses a return to the anti-Semitism of the 1930s? And what has been the reaction of the international left?

Albeit due to a low turnout the referendum was invalid, the overwhelming majority of those who cast valid votes supported the government’s position.

Hungarians’ decision in next month’s parliamentary elections to ensure Orbán another term is of vital importance not just for their economic and social stability, but for the rest of Europe, too.

Refugees can now access social welfare and medical assistance, while Ukrainian children have the right to attend education and day care in Hungary.