Energy Minister Csaba Lantos highlighted in a recent interview that the government would continue to subsidize gas prices for Hungarian households up to the level of average consumption.

While President Katalin Novák had to respectfully decline her invitation for 1 January, the Prime Minister made sure to pay respects on behalf of his country within a week.

The concerns about financial security and the moderately enthusiastic assessment of overall life satisfaction by Hungarians in 2022 reflect the difficulties the country’s economy is facing, induced partly by the EU’s sanctions policy.

The income tax exemption for those under 25 has been extended to include young mothers aged 25-30. The new regulation has been in force since 1 January.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested a one-and-a-half-day truce in the Russo-Ukrainian war, but the Ukrainian leadership and their Western allies do not want any part of it, considering Moscow’s proposal a sham. To what extent the guns on the front will die down until Saturday evening is highly questionable.

Countries including the United States and Japan as well as some EU member states have enhanced border procedures for tourists from China as a result of China abandoning its zero-COVID policy. Is Hungary planning to take similar action?

The goal is to curb inflation and avoid recession, Viktor Orbán stressed last year. On Tuesday, 3 January, Finance Minister Varga announced that Hungarian public debt has decreased more significantly than expected, dropping to 73.5 per cent of GDP in 2022, and confirmed that in line with the projection, last year’s budget deficit target was met, at 4.9 per cent of GDP.

Instead of the setting that we can paraphrase as ‘the West (and Japan) versus Everyone Else’ that we got used to throughout past decades basically ever since the end of the Second World War, we will end up in a setting of ‘Africa versus Everyone Else’, where Sub-Saharan Africa remains the only source of significant migration.

In her address, President Katalin Novák highlighted the difficulties the nation had to confront in 2022 and the resilience Hungarians showed in the face of challenges, and underscored the importance of solidarity and national unity.

It is important to mention that Europe, more precisely European football culture and Germany in particular, played a key role in the development and the successes of both the Japanese and the Korean team.

The Pontiff Emeritus, with his controversial Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, officially reintroduced the public celebration of the ‘Traditional Latin Mass’. He did not just restore the external beauty of the sacred liturgy, but he reminded us that contrary to so-called experts, the Tridentine Mass was never abrogated.

This year presented Europe with an unprecedented challenge regarding its energy security as a result of a substantial curtailment in Russian natural gas exports. As energy independence is literally impossible for the continent, Europe has to make a choice about where its exposures should lie.

Unfortunately, the light of the star that guided the wise men to the place where the Prince of Peace was born (Matthew 2, 1-12), which Charles spoke about, is being rejected by the warring parties. Like Herod who believed that Jesus was the newborn King and refused Him, they too are not displaying any intention to be ‘men of good will’. 

Hungary is an accepted partner of the Turkic world. There is no question that this will remain the case in the future. The intermediary role that Hungary holds can only be fully realized if our views and experiences are listened to at the global level.

Despite the hardships caused by the sanctions and the war, Hungary managed to remain successful in 2022, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared at this end-of-year press brief.

The solution to the energy supply crisis that Europe is facing should not be the imposition of a gas or oil price cap, since that only further reduces the availability of fossil fuels. Instead, what is needed is the exploration of new energy sources and their transmission to Europe.

‘Machne Chabad’, the kosher Rescue Village hosting Ukrainian Jewish Refugees in Hungary is the largest Jewish rescue camp in Europe, open to all Jews fleeing the war.

During the laudation it was highlighted that Viktor Orbán oversees elections that return results in one day and which have been more closely monitored by international observers than any other in the European Union.

Péter Szijjártó noted that in a number of matters, Hungarians and Slovaks depend on each other, adding: ‘The war has highlighted our differences, but I believe it has also strengthened our interdependence just as much.’

At a debate hosted by Hungarian Conservative, political scientist András Körösényi, conservative historian of political thought Attila Károly Molnár and political philosopher Ferenc Hörcher explored the relationship between conservative principles and political reality.

EMIH chief rabbi Slomó Köves said the Hungarian Jewish community is well aware that the past 25–30 years have been a real miracle: Jewish people have become able to proudly practice their faith in Hungary.

Semmelweis University Rector Béla Merkely said at the signing ceremony that thew two institutions ‘share the same mission and guiding principles in order to deliver the finest education at the highest level.’

To meet the demand for electric vehicles, the Volkswagen Group intends to establish a total of six new battery plants around Europe by 2030. However, the project may become unfeasible if energy prices continue to rise.

According to Van Buren, it is ‘shameful’ that the Biden administration is not forcefully pushing for a diplomatic solution, but is content to bleed out the Russians, as it did in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Despite the significant grants and investments agreed upon by the EU, and the bloc’s support for the regional association process, what Tirana didn’t bring closer is the holy grail for the Western Balkans: fast-tracked EU accession.

Poland’s efforts to turn its growing military power into political influence may be hampered by criticism of its alleged rule of law issues and concerns over its arms purchases from non-NATO countries outside Europe.

The real stake is whether the originalist shift can restore the democratic process and structure of governance.

The Budapest Basilica Advent Feast, with more votes than ever before, has been named the best Christmas fair in all of Europe by the European Best Destination website.

After months of negotiations, EU ambassadors on Monday reached an agreement on the funding package that may allow Hungary to have access to part of its frozen EU funds. However, Poland’s unexpected veto on Wednesday may upset the plans.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the freedom of movement of European citizens, which is so essential to the European project, is now in danger in the face of the worsening migration crisis.