Hungarian Conservative

German Green MEP Daniel Freund thought that 23 October was the right time to publish the report on Hungary by the EP’s so-called Supervisory Body. He is proud to have been involved in its preparation, which is a shared pleasure for all of us, as his involvement is a guarantee that the document cannot be taken seriously.

‘Hamas’ 7 October attacks have nothing to do with the grievances of the average Palestinian. Rather, it is part of their jihad (holy war) that is sponsored by the theocracy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which must be stopped…peace can only come after the Hamas terrorists are eliminated and Iran is properly dealt with.’

‘It is one of history’s great ironies that Budapest, from which hundreds of thousands of European Jews were shipped to their deaths by the Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators, Jews can walk the streets this dreadful autumn without fear. This is an achievement for which Hungarians can and should be proud. Don’t expect European leaders to give Orbán credit. In fact, they will probably increase their public odium directed at him.’

Can Netanyahu survive as prime minister in the wake of the Hamas attack? Are Jews really safer in Israel today than in the Diaspora? Hard questions that need to be asked.

‘Christians no longer live by their own standards but by Christ’s, and since Jesus did not abolish the Law, the divine standards of morality, and therefore of sexuality, do not change with time or the spirit of the age.’

‘It is still hard to believe how quick Western mainstream media outlets were to uncritically share propaganda information provided by a terrorist organization, Hamas, which only two weeks before massacred, kidnapped, raped, burnt, and tortured innocent Israeli Jews and foreigners alike.’

‘Instead of ‘making disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; teaching them all that [Jesus Christ commanded]’, (Matthew 28, 19-20) members of the Catholic hierarchy are promoting, at least inadvertently, a culture of relativism and indifferentism—both equally venomous to the moral progress of the human race.’

Europe’s population could shrink from 742 million to just 586 million by 2100, and our share of the world’s population could fall from nine to 5.6 per cent. Of course, this is not necessarily bad news for all, but it is for our continent. It is our own survival that is at stake, our very existence, which, with all our—arguable—historical sins, I believe is good for the world.

‘The effective exploitation of the sentiments of disappointment and hatred towards those in power and the embarrassment of parochial Polishness in opposition to an enlightened Europe triggered an incredible effect in the form of votes from young voters. Young voters most of whom, despite their youthful ideological fervour, do not recall the consequences of the rule of the opposition parties, especially the left-wing one, which they once again helped enter parliament.’

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.

Let’s speak clearly: what Hamas has done is not fighting for the freedom of the Palestinians, but cruel murdering based on pure hatred. The terrorists have not made life easier for a single person who claims to be a Palestinian. Their acts have not created more jobs, more electricity or water in Gaza, and did not result in a single step forward in the process of the creation of a Palestinian state.

It is quite apparent that from Afghanistan to Ukraine, from Israel to North Korea, the world is worse off than it was when Donald Trump occupied the White House. Can all this really be just by mere chance?

On 7 October, the terrorist group Hamas commenced the largest and bloodiest attack against Israel since the Yom Kippur War. In many ways, the aggression echoes not only the 1973 war, but also the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the US as well.

On Wednesday, the Dohány Street Synagogue filled with people for a solidarity service held by the Hungarian Jewish communities. Dr Andor Grósz, head of the Hungarian Jewish Federation MAZSIHISZ, said: ‘The mourning and grief of the Jewish community is shared by Hungarian society,’ adding that the Hamas terrorists ‘brutally violated the Ten Commandments, a gift of the Torah to mankind.’

If Hamas wants war, it also appears to want an Israeli response so tough that it will be able to play the sympathy card around the world—in an attempt to perform an act of ju-jitsu that will transform Hamas from aggressor to victim.  

When platforms intervene in national elections and form public opinion, it is necessarily a question of sovereignty and security.

Following the barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas, pro-Palestinian rallies are being held in Western countries with sizeable Muslim communities. Western governments are now faced with the challenge posed by the tension between the right to freedom of expression and the need to disallow the promotion of murder and violence.

‘All things being equal, the roots to the actual deadly conflict are profound, as already mentioned. Yet it does not help the cause of peace to keep doing business with Iran, just as the United States has done under the Obama administration and is still doing under the present one.’

‘Christian nationalism is a type of religious nationalism in which the end goal is to achieve an absolute Christian theocracy within a society. Its advocates primarily focus on the internal politics of society, such as legislating civil and criminal laws that reflect their view of Christianity and the role of religion in political and social life, which calls for, at least in their mindset, a strongman like Putin.’

‘In the Britain that is now, just like in every other Western country that has accepted indiscriminate mass immigration from countries with Islamic values, it has become normal to celebrate murder, rape, and terrorism, so long as Israeli Jews are the ones being terrorized.’

‘These recent bloody events—and the videos of Arab crowds celebrating them, not just in Gaza, but in Europe too—show perfectly what a significant part of the Muslim Arab world thinks about the issue. The problem is not that Israel is ‘running the world’s largest concentration camp’ in Gaza (a distasteful and debatable claim in the first place, but let’s not go into that now). This conflict existed before the majority of people alive today were born.’

‘I believe that the presence of all of these varying opinions is what makes the Third Danube Geopolitical Summit stand out. As James Carafano, Senior Counselor to the President at The Heritage Foundation noted during his opening address: the Danube Institute is a place that gives a platform for real dialogue.’

Regardless of the eventual shape of Slovakia’s official foreign policy, the potential dominance of pro-Kremlin figures in the new government should not be overlooked in NATO’s eastern flank. It is a development that warrants the West’s vigilance and concern.

It seems that even the most vocal supporters of energy sanctions do not want to give up Russian gas at all cost, which has led to some unusual but rather obvious solutions. Today, fossil fuels from Russia are being transported via proxies to pro-sanctions Western Europe. Also, despite loud promises, the vast majority of Western companies operating in Russia have not left the country at all, at least according to a Swiss study from 2022.

‘Would foetal personhood norms ultimately eliminate abortion? No, of course not…Yet human life would at least be recognized to begin at conception—this is already admitted by those who procure and consume the “morning after pill”.’

The Group of Friends, the nine EU member states that are pushing for the reform of decision-making in the Union, view unanimous decision-making as a weapon. But in fact, as Dryzek and Niemeyer put it, unanimity is ‘the gold standard of political justification’, as ‘it is the only rule of preference concentration that grants Pareto optimality’.

The editors of The Guardian must have overlooked it, so Hungarian Conservative is now publishing the response of Danube Institute visiting fellow, alumnus of the Budapest Fellowship Program Michael O’Shea to Bence Szechenyi’s now infamous defamatory op-ed.

While Hungary is a country with plenty of complexity and, like any other place, has its issues and imperfections—as well as treasures—I have two choices: criticize and judge from afar, or engage and learn. I choose the latter.

His explosive claim that MCC ‘funds academics who disseminate Orbán’s positions’ is as unoriginal as it is untrue. In my over two years of experience with MCC—ten months of which I worked directly with  the School of Social Sciences and History—I found my professional and academic colleagues to be free thinkers who, while moderate to conservative, often engaged in spirited debate on issues ranging from climate change to education policy. 

Kyiv stayed true to its doubtful reputation and promised ‘appropriate responses’ to the three V4 countries extending their ban on Ukrainian agri-food imports. ‘If the decisions of our neighbours are not neighbourly, Ukraine will respond in a civilized manner,’ Zelensky said.