Hungarian Conservative

‘For Gyula Tellér, humanity, nation, education, and critical thinking were the core values. First and foremost, he believed in humanity, as well as in civilization and its achievement. He believed in the human being as an individual who is able to contribute to society, and who takes responsibility for his own actions.la

At a campaign rally in Clive, Iowa on Monday, President Trump called PM Orbán ‘the strongest leader, a very powerful man,’ as well as ‘a great gentleman’.

‘Governments have a duty to their own citizens to maintain the character of the country,’ Tony Abbott, former prime minister of Australia argues. An interview on migration, family policy, foreign relations, and the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Boris Palmer was once a wunderkind of Germany’s Greens, but his controversial takes on migration and cancel culture have forced him out of his party. His appearance at one of MCC’s events is not less divisive: is he a new Orbán-Versteher in the making?

In an interview with the website of Puskás Akadémia, the prime minister expressed that Hungarian football is not part of the entertainment industry, but rather part of the Hungarian people’s lives and their national identity.

PM Orbán wrote that the release of the three Kosovo police officers charged with illegal weapon possession in Serbia is a testament to the ‘mutual commitment to the peace and stability of the Balkans’. However, tensions in the region still seem to be on the rise.

The six years since the start of Apollo Tyres’ operations in Hungary have been characterised by exceptionally close cooperation and good relations between the company and the Hungarian government.

The Prime Minister gave this piece of advice at CPAC Hungary 2023 to his conservative allies around the world on how to defeat the woke mind virus: ‘All it takes is to write well-visibly on the flag with enormous letters before the elections: no migration, no gender, no war.’

Instead of decoupling and returning to bloc politics, Hungary’s strategic interest lies in increasing connectivity.

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.

The unusually friendly coverage begs the question: who is Roger Köppel, and why the positive attitude towards the Hungarian premier’s ideas and policies?

Saad noticed that there aren’t any pro-Palestinian demonstrations being held in Hungary, unlike in Western Europe. He queried Balázs Orbán about the matter on the social media platform X.

The Political Director of the Prime Minister, Balázs Orbán has been appointed to oversee the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT), which is also changing its name back to the pre-2014 one of Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA). The new president of the organisation will be Gladden J. Pappin.

Balázs Orbán’s work is a penetrative exegesis of the unique success of Hungarian statecraft in the past decade as well as an astute guide for all nation-states of similar stature. The Hungarian Way of Strategy is a beacon in the fog of our ideology-driven era, meant for those whose understanding of time goes beyond the fleeting moments of the present.

At the opening event of MCC Brussels, Balázs Orbán said: ’As neighbours, we need to talk and listen. This is the only antidote to the spectre of political polarization that haunts politics today.’

Ursula von der Leyen has signalled her willingness to depart from current practices and collaborate with the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political group should she secure a second term as Commission President. Von der Leyen unveiled this idea during her speech at the Maastricht Debate on Monday, a move that has stirred considerable backlash from the traditional allies of the EPP.

‘Conservative policy approaches in Germany and Hungary have different prerequisites. However, the majority of voters in both countries share similar ideas, with a societal centre ground that leans to the right.’

A new world order, European security, shifting geopolitics and the nuances of energy security were discussed by renowned experts at a conference at the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest.

While one might envision the European right as a cohesive entity, significant differences exist between the two prominent EP political groups, ECR and ID, particularly on crucial issues such as the war in Ukraine. As the summer EP elections draw nearer, the pressing question revolves around whether and how the conservative forces across the continent can be unified in the new parliament.

In a February episode of the Reflections from Budapest podcast the Director-General of the Tikvah Fund highlighted the neo-Marxist narrative in the West which holds that ‘weak is just’, and since the Palestinians are presented as weak, Israel is portrayed as their oppressor.

At the launch event of the new book published by MCC Press and the Migration Research Institute titled Kié itt a tér? (Who does this space belong to?) a panel discussion was held on the dire consequences of uncontrolled immigration, the failures of integration, and possible solutions.

The conservative education policy advocated by the Hungarian government has faced substantial criticism from the left recently. Responding to the accusations from the left, János Setényi, Director of the Learning Institute of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) gave a brief interview to Hungarian Conservative.

‘I am a qualified admirer of what has been done in Hungary over the last decade and a half. We can learn a lot from the fairly uncompromising attitude of the Hungarian government on issues such as state authority and the nation. I would also mention the handling of migration and the fact that the Hungarian government just didn’t care what others think in this matter: they just focused on protecting their borders.’

‘The way PM Orbán has redefined Hungarian identity and sought to maintain, develop and foster relationships with Hungarians who were dispossessed of their homeland in the Treaty of Trianon is something I personally have tremendous respect for. ’

The Hungarian National Assembly approved the ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO on 26 February. It is now up to the President of the Republic to sign the agreement, which will officially grant Sweden full membership in the defence alliance.

At the Fidesz–KDNP parliamentary group meeting today it was decided that Tamás Sulyok, President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court would be nominated for the position of head of state, left vacant following the resignation of Katalin Novák. Tamás Deutsch will lead the governing parties’ list for the European Parliament elections.

The first V4 summit of the year is scheduled for 27 February, with a focus on illegal migration, energy security, and the EU’s strategic objectives. After the estrangement caused by the war in Ukraine, cooperation seems to be back on track, but its future will largely depend on the willingness and ability of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to collaborate.

The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against Hungary over the Sovereignty Protection Law, opening a new front in the unending battle over sovereignty between Brussels and Hungary.

Left-wing MEPs led by Guy Verhofstadt want to impose sanctions on Tucker Carlson for interviewing Vladimir Putin. The crackdown on the former Fox News anchor is a perfect illustration of the double standards set by Brussels concerning freedom of expression and freedom of the press, which is often applied to Hungary as well.

US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman gave two recent interviews to the British press. He criticized Hungary’s foreign policy in both of them, claiming that it was based on ‘fantasy’—Hungarian MP and State Secretary Tamás Menczer has responded to the criticism.