‘We have heard Trump. We have heard Vance. We are taking notes. We are doing the work. But if we are to recover—from this economic dislocation, from cultural disorientation, from moral exhaustion—we will need your help. And if you choose not to offer it, because we are no longer good enough, or because better deals lie elsewhere—so be it.’

The MCC Budapest Summit on Technology and Society aims to answer the question of how to find the balance between innovation and traditional values in a rapidly changing world. The MCC Budapest Summit is also part of MCC’s long-term mission: to strengthen international knowledge sharing, community dialogue, and intellectual values in all regions of the Carpathian Basin.

HDF György Klapka 1st Armoured Brigade held its annual open day on 11 April, an event that attracted several thousand visitors. This significant turnout reflected public confidence in the armed forces and underlined their close connection with society.

‘In the past two decades, the European Union has turned from a community of values into a power centre and from an internal market into a proto-state. It has happened without the explicit political authorization of the Member States and European citizens…Today, the main line of division in European politics lies between those who support or condone this process and those who oppose it.’

The agreement is not just a matter for Ukraine and the US. There is a geopolitical realignment of the world’s raw materials markets, in which Europe’s interests are strongly involved. If US companies are, in practice, given priority access to Ukrainian raw materials, this could limit the EU’s room for manoeuvre at a time when the speed of the green transition will determine future competitiveness.

As the proposed meeting in Istanbul between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in limbo, Pope Leo XIV appears to have offered the Holy See’s mediation to the warring parties. The negotiations have gained new momentum as international pressure mounts on Russia to agree on a ceasefire.

Budapest-based Danube Institute and the Israeli SIGNAL Group co-organized a conference on the India–Middle East–Europe Corridor (IMEC)—an alternative transport route proposed in 2023 by G20 countries to link Asia to Europe while countering China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Experts and policymakers argued that IMEC could represent a new vision of multipolar cooperation, economic resilience, and strategic autonomy.