Hungarian Conservative

Marcela Szymanski of the charity Aid to the Church in Need also welcomed the announcement. ‘It is absolutely extraordinary that six years after Hungary created a department in charge of persecuted Christians, another country finally joins them in acknowledging this reality. Not one single other nation with a Christian majority has dared to do so.’

The Institute for Economics and Peace, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, released its latest Global Peace Index report, in which Hungary is ranked the 13th most peaceful out of 163 nations. In terms of militarisation, however, we are ranked even higher, at fourth place globally.

The best example of how pointless it is to interfere in these debates from abroad is the obvious difference between the Hungarian and Israeli legal systems, as Hungary has a written constitution, while Israel has no constitution at all, the minister pointed out.

The US became an imperial power in its own right by the end of the nineteenth century, specifically from 1898 to 1901, when it claimed territory or influence over no fewer than five islands outside its territorial boundaries: Cuba, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines…Under the guise that is was America’s duty to spread the light of civilisation and democracy to the ‘backward’ people of the world, the former British colony took it upon itself to govern the peoples of Latin America and the Pacific—whether they wanted it or not.

The Foreign Minister pointed out that the higher the risk of terrorism, the greater the chance of increased migration pressure on Europe, adding that Hungary is now among the first to face waves of migration, as the Western Balkan route has become primary. ‘Therefore, combating terrorism is a key issue for Hungary,’ he stated.

I personally believe Putin would have invaded the Ukraine, as he did Crimea in 2014, whether he felt ‘provoked’ or not, especially after he lamented the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 as ‘the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [twentieth] century’. One can conclude that the former KGB colonel, with his reverie to rebuild the former Soviet empire, was looking for an excuse to do so. And the US-led West provided it to him.

Hungary has recently been making its presence known in the world of international aid, with its most recent efforts being in earthquake-ravaged Turkey. The small nation has focused its initiatives on providing aid to oppressed Christians, which now face record-level highs of global persecution today. Global aid has poured in to relieve the suffering of the region’s minorities following the end of the war against ISIS, during which the region’s Christians, along with other minority communities such as the Yezidis, suffered barbaric crimes.

Although today violence is no longer the primary form of persecution Christians face in the country, they still endure other serious forms of discrimination. Among the most pressing issues are economic problems, incompetent legislation by the government and conflicts from inter-communal relations, which they suffer from not just because of their faith, but also because they are an ethnic minority in the Kurdish region.

‘Belligerents in a war never like to acknowledge that there is some intermediation and thus that there is some work to do together with the other side. And therefore, it is always difficult. In that sense, we didn’t experience anything new in the context of Ukraine.’

Peter Maurer, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross was invited to a discussion in Budapest by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. He shared some highlights of the ten years of his presidency and the challenges he faced during his tenure.

Answering the call of the representatives of Orthodox communities, Hungary recognised that the Russian Orthodox Church has some 100 million members worldwide, and the sanctioning of its leader would isolate religious people from their spiritual leader. The Patriarch is regularly prayed for and commemorated during church services in Hungary, too, as it is home to a Hungarian Orthodox community under the Moscow Patriarchate.

Will the European Union gradually evolve into a community of fate? Whether or not this is going to happen will depend on the Europeans’ ability to learn from each other and to understand each other better. This again depends on mutual knowledge: of languages, of their respective neighbours’ histories, literatures and cultures… More mutual understanding may one day create a European public of some sort.

The Hungary Helps Programme, however, does not only help persecuted Christians, but provides effective support in crisis areas and areas that are hit by man-made or natural disasters as well. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, Hungary has provided 130 billion forints (335.6 million euros) in aid to the victims of the war in Ukraine. Hungary also sent ten tons of relief supplies to Turkey immediately after the deadly earthquakes on 6 February and 50 million forints (132,000 euros) to Syria.

According to Juliana Taimoorazy, the future of Assyrian Iraqi Christians is worrisome. She underscored that the situation could improve only if their religious leaders would start educating Muslim communities and if a steadfast partnership with different Islamic organisations would come to life.

‘Perhaps the Hungarians are the only nation in Europe able to feel and understand what we in Israel go through when we are exposed to unceasing criticism, while upholding Middle East’s only liberal democracy.’

Should search and rescue forces again be dispatched by Budapest for humanitarian relief efforts in ravaged Turkey, they would face dangerous terrain, and not just from the unstable tectonic plates. The Hungarians have to navigate through an exceptionally dangerous geopolitical landscape, but they do have cards to play.

While it is unlikely that forced landings in the European Union will become commonplace in the future, they are clearly an effective method of illegal immigration.

Life in the East was not at all easy for the newcomers, as they had to preserve their traditions while developing their identity in a completely new social and religious environment.

It is difficult not to interpret the visit of Samantha Power, the current head of USAID, to Budapest last Thursday and Friday as an American telling-off.

Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli government has consistently resisted pressure both the United States and Ukraine to supply arms to the beleaguered country, facing criticism as a consequence at home and abroad.

Following the two powerful earthquakes at the start of the week, the Hungarian government has confirmed that Hungary is there for Turkey in its hour of need.

The number of successfully or unsuccessfully attempted illegal crossings at EU borders reached 330,000 in 2022, the highest number since 2015. Meanwhile, Denmark and the United Kingdom are pursuing plans to relocate illegal immigrants to Rwanda.

Upon the advent of the new decade, it was expected that the 2020s would be challenging even without a major economic crisis or another high-impact, low-probability event after the COVID–19 pandemic.

Like Christians, Yazidis too underwent brutal torments by the ISIS jihadists, yet their stories hardly get any coverage in the West.

Rodrigo Ballester, head of the Centre of European Studies at MCC, talked to Hungarian Conservative about the dangers of echo chambers, big tech cannibalising content, and the risks of EU institutions overregulating the press.

The stoic acceptance of suffering is a virtue highlighted by all Christians, but it is the extreme case of martyrdom where the Coptic Church is arguably distinct from the rest.

The designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organisation would be a serious step by the EU since only Bahrein, Saud Arabia and the United States did so.

Constantin Schreiber’s novel is a work of fiction about Germany 30 years from now.

The CMS is an annual event that brings together 150 top-tier Christian news executives and public opinion leaders worldwide for dialogue on key topics relevant to Israel and the Christian world. It aims to achieve a better understanding and strengthen the friendship and alliance between the State of Israel and Christians around the world.

It may be surprising that Muslims could survive in a Christian kingdom for centuries, but their linguistic and religious separation was exactly why they did not threaten the predominantly Christian society.