Hungarian Conservative

While officially, the conference’s main agenda point was the shadow rapporteurs on the current state of the rule of law in Hungary, more time was devoted to Hungary’s Council of the EU presidency set to happen in 2024, a concept none of the MEPs was thrilled about. The ongoing negotiations about releasing the frozen EU funds were often talked about as well.

It can be clearly stated that over the past years, the current majority of the European Parliament has not shied away from using the tools provided to it by the treaties to assert its political will, and one of the results of its activism has been that the debate with the Commission on the rule of law in Hungary has shifted to a political-ideological level.

‘Hungary has submitted the draft contract modifications to the European Commission, and we received the green light from them yesterday,’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced.

State Secretary for European Affairs János Bóka is confident that about one-third, €13 billion, of the withheld EU funds will be received by Hungary by 2027. The London-based Financial Times, in a piece covering the contentious negotiations, seems to agree with his assertion.

The European Peace Facility was posed to transfer €500 million to Ukraine for artillery round purchases, but the aid was blocked by the Hungarian government. The official explanation for the move is that Budapest would like to see the off-budget EU fund focus on more than just Ukraine, but some believe the blacklisting of OTP Bank may be behind it.

How could Hungarians celebrate the EU, when it is seen as a threat to their ideals, God, nation, and family?

The fate of a sum of 13.2 billion EUR is at stake in the political and legal debate between the European Commission and the government of Hungary. Parts of the regular EU cohesion and post-COVID recovery funds are being withheld, as the Commission has issues with the state of the rule of law in Hungary. The new law, to enter into force on 1 July, aims to resolve the deadlock.

Four Central European countries, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria, have announced bans on foodstuff imports coming from Ukraine. Meanwhile, Romania has joined them in demanding action from the EU to address these concerns. The five countries are estimated to have lost 417 million EUR combined due to cheap Ukrainian food imports.

‘But anyways, a changing of the guard is coming. And that means that Ursula von der Leyen—by the way, nominated, if not created, by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel—, just like Jens Stoltenberg, has to look for a new job. Pony riding is obviously no option for her any more. She is a political animal, a political wolf maybe. Too bad that there are technical and political obstacles.’

‘We cannot look at the European Union as those who must be listened to and must always have the best solutions in a suitcase to Bucharest or Warsaw,’ Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki stressed in Bucharest.

From the perspective of Europe, the Hungarians’ conversion to Christianity was by no means an unbroken continuation of their raids—the Hungarian people was still considered suspicious, barbaric, and prone to paganism for a long time.

‘Normally, a member state’s disputes with Brussels about compliance with the EU regulations should not affect its NATO membership at all. What’s more, the European Union is not a ‘top-down organisation’, where one must comply with orders coming from the Brussels headquarters. Sanctions are decided by the European Council, consisting of the leaders of EU member states…There is no such thing as a single EU interest.’

Hungary’s commitments under the new rule of law framework should serve as a model for the whole EU, states State Secretary János Bóka. An interview about the so-called rule of law debate, the growing political pressure of the European Parliament and the Hungarian Child Protection Act.

Satisfied passengers have voted Liszt Ferenc International Airport the best in Europe in 2022.

In a recent paper, the maritime strategy of the European Union and the potential for the EU to become a sea power are analysed. This article discusses the main points of the paper.

According to a recent report prepared by Hungarian think tank Nézőpont Institute, the practices of EU institutions undermine the rule of law in the Union.

The European Parliament has approved new legislation that sets the path towards zero CO2 emissions for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles by 2035.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal recently stated that the country would like to join the EU in a two-year timetable. However, most member states think that this timeline for Kyiv’s bid is unrealistic.

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.

PiS General Secretary Krzysztof Sobolewski warned that if ‘the Commission tries to push us against the wall…we have no choice but to pull out all the weapons in our arsenal and respond…eye for an eye’, including by wielding the right to veto EU policies.

From Czechia to Ukraine, voters in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe will be going to the polls in 2023.

‘There are some member states that have their own historical sensitivities, and they don’t want European legislation on minority rights because that would mean that they must put their own house in order. 50 million Europeans who belong to a national minority are not protected by anti-discrimination legislation.’

EU memory politics places almost exclusive emphasis on Nazism and downplays the significance of Communism in the historical experience of East-Central European members states.

While the European Union is castigating Hungary, specifically with the recommendation to freeze €7.5 billion in funds over rule of law concerns, it has been abetting the Islamic Republic of Iran’s crimes against humanity—and the same can be said for the United States.

With the victory of Giorgia Meloni and the rise of the centre-right in Italy, Warsaw and Budapest have gained another important ally in their pursuit of a European conservative renaissance.

Most Europeans have had enough of the shady, behind-the-scenes dealings in European politics and of needing to swallow every bitter pill they are served by unelected bureaucrats with too much power and too little competence.

In a recent speech Ursula von der Leyen named Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia as countries without whom the EU is not complete. She, on the other hand, only referred to the Western Balkans as a bloc, despite the fact that the accession of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia should be a priority considering the EU’s security interests.

The European Union seems determined to answer Russia’s annexation efforts by implementing more restrictive measures. But more and more EU member states are becoming doubtful about the benefits of the sanctions.

As the cost of living and energy prices skyrocket in Europe, resistance to EU sanctions on Russia is growing. On Saturday, 70 thousand Czechs took to the streets to demand that their government take a neutral stance in the conflict.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced on Monday that the EU is preparing an ’emergency intervention’ in the bloc’s power market to curb skyrocketing prices.