‘Hungary is preparing for an exceptionally active EU Presidency,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán notes in an opinion piece published by the Financial Times. In the article Orbán outlines the priorities of the Hungarian EU Presidency, with a particular focus on boosting European competitiveness.
With the 1960 US presidential race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon being so close, many scholars and commentators believed at the time that it was the first ever televised presidential debate that decided the outcome of the election. As a result, most campaign strategists deemed debating too risky for the candidates, thus no presidential debate took place in the US until 1976, when incumbent Gerald Ford debated Jimmy Carter.
‘Patriots for Europe will, within days, become the largest right-wing political group in the European Parliament,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated in Vienna on Sunday. In our analysis we look at which parties could join the newly formed alliance.
On Sunday, 30 June 2024 Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared that a new era in European politics has begun. At a press conference held jointly with Herbert Kickl and Andrej Babiš PM Orbán outlined the vision for a revamped European political alliance. The new political family aims to reshape the landscape of European governance and address the pressing issues faced by the continent, the Hungarian prime minister said.
According to Portuguese writer, political scientist and university professor Jaime Nogueira Pinto right-wing parties like CHEGA, called populists by the mainstream media, are successful with voters across Europe because traditional parties do not pay enough attention to the issues that are actually important to voters.
After late-night talks, EU leaders have decided on the top jobs of the EU, with Ursula von der Leyen preparing for a second term as President of the European Commission, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa as President of the European Council. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticized the pact between the EPP, S&D, and Renew, which disregards the will of the voters, calling it a ‘coalition of lies and deceit’.
At the Union’s Representative Council (SZKT) meeting in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) on Thursday, the RMDSZ president stated that the alliance is the only credible representative of Hungarians in Transylvania. He explained that the RMDSZ serves as a tool for Hungarian advocacy and as an organizer for the Hungarian community in Transylvania, with over 90 per cent of votes for Hungarian parties going to RMDSZ candidates in this year’s local elections.
According to CNN’s own poll, more than two-thirds, 67 per cent of the viewers thought that President Trump had won the debate. President Biden’s odds for re-election plummeted after the event, with bookmakers giving him only about a 22.5 per cent chance for re-election on average. Meanwhile, some in the left-leaning media call on Biden not to stand for re-election.
‘Family policy will remain of utmost importance to us, as part of our overarching priority of demography during our presidency. It is clear that all of our societies are being reshaped by the challenges of demographic change. The Hungarian Presidency intends to examine demography from the perspective of competitiveness in a holistic way by including it in the agenda of almost all council formations,’ State Secretary responsible for families at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation Ágnes Hornung told Hungarian Conservative in a recent interview.
Donald Trump has expanded his lead over Joe Biden in the national polling aggregate since his conviction. Meanwhile, President Biden’s approval rating by Gallup is at an abysmal 38 per cent ahead of the CNN debate in Atlanta, Georgia tonight, which is not a good indicator for reelection.
In its country report on Hungary, the IMF proposes the same measures to ‘recover’ the Hungarian economy that brought the country to the brink of collapse in 2008. In his Facebook post, Balázs Orbán stressed: ‘We won’t ask for it again, thank you!’
The updated test will now include questions covering topics regarding the Holocaust, Jewish culture, and the state of Israel. This initiative, part of a broader revision of the citizenship test, aims to ensure that applicants have a comprehensive understanding of Germany’s complex history and its stance on Israel.
The description of the Thucydides Trap is more a description of a spontaneous escalation rather than a well-calculated move towards changing the international order. Applied to the case of the US and China, the ‘Thucydides Trap’ is far removed from the reality and complexity of such power relations, beyond being a useful rhetorical tool.
‘Nevertheless, the Tories will be swept away by popular anger on 4 July. Then, who’s left? No one else than the infamous Nigel Farage. And it is exactly the Conservative Party’s obfuscation and identity crisis that Brexit leader Nigel Farage has used to launch the Reform UK party.’
Nearly three weeks after the European elections, it remains unclear which right-wing political group the Hungarian governing party, Fidesz, will join in the new European Parliament. In this analysis, we examine the possible alternatives and attempt to answer this question.
Hungary begins its six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July during a period of extraordinary circumstances and challenges. During its presidency, Hungary aims to focus on seven priorities to answer the EU’s most pressing economic, security, and social issues.
Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah threatens to use Syrian refugees as a political weapon while also warning Cyprus of a possible attack if the island nation assists Israel militarily. The group’s ability to manipulate refugee flows and its readiness to use military force against EU member states necessitate an effective and coordinated response from the European Union.
Two elections this week at the Council of Europe will determine the institution’s future orientation. On Tuesday, 25 June the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe will be elected for a five-year term. On Wednesday, 26 June three new judges for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will be elected for a nine-year term. Senior Research Fellow at the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) Nicolas Bauer points out the risk of a leftist takeover.
Pro-Palestinian gender studies students disrupted the graduation ceremony of the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna. The students accused the university administration of supporting the genocide allegedly perpetrated by Israel. These events mirrored the pro-Palestinian protests observed on US campuses.
‘A successful republic, according to Machiavelli, is characterized by laws that are lived by rather than frequently amended. While no system of governance can achieve absolute perfection, a stable republic can achieve a functional balance. For him Rome serves as a historical exemplar of such a system, where laws were respected and adhered to, placing communal benefits above personal gain, thus prudently managing both public and private affairs.’
Popular anti-government actor Ervin Nagy has been named as a high-profile donor for Magyar’s demonstrations, yet some question if Nagy’s financial support is sufficient to cover the expenses of photographers, stages, audio and other electronic equipment, not to mention the honoraria of advisors and the costs of travel and accommodation. Trying to clarify the situation Magyar also cited micro-donations from ordinary Hungarians as the source of funding for his campaigns. He also promised to make his asset declaration public back in April, following a rather high-profile breakup with his ex-wife, the former Minister of Justice Judit Varga, but he has not done it so far.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel Israel Katz visited Hungary recently for the first time since he took up office. He met with President of Hungary Tamás Sulyok, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, and the leaders of the Hungarian Jewish communities. The main aim of the visit was to determine, with Hungary soon taking over the presidency of the EU, how Budapest and the Union would take action against anti-Israel efforts in the next six months.
Speaking to Hungarian journalists the day after an informal working dinner of EU leaders, Balázs Orbán pointed out that European voters made one thing clear in the European Parliament elections: they are not satisfied with the direction Europe has taken in the past five years, and they are not satisfied with the policies of Brussels bureaucrats and elites.
Orbán seems to have reached a compromise with exiting Dutch PM Mark Rutte about the latter’s NATO SecGen candidacy. But as for nominating von der Leyen again as next Commission President, Orbán, did not mince his words last night. He declared on X that ‘the will of the European people was ignored’ on Monday evening, and stated that the EPP eventually teamed up with ‘the socialists and the liberals’.
The 9 June, Sunday European Parliament and municipal elections in Romania resulted in a historical success for the Hungarian ethnic minority, with the best results achieved in twenty years. As RMDSZ President Hunor Kelemen put it, the mandates RMDSZ won are not just numbers; they also send the message that there is a strong, viable Transylvanian Hungarian community that wants to shape its own future and plans on staying in its homeland.
Slovakia’s newly elected president, Peter Pellegrini (49), was inaugurated on Saturday, 15 June in Bratislava. This historical moment is not simply a change of guard but, after the 2023 parliamentary elections, it is the last step in a significant shift in the country’s political landscape, stirring anticipation and hope for a patriotic future in Central Europe.
‘Hungary is not providing money, weapons or soldiers for this cooperation, but it is not blocking it either’, the defence minister reaffirmed after the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels last week.
The European Court of Justice has ordered Hungary to pay €200 million for ‘failing to respect’ EU law regarding procedures for granting international protection and returning illegally staying non-EU nationals. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called the decision outrageous and unacceptable.
Four days after the EP elections, the Center for Fundamental Rights held a press conference analysing the implications of the results. They concluded that there was a significant increase in the support of the political right in the EU, and this fact will reshape European politics.
A turnabout in the Hungarian stance seems unlikely at the moment. The Hungarian government has consistently vetoed further military assistance to Ukraine as well, and will most probably not change course regarding Ukrainian accession to the EU either under the Hungarian rotating presidency.