Hungary has recently announced that it is leaving the International Investment Bank, soon after the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the IIB and its leadership. But what is the story behind this controversial financial institution and what led to its demise?

During the opening ceremony of the exhibition on Monday evening, the director-general of PIM pointed out that an inheritance from a legacy only becomes heritage if it is exhibited in a museum. Szilárd Demeter highlighted the uniqueness of the commemorative exhibition.

The Justice Minister announced on social media that the government will submit further, child protection-related legislative proposals to the National Assembly in the autumn. ’Hungary will have the strictest child protection regulations in Europe because there is no compromise in child protection,’ she wrote. She also pointed out that more and more evidence is emerging that the Hungarian opposition had accepted 4 billion forints in ‘mysterious’ foreign donations to represent foreign interests and policies in Hungary.

‘If we look at the half century after 1945, it was a case of trying to reinterpret the entire Hungarian past, of stigmatising the national idea and tradition. Therefore, we must now rediscover these decades, perhaps the entire 20th century, take possession of them and populate them with our own characters, our own heroes.’

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.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy, where he expressed his strong support for Ukraine’s accession to the military alliance. Viktor Orbán, who has been a vocal proponent of peace negotiations and is fully aware that such remarks are seen as a provocative move by Russia, took to Twitter to voice his strong dissent.

The following is the written version of a 2013 presentation

The restoration of the iconic Corvin Department Store, the first to be equipped with an escalator in Hungary in 1931, is about to be completed, and the iconic building will soon open its doors to the Budapest public again.

According to the findings of a poll by Nézőpont Intézet, 54 per cent of the population believes that another world war could come soon, while 55 per cent fears nuclear strikes from one of the parties. Prime Minister Orbán has shared similarly ominous sentiments in the past.

Monday’s negotiations were a very important milestone in building trust between the EU and Hungary, Judit Varga said, who added that she does not expect any new conditions from the European Commission regarding the Hungarian justice package.

Katalin Novák sent the whistleblower bill back to parliament for reconsideration, as she found that it fails to give the fundamental rights of Hungarians an elevated level of protection, as it states to do. She also shared her concerns about the potential violation of freedom of expression rights.

Following the escalation, the Hungarian government started to evacuate Hungarian citizens from the affected zones. Four individuals have already been evacuated from Sudan, while the taking to safety of six other individuals is still ongoing.

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.

Viktor Orbán emphasised at the event organised by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry that six out of ten students who finish their primary education continue their studies in vocational education in Hungary, with technical schools being the most popular choice.

On the day of the performance, artists will only be able to bring in a small bag with them. This means security checks will be similar to those at airports, so participants and performers will need to arrive hours before the event.

Zsolt Bayer, known for his radical rhetoric, announced that another Peace March would be held during the papal visit, and asked people to attend in ‘awfully large numbers’, as a big turnout would not only ‘have a spiritual, but also a political message’.

Every year, storks make a long and perilous journey from their wintering grounds in Africa back to their breeding grounds in Central Europe and Asia, and in the Hungarian culture, their return in spring is always a cause for celebration.

‘Those who oppose the Woke tide must recognize that the revolution they face is a many-headed hydra, driven and enabled by a multitude of factors beyond the political. Ultimately its deepest roots are in the social atomization, cultural breakdown, and the void of spiritual meaninglessness produced by the nihilism of Western modernity.’

The question may rightly arise as to how and with what means of transport city residents travelled in Budapest before the introduction of today’s railway network and modern means of transport. The capital’s transport network now connects all points of the city, but the efforts to this aim were already present in the 19th century.

‘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.’

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.

‘If in the coming years, the world cannot transition to electric-based transportation, then all environmental goals, climate goals, and green objectives will remain naïve illusions,’ Péter Szijjártó explained at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new factory of the South Korean EcoPro company.

In February 2023, the Defence Innovation Research Institute (VIKI) was established, with the aim of identifying and supporting the development of dual-use technologies, that is technologies that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. The institution is led by Brigadier General Imre Porkoláb, Ministerial Commissioner for Defence Innovation.

‘Hungarian-Serbian strategic energy cooperation is one of the guarantees that Hungary’s supply will remain secure in the next period,’ the minister said.

Attila Mokos, who has also recently received the Mari Jászai Award award in Hungary for his work as a thespian, became the first actor in the award’s history to win in two different categories in one year.

During a visit to the United States Balázs Orbán appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show, spoke at a Heritage Foundation conference and gave an interview to the Washington Times.

In Matolcsy’s understanding, the current debate on the theoretical and practical side of the economy is caused by the difference between ‘the former liberal approach and the currently rising approach based on sustainability’, the contrast of which is compounded by, or more precisely triggered and culminated by, ‘the clash of Western and Eastern, i.e. Asian, positions’. The author clearly takes a stand against Western neoliberalism and is in favour of a Eurasian shift.

Both statesmen won their respective elections by around 19 percentage points last year, but the similarities do not end there. Their stances on immigration, the Ukraine war, and, most notably, the restriction of teaching gender theory in schools, have been very much akin to each other in the past.

When asked about the legacy of Sir Roger, Sophie Scruton said that she is pleased her husband’s work inspired so many initiatives. She said that it likely helps that she is encouraging them as well. She added that Roger Scruton wanted to leave a strong legacy and he would be glad to know that his writing is of such interest today.

The minister announced that the government has imposed a ban on 25 agricultural products from Ukraine, including grain, sunflower seeds, cooking oil, and specific meat products until 30 June. He also noted that while according to the European Commission, Ukrainian grain exports should be facilitated to ease the food shortage in Africa, these imports could ‘ruin the Hungarian agricultural market instead’.