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.
Highly respected experts, such as former Constitutional Court Justice István Stumpf, Gadi Taub, Senior Lecturer at the Federmann School of public policy from Israel, and James Allen of the University of Queensland in Australia, shared their views on the controversial concept of ‘rule of law’. Their lectures were followed by a discussion between State Secretary for European Affairs János Bóka and Ákos Bence Gát, head of foreign affairs at the Danube Institute.
The Hungarian President reached out to the local Hungarian diaspora organisations during her visit to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. She will also be one of the keynote speakers at the Swiss Economic Forum held on 8-9 June.
According to Charap, as the dragging on of the war is not in the interest of either the West or Ukraine, there is need to look for another way of approaching the conflict. While an actual peace treaty between the two sides that invested so much into this conflict might look unlikely, negotiations are nevertheless possible—and the West should facilitate these negotiations.
During the meeting held at the Carmelite Monastery earlier today, Viktor Orbán emphasised that although a ceasefire and peace would be paramount, intense fighting erupted in the Russo-Ukrainian war on Wednesday night. The security of Hungary remains the top priority of the government, the Prime Minister stressed.
What does the lower reach of the River Garam mean to Hungarians? For some, it is just a region of the Uplands, for others, a beautiful, wide, flat, and fertile valley surrounded by hills, while many people do not even know where to look on the map when they hear its name. For ethnic Hungarian local historian Gábor Juhász, it represents his homeland, a place where his ancestors had lived for hundreds of years.
The newly crowned British monarch arrived in Transylvania, Romania, a few days ago. King Charles III is a frequent guest in the Eastern European country, as he is especially attracted to Szeklerland of Eastern Transylvania, mostly inhabited by Hungarians, where he owns several estates.
Katalin Novák highlighted the inexplicable, brutal, and tragic attacks on civilians in Ukraine. She recalled that she had expressed her personal sympathy to the Ukrainian people, as the majority of her foreign counterparts, during her previous visit to Ukraine.
President of the Constitutional Court Tamás Sulyok noted that the pace of technological development is such that it is not possible to understand and regulate it in real-time. Nevertheless, it would be a loss of face for legal practitioners to turn a blind eye while AI enters areas where serious fundamental rights questions arise.
Hungary has spent 650 billion Hungarian forints on the defence of the southern border, the construction and reinforcement of the border fence, and its continuous protection.
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.
Balázs Orbán opined that the economic competition between the Western and non-Western world is becoming balanced, thus the world is returning to a state of equilibrium. He recalled that in 1990, the Western world accounted for 50 per cent of the global economic power, whereas this year it is only 30 percent, and this loss of influence is visible in several areas.
During his visit to Hungary, Eli Cohen also participated in the unveiling of the statue of Árpád Weisz, a Hungarian-born soccer player who coached Inter Milan and later Bologna before perishing in the Holocaust. The bronze statue was unveiled by Eli Cohen and Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, together with Sándor Csányi, the head of the Hungarian Football Association (MLSZ), and Giuseppe Saputo, the chairman of the Bologna football club.
It is high time to start building a close strategic partnership with the new member of the ‘Central European family’ that—as the only one of us—got a seat at the G7 table while it is fighting a heroic fight for freedom to regain its occupied territories: i.e., Ukraine.
The Hungarian capital leads the list of World Heritage sites on the European continent, ahead of Lübeck in Germany and the Tower of London.
Nigel Biggar’s recently published book titled Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning is a Sunday Times bestseller. The book is a unique analysis of Western colonialism, and a sober assessment of all the bad and good that the British Colonial Empire stood for. Without hiding the injustices and violence committed by the Empire, Nigel Biggar argues that the Empire was not the embodiment of pure evil.
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.
Through the new Hungarian centre, employees can provide even more support for the adoption of AWS cloud services to organisations of various sizes in Hungary, including startups, businesses, and public sector organisations.
Balázs Orbán pointed out that Hungarian foreign policy has long sought to draw attention to the fact that the Balkans should be offered the prospective of European integration. ‘This is another potential conflict zone that can explode just like the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. It is important for every EU country to stand in favour of the Western Balkans enlargement policy for the sake of the stability of the region,’ he emphasised.
‘Although the outcome is yet unknown, I think that any kind of ascent should start with the (re)construction of the infrastructure to connect the partners. After the completion of this task, we should think about declaring, promoting and following the basic values and principles shared by the Central European countries and nations. These principles will allow us to find a common language, free from the ‘progressive’ ideologies that characterise the West now.’
‘Nations are creations of God, borders are drawn by people. Supporting the homeland is important, and it has become a constitutional obligation. However, the Hungarian people have survived even when the leaders of the Hungarian state…forgot, gave up, or betrayed national unity, as it happened during the four decades of communism or during the periods of left-wing governments,’ the Chief of the Prime Minister’s Office stated on 4 June.
To date, six ethnic Hungarians have summited Mount Everest. The most recent attempt was made by Szilárd Suhajda, who got close to reaching the top alone without oxygen tanks. Tragically, he succumbed to the effects of the death zone, and lost his life when only 50 metres (164 feet) from the peak.
‘Eastern Europeans are considerably more energised to be upfront, overt and strategic in preserving the Faith. Their churches are growing, while ours are falling off a precipice. Of course, the Western liberal media elites will write off modest promotions of Christianity in Hungary as Alt-Right theocracy.’
One of the most beautiful castles in Hungary is the snow-white Brunsvik Castle designed in neo-Gothic style in Martonvásár. The Brunsviks, a Hungarian aristocratic family, transformed a swampy and barren wasteland into an idyllic English garden here, where their friend Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music, often visited them.
Speaking at the EU-PED Day of the university, on which all educators working in Hungarian-language tertiary education are celebrated, Mihály Varga reminded that the goal of the government with the transformation of higher education and the introduction of dual education was for universities to become ‘intellectual centres that define and broaden the country’s development opportunities.’
Losing the World War and the experience of the Treaty of Trianon triggered a discourse in Hungarian public life that was not without precedent, but had never been so vehement before. Perhaps the opinion of many was reflected by the renowned writer Ferenc Herczeg, who declared that ‘Europe, free press, liberalism—all these are slogans that have deceived us.’
The following are poems by cross-border Hungarian poets translated into English that originally appeared in a 2019 anthology published by Hungarian Review.
May this day also be the day when, contrary to the will of so many, we turn to our still-existing and beautiful country, which is prosperous to an extent never seen in history before, and consider, each and every one of us, how we can help it make no more mistakes.
Navracsics reminded that Hungary is to receive 14 trillion Hungarian forints in cohesion funds for the 2021-2027 EU budget cycle. Of this amount, 4 trillion forints have already been received and are continuously being used for rural development.
‘Despite their injuries, the Hungarian soldiers have shown brave commitment, and many of those who were able to do so have already returned to their posts,’ the Hungarian defence minister said after the clashes between KFOR troops and local Serbs in North Kosovo. The minister stressed that the stability of the Western Balkans is very important to Hungary, which is why it is present in the region not only diplomatically and economically, but also militarily in the framework of the KFOR mission.