The overarching topic of the day was the changing media landscape in the digital age. However, speakers also tackled the issue of the left-wing bias in mainstream media today.
This past weekend, two speakers from Hungary spoke at CPAC Japan. The political director of the prime minister and the head of the Center for Fundamental Rights both discussed the successes and objectives of conservative politics in Hungary.
As opposed to the idealists, Hungarians speak the language of realism well, Balázs Orbán opined, adding that the country has had a realist international politics for a thousand years.
At a Thursday afternoon event of Brain Bar 2022 held in the Hungarian House of Music, former British ambassador Iain Lindsay moderated an unorthodox discussion with the prime minister’s political director, Balázs Orbán.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that an overwhelming majority of Hungarians—around 70 per cent—support Kyiv’s EU bid, citing an ‘open survey’ conducted by the Hungarian opposition. While this claim is factually incorrect, Zelenskyy also issued a veiled threat to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, warning him not to block Ukraine’s accession or face consequences.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán discussed the risks posed by Ukraine’s EU membership to Europe with President of the Austrian National Council Walter Rosenkranz during their meeting in Budapest. During his visit, Rosenkranz also met with Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly László Kövér, highlighting the close ties between the two countries’ legislatures.
‘If we look at the crises that have damaged the EU in recent years, and evaluate them through the lens of the EU’s real interests, it becomes increasingly clear that Viktor Orbán is not the EU’s greatest threat—but its most pro-EU leader. In fact, he might be the only one.’
‘If Brussels clings to this policy [on Ukraine], Europe will further weaken itself and become increasingly irrelevant on the global stage,’ State Secretary of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister Balázs Hidvéghi warned in an interview with Hungarian Conservative.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vetoed a joint conclusion on Ukraine during Thursday’s EU summit, for the second time in March. He stated that he will continue to block every EU position on Ukraine until the results of Hungary’s public vote on Kyiv’s EU membership are known.
In a recent video posted on X, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán outlined the financial burden the war in Ukraine has placed on Hungary and estimated the annual cost per household if Kyiv were to join the European Union. He urged Hungarians to make their voices heard, referring to the public vote initiated by the government on Ukraine’s EU accession.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.
