German outlet Deutsche Welle has published an interview with Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar which, in essence, serves as a propaganda piece. The questions appear crafted to be favourable from the outset, while crucial details about Magyar’s political trajectory—both before and after his rise—are conveniently omitted. Our takeaways follow.
Is the EU capable of defending itself against the Russian threat? Why is the US turning away from Europe? Is there fear in an atheist’s heart of meeting Jesus after death? How well-founded are our strongly held beliefs? We asked the American philosopher in Budapest.
‘The defence of democracy, human rights, and sovereignty cannot be contingent on political expediency or the geopolitical convenience of targeting smaller or less powerful states. A genuinely united Europe must demonstrate a consistent and impartial commitment to its principles, respecting the agency of all member states.’
‘Along with its growing prominence as a religious place, Jasna Góra also became known as a site of Poland’s struggle for its freedom and sovereignty. As Poland was fighting for its independence on multiple fronts, the monastery was one of few fortresses that stood against the Swedish invasion in the 17th century.’
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.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was awarded the Hunyadi János Award by the Foundation for a Civic Hungary on Wednesday, with the honour presented by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán. In his speech at the ceremony in Brussels, Orbán urged patriotic forces to reclaim the sovereignty of nation-states, which he argued had been illegally confiscated by the European Union in recent years.
‘The current course [of the EU] leads straight to disintegration,’ Balázs Orbán pointed out in his keynote address at an event at Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) in Budapest, focusing on the recently published joint report by MCC and the Polish Ordo Iuris Institute on the urgent need for EU reform. Orbán’s speech was followed by a panel discussion featuring the report’s authors, Jerzy Kwaśniewski of Ordo Iuris and Rodrigo Ballester of MCC, alongside Director General of the Center for Fundamental Rights Miklós Szánthó.
As the Trump administration reshapes transatlantic relations, Hungary has a unique opportunity to position itself as a key player in the new order.
‘There is a historic chance for US–Hungary relations to peak, and it depends in no small part on the two leading players. Even though Hungary is a member of the EU and NATO, in the last two decades, American Democratic administrations have been explicitly hostile towards it…With the US president behind him, Orbán could be much more effective in strengthening his conservative agenda in Brussels, which until now has been an uphill struggle.’
‘The final assessment in terms of the policy of appeasement would be that at the diplomatic and political level, the allies did indeed achieve their goals of buying time, mobilizing, as well as isolating Germany in the first months of the war from either Japan or Italy. They made Germany dependent on Soviet resources to sustain short-term operations, and pushed its economy on the brink of collapse.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.
