Since Hungary joined the European Union, Fidesz has emerged victorious in every European election. Analysts predict that this trend will continue this year, with Fidesz expected to maintain its winning streak.
‘The apocalyptic notion of overpopulation, which is taught in grade schools, instilled in centers of higher education, and pushed by NGOs, has even drawn together conservative politicians with their left colleagues, though for different motives. The latter sustain the pretext of saving the environment at all cost, even at the cost of human beings themselves. The former, instead, argue on the vitality of offsetting the growing fertility among immigrants with that of their decreasing indigenous population.’
NATO accession, defending the countries of Central Europe, success in academia and standing up for one’s heritage. These topics interest many these days, and Joanna Siekiera is an expert on them. In this interview she discusses the ‘blocking’ of Swedish NATO accession, the influence of smaller EU countries globally, academia and cybersecurity.
Since 2017, the increase in the number of people employed in the high-tech sector has been larger than the increase in the number of people employed, and their share has also grown. This is the period when we were propelled into the EU lead. While in 2017 we were 0.9 percentage points above the EU average, by 2021 our lead had increased to 1.6 percentage points. During this time, the number of people working in the sector increased by a third to 300,000.
The attempt to shut down the National Conservatism Conference has ignited a new battleground in the EP election campaign: the fight for freedom of speech. While progressives were quick to lay blame on Brussels district mayor Emir Kir, this incident is hardly about him only: it is a culmination of a longstanding process of anti-freedom of speech tendencies in the European Commission and the European Parliament.
From 2010 the Hungarian government changed the previous approach to taxation entirely. This meant a significant reduction in taxes on labour, leaving more money for employers and employees, a huge improvement in the efficiency of consumption tax collection, and the most attractive corporate tax rate in the EU. The government has no plans to increase tax rates but is developing innovations that will make tax compliance simpler, less administrative and more efficient for both the tax administration and the taxpayer. It is fair to say that Hungary’s tax innovation has now become a best practice for the EU.
Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and Fabrice Leggeri, former head of the EU border agency Frontex and current lead candidate for the right-wing National Rally (RN) party participated in a public discussion held in the European Parliament on Tuesday. They shared their concerns regarding migration and the newly adopted Migration Pact, agriculture, and green policies.
We have moved from our absolute fertility low in 2011, last in the EU, to sixth in 2022, with the highest growth in 2022. According to the latest Eurostat data, we moved up five places in 2022, the first year of the Russian-Ukrainian war, even though we had fewer children that year than in 2021. This fall was much smaller than in other EU countries.
‘Protecting the innocence of children against efforts to sexualize them, upholding the legality of borders and asylum procedures, safekeeping the right of states to exercise national sovereignty in areas where it remains their legal prerogative: pursuing these aims isn’t a bed of roses. It exposes one to media disinformation, financial blackmail, and attacks on personal honor.’
‘The Visegrad Group has reached a tipping point in the face of growing geopolitical and security challenges. The external and internal dynamics of the regional alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia have encountered obstacles where the need for unity clashes with competing views, aims, and pressures.’