‘Let us not forget that while most of the world has rightly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, twenty years ago the United States invaded Iraq on false information that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein not only possessed weapons of mass destruction, but that he had a direct link to and was harbouring al-Qaeda terrorists…The tragic results cost several thousand US soldiers’ lives.’
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s approach to the Russian-Ukraine war is not Russia-sympathetic, but Hungarian-pragmatic. He has made it clear that Hungary condemns the Russian invasion into Ukraine and stands for Ukrainian sovereignty, but not to the point that agreeing to energy sanctions would crush Hungary’s economy.
Hungarian leaders have been constantly calling for peace negotiations. By contrast, the US government has been sending tens of billions of dollars in military aid and weapons to Ukraine, with the goal of helping the aggrieved nation against expansionist Russia, but also prolonging the armed conflict in the process.
In his regular Friday morning interview on public radio, the Prime Minister said that he believes this is the closest the world has ever been ‘to a localised war turning into a world war’.
‘Hungary’s political leadership is strong enough to keep our country out of the war. I say this in all humility, but also with confidence,’ the Prime Minister declared.
‘The following months will show us whether “the Trump phenomenon” is a function of a protest mood or a more significant socio-cultural transformation, and they will also tell us how big a role the Republican Party has in today’s American public life.’
Opening the conference of Hungarian ambassadors on Monday morning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Prime Minister Orbán described the difficulties that would arise in 2023, the year that he said would be the most perilous for Hungary since the system change.
In preparing for the tumultuous years to come, a strong emphasis on developing and training native talent, and raising up a generation of leaders capable of serving their country well, will put Hungary in the best position for navigating this unexpected new world.
Antifa, a radical, violent left-wing movement that traces its origins back to the 1930s, has been responsible for a number of brutal attacks on conservatives, liberals and freethinkers both in the United States and in Europe. Until now, Hungary has been a mostly Antifa-free zone.
Although strongly committed to free speech, in some sense, Musk has been even more rigorous than his predecessors in terms of content moderation. Back in November, it was reported that Twitter had deleted around 45,000 accounts that were promoting sexual content involving children, relationships between children and adults, or non-consensual nudity in India.