Whether Budapest will remain a stronghold of the left is at stake in the municipal elections to be held on 9 June 2024. Mayor of Budapest is practically the highest political office directly elected by citizens in Hungary, but the outcome of the June election is exciting not only because of that but also because the capital has been the scene of daily party political battles ever since the last election in 2019.
Iran launched an unprecedented air strike against Israel on Saturday night. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reacted by convening the Defence Council on Sunday. The PM reassured Hungarian families that the government is committed to protecting them should the conflict escalate.
Three Romanian boys have been expelled from the Romanian Gymnastics National Team in response to the horrific incident. They have been named in the press as well: Mihai Iustin, Andrei Titi, and Flavius Borca. The Resicabánya (Rešica) police are also reportedly investigating the matter.
Hungary can play a key role in potentially warming EU–Türkiye relations. This can be achieved through agenda-setting during Hungary’s presidency of the Council. One such topic could be the modification of the illegal migration prevention deal to tighten regulations and increase financial support to Türkiye.
‘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.’
Local elections are an important episode in the power play for the leadership of the two largest parties in Poland. After the ultimate defeat of his party in the general election Jarosław Kaczyński came under heavy criticism, with demands that he resign and take responsibility for the electoral failure. PiS coming out on top on 7 April is expected to silence these voices and stabilize Kaczyński’s position.
‘Progressive responses to the housing crisis may be universal income or free housing, solutions which are neither sustainable nor desirable from a conservative perspective. However, a common discernment may be that the real estate market is unable to function in a self-regulated way regarding demographic and other important objectives. Society viewed as a community—and its institutions and the state—should have a role in supporting the housing of young adults.’
In Poland’s municipal elections a significant majority of farmers voted for the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party. As right-wing parties across the continent have consistently supported the farmers ever since the beginning of the Europe-wide protests, discontented farmers could play a key role in facilitating the long-awaited right-wing shift in the EU.
The 15-year-old boy was allegedly tied to a radiator naked while the other gymnasts were chanting ‘ungure, ungure,’ meaning ‘Hungarian, Hungarian’ in English. It is unclear if legal action will be taken against the perpetrators.
‘Karácsony’s meagre talents were known to anyone who paid any attention to politics in the past decades, so all of his failures should not have come as a surprise. But why did people vote for him in the first place? What’s his secret? Well, probably his deceiving manner and childish good looks. Although he is obviously a fraud, he is always smiling, always saying nice things. His rhetoric and appearance clearly appeal to the modern liberal voter in the big city: he likes to make emotional speeches about democracy, the Republic, and human rights.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.
