During the opening panel of MCC Feszt 2025 on Thursday, Balázs Orbán declared that the European Commission had betrayed European citizens by accepting the humiliating terms of the US–EU trade deal and that Ursula von der Leyen should resign. Joined by Patrick Deneen and James Orr, the panellists explored the prospects of a world beyond liberalism.
Esztergom will once again host MCC Feszt, one of Hungary’s most prominent intellectual festivals, kicking off Thursday with a diverse mix of public debates, lectures, and concerts. Headliners include Peter Thiel, Sebastian Kurz, and Dominic Cummings, with nearly 50,000 visitors expected, according to MCC Director General Zoltán Szalai.
The Mathias Corvinus Collegium is expanding its Roma Talent Programme, offering long-term educational support, mentoring, and scholarships to Roma high school and university students. Applications for the free programme are open until 10 August.
A record number of young people have applied to the Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s free talent programmes, prompting an extension of the University Programme application deadline to 4 August. Interest spans from primary school to university-level courses.
Foreign influence is increasingly threatening Hungary’s national sovereignty, experts warned at a Budapest conference. Massive foreign funding, political manipulation, and NGO activity were cited as tools used to reshape Hungarian politics from the outside.
At the MCC Budapest Summit on Technology and Society, leading thinkers explored how artificial intelligence is transforming society—from reshaping creativity and mental health to challenging traditional education and democracy. Can humanity guide tech without losing itself?
Glenn Fahey, Catherine L’Ecuyer, János Setényi, and Avrum Tomer have discussed the benefits and drawbacks of using new technology, primarily AI, in the public education system to teach our children on Day 2 of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s Budapest Budapest Summit on Technology and Society.
At the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Technology Summit, Director General of MCC Zoltán Szalai and Balázs Orbán, political director to the Hungarian prime minister, explored the deep societal impacts of the digital revolution—from childhood libraries to generative AI, from European regulation to Jurassic Park’s ethical warnings—urging a human-centred response.
‘The Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) offers an incomparable career path as the flagship of Hungarian talent education, from the age of ten to the doctorate. MCC’s free programmes complement public and higher education to provide students with practice-oriented training that responds to the challenges of the 21st century.’
‘Selby, who is known as an early leader of PayPal and is now an established venture capitalist, participated in a discussion moderated by Head of the MCC Central European Connectivity Centre Ákos Zulik. In a frank and forward-looking exchange, Selby said that Hungary has outstanding capabilities in hardware development and manufacturing…’