Balázs Orbán’s 1956 Remarks Misconstrued to Smear the Government

In a recent podcast, Balázs Orbán drew a comparison between the 1956 Revolution and the war in Ukraine. His remarks, taken out of context and misinterpreted, were swiftly exploited to smear the government of Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán responded by stressing that the war in Ukraine must not be allowed to overshadow the memory of the heroes of 1956, and that Hungary’s position must always be articulated accurately and unambiguously.

Albert Bierstadt, In the Sierras / Lake Tahoe (1868). Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Playing Second Fiddle: Europe in the Atlantic Community

‘The gradual diminishing of Europe’s importance in the eyes of the successive US administrations in the twenty-first century has been arrested by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and weakened the “pivot” or “rebalance” to Asia for the time being: emergencies have cropped up elsewhere. As Joseph Stalin may be said to have been one of the “founding fathers” of NATO, so may Vladimir Putin be seen in a similar role with regard to the revival of NATO, and closer US–EU cooperation.’

‘We need to teach our young people that their country is something to be proud of’ — An Interview with Robert Wilkie

‘You [in Hungary] imbue your young people in primary and secondary school with a sense of Hungary’s place in history…I mean, this was the country that turned back the invasions from Turkey and the Muslim lands and saved European civilization hundreds of years ago…We need to teach history in our schools, teach our young people that their country is something to be proud of.’

A destroyed building following the Russian bombing in Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on 13 September 2024

Accepting the Reality of a Probable Russian Victory

‘Since the start of the war, 8 million Ukrainians have fled their country; another 3 million have emigrated to Russia. Aside the mass defections, because of Ukraine’s birth rate collapse to the lowest recorded level, Zelenskyy has been unwilling to mobilize men aged between 18 and 25—typically the bulk of any fighting force. The fear is that, since most of these men are childless, should such die or become incapacitated, future demographic prospects would dim further.’

What Is the Future of NATO? Danube–Heritage Geopol Summit Panel Seeks Answers

Following the keynote speech by Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie, Retired Brigadier General in the US Army Antony J Tata, Director of the Baltic Security Foundation Otto Tabuns, Programme Director and co-founder of the Swedish think tank Oikos Arvid Hallén, President of the information warfare firm WorldStrat Jim Hanson, and Hungarian Ambassador to NATO István Balogh shared their views about the future of the military alliance.

Leader of the French party Rassemblement National Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán attend a joint press conference in the Prime Minister’s office, Budapest, Hungary, 26 October 2021.

A European Alternative: The Origin and Future of Patriots for Europe

‘Although the political forces thinking in terms of a European alternative failed to replace the Brussels Grand Coalition in the 2024 EP elections, there is a real chance that they could organize themselves into a new right-wing pole in the next five years, which could bring about a real systemic change in Brussels politics.’

Caspar David Friedrich, The Abbey in the Oakwood (1809–1810). Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany

Crisis? What Crisis?

‘Just as liberalism did not succeed in transforming people after socialism, neither did the competing anti-liberal, post-Christian, nihilistic trends. The solution is certainly not political or movement-based: those had already failed by the middle of the twentieth century.’

EU Pro-War Foreign Ministers Take Aim at Hungary in Tense Foreign Council Meeting

The informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council took place amid heightened tensions in Brussels on 29 August. The mood was set by Josep Borrell’s decision to relocate the meeting from Budapest to the Belgian capital as a signal of disapproval of Viktor Orbán’s peace mission. Ahead of the meeting, pro-war ministers issued statements criticizing the Hungarian government, and the tense atmosphere carried over into the discussions in the meeting room.