Hungarian Conservative

Silvana Heißenberg was a renowned actress in Germany until she publicly criticized Angela Merkel’s migration policy. Following this, she was labelled a Nazi, subjected to a smear campaign, and effectively blacklisted from employment. She has now relocated to Hungary to begin a new, safer chapter of her life.

‘Germany’s slow and opaque stance on helping Ukraine in its war against the Russian invasion can also be seen as reactive rather than proactive…One reason for Germany’s caution is of course a certain degree of self-consciousness—the country that produced Nazism wants to be seen as kind and respectful, not powerful or dominant. Yet all others know that it is indeed powerful, and interpret even Germany’s silence.’

‘The history of European integration is in fact nothing more than the history of the power struggle of the EU institutions. The powers of the institutions at the core of the current EU have been in a constant state of flux since the beginning of the European project…’

‘Conservative policy approaches in Germany and Hungary have different prerequisites. However, the majority of voters in both countries share similar ideas, with a societal centre ground that leans to the right.’

While the largest German paper Bild took a sympathetic tone toward refugees back in 2015, that has since changed. On 29 October, they published a 50-point anti-migration manifesto in which they proclaim, among other things, that ‘anyone who considers our constitution and our legal system a collection of non-binding recommendations should leave Germany as soon as possible,’ and ‘anyone who wants to live here permanently must learn German’.

The PM drew attention to the fact that Hungary spends over two billion euros to protect the Schengen Zone from illegal immigrants. ‘We haven’t received a single cent from Brussels. Why should we pay more? We have to spend all our money on protecting the borders, protecting Europe and Germany,’ Orbán stated.

Back in 2014, Merkel made it clear that while Europe should pursue a tough policy on Russia, it should also work on a diplomatic solution to end the hostilities. That type of commitment to achieving peace is exactly the approach Europe misses in the current conflict.

Germany became one of the most influential countries not just within the EU but in the whole world in the past few decades. In this regard, we are going to examine the possible impacts of the German government’s change on Hungary. 

Let us have a look at what is behind the results and what conclusions Europe can draw from the German elections.

‘Angela Merkel has turned the powerful conservative people’s party CDU into a party of arbitrariness’

German-Hungarian economic relations developed dynamically during the ‘Merkel era’ despite the fact that on the political level, the relationship was not free from disputes. 

On 16 January Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) elected a new party chairman, Armin Laschet. Where will he lead the party, and will he be the new chancellor?