Hungarian Conservative

The prospect of Hungary complying with the ECJ ruling appears increasingly unlikely, as the government shows no sign of relenting. In fact, the issue may escalate into a broader political confrontation.

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.

The Socialist Sánchez government in Spain vetoed the Hungarian consortium Ganz-MÁVAG Europe’s acquisition of the Spanish train manufacturer Talgo. Their concern was the supposed close ties between Budapest and Moscow, fearing that the Hungarian company may share trade secrets with the Russians.

Zsófia Kovács, Director of the Brussels Liszt Institute, stated that the exhibition is about identity in today’s diverse world. She emphasized that the prominence of Roma culture in the Institute’s programme serves as a reminder that Hungary was the first country to create a Roma strategy in 2011 and took the initiative to elevate the cause of Roma culture to a European level.

‘It seems to me that Orbán sees his people as having a greater chance of surviving the disintegration of the West by forming ties to China. He might be proven wrong by history. But make no mistake: the dilemma facing Viktor Orbán is a lot like that facing Grand Prince Géza: How to strengthen the position of the small Hungarian nation amid the struggle of powerful states and empires? Géza’s geopolitical decision to baptism his son as a Latin Christian set the course of Hungarian history for a millennium. The stakes may well be as high for Orbán today.’

The Hungarian economy could grow by 2 per cent this year, a downward revision from the 4 per cent forecast at the end of last year. This adjustment is attributed to the population’s caution in spending, which is only gradually diminishing after last year’s high inflation. Nevertheless, consumption growth is driving the Hungarian economy this year, even though the savings rate remains at a historically high 15 per cent. Márton Nagy noted that while investment and exports are exerting a negative impact on growth, sectors such as retail sales, tourism, and services are contributing positively.

In a clip shared on X Interior Ministry State Secretary Bence Rétvári stated that Hungary is being punished for defending the EU’s external borders, and called the judgement by the European Court of Justice ‘obvious political pressure’ to coerce the country into letting in masses of illegal migrants and support Brussels’s war policies. However, he warned that an influx of mass migration can lead to riots like we see in the United Kingdom today.

The European Commission will not convene a consultative forum on the dispute between Ukraine and EU members states Hungary and Slovakia over the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine. Brussels’ reasoning is that there is no immediate threat to the energy security of these two countries due to Kyiv’s decision to halt the supplies. These developments indicate that the European Commission has blatantly sided with a non-EU member against two member states, jeopardizing their energy security.

Despite the challenges of wartime conditions, the government has maintained its utility cost reduction programme, successfully protecting Hungarian families against Brussels’ war-supporting and misguided sanctions policy. This has resulted in Hungarian households paying the lowest prices of electricity and gas in Europe, government commissioner Szilárd Németh shared at a press conference on Monday.

Sebastian Kurz, the former chancellor of Austria; Balázs Orbán, the political director of the Prime Minister of Hungary; and Ján Figeľ, former European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth from Slovakia talked about what the results of the 2024 European Parliamentary election mean for the future of Europe at the opening panel discussion of MCC Feszt 2024 in Esztergom, Hungary.

State Secretary Barna Pál Zsigmond has shared that despite the continuous political attacks from Brussels, Member States on an expert level have praised the programmes organized so far under the scope of the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council.

Liberal POLITICO has once again attempted to discredit Hungary with fake news regarding a joint EU declaration on the Venezuelan elections. The Brussels-based outlet, citing anonymous sources, reported that Hungary vetoed the joint EU resolution. However, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry quickly rebutted the allegation.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered his annual speech at Tusványos, where he discussed the war in Ukraine, the peace mission, the changing world order, and the upcoming US presidential elections. He stated that Donald Trump is the only chance for the United States to maintain its supremacy.

After a long time, Europe has the opportunity to take its future into its own hands, restore its long-lost prestige, and promote peace in Ukraine. Instead, Brussels has initiated a childish vendetta against Hungary over Viktor Orbán’s peace mission. Missing such opportunities out of hubris and pettiness demonstrates the utter incompetence of the EU leadership.

Viktor Orbán has been receiving increasing praise from Germany in recent days—something that has not happened for a long time. Henryk M. Broder, a columnist for the German newspaper Die Welt, lauded the Hungarian Prime Minister for his peace mission, stating that, seeing the EU’s failure, Orbán has taken Europe’s fate into his own hands and is doing so quite skillfully. Additionally, a left-wing German MP remarked that Orbán’s peace mission justifies why the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.

In a break with tradition, Viktor Orbán’s speech at the first plenary session of the European Parliament, where he was to present the programme of the Hungarian Presidency, may be postponed. The stated reason is that the Hungarian PM’s speech does ‘not fit into the EP’s timetable’.

‘If the Hungarian government’s foreign policy in recent months had truly been to serve Russian interests, then, for example, the NATO secretary general would not have left Budapest with a free hand from Hungary to negotiate and conduct NATO training and support for Ukraine, as well as to undertake a long-term financial commitment required for military support, even if Hungary will not itself participate in these NATO efforts.’

‘The Hungarian presidency has just begun, but every opportunity is being seized to obstruct it, as it offers the Hungarian government the chance to present its vision of an alternative Europe to the entire continent,’ the Center for Fundamental Rights stress in their analysis. They also note that the Hungarian PM’s visit to Kyiv took the international press by surprise, as the liberal media has consistently and falsely portrayed Hungary’s stance as pro-Russian from the start, a claim that Viktor Orbán has now clearly disproved.

‘Hungary is preparing for an exceptionally active EU Presidency,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán notes in an opinion piece published by the Financial Times. In the article Orbán outlines the priorities of the Hungarian EU Presidency, with a particular focus on boosting European competitiveness.

Given the uncontrollable nature of AI and its potential to shape social perception, legislative action in this area has been long awaited. The European Union, recognizing the urgency and importance of this issue, has been at the forefront with its recently adopted Artificial Intelligence Act.

‘Is it any surprise that the recent Dutch national elections were won by Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party? Is it surprising that the Dutch are fed up with uncontrolled—and, frankly, uncontrollable—immigration? Who would want to live in a country where there are about three bomb attacks every day? Who would want to run a business or open a shop in such a country? Make no mistake: this is the future from which Orbán is trying to save Hungary.’

‘A successful republic, according to Machiavelli, is characterized by laws that are lived by rather than frequently amended. While no system of governance can achieve absolute perfection, a stable republic can achieve a functional balance. For him Rome serves as a historical exemplar of such a system, where laws were respected and adhered to, placing communal benefits above personal gain, thus prudently managing both public and private affairs.’

Barna Pál Zsigmond went on Hungarian public media to talk about Hungary’s upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union. He named restoring Europe’s economic competitiveness and advancing the Western Balkan nations towards EU accession as the administration’s two major agenda points for the six-month presidency.

According to the graphic shared by the Prime Minister’s political director Balázs Orbán, Hungary’s slogan will be ‘Make Europe Great Again,’ or ‘MEGA’ for short, for the upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union. This is an obvious allusion to US President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ which he is using for his presidential campaign as well.

Speaking to Hungarian journalists the day after an informal working dinner of EU leaders, Balázs Orbán pointed out that European voters made one thing clear in the European Parliament elections: they are not satisfied with the direction Europe has taken in the past five years, and they are not satisfied with the policies of Brussels bureaucrats and elites.

The 9 June, Sunday European Parliament and municipal elections in Romania resulted in a historical success for the Hungarian ethnic minority, with the best results achieved in twenty years. As RMDSZ President Hunor Kelemen put it, the mandates RMDSZ won are not just numbers; they also send the message that there is a strong, viable Transylvanian Hungarian community that wants to shape its own future and plans on staying in its homeland.

‘Hungary is not providing money, weapons or soldiers for this cooperation, but it is not blocking it either’, the defence minister reaffirmed after the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels last week.

Viktor Orbán expressed gratitude to all Hungarian voters who decided to participate in the dual election. He noted that the turnout for the municipal and European Parliament elections on Sunday was record high in Hungary, reaching 57 per cent.

According to Nikola Kedhi, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Albanian Policy Center, defending a nation’s sovereignty requires a constant battle in the media, academia, and the political field.

According to Hungarian Finance Minister Mihály Varga, Hungary has received an additional HUF 184 billion from previously frozen EU funds. Varga pointed out that these funds serve as an ex-post contribution to the wage increases for teachers and kindergarten teachers, which were pre-financed from the budget.