Hungarian Conservative

The 4 June conference organized by the Climate Policy Institute of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium focused on ESG and its effects on society, the economy, business and social perceptions.

‘Being a conservative in Berkeley is like you’re surrounded by Marxists. I think sometimes Hungary feels the same, surrounded by these European progressive elites,’ John Yoo, former US government official and Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley stated in an interview with Hungarian Conservative.

Day 2 of the Rule of Law as Lawfare Conference featured speeches by István Stumpf, a former justice on the Constitutional Court of Hungary, Aleksander Stępkowski, Supreme Court of Poland justice, and Dr Reinhard Merkel, law professor at Universität Hamburg.

The Free Market Road Show, held for the ninth time, was organized in collaboration with the Austrian Economics Center and the Danube Institute. This year’s speakers discussed topics such as Central Bank Digital Currencies and the related issues of individual freedom and privacy, new economic strategies for a post-COVID world, and how global security threats, such as wars and migration, affect trade.

Foreign pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted a conference in Budapest on Tuesday where Israel’s ambassador to Hungary Jakov Hadas-Handelsman was also speaking. At around the same time, anti-Israel graffiti flooded the Hungarian capital. For many months, such phenomena were unknown in Hungary, but now it seems that the conflict and hatred are being imported from abroad.

‘The lessons of human history suggest that the future is rarely bright and happy where the state is unable, or worse, unwilling, to contain the hypersensitivity of certain political camps. The precedent of the terrible terrorist attacks in Brussels or the common immigrant riots show that Belgium has already lost the battle against the hypersensitivity of radical Islam. It does not seem to want to take a firmer stand against the left either.’

Roger Scruton had a special interest in and affection for Central Europe, cultivating a symbiotic relationship with the region. His work influenced the political, cultural, and social dynamics of many CEE countries just as profoundly as they shaped his own work and worldview. In tribute to the British conservative philosopher, a conference was held in Budapest, with a specific focus on Scruton’s ties to Central Europe.

Hungary’s comprehensive family support system has garnered international attention; in order to become acquainted with the policies of Hungary, family-friendly countries frequently consult with government organizations, including the Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families.

At an event launching the project aimed at improving teachers’ salaries with EU support State Secretary Bence Rétvári reminded that teachers’ salaries nearly doubled over four years, while other governmental measures are also being implemented to increase the number of people choosing the profession.

During the Hungarian presidency, the debate must continue on whether it is preserving or eliminating connectivity that makes the EU stronger and more competitive, János Bóka emphasized in his lecture at the event marking the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Hungarian Youth Association.

The Budapest Balkans Forum 2024 began with captivating discussions about the region’s future, featuring Hungarian government officials such as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, and Minister for EU Affairs János Bóka, among others.

According to MCC Brussels Director Frank Füredi, it is crucial to intellectually empower children, and if the quality of teaching does not improve in classrooms, the future of education itself is at risk.

At an online conference titled Cooperation under the Palm Trees held on 9 February the invited panellists represented various Florida-based Hungarian organizations. Participants from eight countries all over the world were able to gain insight into the exemplary cooperation of Hungarians in Florida.

At a recent Rubicon Institute conference in Budapest, historians and Middle East experts attempted to shed light on the complexities of the Arab–Israeli conflict and its regional and international contexts.

The minister stressed the importance of maintaining disciplined fiscal policies this year, aiming for an annual average inflation rate of around 5 per cent. He firmly asserted that until the inflation rate returns to a more moderate range, fiscal spending should be limited.

Wilders announced on the social media platform X that he will be part of CPAC Hungary, expressing gratitude for the invitation from Miklós Szánthó and the Center for Fundamental Rights. The right-wing Dutch politician whose party won last year’s elections in the Netherlands, stated: ‘Proud to be there and speak!’

Miklós Szánthó announced that the conference will be taking place between 25–26 April, and the keynote speaker will be Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary.

In his short speech introducing the international conference, head of the Thomas Molnar Research Institute, historian of political thought Károly Attila Molnár highlighted that as a Hungarian emigrant, Thomas Molnar tacitly accepted the values ​​of liberal democracy in the United States, but criticized its ideological foundations and pointed out the dangers of ‘Americanization’, the consequences of economic liberalism and social engineering.

The conference, held on 27 November 2023, brought together a diverse groups of speakers to discuss the repercussions of the Israel-Hamas war and the situation of the Christian community in Israel.

The participants of the conference agreed to hold regular meetings to assess migration processes, said President of the Visegrád Four and Interior Minister of the Czech Republic Vít Rakušan in Budapest on Monday.

Speaking at the MEDays Forum international conference, the Hungarian foreign minister stressed that as a result of mistaken immigration policies, parallel societies have emerged in Western Europe. He remarked that what Europeans are seeing is ‘loud minorities exerting pressure on those who have lived there for centuries…and the threat of terrorism intensifying’.

According to the PM, while ‘lost sovereignty was in the focus of the last century’, Hungary regained its sovereignty at the end of the 20th century, so ‘this decade is about retaining that sovereignty’. The lesson that can be learned from the dissolution of the Socialist bloc and of the Soviet Union, Viktor Orbán suggested, is that ‘it is worth being radical, recalling the activism and courage of the system-changing Fidesz politicians.

Speaking at a conference on defence industry supplier development held at the Bálna Defence Centre, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky pointed out that in pursuit of advancing the defence industry, strategic agreements have been concluded with several major international players, including German, Norwegian, French and Turkish companies.

The Hungarian Science Festival has been organized since 2003, commemorating the fact that on 3 November 1825, István Széchenyi offered one year’s income from his estates to establish the Society of Scholars, which is considered the predecessor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA).

Speaking at a high-level international conference in Minsk, Belarus, the Hungarian foreign minister said Europe and Hungary had already paid a high price for a war they are not responsible for.

The minister explained that the negotiations’ next phase, according to plans, will commence this Thursday. The goal of the government is to start the financing of EU projects as soon as the negotiations regarding the authorizing of the release of the funds are completed.

Fundamental rights and their supplementary responsibilities are essential parts of our culture and heritage, the speakers at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s (MCC) conference on human rights agreed. The event examined the process of the distortion of the idea of human rights as well as the vital role of sovereignty and subsidiarity in enforcing them.

The Rubicon Institute organized a large-scale conference on 23 September that focused on the reawakening of the century-old field of geopolitical thinking, shedding light on the connections between geographical conditions and political decisions.

The Milestone Institute recently hosted a public forum in collaboration with the Hungarian Youth Association, to present their respective findings on whether high-performing Hungarian students return home after finishing their studies abroad, as well as data on the career and mobility patterns of former Milestone Institute students.

On the first day of the summit, President Katalin Novák presented ‘the 12 points of the freedom fight of families’, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that family matters and increasing low birth rates lie at the heart of the programme of her government. She also praised Hungary as a great example of effective family policies.