Hungarian Conservative

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.

‘In Hungary, most of society and the government view the state of democracy operating in the institutions of the EU with growing concern and mounting criticism. This mutual criticism increasingly defines the relationship between Hungary and the system of EU institutions in Brussels.’

Russian President Vladimir Putin supports Beijing’s four-point peace plan for Ukraine, presented in April. However, peace seems further away than ever since the war’s outbreak, as Western leaders have adopted an increasingly aggressive stance ahead of the European elections.

The minister underscored that strengthening ties with the United Arab Emirates, a significant economic and military power in the Gulf region, can complement Hungary’s defence development programme, whether it involves defence-oriented research, innovation, or the manufacturing of military equipment.

As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, the prospect of peace remains as distant as it did 24 months ago. However, with the upcoming political events in Europe and the United States, 2024 holds the potential for significant changes. With these crucial events ahead, there is hope that 2025 could finally become the year of peace in Ukraine.

The security of the Sahel is the security of Europe as well. If the EU and its Member States, including Hungary, want to avoid having to face irregular mass migration and terrorism at their immediate borders, we have to invest in the security of the Sahel, using all aspects of collaboration, from diplomacy to development and defence.

Tensions are escalating between the political and military leadership in Ukraine, as press reports indicate that Volodymyr Zelenskyy attempted to dismiss Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny. The Ukrainian president’s room for manoeuvre seems to be diminishing, and he needs his European allies now more than ever to survive.

Péter Szijjártó welcomed the continuous development of bilateral economic relations and the breaking of export records. He also praised Qatar’s role in the release of some hostages abducted by Hamas, including three Hungarian citizens, and revealed that another Hungarian citizen might be held by terrorist organization and requested assistance from Qatar in facilitating their prompt return.

While the supposed freedom of a materialistic culture will tend to undermine any sense of the sacred, we can be aware of the false idols and choose to tend to our souls. Scruton, indeed, left us a final work on this very topic.

The government aims to have the closest possible ties with the motherlands of Hungary’s ethnic communities, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said, adding that even when there are disagreements, they must not have any negative consequences for national minority groups.

Professor Kollár briefed the PM about the scientific body’s work in the recent period, and the two leaders also discussed key challenges facing Hungary amidst a war, demographic and economic problems, and challenges to national sovereignty.

Speaking at the exhibition, Tristan Azbej highlighted that while Christian communities in the Middle East are still in a difficult situation, the persecution of Christians is most serious in western parts of Africa, with Islamic State and other jihadist groups threatening communities. In Nigeria alone, some 3,000 Christians are killed each year, therefore Hungary Helps has decided to focus its activities on that region.

In an interview with Hungarian news website Index, Mazsihisz Chief Rabbi Róbert Frölich declared that Budapest and Hungary as a whole are ‘an island of peace’ for the Jewish community.

According to the Ministry’s statement, Minister Szijjártó spoke up during a meeting following the EU Foreign Affairs Council on the proposals regarding security guarantees for Ukraine. These proposals could provide €20 billion of support for arms shipments and the deployment of a training mission in Ukraine over the next four years.

As an article by Premier Christian highlighted, for Armenians, leaving Nagorno-Karabakh is not just a geographical relocation, but also the act of severing ties with their deeply engrained cultural and religious heritage.

It takes courage to see which situations and expectations the conservative should reject. And it takes courage to say ‘no’. The dilemma of when courage is appropriate and when moderation is needed is not logically insolvable. In the words of Winston Churchill: ‘It is better to be both right and consistent. But if you have to choose—you must choose to be right.’

The prime minister emphasised that whether there is the possibility of a military resolution or the need for ceasefire and peace negotiations, Hungary stands on the side of peace, therefore supports any plan that leads to it.

‘Belligerents in a war never like to acknowledge that there is some intermediation and thus that there is some work to do together with the other side. And therefore, it is always difficult. In that sense, we didn’t experience anything new in the context of Ukraine.’

Peter Maurer, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross was invited to a discussion in Budapest by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. He shared some highlights of the ten years of his presidency and the challenges he faced during his tenure.

Following the escalation, the Hungarian government started to evacuate Hungarian citizens from the affected zones. Four individuals have already been evacuated from Sudan, while the taking to safety of six other individuals is still ongoing.

Protests, roadblocks, police officers being injured and imprisoned in North Kosovo have again escalated the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia.

Twenty-two years have passed since the end of the last Yugoslav war. Two decades may be enough to rebuild a country, but the memories of the war and the wounds it caused are still present and will be present for a long time to come in the still unstable Balkans.