Hungarian Conservative

‘I think that’s why the European Commission does not take the approach with Eurobarometer that the Hungarian government is taking with the National Consultations—because they would realize that Europeans are more supportive of centre-right policies than they would want to put their name and admit to.’

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.’

According to the European Conservative Reformist Party, similarly to what the Hungarian government advocates, what Europe needs is not a federalist dogma, but sovereign nation states taking into consideration the peculiar needs and characters of regions and communities, for the sake of a prosperous and competitive continent.

Oakshott’s individualism differed from the individualism of liberalism, which rejects traditions. Oakeshott assumed that individuality can only be created in some context, and that freedom can only be enjoyed in order. It is not the acceptance of authority, but the absolutization of reason that destroys individuality, as he explained in his preface to Hobbes’s Leviathan.

‘One of the most dangerous trends we are seeing in the West is the increasing deployment of the rule of law for instrumental political ends.  We are seeing this in the European Union, just as we are seeing it used in the United States, with those in power invoking the rule of law as a weapon against political dissidents and adversaries.  This should alarm all of us, no matter where we are personally situated on the political spectrum. ‘

‘If a society is exhausted in immanence, if people are not aware of the finitude of their own life, knowledge, and power, and if every goal of the person, the state, and politics is directed towards material interests, then the state will be exactly that Civitas Terrena, which is also Civitas Diaboli. Everything is justified by the stronger interest (Hobbes), pragmatism and secular science serve the immanent power goals of the great Leviathan, while real wisdom, taste, and arts, that make life pleasant (or just bearable) start to decline, wither, dissolve into a gigantically increased bureaucracy called the state.’

Hyper-democracy is already here, it will grow stronger, and we are only starting to understand its profound effects. Some of them will be detrimental, others will open up new opportunities. This might appear overwhelming and unprecedented to some, but in truth, that was the case with all great technological or political upheavals…

The lack of humility, modesty, the lack of deference to one’s superiors, the lack of discipline and respect are the main causes of most of the political and sociological problems of modernity. After all, according to the blind believers of progress, sailing never ends. However, according to conservatives, there is no such thing as an island of Utopia. Their problem in politics is not the search for an island that doesn’t exist, but: ‘[h]ow to get the disgruntled crew to help keep the ship of the state afloat, to keep it from capsizing and being shipwrecked?’

While resistance to Hitler and Nazism is widely researched and celebrated, those who opposed National Socialism from the right are often forgotten. Zoltán Pető therefore attempts to shed light on a lesser-known chapter of anti-Nazi resistance.

As Japan’s example continues to illustrate, hope and one’s true objective must never be forgotten, let alone given up. For Hungary, as for Japan, national interests and the progress of the nation constitute both the foremost goal and the means to achieve it.

‘Liberalism demands we remain open to hearing differences of opinions and the ability to mediate them through democratic institutions. Openness, however, does not equate to acceptance, especially if the opinions are incompatible with the truths of the natural law, as John Locke had forewarned.’

According to his Twitter (X) post, Pollack was astonished by the ‘cleanliness of the cities, the gorgeous architecture and the friendliness of the citizens’ while visiting Budapest, which he attributes to ‘enforcing borders, prosecuting criminals and not embracing the replacement of your own people’.

The first part of this article concerned itself with Burke’s general notions related to democracy. This part explores how he addressed the topic in his pamphlet on the French Revolution.

The rhetoric of spiritual mobilization, of Russia’s responsibility for the fate of the world, and of the ‘burden of the Russian people’ is becoming dominant once again as it was many times before during tragic periods in Russian history. Economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation as the punishment for the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine are interpreted by the Russian regime and the majority of Russians as confirmation of progressing Anomia in the West, and will strengthen the Katechonic argument.

Edmund Burke is widely revered in conservative circles. However, due to the taboos of modern politics, his views on democracy are seldom debated.

Target deciding to pull some of its controversial LGBT merchandise proves that the conservative consumer base in the United States does have considerable power to counteract the mainstream push of LGBTQ activism, even if the current administration is against them in that fight, unlike in Hungary.



Scruton’s motive behind writing the book was to elucidate conservative ideas that were often misunderstood during that period. One of the catalysts for the author’s decision to put his thoughts about conservatism in writing was the French protests of 1968 and the subsequent marked shift to the left within academia.

During the last decade, an increasing academic and intellectual effort has emerged to define and redefine Hungarian conservatism. Better understanding 19th-century conservatives is crucial to this process, as these movements are where the roots of Hungarian conservatism lie.

The Christian Democratic Union in Germany has shifted to the left in recent years, which does not seem to be working out for them, while the far-right has got stronger. Can a change of leadership and incoming conservative Secretary General Carsten Linnemann reverse course? An analysis by Bence Bauer, head of the German-Hungarian Institute for European Cooperation at MCC.

In the third and fourth decades of the 21st century, national–conservative forces will have a chance to end the left-liberal cultural hegemony that has been dominating for a hundred years now. This is where the natural alliance between right-wing party politics and the national intelligentsia takes on historic significance.

‘With in vitro fertilisation, conception takes place outside the mother’s body, rendering the natural conjugal act between husband and wife in itself as alien to the institution of the family. Man and woman no longer come together as one, but are rather utilised in the creation of human embryos…This not only harms that unitive act of marriage between husband and wife, but it reduces the child to a mere group of cells.’

Albeit wrongly associated with the political left most of the time, green philosophy is integral to conservatism too. The late, great Roger Scruton believes that environmental protection should be based on one’s love for their local territory and community, and be dictated top-down through a globalist agenda.

Burke’s work conveys a deep message for modern societies: ‘…it is with infinite caution that any man ought to venture upon pulling down an edifice which has answered in any tolerable degree for ages the common purposes of society.’

‘Political controversy was very hard on him. We worried for him, and tried to look after him. He took the attacks personally, and we tried to cheer him up, to love him. Sometimes, of course, I wondered why he had to get into a controversy that caused pain for himself and others, and maybe disagreement between us. I spoke about this with his sister. Roger knew what he was talking about and why he was defending his position. He had a sense of duty, and a gift to speak up. A lot of people encouraged him.’

Hazony suggests that significant change can be brought about in states with a Christian, Jewish, or conservative majority by creating a public culture similar to that of Israel or Hungary, where the focus is on living within the Biblical framework, building a better future, having children, teaching religion as a cultural inheritance, and serving in the military.

According to Fidesz deputy group leader in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Zsolt Németh the future of conservatism in Europe is bright, as right-wingers on the continent are ‘coming closer together’; and that therefore the slogan of the Budapest seminar could rightly be ‘Conservatives of Europe, unite!’

The historian from Florida calls people on the right who give up on their values due to social pressure ‘Vichy conservatives’, because they surrender when outnumbered by the opposition just as easily as the leaders of the Nazi-collaborator Vichy regime in France did. Back then, the German occupiers appeared to be a hegemonic force; today, it’s the radical left that seems to be invincible.

Conservative member of the House of Lords David Frost touched on a number of important issues in his remarks, including nationalism, Brexit, the COVID lockdowns, and the future of conservatism in the UK. He also took the time to ‘shout out’ Hungary, which drew quite a bit of applause.

According to the famed sociology scholar, the woke left is engaged in a ‘systematic attempt to detach our communities from the legacy of the past.’

Miklós Szánthó, the Director General of the Center for Fundamental Rights, has agreed to join The New York Young Republican Club’s Board of Advisors.