In the midst of tensions among the Visegrád Group countries, Viktor Orbán spoke about the potential for a partnership between Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Serbia. In what areas could these countries cooperate, and what difficulties might impede such a partnership?
The V4 countries convened for a summit on 27 February, a gathering of paramount importance regarding the future trajectory of cooperation. The leaders of the allied states reached a unanimous agreement on the necessity to uphold cooperation in areas of common interests, notwithstanding differences of opinion.
The first V4 summit of the year is scheduled for 27 February, with a focus on illegal migration, energy security, and the EU’s strategic objectives. After the estrangement caused by the war in Ukraine, cooperation seems to be back on track, but its future will largely depend on the willingness and ability of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to collaborate.
All but one EU Member State, Hungary, have condemned Israel’s potential ground invasion of Rafah, scheduled to happen if all hostages are not freed by the start of the Ramadan. This is not the first time the Orbán administration has stood up for Israel.
Czech toponyms that include the adjective ‘Hungarian’ allude to the historical, centuries-old relationship between Hungary and Czechia that has not always been perfect, but nonetheless close. This is a region where the fates of the two countries were intertwined for a long time—the Bohemian–Hungarian frontier.
It appears that the Visegrád Four cooperation is once again revitalising itself along the lines of common interests. The green transition and its impact on industrial investment in Central Europe, European security or illegal migration are issues that have prompted the V4 countries, and the Poles and the Hungarians in particular, to once again join forces.
The organisation is doing everything to bring Pepsi back home. Balogh stated that the newly inaugurated Szentkirályi PET bottling line is capable of creating Pepsi products, but further investments are needed, such as establishing a water purification base and a syrup kitchen.
Answering the call of the representatives of Orthodox communities, Hungary recognised that the Russian Orthodox Church has some 100 million members worldwide, and the sanctioning of its leader would isolate religious people from their spiritual leader. The Patriarch is regularly prayed for and commemorated during church services in Hungary, too, as it is home to a Hungarian Orthodox community under the Moscow Patriarchate.
At the prestigious Litomeřice competition over 200 breweries from a series of countries from the Czech Republic to Spain competed with nearly 1,200 beers in 39 categories, and Hungarian Szent András Brewery’s new cider won a gold medal.
The Orbán administration has committed to spending at least two per cent of the country’s GDP on defence by the end of 2024, a commitment made in 2014 by all NATO members but something many NATO countries have not yet honoured. Hungary, in fact, is set to achieve the two per cent threshold by the end of this year, before the deadline.
More and more French choose to emigrate to Central-Eastern European countries because they perceive them as safe and offering a better quality of life, according to a study by the Elabe Institute.
‘Slovakia has turned thirty years old. Whether the past three decades can be considered a success story remains an open question. The Slovak nation achieved the independence it had always wanted.’
From Czechia to Ukraine, voters in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe will be going to the polls in 2023.
The Czechs and the Slovaks are growing increasingly dissatisfied with Europe’s sanctions policy that makes families bear the cost of the war.
A large Prague demonstration this past Saturday sent a clear message to policymakers that the Czech people are fed up with the mistaken Russian sanctions and their devastating impact on the cost of living. Research indicates that citizens in other capitals across Europe might follow suit soon.
As the cost of living and energy prices skyrocket in Europe, resistance to EU sanctions on Russia is growing. On Saturday, 70 thousand Czechs took to the streets to demand that their government take a neutral stance in the conflict.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.