‘King Matthias of Hungary (r. 1458–1490) spent many years of his reign in the saddle. This was the case in 1463, 1467, and 1475, when he “celebrated” Christmas in Jajce in Bosnia, in Brașov after the Battle of Baia, and then in Belgrade after the siege of the Szabács Castle against the Ottomans.’
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.
The Hungarian foreign minister emphasized that despite all efforts, global terrorism remains more severe than ever, claiming 6,700 lives last year due to various attacks. He opined that one of the reasons for that is that terrorism and illegal migration create a kind of ‘vicious circle’.
‘Today, in Europe, noise ranks second after air pollution in terms of environmental damage that causes death, and this cannot be taken seriously enough. Perhaps we underestimate the magnitude of this problem because it is not like a factory chimney blowing smoke, an oil slick floating on the surface of the water, or the garbage that covers our neighbourhoods. It is invisible.’
The Foreign Minister pointed out that the higher the risk of terrorism, the greater the chance of increased migration pressure on Europe, adding that Hungary is now among the first to face waves of migration, as the Western Balkan route has become primary. ‘Therefore, combating terrorism is a key issue for Hungary,’ he stated.
According to Frontex data, 330,000 illegal migrants arrived in Europe last year, based on which the revenue of human smugglers could have reached 1,7 trillion forints, Bence Rétvári highlighted in interviews with Hungarian public media.
Bence Rétvári recalled at the farewell ceremony of the Hungarian police contingent heading to Serbia that a mission was launched in January this year in cooperation with Austrian and Serbian police officers to jointly protect the southern borders of Serbia to combat illegal migration and human smugglers.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.