Hungarian Conservative

At the discussion Russia expert David Satter expressed scepticism about Russia being trustworthy regarding keeping the terms of a potential ceasefire, while Attila Demkó argued that Ukraine has already secured a great victory against Russia: it has not become a puppet state of Moscow.

Recently, the Danube Institute co-hosted an event with Helena History Press where Danish author Jaap Scholten talked about his personal experiences while travelling throughout Ukraine in the first six months of the war.

‘I believe that the presence of all of these varying opinions is what makes the Third Danube Geopolitical Summit stand out. As James Carafano, Senior Counselor to the President at The Heritage Foundation noted during his opening address: the Danube Institute is a place that gives a platform for real dialogue.’

The Third Danube Institute Geopolitical Summit took place last week in the Castle District of Budapest, with such illustrious guests sharing their insights as former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, former Czech President Václav Klaus, Head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Hungarians Abroad Zsolt Németh, and Lewis Libby, researcher at the Hudson Institute and advisor to former US President George W. Bush.

While Hungary is a country with plenty of complexity and, like any other place, has its issues and imperfections—as well as treasures—I have two choices: criticize and judge from afar, or engage and learn. I choose the latter.

Simplistic labels like ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ for a rules-based, nations-centric approach are to be rejected—one can learn from former foreign minister of Hungary János Martini’s new English language book Nation and Europe: In Lieu of Memoirs which was presented to the audience on 18 September at Danube Institute.

‘The Maidan—‘the square’ as people refer to it—became a plaza of fallen heroes in 2014: pictures commemorating the 108 protestors killed by law enforcement during the Revolution of Dignity remind everyone that for Ukrainians the struggle for self-determination didn’t start in February 2022.’

In the latest episodes of the Reflections from Budapest podcast, Director of the Middle East Action Team at the Religious Freedom Institute Jeremy P. Barker explained that their work aims to promote religious freedom rights for everyone everywhere, recognising and hoping that includes even the smallest and most persecuted religious minorities, whether that’s Christians or Yazidis in the Middle East, or Uyghurs in China and others.

The nation celebrated at Tusványos, the Hungarian one, drapes over various states in the Carpathian Basin and consists of a plurality of ethnic and religious groups, fully including not just Christian Magyars but also Jews, Ungarndeutschen, and Roma with roots in the region. Foreign guests like me, who come from outside the Hungarian nation or family of nations, could also feel welcome, because, if devoid of chauvinism, nationhood offers fertile ground for inter-national solidarities and sympathies.

Hungary should assert its national sovereignty and resist the imposition of global norms on aggressive sexual progressivism through UN documents, Austin Ruse, president of the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) argues.

Famed American internet personality and political commentator Dave Rubin sat down with writer and columnist Rod Dreher, also from the US, in Budapest, Hungary to discuss the state of conservatism in their home country and Hungary. They both see Prime Minister Orbán as a good model to follow for conservatives in America, and agree that he is being misrepresented in American mainstream media.

Ákos Bence Gát told Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet that Hungary raised the issue of creating a rule of law instrument during its presidency, which would ensure that the rule of law criteria, for which member states are held accountable, are also upheld within EU institutions. This caused panic.

Highly respected experts, such as former Constitutional Court Justice István Stumpf, Gadi Taub, Senior Lecturer at the Federmann School of public policy from Israel, and James Allen of the University of Queensland in Australia, shared their views on the controversial concept of ‘rule of law’. Their lectures were followed by a discussion between State Secretary for European Affairs János Bóka and Ákos Bence Gát, head of foreign affairs at the Danube Institute.

Nigel Biggar’s recently published book titled Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning is a Sunday Times bestseller. The book is a unique analysis of Western colonialism, and a sober assessment of all the bad and good that the British Colonial Empire stood for. Without hiding the injustices and violence committed by the Empire, Nigel Biggar argues that the Empire was not the embodiment of pure evil.

Hungary has recently been making its presence known in the world of international aid, with its most recent efforts being in earthquake-ravaged Turkey. The small nation has focused its initiatives on providing aid to oppressed Christians, which now face record-level highs of global persecution today. Global aid has poured in to relieve the suffering of the region’s minorities following the end of the war against ISIS, during which the region’s Christians, along with other minority communities such as the Yezidis, suffered barbaric crimes.

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.

‘It is strange to see that some people in the West think that Hungary is reactionary simply because of having a sane family policy,’ Professor Daniel J. Mahoney opines. An interview about statesmanship, human nature and the pitfalls of liberal democracy.

Although today violence is no longer the primary form of persecution Christians face in the country, they still endure other serious forms of discrimination. Among the most pressing issues are economic problems, incompetent legislation by the government and conflicts from inter-communal relations, which they suffer from not just because of their faith, but also because they are an ethnic minority in the Kurdish region.

The successful American talk show host spoke at an event at the Danube Institute. He covered a whole slew of topics, including Trump vs DeSantis in next year’s Republican primary, why he left his left-wing politics behind, and Hungary’s child protection law.

Both statesmen won their respective elections by around 19 percentage points last year, but the similarities do not end there. Their stances on immigration, the Ukraine war, and, most notably, the restriction of teaching gender theory in schools, have been very much akin to each other in the past.

In his exclusive interview with Hungarian Conservative, Mr Rufo talked about how, in his opinion, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis demonstrated that ‘courage and competence are the key elements of successful governance’ with his fight with the Disney corporation; as well as what he believes the motivation of the woke far-left activists are, and how to fight them effectively.

David Curry has been the CEO of the most well-known international ministry, Open Doors USA, for ten years. The organisation recently changed its name to Global Christian Relief to achieve better cooperation between Christian denominations and NGO networks, and thus to help persecuted Christians more efficiently.

Chris Rufo also issued a warning to his Budapest audience: just because CRT would not fit in the Hungarian historical context, does not mean it cannot be successfully propagated here, as it is not a theory that is overly concerned with logical consistency.

As part of the new cooperation agreement between the two institutions, each year four researchers from the Heritage Foundation will visit Budapest and work with the Danube Institute as visiting researchers.

The research conducted by the Danube Institute contradicts the image of an anti-Semitic Hungary painted by many Western mainstream media outlets. Thanks to the government’s zero tolerance policy, public anti-Semitic expressions are no longer tolerated and Jewish people can freely walk in the streets and worship in synagogues without having to rely on heavy security presence.

‘When I look at the European economy, strangled by over-regulation, over-taxation, ridiculous green agendas and the intrusive behaviour of the EU bureaucracy, it is clear that Europe cannot grow. It is doomed to stagnation,’ former Czech President Vaclav Klaus stated at the summit.

With conservatism being forced out of an increasing number of arenas and institutions today, the need to (re)define it is greater than ever. If we as a society are to get back on the right track, we ought to be clear on the directions first.

On Tuesday, Danube Institute organised an event, where a panel discussion on the historic election in Italy was hosted. Commentators discussed how Giorgia Meloni’s win could affect European politics, and what impact it could have on Hungary.

The conference featured several distinguished speakers, including Tristan Azbej, State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Julianna Taimoorazy.

At the end of April, a Danube Institute research group completed their first fieldwork trip to examine the unique situation in Poland, which has been included in their research as a case of internecine violence. Find out more about the situation of Christianity in Poland!