Hungarian Conservative

Weeks of farmers’ protests across Europe seem to have broken Brussels, with the European Commission making significant concessions to disgruntled farmers. However, quick symptomatic treatments will not resolve the deep-rooted problems of European agriculture.

The right-wing parties of Portugal emerged strengthened from the Sunday early election in Portugal, with the Chega party, led by André Ventura, quadrupling its seats, and the centre-right Democratic Alliance winning, which augurs well for the European Parliament elections this summer.

According to press reports, Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán are scheduled to meet in Florida on 8 March. As the perhaps two most prominent figures of the international right, they are gearing up for crucial elections in 2024, and their alliance is deemed more significant than ever.

‘2023 in fact demonstrated, if demonstration were needed, that a deep social, political, and ideological cleavage now divides electorates across Europe, separating progressive, educated, urban, middle class and younger voters from the alienated rural, working class and older conservative voters living outside the fashionable urban centres. This cleavage was dramatically evident in election results in Spain, Slovakia, Poland, and Holland in the course of 2023.’

Bryan E. Leib, Márton Ugrósdy, and Magor Ernyei were the distinguished panellists in a discussion at the Center for Fundamental Rights on how this year’s US presidential election is shaping up to be, and what effect it could have on Europe and Hungary.

The 2023 elections in Slovakia were looked upon with great anticipation by both the conservative and liberal sides. The stakes were high: whether the Central European country would remain on a progressive road or take a national turn.

Europe’s left-wing-led countries are being plunged into chaos due to irresponsible political decisions. A situation is beginning to unfold in the West that would be unimaginable in Hungary.

The governing Fidesz-KDNP party coalition in Hungary has maintained their support, while fewer would vote for the parties of the left-wing alliance than did in 2022, as revealed by a joint political year-opening roundtable discussion organized by five polling institutes on Thursday, 11 January in Budapest.

This year marks a pivotal moment for the right-wing parties of Europe, as the anticipated shift in political dynamics is poised to unfold across the continent. In this article, we delve into the prospects and potential for the European right in the year 2024.

Tamás Lánczi, the head of the new office appointed by the Prime Minister, outlined the body’s fundamental role in analysis and disclosure, with transparency being its paramount tool. The office carries out inquiries and collaborates with other state entities. Also, upon detecting irregularities, it publicly discloses them while informing the relevant authorities.

Approximately a thousand guests, including numerous conservative public figures, politicians, business leaders, and influencers, gathered in Manhattan at the gala of one of the oldest Republican clubs in the United States.

In a fast-track procedure, the left-wing governing majority of Germany has recently amended the electoral law in force since 1949. The biggest loser of this reform may be the current opposition: two opposition parties (CSU and The Left) could be dealt a fatal blow by the new legislation. Until now, this kind of procedure has been a real taboo in German political culture, which has always advocated for the need of consensus on every issue. The opposition is appealing to the Constitutional Court and will fight with all its might to abolish this new electoral reform.

The populist right-wing PVV party, known for its anti-immigration and Eurosceptic stances, won by far the most seats in the Dutch House of Representatives, 37, and got the largest share of the popular vote, 23.5 per cent, as well in last night’s special election. Party leader Geert Wilders is a long-time ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary.

No surprises expected: the Kremlin is preparing for the 2024 presidential elections with hand-picked candidates and restrictions.

Oleksii Arestovych, a former advisor to the Ukrainian president recently announced his candidacy for the Ukrainian presidency, the election for which is scheduled to happen in 2024—however, due to the martial law in force in the country, the elections might not be organized.

In his regular interview on public radio, the Hungarian Prime Minister pledged to defend Hungary’s borders, to resist pressure from Brussels aiming to change his government’s policies, insisted that Ukraine cannot win on the battlefield, and announced a new National Consultation.

On the European level, the representatives of Poland and Slovakia often share concerns and vote together with Hungary, especially Poland—at least, it did so until now. While Bratislava is most likely to develop even closer cooperation with Budapest with Fico’s victory, Warsaw will most certainly cease to be the staunch ally it used to be.

Fulfilling the predictions of the recent polls, the SMER party has won the early elections in Slovakia. Robert Fico will likely be elected prime minister for the fourth time in the history of the Central European country.

The Spanish conservative PP won, but failed to secure a majority in the parliamentary elections this Sunday. Its potential coalition partner Vox significantly underperformed, winning only 33 seats in parliament, which means that forming a viable right-wing coalition government will be trickier than expected.

She is resigning to take an active part in the campaign in the 2024 European Parliamentary election. She is also rumoured to be leading the Fidesz EP list, although that is yet to be confirmed. The minister believes that she has fulfilled all the tasks she took on when she was appointed.

The Hungarian Prime Minister congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the phone on his victory in the first round of the presidential election in Turkey.

In her remarks, Minister Varga paraphrased the words of Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, who said that Europe will either be Christian or not be at all.

In his interview with Richard Quest, Péter Szijjártó asked the rhetorical question: ‘Do you think all this would be possible if there were systemic corruption? Because if there is systemic corruption, there is no growth, investors do not come, and they do not bring their money here.’

It remains to be seen, however, if this desperate craving for attention, and the aggressive and violent actions that some of the opposition forces engage in are appealing to the Hungarian electorate. It is more likely that meaningful, constructive actions, and a comprehensive and relevant political agenda would benefit these opposition parties more than any of the stunts they have been recently engaging in.

Ahead of the early elections in Slovakia, Hungarian minority parties are negotiating to create an election alliance, in order to maximise the chance of an ethnic Hungarian party being present again in the Bratislava parliament.

According to recent polls, the Finns Party is predicted to win the most seats in the upcoming election, potentially leading to the formation of a nationalist right-wing government for the first time in Finland.

Both Nézőpont Intézet, typically associated with the governing party, and Medián, generally viewed as closer to the opposition, put Fidesz ahead of the strongest opposition party, the Democratic Coalition (DK), by over 35 percentage points.

The United States and the United Kingdom recently sanctioned Bulgarian citizens for their alleged abuse of public funds under the Global Magnitsky Act.

From Czechia to Ukraine, voters in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe will be going to the polls in 2023.

On the state level, the most widely supported party happened to be the 2021-founded unified Hungarian formation, Aliancia – Szövetség, which will obtain almost 13 per cent of the available seats and have 54 representatives state-wide in the next cycle alone. This is an excellent result and an encouraging sign for ethnic Hungarians two years before the upcoming parliamentary elections.