Hungarian Conservative

Hungarian EU Affairs Minister János Bóka gave a detailed presentation on the first day of the conference co-organized by the Danube Institute, outlining the key priorities of the Hungarian EU Presidency. Bóka highlighted an early success of the presidency, noting that while six months ago the importance of developing European competitiveness was rarely discussed, it has now become a central topic in the European political debate.

During a joint press conference with his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó emphasized that Hungarians particularly value those nations around the world that, like Bahrain, stand up so resolutely and vocally for peace. He also welcomed the fact that Hungary’s Festipay is making a significant software development investment in Bahrain.

As Hungary holds the presidency of the Council of the EU, it can leverage its influence to set the EU’s agenda in favour of increased imports of Turkmen gas, presenting it as a strategic and cost-effective alternative to Russian energy dependence. This would not only support Hungary’s energy strategy but also align with the broader EU goals of securing diverse and reliable energy sources while enhancing its presence in the geopolitically significant Central Asian region.

The Socialist Sánchez government in Spain vetoed the Hungarian consortium Ganz-MÁVAG Europe’s acquisition of the Spanish train manufacturer Talgo. Their concern was the supposed close ties between Budapest and Moscow, fearing that the Hungarian company may share trade secrets with the Russians.

‘The demographic shift also suggests a move towards an increasingly multipolar world order. Not bipolar, but multipolar. While the West’s demographic weight is rapidly declining, so is that of its main opponent, China, and to such an extent that its aspirations to take over the role of global hegemon from the United States no longer seem feasible, and its economy may even slide into stagnation.’

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto’s recent remarks voicing concern about the Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory have drawn ire from Italian commentators. Under Giorgia Meloni’s leadership Italy has consistently backed Ukraine in both rhetoric and material support. However, her public position also reflects the constraints imposed by her governing coalition, which includes pro-Russia politicians. Meloni’s balancing act requires deft political manoeuvring as she seeks to maintain support for Ukraine while navigating a divided public opinion at home.

On 13 August the European Commission disbursed nearly €4.2 billion to Ukraine under the First Pillar of the Ukraine Facility. During the four-year plan, the EU aims to provide up to €50 billion in grants and loans for the country’s recovery, reconstruction, and modernization. Meanwhile, Kyiv has made gains in Kursk, which, according to the Institute for the Study of War, is a pivotal moment in the war with the potential to change its trajectory.

In a clip shared on X Interior Ministry State Secretary Bence Rétvári stated that Hungary is being punished for defending the EU’s external borders, and called the judgement by the European Court of Justice ‘obvious political pressure’ to coerce the country into letting in masses of illegal migrants and support Brussels’s war policies. However, he warned that an influx of mass migration can lead to riots like we see in the United Kingdom today.

In his Facebook post, Minister for European Union Affairs János Bóka criticized the EU Commission for its mandate concerning Hungary to maintain the capacity to process nearly 8,000 foreign nationals at the border, as per the controversial EU Migration Pact passed by the EU Parliament this April.

Hungary has increased its contribution to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) programmes fivefold over the past six years and will contribute €32 million to European space research next year. Orsolya Ferencz, Ministerial Commissioner Responsible for Space Research, emphasized the important role of youth in Hungarian space activities on the closing day of a rocket-building student camp on Sunday.

‘Europe finds itself at a critical situation, faced with a fundamental choice between unity in progressivism or sovereignty in diversity…Central to this decision is the recognition of Europe’s intrinsic diversity, rooted in centuries of history, cultural exchange, and shared heritage. This diversity, inherently European, forms the essence of the continent’s identity and should be cherished and preserved. Importantly, efforts to import diversity from external sources often lead to fragmentation and discord, rather than enriching European society.’

Despite the challenges of wartime conditions, the government has maintained its utility cost reduction programme, successfully protecting Hungarian families against Brussels’ war-supporting and misguided sanctions policy. This has resulted in Hungarian households paying the lowest prices of electricity and gas in Europe, government commissioner Szilárd Németh shared at a press conference on Monday.

‘The liberal progressive vision that emerged in the late twentieth century bought into the notion of technological neutrality. In this context, it served a broader liberal purpose to neutralize politics as well. This reached its apogee in the EU and the preference for a law-governed, depoliticized, technocratic mode of governance.’

Sebastian Kurz, the former chancellor of Austria; Balázs Orbán, the political director of the Prime Minister of Hungary; and Ján Figeľ, former European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth from Slovakia talked about what the results of the 2024 European Parliamentary election mean for the future of Europe at the opening panel discussion of MCC Feszt 2024 in Esztergom, Hungary.

Deif, who orchestrated the 7 October terrorist attack against Israel and served as a military commander during the ongoing Gaza war, was killed in Khan Yunis. His killing preceded that of Ismail Haniyeh, who the day before his death attended the inauguration of the Iranian President in the company of none other than Enrique Mora, the Spanish EU official coordinating nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has nominated Olivér Várhelyi, the current Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, as the next Commissioner for Hungary in the new European Commission. Várhelyi’s task will not be easy, as he has experienced numerous conflicts with the European Parliament over the past five years. Additionally, pro-war factions will likely do everything in their power to derail the Hungarian candidate’s nomination process.

Hungary declared its support for Georgia’s membership efforts comes shortly after the EU’s decision to halt the accession process following the adoption of the foreign agent law by the Tbilisi parliament.

In response to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech at the Tusványos festival, Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski of Poland has called on the Hungarian leadership to leave the EU and NATO if they believe these organizations treat them so badly. Meanwhile, US Ambassador David Pressman has also come out to criticize the same speech by PM Orbán.

‘Hungary is the tell-tale sign that legal norms and moral niceties have fallen prey to corrosive ideologies, but other would-be leaders who attended CPAC this year and were inspired by its statesmanlike example should not be fooled. If they win, they are next.’

Italian antifascist-attacker-turned-MEP Ilaria Salis was quick to criticize Hungary in her very first post on X as a member of the European Parliament, accusing Budapest of not having guaranteed her fundamental rights due to her political beliefs as an antifascist while she was in custody and under house arrest. Zoltán Kovács, Hungarian State Secretary for International Communication and Relations, responded by calling on Salis’ defenders to ‘stop whitewashing a communist terrorist who led a group that almost killed someone on the streets of Budapest in broad daylight.’

Despite the series of peace plans formulated over the last years, the positions of the presidents of the warring nations, Zelenskyy and Putin still look irreconcilable. As Prime Minister Orbán highlighted on numerous occasions, however, ‘peace won’t happen of its own accord’ and ‘without dialogue it is very difficult to see how they will move in the direction of peace’.

Thanks to Musk, X has become one of the world’s most prominent free-speech platforms. During the July 13 attempted assassination of President Trump, establishment media pushed false and egregiously misleading headlines, while failing to deliver timely news updates. In contrast, X enabled citizen journalists to work together to quickly assess the unfolding horrors. But according to the European Commission, X ‘deceives users’ with its blue check verification system, lacks advertising transparency, and restricts data access for researchers.

‘An important element of Viktor Orbán’s governance is that he knows Hungarian history and has learned from its mistakes. He does not want to repeat the sins committed by the historic Hungarian state during the 20th century. Hungary’s vision has thus not been blinded by the anti-Zionism of woke ideology, and it is able to recognize that Israel is the bastion of democracy and human rights in the Middle East, while successfully holding on to its religious and national traditions.’

As has been revealed many times, the goal of both the three-party coalition and the new president is to pursue a sovereigntist policy within the Euro-Atlantic region. Hungary has been doing the same thing for over a decade. For this reason, it is likely that in the near future, the two nations will be able to support each other in exerting their influence in the EU and NATO. Hopefully, the beneficiaries of such international cooperation will also include the ethnic Hungarians living in Slovakia.

While left-wing EU politicians are trying to organize a boycott of Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council, Chancellor Karl Nehammer of Austria has stated that he and the ministers of his party is not willing to take part in it, and vowed they will ‘continue to participate in sessions and meetings of the EU Council Presidency’.

Hungary’s ministerial commissioner for space research Dr Orsolya Ferencz highlighted the need for a common EU strategy and regulation to stay competitive with the United States or China at a conference in the Hungarian Parliament.

There is a lesser-known but in many ways much more influential pillar of the EU’s institutional system than the Commission, the Parliament, and the Council: the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is quietly but steadily building an ever closer union.

UNHCR Regional Director for Europe Philippe Leclerc has recently completed a two-day visit to Budapest, Hungary, after which his organization released a public statement declaring that it counts on the Hungarian Government to be a partner in trying to solve the European migrant and asylum seeker crisis.

As Itamar Eichner phrased in his Ynet News article, ‘Without the opposition from Israel’s friends in the EU, such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany, the EU might have already passed sanctions against Israel. Foreign policy decisions in the EU require consensus, which Israel’s allies prevent.’

The integration of the countries of the region into the EU is a decades-long process, the positive outcome of which is still to be seen. Thus, the number of Eurosceptics in the region has multiplied in recent years. As a consequence of the protracted accession negotiations, which have not even started for several Western Balkan states, some countries in the region have forged closer economic, political, and cultural ties with non-EU actors.