Hungarian Conservative

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.

An innovative continuous authentication solution of Cursor Insight, a Hungarian-founded cybersecurity firm, has been recognized as the Cyber Defence Product of the Year at the British National Cyber Awards 2023.

‘Governments have a duty to their own citizens to maintain the character of the country,’ Tony Abbott, former prime minister of Australia argues. An interview on migration, family policy, foreign relations, and the Russo-Ukrainian war.

The European Commission President was invited by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy to assess the dire situation on the island, brought on by the thousands of migrants coming just in the last few days. The Italian government decided to enact strict new measures to curb illegal immigration.

Besides supporting EU’s EDIRPA and ASAP initiatives, Hungary has also been participating in joint capacity building and procurement programmes with France and Germany.

In a statement issued today, the Fidesz EP group has announced its support for the new common procurement act (EDIRPA) proposed in the European Parliament. The act would allocate €300 million in funds to ‘incentivise the joint procurement of urgent and critical defence products needed in the context of the response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.’

The swift growth of the space industry has already begun to impact smaller nations like Hungary, making it necessary for them to address the challenge effectively. In response to the industry’s rapid rise, the government released the country’s first space strategy document in 2021.

‘Hungary’s support for Georgia makes sense in a number of ways. With both nations having brutal histories of Russian domination, Hungary understands the struggles Georgia has had in coming out of Moscow’s shadow after so many years behind the Iron Curtain. While Hungary offers support to a fellow former communist satellite state to realise a future better than its past, Georgia offers Hungary and Europe the resources needed to maintain that future.’

Katalin Novák emphasised that this is the first occasion for a Hungarian President to visit Rwanda, and it could therefore be a milestone in bilateral relations.

With the recent large-scale build-up of the national defence industry, Hungary is not only ensuring its own military equipment supply, but also contributing to the development of European defence industrial capabilities and thus enhancing the EU’s security.

Viktor Orbán highlighted that the European Commission requested a pay raise for the Commissioners, while it wants to eliminate utility price reductions in Hungary. He believes this is so absurd that it leaves most EU leaders dumbfounded. The PM also voiced his suspicion that the funds due to Hungary may have ended up in Ukraine.

Tamás Deutsch, during a public radio interview, drew attention to the concerning fact that the EU has been sending billions of Euros in military aid to Ukraine despite its current budget having been approved in December 2020, over a year before the Russian invasion began. He also pointed out that the exact amount spent on aiding the Ukrainian war effort is not even known.

The Hungarian government has recently announced a significant legal initiative: under the Hungarian Council presidency, the creation of a new rule of law assessment procedure overseeing EU institutions could be put on the agenda.

‘In contrast to other indicators, the Hungarian judiciary performs below the European Union average in terms of the perception of its independence. Based on this, we might state that the rule of law conditionality procedure launched against our country is justified. However, the validity of this argument is undermined by the fact that there are no criteria in this area either in which Hungary would not be ahead of several other Member States. For example, the Spanish, Slovak, Bulgarian, Polish, and Croatian public have a worse opinion of the independence of their country’s judiciary than the Hungarian.’

MEP Rob Roos and political pundit Eva Vlaardingerbroek, both from the Netherlands, took to Twitter to defend Hungary and advocate for its upcoming EU Council presidency.

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.

Balázs Orbán opined that the economic competition between the Western and non-Western world is becoming balanced, thus the world is returning to a state of equilibrium. He recalled that in 1990, the Western world accounted for 50 per cent of the global economic power, whereas this year it is only 30 percent, and this loss of influence is visible in several areas.

The President of the Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities stated that due to the complex task of shaping cybersecurity awareness, consciousness, and knowledge sharing, state organisations must take on an initiating and directing role, collaborating with market actors.

During his joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, Péter Szijjártó said the cooperation between the two countries has always been characterized by mutual respect. Hungary has always supported the right of the Jewish state to self-defence and to guaranteeing its security, the minister nailed down.

‘The real crisis is neither at the US-Mexican nor at the European borders. Instead, it stems from Central America. Crime, violence, corruption, and economic devastation in the region have propelled people to the border. In terms of Europe, it is the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East that have propelled their citizens to flee inhumane situations.’

Conservative member of the House of Lords David Frost touched on a number of important issues in his remarks, including nationalism, Brexit, the COVID lockdowns, and the future of conservatism in the UK. He also took the time to ‘shout out’ Hungary, which drew quite a bit of applause.

Hungary and Slovakia stand together in the EU when it comes to child protection and family policy, Slovak Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family Milan Krajniak states. An interview on wokeism, communism and conservative family policy.

The events of the 1990s are becoming part of history everywhere, including in Hungarian politics. It has been a quarter century since Viktor Orbán formed his first administration in 1998, which was then followed by four more after 2010.

On Day 2 of CPAC Hungary 2023, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó proudly proclaimed that ‘Hungary has come out of every crisis stronger than it had entered’. Family was also a prominent topic, as well as the need to protect life and Creation.

The event featured, among others, former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Croatian MP Stephen Bartulica, and Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga. Minister Varga called Hungary ‘an island where freedom still lives’; while referring to the Brussels bureaucracy and mainstream media as ‘an octopus with 100 tentacles that we have to fight’.

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.

Will the European Union gradually evolve into a community of fate? Whether or not this is going to happen will depend on the Europeans’ ability to learn from each other and to understand each other better. This again depends on mutual knowledge: of languages, of their respective neighbours’ histories, literatures and cultures… More mutual understanding may one day create a European public of some sort.

‘Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Christians thrive in every aspect of life and enjoy equal rights. If you look at other Muslim countries in the Middle East or Africa, it can be seen how Christians are persecuted and massacred on a monthly basis. I’m always shocked that the Christian leadership around the world and the mainstream media are so silent about the sufferings of persecuted Christians, but when it comes to Palestinians blaming Israel for Christian persecution, the whole world is screaming.’

Péter Szijjártó noted that the so-called post-Cotonou agreement, planned between the European Union and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group, has three pillars: economic cooperation, migration, and other issues, such as sexual rights. ‘Hungary clearly agrees that economic cooperation should be tightened, which would be beneficial for both parties, especially nowadays when the world is moving towards the formation of blocs again,’ he said, adding, however, that regarding the issue of migration and sexual rights, the Hungarian government has serious doubts and red lines.

It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the Court of Justice of the European Union created the principle of primacy of EU law from scratch. Although nowadays the mainstream considers this idea unchallengeable, the task of the constitutional courts is precisely to promote the development of a healthy balance by strengthening the principle of constitutional identity. By finding a balance, the tension between the legal systems of the Member States and EU law might also become reconcilable.