Hungarian Conservative

In general, the negative image of Hungary currently prevailing in Germany and Europe provides a summary explanatory model for why German conservatives have such reservations about Hungarian politics…When supporting Hungarian positions, German conservatives not only have to make significant discursive efforts, but sometimes also see the foundations of their own political projects as thereby threatened. The risk thus often seems too great for many.

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.

Hungary won their Euro 2024 qualifying group unbeaten and ended the entire year without losing a single game. The National Team gave very little opportunity for the small minority of contrarians, actively rooting against them, to gloat.

One thing is clear: it is ethically good to reject antisemitism and terror apologetics. Such basic uprightness does not conflict with critical reflections on a heterogeneous, power-unequal world—because genuine critical thinking has never caused anyone to become an anti-Semite or a terror apologist.

Securing a spot in the 2024 UEFA European Championship marks a historic achievement for the Hungarian national football team, as it is the first time since the memorable 1985 campaign that they have qualified for a major tournament without the need for playoffs.

While the largest German paper Bild took a sympathetic tone toward refugees back in 2015, that has since changed. On 29 October, they published a 50-point anti-migration manifesto in which they proclaim, among other things, that ‘anyone who considers our constitution and our legal system a collection of non-binding recommendations should leave Germany as soon as possible,’ and ‘anyone who wants to live here permanently must learn German’.

Is it possible that concerns over the health and safety of EU citizens regarding the ‘illicit’ drug trade, suddenly dissipate when it becomes ‘licit’ ? If the answer to this is no, could a procedure under Article 7 be initiated against Germany, given that the dispute pertains to values defined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union?

Even if the Bundestag votes in favour of the tightening of the asylum law, deportations are not expected to increase significantly in Germany—according to the Interior Ministry, the number of deportations will rise by about 5 per cent as a result of the amendment.

According to Mercedes-Benz Chairman Ola Källenius, the company’s Kecskemét plant is a crucial part of their global production network. He stated that the future is being built in Kecskemét, and this is not mere flattery, especially after the first EQB compact SUV model rolled off the production line in the plant in the autumn of 2021.

The Hungarian Football National Team can secure a place at the Euro 2024 in Germany as early as tonight if they manage to beat Lithuania, which they are well positioned to do.

The Festival of Lights is traditionally one of Berlin’s most spectacular community events in autumn. This year marks the 19th edition of the ten-day festival, with nightly projections taking place at 43 locations, including several iconic landmarks. The Hungarian Cultural Institute is participating with a partly AI-generated video animation based on the most popular poems of iconic 19th century poet Sándor Petőfi.

The EU is suspending aid to the Palestinians with immediate effect following the Israeli attack, and has expressed its solidarity with Israel, underlining its right to defend itself against the violent and indiscriminate attacks, in accordance with international law.

‘Nachtmann argues that due to the important role the state had in Hegel’s thinking, it can be described as having both right-wing and left-wing components. It, however, stands in stark opposition to liberalism.

For liberals, the individual is a phenomenon standing alone by itself, envisioned as isolated. However, for Hegel, individuals only existed as part of the community, family, and nation.’

The next few weeks will show the true situation on the front: success in Ukraine will bring the war closer to its end; failure could result in a stand-off and the conflict dragging on for years.

Boris Palmer was once a wunderkind of Germany’s Greens, but his controversial takes on migration and cancel culture have forced him out of his party. His appearance at one of MCC’s events is not less divisive: is he a new Orbán-Versteher in the making?

The director of the Hungarian State Opera House, Szilveszter Ókovács, published a scathing response to the depiction by the Regensburg Theatre of a soon-to-premiere Péter Eötvös opera as a ‘bitter parable of the Orbán regime’.

While resistance to Hitler and Nazism is widely researched and celebrated, those who opposed National Socialism from the right are often forgotten. Zoltán Pető therefore attempts to shed light on a lesser-known chapter of anti-Nazi resistance.

In recent years, the number of German citizens moving to Hungary permanently, not only for holiday, study or work, has been increasing. The motives behind this phenomenon are often personal, but they also stem from certain realities of German society.

‘If I heard about a country that produces and develops military technology together with Germany and Israel, I would think twice before I would mess with it. And this is good news for all Hungarians,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán underlined at the opening ceremony.

This Saturday marks the 34th anniversary of the Pan-European Picnic, when East German refugees, attempting to defect to West Germany, were allowed to enter Austria by the Hungarian authorities. The Picnic is also a symbol of a borderless, free, united and Christian Europe.

Among buyers from abroad, Germans are the most active. Of transactions facilitated by real estate agency Otthon Centrum, 30 per cent of foreign buyers came from Germany, followed by Slovaks and with Romanians in the third place.

‘A significant part of European culture is fading away. The Greek tradition of philosophy, knowledge, curiosity, is being lost. We live in the period of cancel culture, of narrowing down what can be contested or argued or put into question. In terms of reason, of statecraft, state building, practical political rationality, much has also been lost.’

81 years ago, on 2 August 1939, Albert Einstein signed a letter from Hungarian-born physicists Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, and Edward Teller to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in which they warned him that Germany’s development of an atomic bomb may be a theoretical possibility in the near future. This letter, then, led to the launch of the Manhattan Project.

An article published by the Spanish online news portal ABC reveals that the influx of German retirees relocating to Hungary has surged by a remarkable 25 per cent. The article, referring to an undisclosed German newspaper, characterises Lake Balaton and its vicinity as a ‘fresh safe haven for conservative retirees.’

‘One might conclude that only rogue states wage war without declaring it, yet the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the prolonged military involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq were not preceded by a declaration of war issued by the United States Congress either.’

The minister highlighted that Brussels has requested a further 98.5 billion euros in contributions from the member states, which is fifteen times the total annual personal income tax revenue in Hungary and roughly equals the entire annual Hungarian state budget.

The Christian Democratic Union in Germany has shifted to the left in recent years, which does not seem to be working out for them, while the far-right has got stronger. Can a change of leadership and incoming conservative Secretary General Carsten Linnemann reverse course? An analysis by Bence Bauer, head of the German-Hungarian Institute for European Cooperation at MCC.

Hungarian Ádám Gali of the Wigner Research Centre for Physics is the leader of an international project aiming to create a small quantum processor that can operate at room temperature under normal office or home conditions.

Gergely Gulyás explained that since the previous cabinet took office in 2018, numerous changes have occurred in world politics and the economy, and the government elected in 2022 had to face completely different challenges than it did four years earlier.

In a recent interview with business news site Világgazdaság, Hungarian Tourism Agency CEO Péter Horváth highlighted that the number of guest nights booked by foreign visitors to Hungary is on the rise, while domestic tourism has shrunk, which is in line with international trends in the industry. On the whole, however, the total number of nights booked has increased by four per cent in the first five months compared to last year.