The new Hungarian draft law laying down general rules on the entry and residence of third-country nationals is an unprecedentedly strict piece of legislation, not only in Europe but also globally, to regulate the employment of workers from outside the European Union.
According to the Commissioner for Human Rights, both the draft legislative package submitted to parliament and the government’s parallel proposal, which seeks to integrate the new office into the Fundamental Law, are ‘so ambiguous that the proposed office could be used as a weapon against anyone considered an adversary.
The Sovereignty Protection Office will operate independently from all Hungarian constitutional bodies. Its primary objective will involve identifying and probing actions related to disinformation and attempts to influence the decision-making processes of the state and society on behalf of foreign nations, bodies, or organizations. Additionally, it will scrutinize entities whose activities, funded from abroad, aim to sway elections or manipulate the preferences of voters.
The school places the emphasis on teaching children to be able to speak, read and, to some extent, write in Hungarian, as well as introducing them to Hungarian culture, history, and geography. Many of the students visit Hungary regularly.
The American Hungarian Federation has been working tirelessly to preserve Hungarian culture and education in the United States, and has been a powerful advocate for the collective rights of Hungarians living in minority status in the Carpathian Basin. AHF also considers it its mission to dispel misleading narratives about Hungary and Trianon, AHF President Ákos Nagy told Hungarian Conservative.
The daily operation of the Hungarian railways is hampered by profound structural problems. It is not only a lack of sufficient funding but also the absence of a consistent and comprehensive development strategy that causes the ever-growing woes.
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.
For the government, the successful fight against inflation is a key issue as it aims to restore the previous trend of continuous wage growth, disrupted by the protracted war and the misguided sanctions.
Government spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi noted on public radio that inflation decreased to 17.6 per cent in July, representing a 2.5 per cent decrease compared to the previous month, and a 0.9 per cent decrease in food prices. On an annual basis, the combined effect of multiple government measures has practically cut the inflation of food prices in half, she stressed.
Based on the latest data, nearly 4.8 million people are employed in Hungary, and the unemployment rate stands at 3.8 per cent, well below the EU average. The data reflects that the Hungarian labour market remains tight, and employment is in good condition, State Secretary Sándor Czomba stated.
According to the ministry’s statement issued on 4 August, in July the average prices of products in 62 product categories decreased by an average of 7.7 per cent. This reduction was a result of price decreases in 53 product categories within one month. The decrease in food prices had a 0.7 percentage point impact on reducing inflation and a two percentage point impact on reducing food inflation according to the weighting of the shopping basket used by the Central Statistical Office.
Since 2010, the government has been working towards achieving full employment and building a labour-based economy. Compared to 2010, one million more people are now employed in Hungary, and the number of those employed is steadily approaching 4.8 million.
To further intensify price competition, the government decided to raise the level of mandatory discounts from ten per cent to at least 15 per cent starting today.
Gergely Gulyás emphasised that ‘if there is a political change in the United States, which, of course, depends on the decision of the Americans, then it is certain that Hungarian–American relations can greatly improve with a conservative American administration.’
‘There is also a way to deal with the world’s largest economy, for the US Dollar (USD) is not going to decline anytime soon. Those who claim that the USD is in decline often argue that for centuries, reserve currencies have risen and fallen in tandem with their home economies. As the US’ share of the global economy diminishes, economists argue, so too will the USD and its global hegemony. A fascinating yet hardly conclusive argument since there has never been a dominant global reserve currency prior to the USD. Quite the contrary, the USD is the only currency ever to have played such a pivotal role in international commerce.’
‘Many people have died, almost every family is mourning someone, and providing for the family is a daily struggle…we are talking about people who fled the horrors of war, their hometown, and even often their country, and yet we saw that even a gesture of help is sufficient to encourage them to accept the uncertainty and difficulties and return to their homeland. No sane person does this unless they believe in something, and these people believe in providence,’ State Secretary in Charge of Aid to Persecuted Christian Communities Tristan Azbej said in a recent interview.
Rheinmetall is one of the few companies of its type with a proven track record of successful localisation projects. But that is only part of the story. Equally important was the trust that was built between the German corporation and the Hungarian government during the process of expanding cooperation.
‘Nations are creations of God, borders are drawn by people. Supporting the homeland is important, and it has become a constitutional obligation. However, the Hungarian people have survived even when the leaders of the Hungarian state…forgot, gave up, or betrayed national unity, as it happened during the four decades of communism or during the periods of left-wing governments,’ the Chief of the Prime Minister’s Office stated on 4 June.
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.
‘We should not turn a blind eye to the EP representatives who seem to be out of line with their role. Repositioning the power of the EP is actually part of a wider phenomenon that tries to outsource political decision-making from the democratic frameworks of the Member States and thereby reduce the influence of voters on the fate of their own country.’
State Secretary Potápi reminded that the history of Hungary would have been unthinkable without the Jews in the early Middle Ages, and then later, from the 18th century until the mid-20th century. Jewish people ‘not only sacrificed their lives and blood for Hungary in the wars of the 19th and 20th centuries, but also made a significant contribution to Hungary’s economic and cultural development.’
Ágnes Hornung reminded that the government has expanded and enhanced the family support system year after year to facilitate childbearing, child-raising, home-building, and work alongside child-raising, all with the aim of leaving more money in the hands of families.
Today, confirmed anti-Semites may be the ‘great friends of the Jews’, but members and sympathisers of the government that proclaims ‘zero tolerance’ regarding anti-Semitism at all international and domestic fora, and which unequivocally stands by and up for Israel, can be labelled as the ‘new anti-Semites’. Israelis cannot invoke the Holocaust as an argument of her legitimacy and a historical event of her people, because the ‘new Jews’ are Palestinians and migrants. Now ‘Nazi’ apparently denotes a right-wing Jew in some circles, while Nazis seem to be the ‘guests of honour’ at seder tables.
Following the escalation, the Hungarian government started to evacuate Hungarian citizens from the affected zones. Four individuals have already been evacuated from Sudan, while the taking to safety of six other individuals is still ongoing.
While last September, only 40 per cent were satisfied with the transformed utility cost reduction scheme, by March this year the same number rose to 49 per cent. Additionally, the percentage of those dissatisfied dropped from 52 to 44 per cent, the data shows.
‘The current labour situation in Central and Eastern Europe is the real chance of the Roma right now. To be the working ones, the last ones, the valuable ones, the respected ones. Of course they need at least a basic education for that, but let’s admit: the colour of one’s skin and their ethnic background have a much lesser importance for employers nowadays than 15 or 20 years ago. If you are capable and available, come and get the job immediately, employers say.’
The Hungarian foreign minister reminded that the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians have been systematically curtailed in Ukraine since 2015, and the most recent example of this is that minority schools have become impossible to operate since September this year.
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.
An Israeli expert, who requested anonymity, told Hungarian Conservative that there is no doubt
foreign NGOs involved in the protests are funded not only by private individuals but by European governments, such as Germany, too. But it is impossible to prove that the financing coming from foreign governments is used specifically to support the anti-government protests.
Hungary managed to stay above the EU average with a fertility rate of 1.61 in 2021. This is also a sizable increase compared to the 1.23 figure the country reported in 2011.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.