Hungarian Conservative

For the fourth consecutive year, the European Commission has published its annual report on the rule of law, which comes with few surprises. In addition to Hungary, Brussels is now concerned about the rule of law in Slovakia and Italy, which is unsurprising given that both Member States have governments prioritizing national interests. Poland, on the other hand, has fallen off the EU’s ‘bad guy’ list since Brussels’ favourite, Donald Tusk, came to power. This year’s report leads to a single conclusion: the Commission views the rule of law as a tool for political and financial blackmail.

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.’

Mattia Zaccagni’s last-minute banger gave the Hungarian national team a better chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the European Championship in Germany. If England beat Slovenia tonight, the Hungarian team will advance to the last 16 of the continental tournament.

The famous Hungarian ice cream and gelato chef, winner of the Gelato Festival 2024, runs the Fazekas cake shop in the 16th district of Budapest. He was placed #2 in the same ranking in 2022.

After being elected to the European Parliament, Italian Antifa Ilaria Salis walked free on 14 June, as Hungarian police released her from house arrest due to the immunity granted to MEPs. This news is both outrageous and terrifying, given the devastation Salis and her associates are believed to have caused, destroying the lives of innocent people in Budapest.

The far-left Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra coalition got above the parliamentary threshold in Italy last Sunday, and will delegate Ilaria Salis to the European Parliament. Salis was standing criminal trial in Hungary for allegedly taking part in Antifa’s attack on attendees of an event in Budapest in February 2023, but was now granted political immunity and will escape the charges.

Snap elections in France, the Belgian Prime Minister resigning, and the German coalition government in turmoil—all happening in the wake of the European elections. Even though the elections, billed as crucial, did not bring the right-wing turnaround many had hoped for, the right-wing parties, almost without exception, performed well, causing panic among the liberal elite in Western Europe.

The editorial board of Hungarian Conservative heartily congratulates Father Mario Alexis Portella, one of our staunchest and most prolific contributors, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ordination.

There is a growing sense that the two right-wing political groups, Identity and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), are willing to form an alliance after the elections. In this context, Marine Le Pen, the de facto leader of the French National Rally, has extended an offer to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to join forces. The new alliance could result in the right-wing bloc becoming the second-largest group in the new European Parliament, surpassing the Socialists.

Ilaria Salis, an Italian anti-fascist activist, was moved from a Budapest prison to house arrest on Thursday morning after spending over 15 months in custody. The court had ordered the payment of a €40,000 bail.

Giorgia Meloni has made it her mission to unite the European right after the European elections, effectively opposing the left-wing political groups in the new European Parliament. However, this will be a very difficult task: although they agree on a number of key issues, the two right-wing groups are divided on several matters, most notably foreign policy.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary needs economic relations, not ideological ones, with both East and West in terms of future high technologies.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni believes that the only viable path which takes everyone’s interests into account is to have a debate on how to stop illegal immigration into Europe. ‘The only serious approach involves cooperation with the origin and transit countries,’ she emphasized at a press event in Milan on Tuesday.

Ilaria Salis, the Antifa member who is being tried for brutally beating up a Hungarian man with her accomplices in Budapest in February 2023, accepted her candidacy for a seat in the European Parliament by the Italian far-left Greens and Left Alliance party. Her lawyer argues that this grants her immunity automatically, without having to actually win a seat in the elections in June.

Ignacy Czwartos’ exhibition was picked by an open competition during the time of the conservative PiS administration to be displayed at the 2024 Venice Biennale. However, the new Minister of Culture of the new Tusk government overruled the decision and cancelled the project.

The Milan appellate court also denied the Hungarian authorities’ extradition request, citing that it would damage the alleged violent perp’s ‘mental health’ as one of the reasons for their controversial decision.

In an interview with Italian public television, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated that he is appalled by how the Italian media has presented the Salis case, portraying the Antifa activist who beat innocent people last year as a martyr.

László Dudog, one of the most severely injured victims of the far-left attacks in Budapest last February, granted an exclusive interview to Italian media. The article has the potential to provide Italian readers with a more accurate portrayal of the events, prompting them to reconsider the misrepresented image of Hungary.

Ilaria Salis is one of the 20 radical left-wing, apparently anti-fascist activists, who arrived in Budapest last February with the explicit purpose of attacking ‘neo-Nazis’ and/or ‘neo-Nazi sympathizers’ ahead of the so-called Day of Honour events organized by Hungarian extreme-right groups. The randomly chosen victims suffered grave injuries including shattered bones and stab wounds.

According to press reports, Giorgia Meloni is in an endeavour to persuade Viktor Orbán to withdraw his veto on the €50 billion EU aid to Ukraine, offering a unique deal in return. Kyiv could soon face severe challenges or even collapse without substantial foreign financial assistance.

In recent weeks, the Western alliance behind Ukraine seems to have split: one side is beginning to acknowledge the realities and is pushing for peace talks, while the other side wants to keep pouring money and arms into Ukraine.

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.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has called for the creation of a common European army. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the question of how Europe can defend itself against the threats it faces has become increasingly pressing.

The First World War is known as the first dreadful and devastating armed conflict that engulfed almost the entire world. However, a chain of events during the December of 1914, known as the ‘Christmas truce’, showed that humanity and brotherly love could prevail over the senseless killing, if only for a brief time.

This year, Hungary is set to break both investment and export records, with incoming foreign direct investment doubling from the previous year to €13 billion and Hungarian exports increasing from €142 billion in 2022 to €150 billion.

Pelosi recently gave an interview to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. When asked about Prime Minister Meloni of Italy, she replied that ‘she is doing ok,’ but then contrasted that with Hungary, who she believes should not even be in the EU for its lack of support for Ukraine.

In the mid-2010s, the Hungarian defence industry was declared a key national economic area with the goal of providing Hungarian-made state-of-the-art defence equipment to the renewed Hungarian armed forces and make Hungary an arms exporter. Since then several major international companies have announced plans to bring their manufacturing and development capacity to the country.

Both countries have cited the increased threat of terrorism as the reason for their new, stricter measures on border control.

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.

The Italian-born sportsman received his Certificate of Citizenship from President Katalin Novák at the Sándor Palace. With Rossi’s leadership, the National Team has achieved outstanding results, such as beating England 4–0 in the Nations League.