Hungarian Conservative

The news of the assassination attempt against former US President Donald Trump had barely reached Hungary before hateful comments calling for the death of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán appeared in the comments sections of liberal media. Máté Kocsis, the parliamentary group leader of Hungary’s governing party, Fidesz, called for immediate action against all forms of incitement to violence.

‘These frustrated, single thirtysomethings, who were hit hard financially in the last two years, are angrier than ever about the government’s distribution of money to families. Of course, catering to childless single adults in a rapidly developing country where population decline is the biggest challenge is not smart as a matter of national strategy. But it could cost an election victory. Therefore, in my opinion, a strategic political decision may be required: to sacrifice some of the resources and channel funding to single adults as well, to allow conservative forces to remain in power, which would still be far more supportive of families and the nation than liberal forces.’

According to the PM, while ‘lost sovereignty was in the focus of the last century’, Hungary regained its sovereignty at the end of the 20th century, so ‘this decade is about retaining that sovereignty’. The lesson that can be learned from the dissolution of the Socialist bloc and of the Soviet Union, Viktor Orbán suggested, is that ‘it is worth being radical, recalling the activism and courage of the system-changing Fidesz politicians.

‘The term “liberal” was undoubtedly originally associated with the aristocratic spirit of freedom and generosity (in Latin: liberalitas), which, recognizing a natural hierarchy among individual beings, finds diversity welcome and does not desire to make things equal in all circumstances. Since many of the theoreticians of liberalism did not take this principle into account, it can be derived that most liberals strongly oppose the principle of authority.’

‘Liberalism demands we remain open to hearing differences of opinions and the ability to mediate them through democratic institutions. Openness, however, does not equate to acceptance, especially if the opinions are incompatible with the truths of the natural law, as John Locke had forewarned.’

The PM, speaking at the Tranzit festival, pointed out: the first thing young people need to clarify is whether there is a homeland, and whether being Hungarian matters. According to Orbán, one needs to ask oneself the question whether being Hungarian is the result of a biological coincidence, or that by being born Hungarian, one entered a situation, a context, a flow. Once a person has clarified this, it is possible to stand firmly on the ground, he declared.