Hungarian Conservative

According to Csaba Lantos, over 28,000 people have already pre-registered for the Solar Energy Plus programme, with over 15,000 subsidy applications received so far for the installation of solar panels and accompanying green energy storage units.

We can say, albeit cautiously, that 2023 was a year of struggle for many of us, but a year of achievements and success, too. If we take the word ‘struggle’ out of the previous sentence, we could even turn this assessment into a New Year’s wish.

István Schink was originally fired from his post at the II. Rákóczi Ferenc Secondary School in Munkács (Mukachevo), Ukraine in January. An April ruling by the District Court reinstated him, however, he was again removed three weeks later. That was also challenged in court, and the judges sided with Schink again.

The largest national minority living in the capital city is the Chinese; while the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war led to the Ukrainians becoming the second largest minority in Budapest.

Since the regime change, we have had eight heads of government, of whom only Viktor Orbán has had more than one term. With his current term running until spring 2026, he has every chance of becoming a historical record holder after 16 years in power.

Michigan State University law professor Adam Candeub recently gave an interview to the Hungarian periodical Mandiner, in which he touched on a wide array of important issues, such as immigration, preserving cultural values, and the European Union trying to pressure Hungary into giving up its sovereignty.

The Tranzit Festival in Tihany begins today. Beside Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, opposition politicians will also participate in the event. Márton Békés, chief editor of the organising Kommentár magazine, spoke with Mandiner about what to expect at the conservative intellectual gathering, the culture war, and more.

The Transcarpathian-Hungarian mathematician left the teacher’s pulpit behind to volunteer for the Ukrainian military.

When it comes to political groups, we generally lean towards showing them the way out, says László Lukács. An interview with the founder and frontman of one of the most influential rock bands in Hungary called Tankcsapda, about faith, country, and his virtual life on social media.

Gergely Karácsony’s 99 Movement received over 650 million HUF in funding, mostly after they went inactive with the Budapest Mayor dropping out of the primary race for prime minister. The organisation claims that the bulk of its revenue came from ‘microdonations’ collected in cash in drop-boxes at live events. However, even opposition media admit that this is more than unrealistic given the large sum, and the fact that much of it came in foreign currencies.

Experts fear that the government are making it difficult to claim these parcels on purpose; and that the former land confiscations by Slovak authorities have effects that still linger.

Eurostat released its statistics on excess mortality rates in the EU for December 2022. The numbers show a staggering 19 per cent increase in the region overall. However, in Hungary, the same number is a mere 2.8 per cent.

‘The European Commission is getting more political than its predecessors. In my view, this is unfortunate, given that this body is meant to be independent—the “Guardian of the Treaties”.’

The Islamic faith has five pillars, and jihad is not among them—yet it is spreading as a devastating ideology in the Muslim world and its border areas. An interview with jihad researcher Anthony Celso.

‘Christians in the Middle East are sacrificing their lives to preserve their faith and identity,’ Juliana Taimoorazy, an Assyrian Christian activist reminded us in the interview she granted to Mandiner.

The struggle between a rising China and a hegemonic United States poses the genuine risk of another world war; historical precedence tells us that such conflicts rarely end without bloodshed. An article by security expert and military historian Bálint Somkuti, published on Mandiner.

Former Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski shared his views on sanctions, the outcome of the war and Viktor Orbán with conservative weekly Mandiner.

The economic sanctions against Russia seem to have hurt Europe more than the country stricken by them. Russian economy is not weakening as rapidly as those of some EU countries.