Hungarian Conservative

Miklós Szánthó announced that the conference will be taking place between 25–26 April, and the keynote speaker will be Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary.

While the new liberal government in Poland has brought the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis within a month, Hungarian MP Márton Tompos from the leftist Momentum party is apparently looking to emulate the Polish Prime Minister, and is threatening with similar retaliation in the low chance of a leftist takeover in Hungary.

Péter Szijjártó opined that, given all the elections taking place in the world from the United States to Europe, this year will be the political equivalent of the Super Bowl.

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.

No doubt, our continent faces deep crises. And yet, if the cause of human trust, autonomy, and creation can be revitalized in our time, it is going to be Europe that proves this.

Emmanuel Macron will preside over the national tribute ceremony for Jacques Delors at the courtyard of the Invalides Cathedral in Paris on Friday morning.

‘It may very well be that in a few decades’ time, it will become clear to all analysts that the US’s rise to being a hegemonic power has carried the seeds of its downfall, too.’

Rarely has a single year carried such profound implications for global security and the future as the one that lies ahead. With conflicts erupting across the globe, the foundations of the international order are being relentlessly tested. Compounding
these challenges, 2024 is marked by the impending presidential elections in two formidable and opposing powers, the United States and Russia. Similar gravity can be attributed to the European Parliament elections scheduled for the same year, where a realistic opportunity exists for the reinforcement of right-leaning forces.

‘Given these numerous negative trends, it is clear that 2024 stands as a do-or-die moment for European leaders and policymakers to save and turn around the European Union. Achieving such will require making painful decisions. In the short term, the most immediate, visible, and pressing among these is addressing the migrant crisis, including the reality that many migrants, refugees, and illegal immigrants are taking advantage of Europe’s over-generous welfare state.’

While political festivals are not unique per se, there is something unique about how the Hungarian right organizes its gatherings. Their continuing success is not due to populist chauvinism, or to making them mere echo chambers. In fact, plenty of world views, including opposition voices highly critical of the Orbán administration, clashed on stage in front of captivated audiences many times this summer.

The political director of the Prime Minister emphasized that the EU treaty is unequivocal: expanding the EU requires the consent of the member states, and Hungary’s rights cannot be restricted beyond a certain extent by any procedural rule.

Regarding the acceptance of the fifty billion euros financial package for Ukraine, he noted that it would have meant a serious and immediate detriment to Hungary. ‘We see that the European Union wants to finance a failed strategy, and it makes no sense whatsoever,’ he expressed.

The Prime Minister said the EU was in the habit of making bad decisions, and he listed the 2008 financial crisis and migration as examples, as well as the decision regarding the war in Ukraine to go ‘towards war and sanctions’ rather than in the direction of peace.

The fate of the motion was uncertain right up until the votes in the House were tallied, as many members of the governing Conservative Party faction indicated their inability to accept the proposal, deeming the suggested legislation insufficiently radical. In the event of the proposal’s failure, several members of the Tory faction’s right wing signalled their readiness to initiate a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In her book, Bradley-Farrell encourages American readers to turn their attention to the current governmental policies of Hungary, viewing them as a guiding path for resisting progressive aspirations.

Geert Wilders has reached the peak of his 25-year political career. However, the Party for Freedom, which does not even have a quarter of the seats in parliament, will need to find several coalition partners to win a majority. Can it be done?

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.

No surprises expected: the Kremlin is preparing for the 2024 presidential elections with hand-picked candidates and restrictions.

Balázs Orbán presented the French version of his book The Hungarian Way of Strategy at a roundtable discussion organized by the Hungarian consulate in Paris. The second part of the book, focusing on economic issues, is expected to hit the shelves before Christmas.

Ursula von der Leyen, presenting the report on the expected reforms for the EU accession of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, as well as the accession prospects for the Western Balkans and Turkey, announced that the European Commission recommends initiating accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, as soon as they meet final conditions.

The Hungarian Prime Minister and his team are clearly in a creative mood: they have published a funnily irreverent Star Wars-themed TikTok video, built on some key sentences in Viktor Orbán’s 23 October speech.

In his speech at the Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, Viktor Orbán stated that Europe is facing difficult dilemmas, and the answers provided will have a strong impact on the relationship between the Turkic world and the continent. The PM emphasized that from a European perspective, global security is currently in the worst condition since the end of the Cold War.

German Green MEP Daniel Freund thought that 23 October was the right time to publish the report on Hungary by the EP’s so-called Supervisory Body. He is proud to have been involved in its preparation, which is a shared pleasure for all of us, as his involvement is a guarantee that the document cannot be taken seriously.

Congressman Johnson became the 56th Speaker of the House after his predecessor, fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy, became the first Speaker in US history to be ousted by the House.

In the statement, the MEPs said that the four left-wing groupings of the EP held a joint press conference on Monday at which Germany’s Green MEP Daniel Freund and Hungary’s left-wing MEP Katalin Cseh ‘repeated their usual false accusations and lies’ which, according to the Fidesz MEPs, had been repeated by ‘the Hungarian dollar Left led by Ferenc Gyurcsány in the recent period’.

At a campaign rally in Clive, Iowa on Monday, President Trump called PM Orbán ‘the strongest leader, a very powerful man,’ as well as ‘a great gentleman’.

Despite having only two Democrats and eight Republicans on the ballot, Jeff Landry, with the endorsement of President Trump, managed to win over 50 per cent of the popular vote in the primary, and thus became the next governor of Louisiana. What does this mean for 2024?

Hungarian director Béla Tarr is set to be honoured with the Honorary Award by the President and Board of the European Film Academy at the 36th European Film Awards in Berlin on 9 December.

Szili, who has participated in the commemoration event in previous years, recalled the inhumanity of the displacements and discussed the lasting consequences of the Beneš Decrees, the necessity of retaining ethnic-based politics, as well as the current state of national minorities and their possibilities for improvement in connection with the upcoming European Parliament elections next year.

‘What sacrifices would the Australian nation be prepared to make now? I suspect that we will have to make some, more than we have recently had to—sacrifices in treasure, at least, if we are to avoid having to make them in blood. Because dictatorships are on the march, not just here in Europe and in the Middle East, but in East Asia too, and the only way to see off aggressive bullies is to meet them with an equal measure of strength and determination.’