Hungarian Conservative

Russia held its first three-day-long presidential election between 15⁠–⁠17 March 2024; 7 May marked the previous cabinet’s last day in office. The new appointments in the Russian cabinet are significant not only because they mark the Kremlin’s apparent preparation for a long war, but also because they provide a fresh insight into the power games played in Moscow.

‘The Russia-Ukraine War clearly intimates an emerging multipolar order. States, and not just those in the Indo-Pacific, look around the world and discern that they have options…We are truly in a New World Order. Just not the one that its “end of history” architects originally envisaged.’

Originally a Greek-built temple, now known as the cathedral of the Moscow Patriarchate, is one of the most iconic buildings on the Pest side of Budapest, right on the bank of the Danube River.

‘The fact of the matter is that this is the West’s stupidest war with Britain helping to lead the way: unnecessary, unaffordable, and unwinnable.’

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

Gazprom is making efforts to compensate for the losses in the European markets, which occurred following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, partly due to the explosions in the Baltic Sea pipelines of the Nord Stream project.

Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin last met in person on 1 February 2022 in Moscow, before the outbreak of the war on Ukraine. This time the two leaders discussed energy matters and bilateral cooperation. During their meeting, the Hungarian PM also emphasized the need to put an end to the fighting and achieve peace.

‘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.’

‘Nation-states will be reduced in their functionality, becoming of secondary importance as entities, and the principle of territorial existence will slowly dissolve into a new, boundless uniformity. To use a rather un-English term, we are going to witness the deterritorialization of the world—a world deprived of the territories of its constituents, at least if we are to believe the new utopians.’

The rhetoric of spiritual mobilization, of Russia’s responsibility for the fate of the world, and of the ‘burden of the Russian people’ is becoming dominant once again as it was many times before during tragic periods in Russian history. Economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation as the punishment for the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine are interpreted by the Russian regime and the majority of Russians as confirmation of progressing Anomia in the West, and will strengthen the Katechonic argument.

Although some celebrated Prigozhin’s mutiny as the weakening of Putin’s Russia, it is important to remember that Prigozhin would not have brought about a ‘better or more democratic Russia’, only an even bloodier war.

The United States and the United Kingdom recently sanctioned Bulgarian citizens for their alleged abuse of public funds under the Global Magnitsky Act.

Rastislav Káčer made the controversial statements on the same TV programme where Speaker of the National Council Boris Kollár expressed similar views last April.

Upon the advent of the new decade, it was expected that the 2020s would be challenging even without a major economic crisis or another high-impact, low-probability event after the COVID–19 pandemic.

Ideologies offer a simplified, one-dimensional view of the world. In reality, international relations are determined by a multitude of complex factors, and are often based on pragmatic considerations.

According to Van Buren, it is ‘shameful’ that the Biden administration is not forcefully pushing for a diplomatic solution, but is content to bleed out the Russians, as it did in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

To reassure the public that the government cares for the soldiers in Ukraine and their families, Putin has met with a carefully selected group of mothers whose sons are fighting or have died on the frontline in Ukraine.

The Great Patriotic War, the Russian Empire and Ukraine are the three recurring themes that constitute the pillars of the Russian President’s historical narrative.

Alexander III of Russia is known to be Putin’s favourite tsar. During his reign, he advocated for Russification, for Russia’s interests in global affairs and for the ‘inviolability of autocracy’.

Although Putin was the first world leader Xi Jinping met with outside China since the outbreak of the pandemic, Beijing is probably more interested in a West divided over Ukraine than in Russia itself.

Russia has introduced new compulsory ’patriotic rituals’ that all school children are required to perform in schools. The new patriotic lessons include discussions of the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine and the ‘NATO threat’.

‘The problem is the Western European argument attached to these sanctions, namely: the greater the pressure exerted by the sanctions, the quicker peace will come. This mindset was wrong from the start because sanctions–as we saw earlier in the case of Iran– can only have an impact in the long run.’

To fully grasp the situation of Russian Christianity, it is necessary to have an understanding of the historical vicissitudes of the Church.

Since February, countless reports have been published about Putin’s health. Claims about his cancer, Parkinson’s disease and innumerable other alleged illnesses abound; however, his worsening looks could simply be the result of aging, with Putin turning 70 soon.

While most of the time Emmanuel Macron appears to be completely in line with the common position represented by the NATO allies and the European Union member states, there are occasions when he dissents.

It is our position that the Russian troops must be withdrawn from the occupied territories. Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the human and minority rights within its borders must be restored.

Although Vladimir Putin likes to pose as a historian, it seems that he failed to learn from history that blitzkrieg-type invasions rarely worked in the 75 years since the Second World War – emphasized Mr. Roberts.

Spain’s civil war has been widely considered as the ‘dress rehearsal’ of the Second World War, a sort of test-run for the global conflict that followed shortly. Now, the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war is becoming increasingly similar to it in many of its aspects, but does that mean we’re heading in the same direction?

‘I have been able to see a distinct feature in Europe: a complete lack of solidarity among Europeans. Part of this dichotomy stems from a lack of Christian leadership.’

While on the surface Putin’s responsibility for the crisis is apparent, the reality is that Putin was provoked by the West to invade Ukraine.