Hungarian Conservative

‘Bluntly, the war in Ukraine has unveiled the West’s ESG goals for the hypocrisy they are. The political and business leaders who promoted them are now caught up in their own contradictions,’ Khaled Abou Zahr has written in an opinion piece published by Arab News. The article highlights the contradictions between Western leaders’ warmongering statements and their promotion of green policies and a sustainable future.

An opinion piece by the Washington, D.C.-based magazine The Atlantic is trying to make the case that Donald Trump’s victory in November could bring a ‘Hungary-style autocracy’ to America. Evidently, this is nothing new, just a usual hit piece by the liberal media in the US with the customary distortions, omissions, and half-truths.

Eight prominent British and American public figures have published an open letter in the Financial Times calling for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks in Ukraine. According to one of the authors, their letter was influenced by Viktor Orbán’s peace mission launched last week.

A rare opinion piece has been published by Die Welt recently discussing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s peace mission that kicked off last week. The article concludes that Orbán ‘deserves a chance’ and is doing more for peace than those in Washington and Brussels who criticize him.

The Metrodome Group, active in the Budapest real estate market since 1996, is opening its first representative office in Israel to offer investment opportunities in the Hungarian capital to Israeli investors. Among the many positive arguments in favour of Budapest, one that stands out is that Hungary remains one of the safest countries for the Jewish community in Europe.

‘The movie thus comes to a happy ending for the family involved (apart from the horrors experienced by the minors), but we are not relieved after watching it. Not only because we know that this is a true story, which makes it even more harrowing to follow. But also because by the end of the movie, we also learn (if we were not already aware before) that child sex trafficking is a huge global social issue, and one of the fastest growing businesses (comparable to drug trafficking) affecting millions of children, with millions of abusers and the U.S. authorities not seeming to be truly committed to eradicating it.’

An analytical piece by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network examines the ways Hungary can advance the EU accession of Western Balkan countries while also pointing out possible obstacles to the process as well as the reasons why the Orbán administration has decided to make the issue one of its top priorities.

The story begins in 1994, when a Texas pastor and his wife, leading by example, persuade the members of the congregation to take into foster care orphaned or severely abused children nobody else would want.

Political Director for the Prime Minister of Hungary Balázs Orbán talked to the prominent French paper Le Monde. In the piece, he discussed Hungary’s pro-peace approach to the Russo⁠–⁠Ukrainian war, the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as Commission President, and Fidesz’s pursuit of joining a political group in the European Parliament as well.

Law professor and legal philosopher Jenő Szmodis appeared on the Glóbusz podcast hosted by Jonatán Nagy-Bato, where they discussed the changing concepts of humanity over the course of history, alternating between individualistic and community-centred ideas.

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) has recently published a book about a new proposed foreign policy approach towards the Russo⁠–⁠Ukrainian war by the US, which was reviewed by Zoltán Koskovics, a geopolitical analyst for the Center for Fundamental Rights in Magyar Nemzet.

‘If we Europeans want to keep up with the Americans, we Europeans must become great again,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasized in an interview with German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost. PM Orbán also praised former US President Donald Trump for his pro-peace stance regarding the war in Ukraine, and spoke about his beloved sport, football, as well.

‘The question I am left with about Hazony’s rediscovered conservatism is whether it is a conservatism that is, or could be, rediscovered, or is it a conservatism that has never existed. And, even if it did exist at one time, could it ever exist in current circumstances, in which we live in a far more open type of society than Hazony envisages? If this latter is not the case, then as one who values aspects of our openness and indeed our rationality more than Hazony appears to, I have to conclude that, for all its merits and passion, Hazony’s book offers us no more than a dream.’

Professor Gottfried sat down for an insightful, two-hour discussion with host Meg Hansen of the Danube Institute, in which they covered topics such as the different branches of American conservatism, the current state of the political right in the United States, and ‘paleoconservatism’, a term coined by Professor Gottfried himself.

In the latest episodes of the Danube Institute’s podcast co-chair of the Israeli Sovereignty Movement Nadia Matar spoke about the nature of radical Islamist terrorism. To demonstrate her point, she showed a flag from the city of Bethlehem with the Arabic phrase ‘We will murder Jews on Saturdays and we will murder Christians on Sundays’ written on it.

‘I agree with those who think that historical authenticity should not be scrutinized in a historical adventure movie, because it should primarily work with exciting characters and a story that simply draws from historical events but does not aspire to document them. I still wonder where the vision of the course of history and its essential moments, mentioned by the producer, are to be found in the movie?’

‘In other words, Hussar Cut puts into a broader perspective the policies that PM Viktor Orbán carried out in the recent decade. It is also a comprehensive analysis of international relations, with special emphasis on the currently changing world order. Balázs Orbán draws the conclusion that the changes of the international system have made a new strategy necessary for Hungary.’

‘In the Hungarian leader, the EU faces a new type of Eurosceptic, one who doesn’t want to leave the bloc but instead shape it, putting his stamp on policies from support to Ukraine to the fight against climate change to migration,’ POLITICO wrote in their recently published analysis about PM Orbán’s foreign policy approach to the Brussels leadership.

The Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet talked to József Horváth, senior security policy fellow at the Center for Fundamental Rights, about former CIA agent and whistleblower John Stockwell’s revelations about the American intelligence agencies’ nefarious practices and collaborations with the mainstream media.

Supposed historian Michael Beschloss called PM Viktor Orbán of Hungry a ‘brutal dictator’ in reference to his meeting with Former US President Donald Trump. Rod Dreher, the renowned American columnist living in Budapest wrote a satiric open letter to him in response, drawing attention to the absurdity of that statement.

The book is extremely valuable in many aspects, for instance because it sheds light on the complex structure of the Hungarian immigrant society as well as of those of the Hungarian minorities in Transylvania and Vojvodina, and historical episodes less known to readers in the Hungarian homeland, thus providing valuable insights for those involved in diaspora studies, not only for interested non-professional readers.

‘What better explains the atrocities committed: coercion or the individual’s capacity or inclination for cruelty? Perhaps both, but to varying proportions.’ Author and historian László Borhi points out in his 2022 book The Strategies of Survival that, in his research, it was not always possible to draw a clear line between the different roles. ‘Several were convicted of collaborating with the Nazis and collaborating in atrocities, while other witnesses claimed that the person in question saved their lives’.

One of the recurring topics of Agustine of Hippo’s City of God, a foundational work of Western philosophy, is his critique of Roman religion as having no moral teachings to offer.

Hungary is not just a great country to live in, but also a nation with rich history that sparked the attention of many excellent historians from all around the world. A list of books about Hungarian history definitely worth reading.

Tom Holland, the British author argues in his book, Dominion, that even the most fervent Western secular humanists are deeply influenced by Christian values, perhaps more so than they might be willing to acknowledge.

‘Transhumanism—at least in the form in which it is represented and explained by Harari—stands, above all, on the ground of anti-religion. The mechanical man, who becomes immortal, as the meaning and purpose of history, is above all the opposite of the eschatological perspectives of all religions.’

God’s miracles occupy an important place in the Holy Scripture, demonstrating the omnipotent might of divine intervention that rules over the laws of nature. In his book titled Miracles, author of the Chronicles of Narnia and accomplished theologian C. S. Lewis undertakes the formidable challenge of unravelling the philosophical essence of these miraculous occurrences.

‘Nachtmann argues that due to the important role the state had in Hegel’s thinking, it can be described as having both right-wing and left-wing components. It, however, stands in stark opposition to liberalism.

For liberals, the individual is a phenomenon standing alone by itself, envisioned as isolated. However, for Hegel, individuals only existed as part of the community, family, and nation.’

Edward Nicolae Luttwak is an American strategist of Transylvanian extraction whose works give a valuable insight into the logic of confrontation between adversaries. His framework is useful for understanding the dynamics of any conflict, be it a clash between two palaeolithic tribes, a full-scale war or a street fight.

Hungary is entering an age where the space economy holds significant importance. Thankfully, it is welcoming the new era with a solid and well-functioning foundation, consisting of numerous private companies ready to engage in space exploration, as indicated by the Hungarian Space Kaleidoscope report.