Hungarian Conservative

‘The foremost step is to acknowledge, from a political standpoint, that we are in an increasingly complex world: under these circumstances, India, Europe, Central Europe and Hungary can indeed work together,’ Professor Raja Mohan, a leading expert on Indian foreign policy suggests.

Viktor Orbán has firmly stated that Hungary will not approve any EU budget increase until its access to the withheld funds is reinstated. The EC may now be willing to release the frozen funding to gain Budapest’s support for an increase in the EU budget to secure more financial aid to Ukraine.

OTP Bank made several commitments regarding its future plans in the Russian market in an agreement concluded with the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention, mediated by the European External Action Service. The Ukrainian authorities have removed the bank from the list of international sponsors of the war, and stated that now they expect OTP Bank ‘to promptly adhere to the agreement.’

‘If the Hungarian government has other countries standing up for Hungary, that’s the best way to push back against Washington and Brussels,’ argues James Carafano, Senior Counselor to the President and E.W. Richardson Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

The Rubicon Institute organized a large-scale conference on 23 September that focused on the reawakening of the century-old field of geopolitical thinking, shedding light on the connections between geographical conditions and political decisions.

Orbán began his speech by asserting that ‘this year has enormous amounts at stake because the Soros empire, in collaboration with the governing American Democrats, is launching an attack on right-wing media and enthusiastic national parties in many European countries, portraying themselves as Goliaths’.

After the Polish government decided to extend their ban on Ukrainian grain imports on Wednesday, the Hungarian agricultural minister also announced that Hungary will continue to keep Ukrainian grain and several other agricultural products out of the country to protect local farmers. UPDATE: The prohibition of the import of the Ukrainian products in question was published in the Hungarian Gazette after Brussels lifted the grain ban last night.

According to Hungarian Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Hungary and Georgia’s cultural similarities make the bilateral dialogue easier. Both nations speak a unique language, have a ‘closed culture’, and are committed to the values of Christianity, he stressed.

According to Viktor Orbán, EU institutions have been unwilling to side with the member states of the Union, and instead, have followed US interests with regard to the issue of Ukrainian grain.

The next few weeks will show the true situation on the front: success in Ukraine will bring the war closer to its end; failure could result in a stand-off and the conflict dragging on for years.

A recently released Russian history textbook defaming the Hungarian 1956 Revolution and Freedom Fight has caused serious public uproar in Hungary, with many on the right and the left denouncing it as a falsification of history.

The new ambassador to Hungary, Sándor Fegyir (in Ukrainian: Федір Федорович Шандор) was born in Ungvár (Uzhorod) into a Hungarian Ukrainian family in 1975. A sociologist and university professor, he volunteered to fight for his country when Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and he has been on the front ever since as the leader of the so-called ‘Tanscarpathian Dragons’ unit.

The government does not intend to hinder Sweden’s NATO membership, the Hungarian foreign minister stressed, noting that he has been in continuous consultation with Turkish leaders regarding both the Swedish and earlier, the Finnish NATO accession. Regarding the Ukrainian conflict, Szijjártó stated that as a neighbouring country, Hungary is in a unique position due to the large Hungarian community living in Transcarpathia.

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.

‘It makes me extremely embarrassed and sad as an American to see this envoy from the Biden administration coming here with bizarre sex politics, trying to push them on Hungarians for no reason that benefits American national security or the economy.’

President Novák and President Zelenskyy engaged in a fruitful one-on-one in Kyiv, which may pave the way for more constructive bilateral relations.

The Ukrainian ombudsman informed Katalin Novák about the process of repatriating and rehabilitating children who were taken to Russia from the occupied territories. The Hungarian president reminded that Hungary is conducting its largest humanitarian action in history, with a particular focus on hosting Ukrainian children at various holiday resorts this summer.

Hungary’s complex Ukraine policy is influenced by its desire to protect ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia. Can Ukraine’s compliance with Hungarian demands lead to more support and cooperation, especially given Hungary’s historical experience with Russian aggression?

The Prime Minister stated that both the European and Hungarian economies are influenced by the Russo-Ukrainian war. If the war were to end, both economies could show their ‘better side.’

Hungary as a small country does not make decisions for global order as a whole, but it has a unique message for many other small and medium-sized countries that are in the same situation as Hungary, with the same interests in openness to other countries, connections with other countries, their existing alliances, and which also have an interest in preserving their culture and identity, Gladden Pappin suggests.

‘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.

‘Hungary’s support for Georgia makes sense in a number of ways. With both nations having brutal histories of Russian domination, Hungary understands the struggles Georgia has had in coming out of Moscow’s shadow after so many years behind the Iron Curtain. While Hungary offers support to a fellow former communist satellite state to realise a future better than its past, Georgia offers Hungary and Europe the resources needed to maintain that future.’

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Hungary has been conducting regular surveys to gain valuable insights into the evolving needs of Ukrainian refugees returning to their homeland. The organisation’s quarterly Crossing to Ukraine reports shed light on crucial aspects of this complex situation.

The recent military coup in the West African nation of Niger has thrown the country into turmoil. The forcefully ousted President Bazoum is currently under ‘house arrest’, but he managed to publish an opinion piece in The Washington Post. One Hungarian citizen was successfully evacuated last week through a rescue mission organised by the Italian military.

The military journalist’s charity is sending strictly civilian aid, such batteries, drones, and food, to the 68th Transcarpathian Special Battalion which includes many ethnic Hungarian soldiers fighting on the front. Mr Trautmann also shared some insights into the mood and general mindset within the Ukrainian military.

It is quite clear that the Ukrainians would have never survived this long against the Russian aggression without the financial and military assistance of the US. Yet the Biden administration has thus far offered no strategic argument on behalf of the costs and risks, let alone what is the overall end objective of the war.

The Budapest embassy stated that the United States government made significant efforts over the years to avoid this modification and resolve the longstanding security risk resulting from the Hungarian simplified naturalisation process. However, the Hungarian government decided not to address the concerns raised and did not take the necessary steps to fully comply with the VWP requirements.

Unlike ‘unitary’ bombs, cluster munitions are not single shells; instead, they consist of a dispersive mechanism that releases numerous grenade-like bomblets mid-air, designed to explode upon impact. However, many of these smaller submunitions fail to detonate upon landing, remaining in the ground for extended periods, posing a threat to the civilian populations be they farmers, children playing or any passers-by.

‘One might conclude that only rogue states wage war without declaring it, yet the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the prolonged military involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq were not preceded by a declaration of war issued by the United States Congress either.’