As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, the prospect of peace remains as distant as it did 24 months ago. However, with the upcoming political events in Europe and the United States, 2024 holds the potential for significant changes. With these crucial events ahead, there is hope that 2025 could finally become the year of peace in Ukraine.
According to a recent POLITICO article, EU member states should impose sanctions on Russian nuclear energy, but Hungary’s opposition makes this impossible. Meanwhile, several states in the EU are cooperating with Russian nuclear energy companies, hiding behind Hungary’s veto, and acting behind the scenes to protect their interests.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó was the guest speaker at the latest event of the International Speaker Series organized by the New York Young Republican Club on 7 February. After addressing the challenges Europe has been facing lately regarding the war, migration, and shrinking competitiveness, the minister answered several questions from the audience.
Left-wing MEPs led by Guy Verhofstadt want to impose sanctions on Tucker Carlson for interviewing Vladimir Putin. The crackdown on the former Fox News anchor is a perfect illustration of the double standards set by Brussels concerning freedom of expression and freedom of the press, which is often applied to Hungary as well.
Citing concerns over the delay of the ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession, approving additional aid to Ukraine, and the Sovereignty Protection Act, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland has proposed the possibility of the United States imposing sanctions on Hungary as a punishment.
Despite climate and clean energy transition targets, the current energy crisis has forced many countries to increase coal-based power generation. The question is: can we expect a turn in coal use in the shorter or longer term, and closely related to this, is there any other reason for the rise in coal use for energy than the energy crisis itself?
As for 2024: once we have passed the most difficult and dangerous year, we can move on to the next one, the year of sovereignty protection. We who are interested in Hungary remaining a Hungarian country.
Speaking at the opening of an MVM customer service office in Nagykáta, Pest County, Zsófia Koncz emphasized that since 2013, the government has considered keeping the utility cost reduction programme in place a top priority.
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.
Despite the sanctions and the war driving up energy prices, the Hungarian measures to combat inflation and price increases are undeniably working. While EU countries scramble to look for new avenues to import electricity and gas, the Hungarian plans and contracts have managed to keep energy prices at affordable levels for citizens.
It seems that even the most vocal supporters of energy sanctions do not want to give up Russian gas at all cost, which has led to some unusual but rather obvious solutions. Today, fossil fuels from Russia are being transported via proxies to pro-sanctions Western Europe. Also, despite loud promises, the vast majority of Western companies operating in Russia have not left the country at all, at least according to a Swiss study from 2022.
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.’
As Japan’s example continues to illustrate, hope and one’s true objective must never be forgotten, let alone given up. For Hungary, as for Japan, national interests and the progress of the nation constitute both the foremost goal and the means to achieve it.
President Novák and President Zelenskyy engaged in a fruitful one-on-one in Kyiv, which may pave the way for more constructive bilateral relations.
For the government, the successful fight against inflation is a key issue as it aims to restore the previous trend of continuous wage growth, disrupted by the protracted war and the misguided sanctions.
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.
According to the ministry’s statement issued on 4 August, in July the average prices of products in 62 product categories decreased by an average of 7.7 per cent. This reduction was a result of price decreases in 53 product categories within one month. The decrease in food prices had a 0.7 percentage point impact on reducing inflation and a two percentage point impact on reducing food inflation according to the weighting of the shopping basket used by the Central Statistical Office.
The ministry emphasised that combined cycle gas turbine power plants can be built relatively quickly, have exceptionally high efficiency, low specific carbon dioxide emissions, and their capacity can be adjusted to consumption levels.
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.
To further intensify price competition, the government decided to raise the level of mandatory discounts from ten per cent to at least 15 per cent starting today.
It is important to remember that, compared to the stable period of 2017–2018, some 80 per cent of the rise in inflation in Hungary could be attributed to external circumstances, and only 20 per cent to strictly domestic reasons. Taking into account the ambivalent effects of the war situation and the ensuing sanctions, these rates are likely to remain important determinants of inflation developments in 2023.
Brussels should emerge from this leadership crisis as soon as possible, and from this perspective, next year will be crucial, Balázs Orbán said in reference to the upcoming European parliamentary elections.
At a joint press conference held with his Slovak counterpart in Budapest, Minister Szijjártó said both Slovakia and Hungary insist that the composition of the energy mix of member states should remain a national competence.
During the inauguration of a new solar power plant established by the MVM Group, Alexandra Szentkirályi stated that due to the war in Ukraine and the imposed sanctions, a very challenging energy situation has emerged. Therefore, the government’s most important task is to strengthen Hungary’s energy independence.
The Hungarian government has secured an exemption regarding the maintenance of Russian metro cars, allowing the sanctioned Moscow-based company to once again deliver parts to Budapest.
Ukrainian representative Yuriy Kamelchuk demanded an explanation as to why Hungary had blocked the payment of the next instalment of military aid from the European Peace Facility (EPF) to Ukraine. In his reply, the Hungarian minister reminded that Ukraine has put the biggest Hungarian bank on their list of international sponsors of terrorism, suggesting that the Hungarian bank enables the Russian war machine. As soon as OTP is removed from that list, the minister declared, Hungary will reconsider its veto.
Starting from today, the mandatory discount programme has been launched in grocery stores all over the country to make sure Hungarian families have access to basic foodstuffs at affordable prices.
The Hungarian government blocking the latest round of sanctions comes only days after the Orbán administration vetoed the release of €500 million of military aid to Ukraine. The blacklisting of the Budapest-based OTP Bank by Ukrainian officials is behind both of these decisions.
The State Secretary said that since 2010, every year has been the year of families in Hungary. He added that the family support programmes in the country are still work in progress, with the government working dynamically on introducing new schemes as soon as possible.
Despite OTP’s continued support of Ukraine, the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention has recently classified the Budapest-based bank as an ‘international war sponsor’ for not shutting down its Russian subsidiary.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.