‘All major US media outlets keeping quiet about the imprisonment of an American citizen for a political opinion—he was never even accused, let alone proven to be coordinating with the Russian state—is scary. How is it that not one journalist in American mainstream media is willing to write a single, factual, non-disparaging article about the plight of Mr Lira?’
‘The fact is, however, that the continent’s current economic situation finds only a relatively small number of EU countries in a giving mood. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that the European Commission’s current proposal was not ‘realistic’ and that the Brussels-based body was asking too much. Similar comments have come from Berlin.’
In his regular interview on public radio, the Hungarian Prime Minister pledged to defend Hungary’s borders, to resist pressure from Brussels aiming to change his government’s policies, insisted that Ukraine cannot win on the battlefield, and announced a new National Consultation.
Speaking at a high-level international conference in Minsk, Belarus, the Hungarian foreign minister said Europe and Hungary had already paid a high price for a war they are not responsible for.
According to the Ministry’s statement, Minister Szijjártó spoke up during a meeting following the EU Foreign Affairs Council on the proposals regarding security guarantees for Ukraine. These proposals could provide €20 billion of support for arms shipments and the deployment of a training mission in Ukraine over the next four years.
Orbán told his audience in Veszprém that Hungary was the ‘first and only’ country trying to ‘hold back the European people from willingly marching into an even greater war’. Referring to the ‘chivalry of the Hungarian people’, he said that ‘again and again those whom we saved turn against us’ when ‘we are defending them’. He went on to state that Hungary had defended Europe against migration ‘and we were the first to propose peace instead of war, which might have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.’
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.
It is quite apparent that from Afghanistan to Ukraine, from Israel to North Korea, the world is worse off than it was when Donald Trump occupied the White House. Can all this really be just by mere chance?
If Hamas wants war, it also appears to want an Israeli response so tough that it will be able to play the sympathy card around the world—in an attempt to perform an act of ju-jitsu that will transform Hamas from aggressor to victim.
Viktor Orbán met the Georgian prime minister this week. He is expected to also attend a forum in China, where Vladimir Putin will also be present. This could be the first time the two meet since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
At the discussion Russia expert David Satter expressed scepticism about Russia being trustworthy regarding keeping the terms of a potential ceasefire, while Attila Demkó argued that Ukraine has already secured a great victory against Russia: it has not become a puppet state of Moscow.
In a recent Facebook post, Péter Szijjártó informed that he had a phone conversation with the South Korean Foreign Minister Park Joo, in which they discussed not only issues of bilateral cooperation but also the significant challenges facing international security.
‘According to recent polls, neither United Right nor Civic Platform will be able to form a government on its own…Donald Tusk’s situation seems easier in that he may have a realistic chance of including both the aforementioned Lewica and the Third Way alliance in the future governing coalition. This does not mean, however, that it would be easy for him to govern with these parties, and indeed such multi-party coalitions—let us not forget that the KO is itself an alliance—are often not very stable and long-lived.’
Recently, the Danube Institute co-hosted an event with Helena History Press where Danish author Jaap Scholten talked about his personal experiences while travelling throughout Ukraine in the first six months of the war.
‘I believe that the presence of all of these varying opinions is what makes the Third Danube Geopolitical Summit stand out. As James Carafano, Senior Counselor to the President at The Heritage Foundation noted during his opening address: the Danube Institute is a place that gives a platform for real dialogue.’
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.
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.’
In response to a query by Breitbart, the US State Department has confirmed that Gonzalo Lira is still detained in a Ukrainian prison. Lira is a Chilean–American citizen journalist who was arrested in May for allegedly spreading Russian propaganda in Ukraine, and tried to flee to Hungary in August while out on bond.
‘The clashes are ongoing, there is no harmony, they were sent here to carry out the school’s death sentence’, Pál Popovics, an informatics teacher at the school said.
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.
Barna Pál Zsigmond emphasized during his press conference in Kossuth Square held on the occasion of European Languages Day that more than 700 million European citizens in forty-six countries mark the day each year, drawing attention to one of the continent’s defining values: linguistic diversity.
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’.
In her remarks at the UN, the Hungarian President noted: ‘We know that peace can only become a real possibility when at least one party realized that the time for negotiations has come.’ She added: ‘We cannot decide on behalf of the Ukrainians how much sacrifice they are willing to make, but it is our duty to represent our nation’s desire for peace.’
In her remarks at the UN, the Hungarian President emphasized her intention to amplify the voices of those who endure war, recalling her recent visit to Ukraine. As her second message, Novák drew attention to the dangers threatening societies when families are broken, schools neglected, and churches discredited.
In a radio interview, Minister István Nagy alleged that the European Commission was serving the interest of ‘US, Saudi, and Dutch companies and investors’ with their controversial decision, and not the small Ukrainian farmer’s as they claim.
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.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.