During a roundtable discussion organized by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) on Thursday in Budapest, experts dissected Hungary’s role and opportunities within the EU. They agreed that one of the key topics during Hungary’s EU presidency should be the integration of the Western Balkans. They also discussed the war in Ukraine, the Eastern opening, and the bureaucracy in Brussels, among other topics.
‘It was thought that the BRI, aside enhancing China’s geo-political clout, would have not just boosted trade and growth, it would have also created sustainable development and social stability in the countries involved. On the contrary, the social impact of large infrastructure projects were are often implemented through human rights violations.’
During the interview, the Prime Minister remarked that Europe is playing with fire, teetering on the brink between peace and war. He criticized European leaders for two years of indecision regarding strategy and sanctions, drifting not from war towards peace but from peace towards war. He expressed deep concern for the future of Europe, stating it is extremely dangerous.
The new oil deposit has been found by MOL in collaboration with another Hungarian company, O&GD Central Ltd. The new site is currently producing around 1,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Viktor Orbán has a very long record in public life, from his early days as a strong anti-communist freedom fighter, through to his first stint in government, and now to this long and successful tenure as a prime minister. He’s been able to articulate a brand of conservatism that is both economically sensible and culturally conservative and traditionalist.
‘Rather than an extremist group exploiting a social media platform to recruit vulnerable people, what took place last week appears to be quite the opposite. Decentralized local communities, far from governmental reach, are utilizing social media platforms to hype themselves up into a state where riotous violence becomes a necessary consequence. The ultimate conclusion to this sad series of events is that Egypt, as a centralized authority, is struggling to monitor these autonomous decentralized social media groups, and therefore these “Islamic vigilantism” incidents may continue to occur.’
‘The complicated political system, and the fact that the people are called three separate times to the polls this year may lead to the success of the more radical messages, because they are simple and smartly formulated. However, according to a survey conducted in April, more than half of those surveyed stated that in the European Parliament elections, they would vote for the party to which their preferred candidate for mayor belongs. This reflects the tendency of trusting local policy makers rather than politicians at the national level who constantly argue with each other in the capital city.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.