The protagonist of the 2024 film The Brutalist is brilliant architect László Toth, who leaves Hungary in the aftermath of the Holocaust to rebuild his life in the United States. While Toth never existed, his character is based on two great Jewish Hungarian pioneer architects: Marcel Breuer and Ernő Goldfinger.
‘By maintaining a flexible and multi-vector foreign policy, Hungary can remain a keystone state, mediating between various global powers while safeguarding its economic and strategic interests against the uncertainties of a shifting global order.’
‘When Brussels’ antagonism was previously limited to Hungary and Poland, it was easier to frame Budapest and Warsaw as isolated cases. However, this narrative is rapidly collapsing. It won’t be long before Brussels finds itself in opposition to the majority of member states and the will of their electorates.’
‘The more this happens, the more Europeans will realize that they do not live in truly free countries, and that what they have been sold is a falsehood. Those responsible for the economic stagnation in Europe, the insecurity, the loss of identity, the demographic decline, and the extreme polarization of societies have a name and a surname: the European Establishment.’
‘People are challenging the pressure that comes from the media and the unrepresentative elites and are pushing for the return of proper conservative policies. This would not have happened without the victory of Donald Trump in 2024, the resistance of leaders such as PM Orbán, as well as the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk and the rise of alternative media.’
‘If Javier Milei can sack ten thousand bureaucrats, if Nayib Bukele can imprison ten thousand MS-13s, if Trump can buy Greenland and take back the Panama Canal—well, what else is on the menu?’
‘As we step into 2025, the world stands at a crossroads and on the brink of major breakthroughs in many aspects. The world order is in transition. Artificial Intelligence is poised to reach new milestones, unimaginable only a few years ago. Many crises, natural or manufactured, have reshaped the geopolitical landscape, and tested our societies’ resilience.’
‘While North Carolina Democrats enjoy some critical demographic tailwinds, recent election results suggest demographic destiny is likely an overrated idea in American politics.’
‘Like most U.S. presidents, Nixon had controversial policies, as with the secret bombing of Laos and Cambodia, which coerced the North Vietnamese to the aforementioned peace accords. All things being equal, perhaps history will one day remember him as the man who paved the way, if not fomented, for nations to consider speaking with each other, as opposed to shooting at each other.’
‘A Hungarian grand strategy for the 21st century must be based on principles that go beyond the question of Eastern or Western orientation.’
‘Elon Musk is dismantling one of the most powerful weapons progressives have wielded: the deliberate silencing of opposing voices. Musk is countering this strategy by simply allowing right-wing forces to voice their opinions. In other words, he is upholding their most fundamental democratic right: the right to freedom of expression.’
‘While the world is justly concerned about the acts of jihadist violence, it has been led by neoconservative and progressive politicians and the mainstream media to believe that the acts of terror carried out by Muslims are sparse and provincial. Consequential to this has been the denial of the jihadist doctrine as a juridical development of Islamic sacred texts.’
‘Prime Minister Orbán has already demonstrated that strong leadership can make a difference. By uniting in an emergency Coalition of the Willing to Save Europe, championing economic freedom and cultural conservatism, European conservatives can chart a path toward a freer, more prosperous, and more cohesive future. The time to act is now. With Orbán’s leadership, 2025 could mark the beginning of Europe’s renewal.’
‘The Danubian Compact could serve as a modern, flexible framework for cooperation, focusing on shared economic interests, energy security, infrastructure development, and more. What if the real future of Central Europe does not lie in resurrecting the past, but in reimagining it for a new era? The pieces are there, the question is whether the leaders of these nations are willing to make that leap.’
‘The failed revolutionary upheavals in 1848 would see thousands of Central Europeans go into exile in Britain. One of the most famous of these was Hungarian national hero Lajos Kossuth, who travelled extensively in the United States before moving to London, to live there for most of the 1850s. In America, Kossuth was received at the White House twice by President Millard Fillmore, and was generally feted and celebrated everywhere he went.’
‘In few countries was the period of 19th century national revival more productive than post-Compromise Hungary, where the national-cultural revival was accompanied by a period of economic prosperity and renewed political prominence. And, within Hungary, no other building complex captures the spirit of this era, and its intertwining of the aesthetic, the historical, and the political, as the Buda Castle.’
‘It remains evident that the main actors of the architectures, systems, and organizations of the old world order are stubbornly clinging to their positions, unwilling to acknowledge the need for change. However, Hungary stands ready to take the lead in building a new Europe that prioritizes a more decentralized cooperation among nation-states.’
‘Lucifer certainly did not want to be God, for he was intelligent enough to know that he was not of the same substance of our Creator, but he wanted to be or rule like God. Envious of God, he thus submitted to his pride and rebelled against the Almighty—a temptation that at times can be appealing during our worst moments.’
‘In 1914, a simple chanting of a Christmas carol brought bitter enemies together, as if they had always been united. In a sense, they were united through Christ, Who made them see each that they could live in harmony. Could that happen today?’
‘That night in New York, I too felt the thrill of hope. There in the purity of the snow-frosted park, there was not enough evil in the world to extinguish the good in the hearts of men who love, and who hope in defiance of despair. As the Gospel of John says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”’
’Hungary is the beating heart of conservatism in Europe. The liberal establishment intuitively knows that to disrupt the education and development of Hungarian children and support for family values will atrophy this most precious vessel of common sense on the continent. All friends of national self-determination have a genuine interest in backing Mr. Orbán in these hard hours for Hungary.’
‘As Christmas approaches, even the most steadfast conservative is faced with a profound seasonal dilemma: should one opt for an artificial tree or remain loyal to the natural variety? The question is more than a practical matter—it is imbued with philosophical, aesthetic, and cultural significance.’
‘Sovereignty—the nation, the cultural identity, and the democratic institutions that give it meaning and weight—is the prior necessary condition for success. I believe there is a trend in this direction and it is why I am cautiously positive about the prospects for the ideas of the right.’
‘With the Second Vatican Council a new kind of theology—the so called nouvelle théologie —stepped inside the Church and started to play a decisive role in it. Its main authors like Marie-Dominique Chenu and Henri De Lubac emphasized that the Aristotelian concept of nature was somehow alien to Christianity and that a more existential, a more historical approach to man (and to Revelation as well) would be more appropriate.’
‘No, Mr Pressman, you never truly believed that Hungary matters. What you and President Biden thought was that ousting Viktor Orbán’s government mattered—to impose a progressive globalist agenda on one of the few European countries that prioritizes its own interests and sovereignty. And ultimately, you failed.’
‘This year has been full of lessons for conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic. There is an obvious need and constant request by voters everywhere for common sense conservative policies. The European elections showed this quite clearly by producing for the first time an alternative, centre-right majority in the European Parliament.’
Pollster Ann Selzer, who had been remarkably accurate in the state prior, showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading President Trump by three points in Iowa in the 2024 presidential election. President Trump ended up winning by 13.2 points, meaning a 16-point miss for Selzer. Her subsequent retirement left many to speculate about a case of bribery, and Trump has now launched a civil suit against her, alleging fraud.
‘The Romanian Revolution teaches several lessons. First, an age-old truth: Freedom isn’t free. There is a lot of talk about how it was the cooperation of superpowers that made Central European democratization possible. But Romania is the main example that it would not have been enough that Gorbachev caved in to Reagan and Bush Sr. If the Romanian people had remained silent, there would have been no pressure of a critical magnitude to remove the dictator.’
‘A simple example of restraining evil, which works quite well, are the referees who manage athletic contests. They simply enforce the rules so that order is maintained. They do not help either team win, they do not help the injured, they are not partial, and they do not furnish refreshments. Even so, they are critical to the players, the fans, the coaches, the media, and everyone involved.’
‘Life is not easy for many Hungarians, but Hungary has one big thing going for it: a strong sense of itself as a nation and a people. If it is true that hope comes from cultural memory married to the desire to return to what is good, true, and beautiful about the past, then Hungarians have every right, and indeed the responsibility, to be hopeful, even as the chill darkness of forgetfulness and cultural dispossession settles over Western Europe.’