‘It does have some positive effect to see political opponents act so civilly with each other. However, it also subtracted from the entertainment value of the debate; and the performances were less persuasive as well, less likely to have enough impact to change somebody’s vote.’
Whether Budapest will remain a stronghold of the left is at stake in the municipal elections to be held on 9 June 2024. Mayor of Budapest is practically the highest political office directly elected by citizens in Hungary, but the outcome of the June election is exciting not only because of that but also because the capital has been the scene of daily party political battles ever since the last election in 2019.
Despite focusing his campaign on fighting against corruption and for more transparency in politics, opposition firebrand Péter Magyar decided to jump into the 2024 EP and municipal elections in a very unusual: he founded a civil organization around himself, then that organization partnered with a ‘phantom party’ founded in 2021 to get Magyar’s candidates on the ballot.
Supposed historian Michael Beschloss called PM Viktor Orbán of Hungry a ‘brutal dictator’ in reference to his meeting with Former US President Donald Trump. Rod Dreher, the renowned American columnist living in Budapest wrote a satiric open letter to him in response, drawing attention to the absurdity of that statement.
In the latest revelation from the undercover footage shot of Action for Democracy operatives, a progressive activist shared how he would bombard heads of major news outlets and low-level journalists alike with requests to cover the Hungarian election according to their narrative. One of the journalists for the American news agency Associated Press has admitted to having received such requests through emails.
Following Emmanuel Macron’s statement on sending Western troops to Ukraine, NATO allies are distancing themselves from the French President. In the run-up to the European elections, radical pro-war rhetoric may have serious consequences—the case of the Hungarian opposition in the 2022 parliamentary elections is a cautionary tale.
Retired General Wesley Clark has been caught on a secret recording, claiming that George Soros had been trying to influence elections in Bosnia and Hungary, and admitting that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary is rightful in having objections to his influence.
While political festivals are not unique per se, there is something unique about how the Hungarian right organizes its gatherings. Their continuing success is not due to populist chauvinism, or to making them mere echo chambers. In fact, plenty of world views, including opposition voices highly critical of the Orbán administration, clashed on stage in front of captivated audiences many times this summer.
The daily operation of the Hungarian railways is hampered by profound structural problems. It is not only a lack of sufficient funding but also the absence of a consistent and comprehensive development strategy that causes the ever-growing woes.
The confetti cannon has been fired and the Polish campaign is officially underway: at the beginning of August, President Andrzej Duda set 15 October as the date for the parliamentary elections, an event that is making not only the Poles but also Hungarians hold their breath.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.
