Ukraine’s accelerated EU accession could consume essential resources and undermine Hungary’s strategic position, warned Political Director to the Prime Minister Balázs Orbán, who outlined the financial, geopolitical, and security risks at a Budapest business conference.
Over the weekend both pro-government and opposition rallies were held across Hungary’s capital, Budapest. The demonstrations sent a clear message: both sides are preparing for next year’s election with full force, lending the 2026 parliamentary contest a level of significance not witnessed in Hungary’s political history for quite some time—and demonstrating that the country’s democracy is very much alive.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is currently in Türkiye, where he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. One of Orbán’s closest allies in the region, Erdoğan is facing unrest on a scale not seen in years following the arrest of opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu on charges of corruption and alleged links to terrorism.
‘Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing the most serious constitutional crisis since its inception, and this crisis will be resolved through political and legal means,’ President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik told Hungarian Conservative. In the interview, the Bosnian Serb leader—currently facing two arrest warrants—sets out the lesser-known perspective of the ongoing tensions in the Western Balkans.
US Vice President JD Vance warned that Europe is heading toward ‘civilizational suicide’ due to unchecked migration, shrinking freedoms and embracing a woke agenda. Hungary is among the few bright spots, credited for defending its borders and national identity.
China rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s claim of large-scale Chinese military involvement on Russia’s side on Wednesday. Kyiv announced on Tuesday that two Chinese citizens had been captured in Donetsk and suggested that there could be ‘many more’ fighting against Ukrainian forces.
Human rights NGOs such as Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights joined Hamas in expressing their outrage over Hungary’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court and to refuse the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They also called on the European Union to revoke Hungary’s voting rights.
As USAID’s activities—and its shady tactics of foreign interference—are increasingly becoming just a bad memory, the European Union is stepping in to bail out the network of NGOs previously funded by the American federal agency. Through a new directive, Brussels plans to establish so-called European Cross-Border Associations, which would provide foreign-funded NGOs with a protective shield.
‘How does Hungary manage to stay on good terms with both Washington and Beijing, despite their growing rivalry?…Many observers explain this dual alignment as mere pragmatism—ideological kinship with the American right, economic opportunism with China. But that tells only part of the story.’
‘If we look at the crises that have damaged the EU in recent years, and evaluate them through the lens of the EU’s real interests, it becomes increasingly clear that Viktor Orbán is not the EU’s greatest threat—but its most pro-EU leader. In fact, he might be the only one.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.
