US President-elect Donald Trump announced his readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, a statement reaffirmed by the Kremlin the following day. With a pro-peace administration set to take power in the United States and significant political shifts already underway in Europe, the pro-war EU is finding itself isolated in its unconditional support for Ukraine.
The US Embassy in Hungary issued a warning on Friday via a Facebook post, targeting ‘those who are in business’ with Antal Rogán, a senior Hungarian government official sanctioned by the US Treasury on Tuesday. In an exclusive statement to Hungarian Conservative, Bryan Leib, a potential successor to US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, stated that everything would change following Donald Trump’s inauguration.
‘Alice Weidel is a very reasonable person, and hopefully, people can tell just from this conversation—nothing outrageous has been proposed, just common sense,’ said US billionaire Elon Musk during a conversation lasting over an hour with the AfD’s co-chair. Musk, who has faced accusations of election interference from Western progressives, also encouraged Germans to support the right-wing party.
In a provocative and disingenuous statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry declared that Ukraine would be prepared to take Hungary’s place in NATO and the European Union if Hungary chose to exit them and join Russian-led organizations such as the CIS and CSTO instead. Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó described the statement as ‘rather aggressive.’
‘A Hungarian grand strategy for the 21st century must be based on principles that go beyond the question of Eastern or Western orientation.’
Poland took over the presidency of the EU from Hungary on 1 January. The ceremony launching the presidency, however, was conducted without the Hungarian ambassador to Poland, as the Polish Foreign Ministry declared he would not be welcome at the event. Political Director for the Prime Minister of Hungary Balázs Orbán commented on the incident and its context in an interview with wPolityce.
Former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro gave an interview to the Hungarian outlet Mandiner, in which he discussed, among other topics, the political asylum granted by Hungary to his former deputy, Marcin Romanowski, the deterioration of the rule of law in Poland under Tusk, and the European Union’s complicity.
Bryan E. Leib, a potential successor to outgoing US Ambassador David Pressman, has voiced sharp criticism on social media of the US administration’s recent sanctioning a key Hungarian politician. Leib expressed optimism for improved ties under Trump’s leadership in his commentary.
The first guest of the new edition of the Danube Info podcast was Or Yissachar, a national security researcher and team lead in the Israeli high-tech industry, leading the Israel Defence and Security Forum’s Content Division and Research Department.
Three months after the September 2024 elections Austria now has the opportunity to align with the will of the electorate. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen has invited Herbert Kickl, leader of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and an ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, to form a government after mainstream parties’ talks collapsed.
While 2025 may not rival the election super year of 2024, it still promises a series of pivotal elections for political enthusiasts. In this article we present a non-exhaustive list of key elections to watch, spanning countries from Germany to Canada and Romania to Poland.
Steve Bannon, former adviser to US President Donald Trump, praised Viktor Orbán in a recent interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Bannon stated that the Hungarian prime minister, due to his special relationship with Trump, could serve as the bridge between the United States and the European Union over the next four years.
Poland has taken over the EU presidency from Hungary, but representatives of the Hungarian government were deemed ‘not welcome’ at the ceremony marking the start of the Polish presidency last Friday in Warsaw.
Conservatives will have the chance to flip the State Supreme Court in the swing state of Wisconsin in April. In addition, two gubernatorial elections will be held in November, in Virginia and New Jersey, two states that moved heavily to the right but were still won by Democrats in the 2024 presidential election.
From the European elections in June to Donald Trump’s historic comeback victory in November, patriotic forces worldwide achieved remarkable successes in 2024. However, the liberal-progressive mainstream continues to cling to power and pursue biased policies, disregarding the will of voters. 2025 should be the Year of Revolution—a turning point where patriots finally gain real power and begin to heal the extensive damage inflicted by progressive forces in the past years, both in Europe and globally.
‘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.’
’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.’
After publishing a fake news report, alleging that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had fled to Hungary, critical-of-the-government media outlet Magyar Hang became the subject of a national security investigation. Rather than taking responsibility for its actions, the outlet has responded with accusations of dictatorship and inflammatory attacks against the government in a public statement.
In the 1960s, the Communist Secret Service launched an undercover operation targeting rabbis and Jewish youth who were engaging in Zionist activities. The investigation ended in some young people being handed suspended prison sentences and a 15-year ban on rabbinic activity for Szeged Rabbi Tamás Raj.
Protests in Georgia have been ongoing for nearly a month after the government suspended the country’s EU accession process until 2028. Clashes between demonstrators and police are becoming increasingly frequent, evoking a strikingly similar image to the events of late 2013, early 2014 in Ukraine. However, the current Georgian crisis differs in significant ways from Euromaidan, and these differences could prove to be lifesaving for the Georgian government.
Mateusz Morawiecki, the former Polish prime minister and candidate for the presidency of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), has pledged to enhance the role of nation-states in the EU. He envisions a more sovereign Europe built on collaboration and reform.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Budapest defines itself in opposition to Brussels, aiming to transform the EU’s direction in the coming years. At a summit in Brussels, Orbán called for migration control, lower energy prices, and a Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine.
‘We achieved great success in the European elections, then very quickly formed this large Patriots for Europe group, the third force of the European Parliament, with the help of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Fidesz, with whom we have a common ambition in Europe: changing everything without destroying anything.’
Six months ago, many questioned whether Hungary could fulfil the role of ‘honest broker’ required for the EU Presidency. Now, as the semester concludes, it is evident that Budapest has delivered one of the most successful and memorable presidencies in the history of the European Union.
‘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.’
After rejecting his Christmas ceasefire proposal, Volodymyr Zelenskyy harshly criticized Viktor Orbán for his mediation efforts between Kyiv and Moscow. The Hungarian prime minister responded firmly: ‘We won’t respond to any provocation.’
The European Commission remains dissatisfied with Hungary’s legal amendments and continues to exclude Hungarian students and researchers from Erasmus+ and Horizon programmes. Hungary’s Minister for Culture and Innovation condemned the decision, while six universities have filed legal action against Brussels, alleging discrimination.
A video analysis by TLDR News EU suggests Viktor Orbán’s long tenure as Prime Minister of Hungary may be coming to an end in 2026 at last. However, our own, rebuttal analysis of polling and election data, as well as the cultural issues for Hungarian voters, purport that that is an unlikely outcome.
The Hungarian National Assembly has approved changes to electoral laws, including the redistribution of constituencies, optional ballot envelopes, and revised candidate withdrawal deadlines. These measures aim to align with demographic trends and streamline voting procedures.
‘Because this process will be so difficult, the sad but unavoidable truth may be that if Ukraine takes part in the talks from the start, progress towards a settlement will become completely impossible,’ British journalist and author Anatol Lieven writes in his recent opinion piece published on Foreign Policy.