‘Democracy, as a concept, is inherently subject to interpretation and enforcement from within. This underscores the imperative: political disputes find resolution within domestic arenas and nowhere else, and unwavering loyalty is owed solely to one’s political adversaries, without allegiance to any foreign entity.’
The aim of the HU-rizont programme is to facilitate and strengthen the international collaboration of outstanding Hungarian researchers. A total of 8 billion forints are available for the application this year. During the application process, not only the research costs of Hungarian universities are covered, but also those of foreign universities are supported.
‘Many people have asked me why I don’t devote my time to myself and my family instead of volunteering. The answer is simple: I care about Hungarian families and the community. My mission is to preserve, nurture and pass on our Hungarian identity, our rich language and culture to the next generation. Fortunately, many of us feel the same way and many of us are working for the same goals.’
The Transatlantic Patriot Summit took place on 27 April, co-hosted by the Danube Institute and a number of international conservative youth organizations. The distinguished speakers covered a wide array of topics, including the left’s control over mainstream media in many countries, mass migration, and the upcoming elections in Europe and the United States.
Peter Szijjártó emphasized during the event held at the Millenáris Park that the current leadership of the European Union, the liberals, have caused significant damage to Europe with their misguided sanction policies and by reinforcing and promoting a war psychosis, affecting the daily lives of European citizens.
The Hungarian Theatre Society (MTT) admitted the Szabadka National Theatre and the Viharsarok Dance Theatre into its ranks, increasing its membership to 90. The assembly approved the society’s 2023 balance sheet report and the 2024 budget.
While except for a few known pieces of the puzzle the story of the sword and its origins remain obscure, the Transylvanian Samurai sword of Thomas Kapustran is certainly a manifestation of the complexity and richness of Hungarian history. Despite being torn apart by two empires and enduring a century of wars, Transylvania still held a remarkable position in the world. So significant was its influence, grandeur, and civilizational level that it could procure luxury goods from distant and isolated lands like Japan.
While the intensity of the widespread protests across the country obviously varies from university to university, students seem to have come a long way from peacefully expressing solidarity with Palestinian civilians and opposition to the war. The slogans accusing Israel of genocide, calling for a free Palestine and relativising Hamas’ atrocities are only the mildest versions of the chants repeated by the students. According to a Jewish-American student at Columbia University, he has heard chants on campus in recent weeks such as “Burn Tel Aviv to the ground’; “Globalize the Intifada”; “We are Hamas”; “October 7 will happen again and again”, and “Go back to Poland”.
Márton Nagy stated that Hungary’s satellite manufacturing capability is not only an economic and security matter but also a question of sovereignty. He noted that the sector has a bright future ahead as the space industry is one of the world’s fastest-growing and, according to international surveys, most resilient industries, with its value projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023.
Professor Gottfried sat down for an insightful, two-hour discussion with host Meg Hansen of the Danube Institute, in which they covered topics such as the different branches of American conservatism, the current state of the political right in the United States, and ‘paleoconservatism’, a term coined by Professor Gottfried himself.
Former President János Áder spoke about his podcast initiative, the Blue Planet podcast, emphasizing the need to address environmental concerns. He explained that when launching the podcast in October 2020 his aim was to reach as many people as possible, especially the youth, with discussions on sustainability and solutions to environmental issues.
‘My young friends, our responsibility is immense. We are the last generation that could rely solely on our parents to differentiate between right and wrong. Yet, we are also fully immersed in the technological advancements of the 21st century. We have an opportunity to globalize conservatism.’
‘It’s hard not to think of another Hungarian who was a radical back in his student days: Viktor Orbán, who took on the existing Communist power structure. In fact, the two Hungarian political activists who began as student radicals—Orbán and Molnárfi—uncannily represent rival futures for Europe. With European elections approaching in June, the two make quite the symbolic pair.’
The survey, conducted in the April–May period, reveals that 82 per cent of the total population, or four out of every five Hungarians, consider the declaration of an immediate ceasefire to be the most appropriate course of action.
There are 3.13 million mothers in Hungary who have given birth to a total of 6.22 million children during their lifetime, meaning that Hungarian mothers have two children on average. Since the early 2000s, about three-quarters of adult women are mothers. Compared to 2011, the average number of children in the 20–35 age group has increased slightly (from 1.67 to 1.72), while among mothers aged 45–49 there are now 10,000 more large families, i.e. those with three or more children, than in 2011.
‘One of the problems with the Anglosphere is that we have these occasional bouts of hysteria. It’s a sort of psychosexual, cultural, religious frenzy,’ American writer James C. Bennett highlighted in an interview with Hungarian Conservative.
Azerbaijan has the potential to become one of the major natural gas suppliers to Hungary if the current determination to increase import volumes continues. However, the bilateral relations between the two countries extend beyond natural gas exports and are characterized by an enhanced strategic partnership. Given the commitment to construct an undersea high-voltage power line through the Black Sea, Azerbaijan could also become a key exporter of renewable energy to Hungary. On 1 May 2024 Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, ahead of the Tashkent International Investment Forum, reached an agreement to construct a similar high-voltage undersea power line through the Caspian Sea.
In Stockholm, the old, not very nature-friendly method of planting trees was abandoned about a decade ago, and since then, tree-planting projects have been constantly looking to support urban trees and thus all other organisms—including humans—with a more complex but in many ways more rewarding solution.
The Hungarian and Turkic people (or rather, peoples) are connected in many cultural and even genetic ways. The Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus called the Hungarian conquerors ‘Turks’, and the sons of the House of Árpád (Turul gens in medieval Hungarian sources) were later called ‘Princes of Turkey’ by the Byzantines. In the origin myth of the Hungarian royal dynasty, the ‘Turul bird’ is also of Turkish origin, as the symbol of the Sky and of the supreme God of Turkish myths, where it appears as toġrïl or toğrul.
‘Milei is indeed a conservative, in a pragmatic and very Latin American way. He uses conservatism as a political vehicle toward libertarianism and as an allied ideology to create a new society that brings back old, conservative values.’
‘We need to win in each and every country because as conservatives that’s what we believe in, sovereign nation states,’ PiS MEP Radosław Fogiel nailed down in an interview with Hungarian Conservative.
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.’
‘Hopefully, under a second Trump administration, we’re going to see a new high in Hungarian–American relations that we haven’t seen since Kossuth visited America back in the 1850s,’ Republican Congressional Aide Johnny Szani pointed out in an interview with Hungarian Conservative.
State Secretary for Innovation Balázs Hankó reiterated that the John von Neumann Programme focuses on three main areas: healthy living, digitalization, and green transition. The tender has been launched, and all universities are encouraged to apply, he noted.