Olivér Várhelyi will be removed from his position as Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement and will, if confirmed by the EP, be serving as Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare instead in the incoming EU Commission. EU Minister János Bóka congratulated him on his new assignment, while Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has criticized Brussels for the decision.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was established in 1988 and is awarded annually by the European Parliament. It is primarily given to individuals or organizations who have made outstanding efforts in the defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The prize is named after Soviet physicist, dissident, and political exile Andrei Sakharov. Thirty-four years ago the first recipient was Nelson Mandela.
The Hungarian government and Jewish communities, along with thousands of ordinary Hungarians, have shown full support of and solidarity with the State of Israel and the Jewish people in a number of ways since 7 October. We have listed the most important ones on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Hungary–Israel relations.
‘The gradual diminishing of Europe’s importance in the eyes of the successive US administrations in the twenty-first century has been arrested by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and weakened the “pivot” or “rebalance” to Asia for the time being: emergencies have cropped up elsewhere. As Joseph Stalin may be said to have been one of the “founding fathers” of NATO, so may Vladimir Putin be seen in a similar role with regard to the revival of NATO, and closer US–EU cooperation.’
While in Budapest, Matteo Salvini also met with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary on Friday. Salvini is currently serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of Italy. He is the leader of the Lega party, which joined Fidesz’s new group Patriots for Europe in the European Parliament earlier this year.
The 1838 flood, commemorated by many memorial plaques and water level signs in the centre of the city, was not only a natural disaster but a tragedy that brought the country together. The heroism of Baron Miklós Wesselényi (1796–1850) for instance is kept in high regard to this day. The young baron gained national recognition for rowing around the flooded city rescuing people. His boat was equally open to the poor and the rich survivors of the flood; many were pulled from the water, others were save from rooftops.
‘You [in Hungary] imbue your young people in primary and secondary school with a sense of Hungary’s place in history…I mean, this was the country that turned back the invasions from Turkey and the Muslim lands and saved European civilization hundreds of years ago…We need to teach history in our schools, teach our young people that their country is something to be proud of.’
‘Since the start of the war, 8 million Ukrainians have fled their country; another 3 million have emigrated to Russia. Aside the mass defections, because of Ukraine’s birth rate collapse to the lowest recorded level, Zelenskyy has been unwilling to mobilize men aged between 18 and 25—typically the bulk of any fighting force. The fear is that, since most of these men are childless, should such die or become incapacitated, future demographic prospects would dim further.’
Hungarian national team captain Dominik Szoboszlai scored for Liverpool during their 3–1 win over AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League. On the same day Bayern Munich’s game ended in a rare 11-goal scoreline against Dinamo Zagreb, with the German side battering the Croats 9–2. But it seems that the fan fervour is just not the same as if this all had happened last year. There is a clear reason for that: the drastic UCL format change went into effect at the start of this season.
Following the keynote speech by Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie, Retired Brigadier General in the US Army Antony J Tata, Director of the Baltic Security Foundation Otto Tabuns, Programme Director and co-founder of the Swedish think tank Oikos Arvid Hallén, President of the information warfare firm WorldStrat Jim Hanson, and Hungarian Ambassador to NATO István Balogh shared their views about the future of the military alliance.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.