Dutch election night in the MCC Centre, Debrecen, Hungary on 22 November 2023.

All Quiet on the Dutch Front

‘Like many, I still cannot believe that Wilders could become prime minister, given his years of demagogic outbursts and his abysmal reputation among the parts of the nation that ‘matter’. He shocked polite society with condescending statements about Dutch Muslims and unworkable, discriminatory policy proposals.’

Belgian Police block the entrance of the Claridge events centre in Brussels, the venue of the National Conservatism Conference on 16 April 2024.

NatCon Brussels Opens New Front in EP-Election Campaign: The Fight for Freedom of Speech

The attempt to shut down the National Conservatism Conference has ignited a new battleground in the EP election campaign: the fight for freedom of speech. While progressives were quick to lay blame on Brussels district mayor Emir Kir, this incident is hardly about him only: it is a culmination of a longstanding process of anti-freedom of speech tendencies in the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Brussels Unwilling to Die on the Hill of Freedom of Assembly

‘The lessons of human history suggest that the future is rarely bright and happy where the state is unable, or worse, unwilling, to contain the hypersensitivity of certain political camps. The precedent of the terrible terrorist attacks in Brussels or the common immigrant riots show that Belgium has already lost the battle against the hypersensitivity of radical Islam. It does not seem to want to take a firmer stand against the left either.’

Former President Donald Trump addresses the attendees of CPAC Hungary 2023 in a video message on 5 May 2023.

Culture Warriors on the Danubian Stump

‘Protecting the innocence of children against efforts to sexualize them, upholding the legality of borders and asylum procedures, safekeeping the right of states to exercise national sovereignty in areas where it remains their legal prerogative: pursuing these aims isn’t a bed of roses. It exposes one to media disinformation, financial blackmail, and attacks on personal honor.’

Who’s Afraid of National Conservatism in Europe?

‘Why did the left-wing oligarchy (a political-administrative and academic-media apparatus) mobilize its militant wing against a conference of a few hundred conservatives? Did it fear that its political opponents would win too many hearts, minds, and Euros? No. Canceling the original, sought-after venue was a naked exercise of its power. Réseau Ades warned that the agitation efforts will persist until NatCon Brussels 2024 is entirely aborted.’

V4 foreign minister (L-R) Radosław Sikorski (Poland), Jan Lipavský (Czech Republic), Péter Szijjártó (Hungary), and Miroslav Lajcák (Slovakia) in Prague on 21 March 2024

Cooperation vs Confrontation: The V4 in the Shadow of the Russia–Ukraine War

‘The Visegrad Group has reached a tipping point in the face of growing geopolitical and security challenges. The external and internal dynamics of the regional alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia have encountered obstacles where the need for unity clashes with competing views, aims, and pressures.’