French criminologist Xavier Raufer warns that France’s current security crisis is the result of decades of political denial over organized crime, drug trafficking, and uncontrolled migration. Speaking to Hungarian Conservative at the MCC Budapest Summit on the Global Drug Epidemic, he explains why Marseille now faces homicide rates comparable to Latin America.
‘Even in 2015, when the PiS government came to power, individuals with communist pedigrees were still numerous within the less visible but essential layers of state administration, the judiciary, the economy, NGOs, and the media. Today these networks are returning…The goal is clear: to maintain control over social and state institutions regardless of electoral outcomes.’
Mathias Corvinus Collegium hosted a major conference in Budapest on the global drug epidemic, warning that the narcotics industry, backed by vast networks, is undermining communities. Experts stressed prevention, youth protection, and international cooperation as key to resisting drug normalization and crime.
After ICE agents were deployed in Charlotte, NC (the city where Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was brutally murdered earler this year), one Democratic official in the state posted a video claiming that ICE agents are ‘specifically coming to terrorize communities of colour’; while a disturbing video shows a white van appearing to try to run over immigration agents in the city.
Congressional Republicans are preparing to receive a major AfD delegation in Washington, potentially led by party co-chair Alice Weidel. The invitation, made by Rep Anna Paulina Luna, signals a deepening ideological alliance between MAGA Republicans and Europe’s rising sovereigntist movements.
‘Rather than embracing theoretical frameworks like the concept of the EU as a “liberal empire”, what is now needed is a far more pragmatic approach—one that focuses on enhancing economic competitiveness and developing strategies aimed at strengthening the role of the EU in the global economy.’
The Trump–Orbán summit seems to have shifted political perceptions at home: 50 per cent of Hungarians now believe Viktor Orbán will win the 2026 election, according to Nézőpont. His main challenger, Péter Magyar, trails at 32 per cent—a gap analysts link to the prime minister’s high-profile successes in Washington.
‘Why are there still some people…who stand in defence of the BBC? Because, in their view, the BBC…forms part of the institutional network they can appeal to for condemnation and a justification for contempt of Trump even after—despite their insistence that it could not happen—the people of the United States chose to vote him into power again.’
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his regular Friday morning radio interview that the US president ‘likes Hungarians and hates war,’ adding that Hungary’s exemption from energy sanctions will remain secure for as long as Donald Trump is in office. He also highlighted recent government measures, including the 14th-month pension and increased child-protection funding.
‘The education system [Count Kunó Klebelsberg] established shaped the educational policies of future generations, laying the groundwork for ideas that continue to have an impact today. The reforms he enacted contributed to the emergence of a more educated, aware, and independent Hungarian society.’