The Bundestag has elected CDU leader Friedrich Merz as Chancellor of Germany in a second round of voting, following a historic failure to secure an absolute majority in the first round. Falling just six votes short, Merz became the first chancellor-designate in the country’s post-war history to require a second vote.
Hungary and Switzerland reaffirmed their commitment to a diplomatic resolution to the war in Ukraine, emphasizing that peace can only be achieved through negotiations involving all parties, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Bern.
‘The EPP held its Congress last week, in Valencia, Spain. The choice of location soon became a burden to the organizers, however, as locals’ EPP-inflicted wounds are fresh. About half a year ago, the region was hit by a deadly flood that took the lives of 228 people.’
After the Canadian Conservatives faltered in last week’s federal election—amid a campaign dominated in its final months by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs—, Australia witnessed similar electoral dynamics, as the Liberal–National Coalition led by Peter Dutton lost to incumbent Anthony Albanese’s Labour Party in what had long seemed a certain win for the opposition.
Viktor Orbán, JD Vance, and Marco Rubio were among those who criticized the decision by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency to officially designate Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) as a ‘proven right-wing extremist’ party. The ruling grants the BfV expanded surveillance powers against what is currently the largest party in Germany.
‘Migration is a great concern to us because we are one of the first countries for the migrants coming to Europe. So we have a huge number of migrants, and probably Italians feel like they want to be left alone in addressing the issue, this challenge,’ Associate Professor at the University of Milan Benedetta Vimercati told Hungarian Conservative in an exclusive interview.
In a speech marked by boastfulness and distortion, re-elected EPP President Manfred Weber, while repeatedly attacking Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, delivered a clear message to Hungary ahead of the 2026 elections: those who join the EPP are expected to strictly follow his political line, including military, financial, and political support for the war in Ukraine and Kyiv’s fast-tracked EU accession.
American conservative author Rod Dreher joined the Danube Institute’s new podcast, where he shared personal insights into his long-standing friendship with JD Vance and discussed the recently premiered documentary based on his 2020 book Live Not by Lies.
‘Illiberal democracy is more than a political model; it is a value proposition for the post-liberal era,’ political director to the Hungarian Prime Minister Balázs Orbán emphasized in a recent opinion piece published on Index. In the article, he argues that illiberal democracy offers a functioning alternative to what he describes as increasingly anti-democratic liberalism.
‘As the speakers warned, cultural memory, constitutional identity and sovereignty will only endure if deliberately defended. Memory without action is amnesia by another name.’