In 2016 the Hungarian government embarked on a military development programme driven by the need for a strong military capable of protecting the lives, property, and culture of Hungarian citizens, as well as fulfilling the country’s NATO obligations. The setting up of the Territorial Defence Forces Command was part of this effort.
‘Most wishing to migrate to the U.S. are seeking a better life, contrary to the regional violence, corruption, and economic devastation in their home countries. If U.S. and Central American governments are able to institutionalize a ‘Marshall Plan’ as Washington had done for Europe after World War II, then perhaps a workable solution is possible. However, the U.S. needs to take the lead in this, though it would be unable to do so long as members of both Democratic and Republican Parties continue to childishly bicker with one another.’
‘Just as liberalism did not succeed in transforming people after socialism, neither did the competing anti-liberal, post-Christian, nihilistic trends. The solution is certainly not political or movement-based: those had already failed by the middle of the twentieth century.’
The informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council took place amid heightened tensions in Brussels on 29 August. The mood was set by Josep Borrell’s decision to relocate the meeting from Budapest to the Belgian capital as a signal of disapproval of Viktor Orbán’s peace mission. Ahead of the meeting, pro-war ministers issued statements criticizing the Hungarian government, and the tense atmosphere carried over into the discussions in the meeting room.
There are a number of conventional weapons whose appearance in US adversaries’ hands can cause serious damage to American interests all around the world. It is not difficult to imagine the threat of hypersonic anti-ship weapons, barely interceptable by contemporary air defence weaponry, on commercial ships, not only on the Red Sea. Arming let’s say Mexican drug cartels with modern anti-tank equipment could also seriously hamper US efforts to block the flow of drugs into the country.
Germany has some of the most stringent export control laws in the world, especially concerning dual-use technologies that can be utilized for both civilian and military purposes. But the discovery of German-manufactured parts in Hezbollah’s arsenal raises troubling questions about the effectiveness of these regulations.
‘The influence of Mao’s Cultural Revolution can indeed be seen as haunting Western universities today. In some respects, Western universities are now experiencing what Eastern European institutions endured under communism.’
‘The demographic shift also suggests a move towards an increasingly multipolar world order. Not bipolar, but multipolar. While the West’s demographic weight is rapidly declining, so is that of its main opponent, China, and to such an extent that its aspirations to take over the role of global hegemon from the United States no longer seem feasible, and its economy may even slide into stagnation.’
At the enlistment event Sergeant Ádám Boncz, a recruitment NCO, recalled to the media that the Defence Forces’ campaign titled ‘I Love It, I Protect It!’ was launched on 17 June and has since attracted continuous interest, with more and more citizens opting to join the reserve service of the Hungarian Defence Forces.
The escalation has raised concerns of a broader conflict in the region, as Israel declared a 48-hour state of emergency and placed restrictions on public gatherings and transport across the northern regions. Both sides have signalled that further actions may be taken, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to protect the nation at all costs, while Hezbollah indicated that their response to ‘Israel’s provocations’ was only beginning.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.