Achieving the demographic turnaround will take a long time and a lot of work, but Hungary wants to take the first steps already in the coming months. Finding solutions to existing problems will be one of the key objectives of the Hungarian EU Presidency in the second half of 2024, using the EU demographic toolkit as a starting point.
The European Commission is allocating approximately €10 billion in aid to flood-affected countries in Central and Eastern Europe, but Hungary is notably absent from the list. The reason is somewhat paradoxical: Hungary has been so effective in its protective measures that the resulting damage is expected to fall below the threshold required to qualify for the EU Solidarity Fund.
EU Member States are soon set to vote on the introduction of punitive tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China. In the informal vote held in July, only four member states opposed the measure, while 11 abstained. Now, it falls to Germany and Hungary to lead the effort to shift positions and prevent an unnecessary trade war with China.
Prior to the start of Hungary’s current presidency of the Council of the EU, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated that the country plans to initiate the opening of a new chapter in accession negotiations with Serbia. This intention was also extended to the entire region, as the Hungarian foreign minister highlighted the country’s aim to hold intergovernmental talks with all five Western Balkan countries.
Distinguished experts gathered at the fourth Danube Institute Geopolitical Summit to talk about the consequences of the green energy transition many leftist politicians are pushing for. Then, Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia; Ambassador Péter Sztáray, State Secretary for Security Policy and Energy Security of Hungary; and Former US Secretary of Veteran Affairs Robert Wilkie took the floor for closing remarks.
Ukko Metsola is a top lobbyist for the Royal Caribbean Group, the world’s second-largest cruise ship company. So ironically, while Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, has been apparently making efforts to have green regulations adopted by the EP, her husband is lobbying for a global polluter. In addition, thanks to the new code of ethics she pushed through, she is not required to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
‘Although the political forces thinking in terms of a European alternative failed to replace the Brussels Grand Coalition in the 2024 EP elections, there is a real chance that they could organize themselves into a new right-wing pole in the next five years, which could bring about a real systemic change in Brussels politics.’
The conference featured research by Italian author and journalist Thomas Fazi, whose report ‘The Silent Coup’ was recently published by MCC Brussels. In his report Fazi argues that the sovereign debt crisis, the refugee crisis, the Brexit referendum, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine all contributed to the widening of the European Commission’s competences.
Hungarian EU Affairs Minister János Bóka gave a detailed presentation on the first day of the conference co-organized by the Danube Institute, outlining the key priorities of the Hungarian EU Presidency. Bóka highlighted an early success of the presidency, noting that while six months ago the importance of developing European competitiveness was rarely discussed, it has now become a central topic in the European political debate.
Draghi proposes that the EU’s priorities should include the lowering of energy prices, increasing competitiveness, proper governance of industrial policy, and increased defence spending. The EU should no longer rely on others to maintain its security, he argues, since continuing to do so would make it more vulnerable.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.