Hungarian government hopes for a conservative turn in Europe and the US

The Hungarian government is hoping for a conservative turn in Europe and the US, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC Hungary) in Budapest on Friday.

Hungarian government hopes for a conservative turn

“We trust that a conservative turn might come in Europe and in the US, and the next time we meet, our friends who currently represent opposition parties will attend in the position of government officials,” Gulyás told the event organised by the Center for Fundamental Rights.

He said the Hungarian government was a good example of the success of a conservative government. “We managed to win many elections over 14 years, we repeatedly earned the trust of citizens and have every right to hope that at the upcoming local council election and European Parliament election, we can once again prove that the majority of Hungarian voters support normality, common sense, a conservative government and ruling parties,” he added.

Knesset member Halevi: Sovereignty effective tool in fighting against terror

Amit Halevi, member of the Knesset, said at The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC Hungary) in Budapest that sovereignty was a useful and effective tool in fighting terrorism.

He told a round table discussion on Thursday that Israel and the world were facing an “unusual terrorist organisation”, one that has global aspirations and wants to rule the world. In order to fight against them successfully, it is necessary to understand who the enemy is, he added, stating that Israel’s problem was a problem for the whole western world and Israel was also fighting for “Budapest, Washington and London”.

Ohad Tal, another member of Knesset, said that for the first time in 76 years, Israel was under serious “existential” threat. After the 2023 Hamas attack, Israel has become vulnerable and “when someone in the Middle East is vulnerable, it is very dangerous”. For the first time in history Iran has launched a direct attack against Israel, he added.

Matthew Whitaker, who served as the acting United States Attorney General, said that considering that governments are elected by the citizens, they are the decision makers and lawmakers must carry out the will of the people. In a conversation with Zoltan Kovacs, the state secretary for international communication and relations, Whitaker also said that instead of waiting for politicians to solve all problems, the constitution needs to be amended in a way to better enforce the will of the people.

Nagy: EU competitiveness ‘could still be restored’

Márton Nagy, the economy minister, told the Conservative Action Conference (CPAC Hungary) now under way in Budapest that it is “not yet too late” to restore the competitiveness of the European Union, but warned that it required strategic thinking and “listening to the players of the economy”. He added that the subject would be high on the agenda of Hungary’s upcoming EU presidency.

While in 2010 Europe accounted for 22 percent of the global GDP, that ratio went down to 17 percent in 2023, the minister said, adding that it could further decrease to 15-16 percent in the near future. The number of European economies in the world’s largest 10 has gone down to 2 from 4 before and will further go down, to one, by 2070, he said, citing IMF and Goldman Sachs forecasts. The 100 largest companies in the world included 36 European businesses in 2010, a number that went down to 14 by this year and will further decrease to below 10 in the next few years, he said.

The EU faces many crises and “if the question is where we get the money from to restore competitiveness, the answer is nowhere,” Nagy said, adding that the cost of the digital and green transition could exceed 500 billion euros. In terms of top priorities, restoring competitiveness comes “right after the war in Ukraine and boosting the defence industry,” he said.

Similarly to several other countries, Hungary declines to support a fresh European Commission proposal to double or triple the 10-percent duty on Chinese electric car imports, the minister said. He said “such a protectionist measure would hinder competition, trigger deglobalisation and lead to the formation of blocs and trade wars instead of promoting connectivity”.

According to the Hungarian government, a transition to using electric cars should be accelerated, which requires a common EU strategy, Nagy said. “We believe that Europe’s competitiveness could be restored but not through ideologies or deadlines but through strategic thinking and involving market players,” he added.

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