National conservatives have failed to expand globally, says Minister Varga in Conservative Summit

The interests of EU member states ought to be seen as important as unity, the Hungarian justice minister said at the Conservative Summit held in Bratislava (Pozsony) on Monday.

Addressing a panel discussion, Judit Varga discussed the “opinion hegemony” of progressive liberals in the European Union and their purpose, and conservatives’ tasks on the matter.

“The progressives are forging ahead as a steam roller tamping down whatever lies ahead […], aiming to eradicate national characters and questioning sovereignty and the traditional structure of society,” she said. “Meanwhile, national conservatives have failed to expand [their influence] globally, allowing the progressive opinion to dominate the discourse on the continent,” she said.

In Europe, where the issue of centralisation had been a controversial issue from the start, “a radically one-sided left-wing liberal concept has come to the fore which openly or covertly aims to create a United States of Europe” through “questioning national sovereignty, deeming national self-determination illegitimate and weakening the national powers of member states,” she said.

The method progressives use includes “attacking the building blocks of sovereignty, the historic churches, the family, the nation and regional cooperation”, the justice minister said, adding that the task of conservatives was therefore to protect “these natural communities”.

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She said the European Union should be built on the cooperation of nations. “Europe cannot exist without nations, the nations are Europe’s foundation, let’s preserve them, because only strong nations can form a strong Europe,” Varga said, adding that rather than limiting the national powers of EU member states, their cooperation must be further strengthened and made more effective based on respect.

The justice minister called for respecting national sovereignty within the framework of treaties in order to ensure that diversity in Europe can be maintained.

The annual Conservative Summit was launched last year. This year’s event focuses on the vision of a conservative Europe, family policy and the war in Ukraine.

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Source: MTI