Orbán: Make America Great Again! Make Europe Great Again!

Hungary is “a conservative island in the European progressive liberal ocean”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest on Thursday.

Hungary today has a reputation in international politics, the prime minister told the event organised by the Center for Fundamental Rights, adding that this was “unusual” given that it is a country of 10 million people with a “modest army” and a medium-sized GDP.

Most of the interest in Hungary, he said, was driven by the fact that while “the entirety of Europe has been flooded by a progressive liberal ocean, by some miracle there remains a conservative island, an island of difference, that defies the liberal tide, the thunder of Brussels and the hurricane of Washington”. “Not only is it defiant, but it survives and prospers and keeps winning again and again,” the prime minister added.

Orbán said CPAC’s Budapest event was a conservative conference in Europe which was not under threat of being shut down, whose organisers were not threatened and which did not have the police called on it the way it had happened last week in Brussels.

Orbán: Elections worldwide must be won

The year 2024 “is the year of practice, not theory”: there will be elections worldwide that must be won, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC Hungary) in Budapest on Thursday.

In his keynote speech, Orbán said the elections coincided with great changes in world politics and geopolitical trends.

The world order is changing, and “we must take our cause to victory amid those changes,” he said.

Progressive liberals were feeling the threat, that the change of eras meant they would also be demoted, and the end of a progressive zeitgeist, he said. “They are ready for anything and they are still in power, so they are dangerous opponents without moral scruples.”

Orbán said progressive liberals would not hesitate to use the tools at their disposal, including state institutions. Similarly to the communists of old, now progressives had used five steps to turn state institutions into tools of oppression, he said.

Orbán: Sovereigntist world order to replace progressive-liberal one

An inglorious period of western civilisation could be concluded this year, by replacing the world built on progressive-liberal hegemony with a sovereigntist one, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his opening address at the CPAC Hungary conference in Budapest on Thursday.

Orbán said the progressive-liberal world order had failed as it had only brought about wars and discord, economic collapse and chaos.

Its followers claimed that their job was to realise their own ideals rather than to represent the people, Orbán noted, adding that they had divided the world into democracies and autocracies and said that their role was to wage a crusade against autocracies.

“Advocates of this old world are still sitting in Brussels, and, although it is not my job to intervene in American politics, I’m afraid they are there in Washington as well,” Orbán warned.

This year, we will do our best to drive them out of there, Orbán said. “Let the age of the sovereigntists finally come, let’s return to the peaceful and safe path that made the West great,” Orbán said.

Orbán: MAGA

“Make America great again, make Europe great again, go Donald Trump, go European sovereigntists!”

Hungary is nowadays “a conservative island in the European progressive liberal ocean”, Orban said.

Hungary today has a reputation in international politics, the prime minister said, adding that this was “unusual” given that it is a country of 10 million people with a “modest army” and a medium-sized GDP.

Most of the interest in Hungary, he said, was driven by the fact that while “the entirety of Europe has been flooded by a progressive liberal ocean, by some miracle there remains a conservative island, an island of difference, that defies the liberal tide, the thunder of Brussels and the hurricane of Washington”. “Not only is it defiant, but it survives and prospers and keeps winning again and again,” the prime minister added.

Orban said CPAC’s Budapest event was a conservative conference in Europe which was not under threat of being shut down, whose organisers were not threatened and which did not have the police called on it the way it had happened last week in Brussels.

Contrary to wide-spread reports, the rule of law is robust in Hungary, “where people are free to organise any conference they choose, rent the place they like and say what they like”. Referring to the NatCon conference in Brussels earlier this month, Orban said he could not influence judges to issue decisions on such issues even if he wanted to. “Hungarians don’t like interference in their affairs.”

Regarding the upcoming elections, Orban said the year 2024 “is the year of practice, not theory”: there will be elections worldwide that must be won.

Orban said the elections coincided with great changes in world politics and geopolitical trends.

The world order is changing, and “we must take our cause to victory amid those changes,” he said.

Progressive liberals were feeling the threat that the change of eras meant they would also be demoted, and the end of a progressive zeitgeist, he said. “They are ready for anything . and they are still in power, so they are dangerous opponents without moral scruples.”

Orban said progressive liberals would not hesitate to use the tools at their disposal, including state institutions. Similarly to the communists of old, now progressives had used five steps to turn state institutions into tools of oppression, he said.

First, “they re-define what’s normal to mean the exact opposite of what it actually means: war is peace, and migration is a resource.” Then that “inside-out normality” is  enforced through state institutions. Then, those with “dangerous views” are identified as a security threat, and the liberal press and activists are “sent after them”, he said. The process is concluded with state institutions getting involved, he said.

Hungary had fared that way in Brussels, and liberal European capitals and the US, “where they are trying to remove Donald Trump from the ballot through court orders”, had treated conservatives similarly, he said

Gulyás: We are paying price of war in petrol, diesel

Hungarians are also paying the price of war in petrol and diesel, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, said at a regular press briefing on Thursday. Gulyás reiterated that the government called on Hungarian vehicle fuel retailers to lower the price of petrol and diesel to the regional average price.

These prices will fall substantially when the war is over, Gulyás said. Therefore, the realistic goal and also the government’s goal is to prevent profiteering on the war-related prices, he said.

Gulyás noted that petrol and diesel prices in Hungary are higher than the regional average, adding that the government earlier consulted the Hungarian Petroleum Association to change this situation and the association accepted that this claim was justified.

The Central Statistical Office has data that make it possible to check fuel prices against the regional average, Gulyás said, but if retailers do not voluntarily comply with their commitments, the government will have to enforce them.

Gulyás: Constitutional amendment concerns child protection, joint EU loans, armed forces

The next amendment to Hungary’s Fundamental Law will strengthen child protection regulations, make participation in joint European Union borrowing conditional on a 2/3 parliamentary majority and regulate the military operations of the Armed Forces, the head of the Prime Minister said on Thursday.

The draft amendment submitted to parliament by the prime minister prevents a presidential pardon from being granted to perpetrators of sex crimes committed against minors and those who aid and abet such crimes, Gergely Gulyás told a regular press briefing.

The bill also scraps the requirement of counter-signing the presidential decision.

Also, under a proposal by ruling Fidesz’s parliamentary group, the bill will scrap the statute of limitations in the case of sex crimes committed against minors as well as the possibility of parole, Gulyás said. Further, such criminals would never again receive a certificate attesting to the absence of a police record.

Meanwhile, the proposal also ties the decision on taking out a joint EU loan to a two-thirds parliamentary majority, he said.

The bill also contains detailed regulations on the operations, stationing and troop movements of the Hungarian Armed Forces involving border crossings, and military operations of foreign armed forces affecting the territory of Hungary, he said.

Gulyás also announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay an official visit to Budapest on May 8-10.

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