KDNP

Former Hungarian defence minister: Ukrainians are fighting heroically

“It is important for Hungary to strengthen Christian values and set an example to a decaying West,” István Simicskó, parliamentary group leader of the co-ruling Christian Democrats, said in connection with contested plans to add a cross to the pedestal of Budapest’s landmark second world war Liberation Monument on Gellert Hill, now being refurbished.

Speaking on public television M1 on Friday, Simicskó said “all civilisations are built on a basis of religion and once that foundation is destroyed the structure will collapse”. “Christian symbols must be revered, still, in Western Europe Christianity is waning and churches are being destroyed,” he added.

Simicskó said the planned crucifix was “also a symbol of freedom and victory”, adding that Byzantine emperors “used to erect crucifixes after battles won”.

In another interview, to public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió, Simicskó called for an early ceasefire and peace talks in the Russia-Ukraine war. He called for talks with Ukraine, Russia, the US and China, and insisted that “this is a proxy war in which players in the background are also important, not just the directly warring parties”.

Concerning the recent incursion by Ukrainian troops into Russian territory, Simicskó said “Ukrainians are fighting heroically but the two countries are not in the same weight-class and this [incursion] will not be a problem for the Russian army.”

Read also:

  • Hungarian government plans to evict Transcarpathian refugees from safe shelters – read more HERE
  • Thousands of Ukrainian children had summer holiday in Hungary – details in THIS article

Nézőpont: Orbán to have 2nd strongest mandate at EU summit

orbán viktor

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will have the second strongest national mandate among European Union leaders taking part in an informal summit in Brussels on Monday, the Nézőpont Institute said in an analysis.

orbán viktor
Viktor Orbán on 12 June 2024. Photo: MTI/Máthé Zoltán

Hungary’s ruling alliance of Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) was backed by 44.82 percent of the electorate in the June 9 European parliamentary elections, giving Orbán‘s “Europe policy” the second strongest democratic legitimacy behind Malta’s Labour Party, which received 45.26 percent, the think-tank said in a statement.

Nézőpont noted that the leaders with the greatest voting power, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, by contrast, received only 13.9 percent and 14.6 percent of the vote, respectively. The statement also pointed out that among the more powerful member states, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez also failed to win the EP election, while Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, who is nearing the middle of her term, was victorious.

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EP list of Fidesz official, includes an Olympic bronze medallist

European Parliament ep election fidesz list

The board of the ruling Fidesz party has approved the parliamentary group’s proposal on the party’s list for the European parliamentary elections, in agreement with the junior ruling Christian Democrats (KDNP), Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch said on Thursday.

The party assembly is expected to adopt the list on 15 April, Deutsch, who also heads the list, said.

New candidates include Balázs Győrffy, the head of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture (NAK), and Paralympian medalist fencer Pál Szekeres, Deutsch said in the statement.

The representation of Hungarian farmers is especially important at a time when “farmers across Western Europe are revolting against the poisonous green ideology of Brussels,” he said.

Fidesz-KDNP is running on a “national” list, Deutsch said, fielding two new candidates from Hungarian communities across the borders, Annamária Vicsek from Vojvodina and Viktória Ferenc from Transcarpathia. Andrea Bocskor and Andor Deli, who have been members of the Fidesz group in the outgoing cycle, are running for re-election, “to continue to work in the interests of Hungarians across the borders”, he added.

At the request of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, MEP Balázs Hidvéghi will continue to work as a member of the Hungarian parliament, and MEP Lívia Járóka will continue her career in the field of academy, Deutsch said. MEPs László Trócsányi and Edina Tóth will not run for re-election, either, he said.

Deutsch said “this team is capable of actively participating in the hoped and expected right-wing turn at the EP.”

“European right-wing and sovereigntist forces have a one-time chance of creating possibly the largest parliamentary group in the EP in June. We will be part of that wide-ranging right-wing sovereigntist cooperation,” he said.

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BREAKING: Fidesz announces its candidate for head of state

tamás sulyok

The governing Fidesz-KDNP parties nominate Tamás Sulyok, President of the Constitutional Court, to replace Katalin Novák, President of the Republic, who resigned after the pardon scandal, announced Máté Kocsis, Fidesz parliamentary group leader, at a press conference in Balatonalmádi.

If the Parliament supports the ruling parties’ candidate by a two-thirds majority, the lawyer could move to the Sándor Palace, taking his place as Hungary’s President. With Fidesz-KDNP in government with a two-thirds majority, the new head of state is technically certain, Index writes.

Katalin Novák announced her resignation on 10 February, after her decision to pardon a convict in a paedophile case caused a huge public outcry.

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State secretary Latorcai: hate campaign against Hungary, dictatorship of opinion in EPP

csaba latorcai

State secretary Csaba Latorcai has slammed the European People’s Party (EPP) for “adopting cancel culture” after Finnish EPP MEP Petri Sarvamaa proposed launching an Article 7(2) procedure against Hungary.

In a post on Facebook late on Tuesday, Latorcai said the EPP MEP aimed to take away Hungary’s European Union voting rights with a “hate campaign” because the country had taken the position in December that it was too early to start accession talks with Ukraine.

A “dictatorship of opinion” has reached the EPP, too, he added, and urged the party to “return to its Christian roots”.

He said KDNP, an EPP member and an ally of Hungary’s governing Fidesz, would “wait no further” for the EPP to go back to its Christian democracy foundations and called for the support of voters in the June EP elections in the matter.


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Hungarian politician: Government’s stance on migration vindicated by Brussels shooting

terrorism brussels

Reality has once again vindicated the Hungarian government “and delivered a stinging slap in the face to Western politicians who want to shut their eyes and decide whom we should live together with from their well-protected offices in Brussels”, a lawmaker of the co-ruling Christian Democrats has said, referring to a deadly shooting in Brussels on Monday.

In a statement, István Simicskó, the party’s parliamentary group leader, cited reports of a suspected Tunisian gunman who killed two Swedish nationals in the Belgian capital.

“This time, two people fell victim to the terror fuelled by extremist religious hate,” Simicskó said, adding that families had lost their loved ones, and friends and communities were now mourning. It was with “this horrible act” that the terrorist “expressed his devotion to the Islamic State terrorist group,” he said.

Hungary resists migration pressure and has taken physical and legal steps to protect Christian Europe, the lawmaker said.

Hidvéghi: Mass migration poses life-threatening danger to European people

Fidesz MEP Balázs Hidvéghi said that mass migration poses a life-threating danger to European people, and called for immediately terminating talks in Brussels on the EU’s new migration pact and starting new talks on a whole new basis, on Tuesday.

The situation created by migration in Europe cannot be tolerated any more, he said. Migration must not be supported but stopped, border protection must be reinstalled and the security of Europeans must be guaranteed, Hidvéghi added.

He said that the recent “slaughtering of two people by an immigrant with a Kalashnikov” in Brussels and the stabbing of a teacher by an illegal migrant in a school in front of other teachers and students in France begged the question “how many more innocent Europeans will have to die to make the immigration-fanatics in Brussels stop pushing migration?”.

“It is now clear that illegal immigration poses a life-threating danger to ordinary law-abiding European citizens and endangers public security and the European lifestyle to a degree unseen before,” the MEP said.

“This must be stopped! Instead of expressing regret in the aftermath of the deadly acts and laying flowers, concrete steps must be taken to protect the life and everyday security of European people,” Hidvéghi said.

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New initiative: Hungary can ban energy drinks!

Government will ban energy drinks

PM Orbán’s party, Fidesz, had a supermajority in the Hungarian parliament with the co-ruling KDNP, Hungary’s Christian Democratic People’s Party. Therefore, all initiatives submitted by the ruling parties will have a majority and become a law. Theoretically. However, in practice, sometimes it happens that due to the forming resistance or other political reasons, Orbán kills an initiative even if it comes from the KDNP. And now the Christian Democrats are talking about banning underage people from buying energy drinks.

According to hirado.hu, the official news website of Hungary’s public media, István Simicskó, the parliamentary group leader of the KDNP, said energy drinks have a devastating effect on concentration, behaviour and personality of young people. Furthermore, based on medical opinion, they have a very negative effect on the youngsters’ bodies.

He added they had not yet written the relevant bill. But he highlighted that a very important issue could be settled. He said that in extreme circumstances, the consumption of energy drinks might cause tragedy. That is because it helps the development of different cardiovascular diseases, and their regular consumption results in addiction and affects our psychological state very badly.

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  • AI developed and tasted its own energy drink – Read more HERE
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Mr Simicskó highlighted it is terrifying to see how many minors drink energy drinks before going to school every morning. He said banning energy drinks for underage people should be part of the government’s children’s protection program.

Hungarian Christian Democrats harshly criticise the EU in Madrid

european union eu flag hungary

The European Union should use all its powers and diplomatic skills to force through a ceasefire in Ukraine, followed by peace talks, deputy group leader of the co-ruling Christian Democrats said on Monday.

Lőrinc Nacsa told MTI in Madrid, where attended a conference of foreign affairs and defence committees of the European Parliament and the parliaments of EU member states, that Hungary resolutely stood up for the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia (Kárpátalja), “which the political establishment in Kiev has been systematically cutting back in recent years”.

“Fortunately, an increasing number of European politicians are aware of this situation and the situation of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, the education law and the narrowing of minority rights, so the issue is receiving increasing attention,” he said.

Attended by representatives of invited countries including Turkey, Serbia, Georgia, Norway and the UK, the meeting also reviewed external foreign policy and security policy challenges facing the EU. In addition to the war in Ukraine, the protection of the EU’s external borders and migration were also discussed.

“Instead of producing migrant pacts and creating migrant ghettos within its territory, the EU should protect its external borders and support countries that protect the external borders,” he said.

Participants at the conference discussed EU enlargement plans, Nacsa said, adding that enlargement was highly important for Hungary and that “delays are making the EU weaker”.

He said Georgia should receive member candidate status as soon as possible and progress should be made in Western Balkans integration, as well as approval of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession, he said.

He noted the importance of the European parliamentary elections next year to ensure that the EU becomes more effective and better represents the interests of European citizens.

“What we can see is that due to the unsuccessful policies of Brussels in recent years, the EU was in a weakened state when it was hit by multiple challenges,”

he said. “So, the governments and parliaments of member states must have a greater role in decision-making than the Brussels bureaucracy,” he added.

At the same time, the EU is strong only if it faces outwards united, so any deviation from unanimous decision-making rules or talks about this are against the EU’s interests, he added.

As we wrote a few days ago, following a decision by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Agency (NACA), OTP is temporarily removed from the list of war supporters. However, this is not enough for the Hungarian government. Details HERE.

Leading parties draft law to prevent Hungarian parties from receiving funding from abroad

Budapest Sight Parliament Parlament Danube 2

The rules on campaign financing are being currently reviewed with the aim to prevent influencing the Hungarian elections from abroad, István Simicskó, group leader of the co-ruling Christian Democrats, said in an interview published in daily Magyar Nemzet on Monday.

Current law defines “any interference in Hungary’s internal affairs” as an unlawful act, Simicskó told the paper, adding that “we are going to prepare an amendment that will contain much tighter rules”.

Parliament’s national security committee has tasked the National Information Centre “to conduct a thorough investigation of the scandalous affair of “rolling dollars” which involves exploring the ways of foreign funding channelled illegally to the opposition left for their campaign in last year’s general election,” he noted.

As regards further legislation plans for parliament’s autumn season, Simicskó said the child protection law would also be tightened, calling it an important duty “to protect our children”.

Further bills will also be submitted with the aim to tighten public safety and clamp down on money laundering, he said, adding that bills on transport, agriculture, labour protection and asset management would also be tabled.

As we wrote earlier, Hungary’s state auditor has had to delay its report on the campaign financing of parliamentary parties owing to doubts over the legality of receipts and other documentation connected with the opposition formation Everybody’s Hungary Movement (MMM), details HERE.

Budapest public transport in danger? Transport company takes out huge loan

BKK

The Budapest assembly on Wednesday approved an agreement between Budapest public transport company BKK and K&H Bank, of a HUF 24 billion (EUR 63.9 million) loan, as part of the municipality’s “survival programme”.

The proposal, submitted by Deputy Mayor Ambrus Kiss, was carried with 17 votes in favour, 2 against and 9 abstentions.

The loan will ensure BKK’s operation between June and September, and will have to be paid back by September 18, the proposal said.

Budapest assembly adopts position on war

The Budapest assembly on Wednesday passed a position in connection with the war in Ukraine.

The proposal, submitted originally by the ruling Fidesz and the Christian Democrats before being amended with changes proposed by the left-wing parties, incorporates the European Council’s statement condemning “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”. It was passed with 17 votes in favour, 10 against and one abstention.

The original proposal was submitted by Zsolt Wintermantel, Fidesz’s group leader in the city assembly. The version approved on Wednesday included amendments submitted by the group leaders of the Democratic Coalition, the Socialist Party, Momentum and Párbeszéd.

Wintermantel told reporters after the vote that the municipal council’s left-wing majority led by Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony had rejected his party’s original pro-peace resolution, adding that the amendment proposals had turned the issue into a domestic political battle.

Hungarian politician: migrants are the reason Lebanon is in crisis

György Hölvényi

In tackling the crisis in Lebanon, the European Union must not ignore the role of churches, which fulfil vital social tasks in the country, György Hölvényi, an MEP of junior ruling party KDNP, told a conference in Brussels on Wednesday.

Hölvényi, who headed the EU mission observing the elections in Lebanon in 2022, noted that parliamentary seats had been divided equally among Christian and Muslim representatives. “This is a token of stability after the bloody civil war” that ravaged the country, he said.

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“The state is mired in corruption, GDP has plunged by 50 percent in the past 4 years, one-third of Lebanese citizens do not have enough to eat and in a country of six million, one million school-age children do not go to school,” he said. Meanwhile, the country is also fending for 1.5 million Syrian refugees, he added.

As the representatives of peace and dialogue, religious communities can play an important role in solving those crises, he said. “And the EU stands by Lebanon as a friend and neighbour,” he said.

Former Lebanese Economy Minister Mansour Bteish also attended the event.

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ChrisDems: Nothing new about Hungarians dedication to freedom and sovereignty

Imre Nagy speech Parliament

The dedication of Hungarians to freedom and sovereignty is not newfangled, the group leader of the junior ruling Christian Democrats said on Sunday, marking the 66th anniversary of the anti-Soviet revolution. “Fighting for this has been part of our history, and this was the case in October 1956, too,” István Simicskó said in a statement.

“We are continuing that fight today,” Simicskó said, adding that “expectations and interventions that conflict with Hungarian interests … always from a different direction”.

Hungarians had to band together in the middle of the 20th century against Soviet tanks and Hungarian communist, whereas “today sanctions enforced upon us by Brussels are threatening Hungarian families and the future of Hungarians.”

“We cannot allow others to tell us what the future of Hungary should be this time round either,” he said. “We must look with respect to the heroes of 1956 who acted … with courage and their love for freedom,” he added.

gloria victis 1956 march 23October
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Christian Dem MP: Western Balkans’ European integration must be accelerated

lőrinc nacsa kdnp

Hungary’s position is that the EU integration of Western Balkan countries must be accelerated, a lawmaker of Hungary’s co-ruling Christian Democrats (KDNP) told the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

Lőrinc Nacsa told MTI by phone that the EU would make a mistake by differentiating among aspirant countries, and “under pressure from large member states”, slowing down enlargement rather than advancing it.

He said the Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans is essential for Europe’s stability and security, and would increase the continent’s economic strength and competitiveness. This is why Hungary has joined PACE’s call to speed up the process, he said.

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Former Fidesz politician to join KDNP parlt group

Navracsics KDNP

Regional Development Minister Tibor Navracsics announced on Thursday that he will sit in parliament in future as a member of the allied ruling Christian Democrats (KDNP) parliamentary group.

Navracsics thanked the KDNP group for unanimously supporting to admit him at a meeting on Wednesday.

Navracsics worked as a lawmaker of Fidesz between 2006 and 2014 and after 2022. He was Fidesz’s parliamentary group leader between 2006 and 2010.

Hungarian ruling parties want to dissolve the European Parliament?

European Union European Parliament eu presidency

According to the Fidesz-KDNP coalition, the European Parliament in its current form should be abolished. On Tuesday evening at 9.15 pm, four members of the Hungarian Parliament from the governing party, László Kövér (Fidesz), the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, Zsolt Semjén (KDNP), deputy prime minister, István Simicskó, leader of the KDNP parliamentary group and Máté Kocsis, leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group presented a grand European vision to the Hungarian Parliament.

In this draft resolution, they describe what they think the government should achieve in the debate on the reorganisation of the European Union, 444.hu reports.

The proposals

According to the news portal, one of the most interesting proposals is to abolish the European Parliament in its current form. Instead, it is suggested that national parliaments should delegate representatives instead of directly elected MEPs.

In addition, the four politicians would give all national parliaments the right to veto EU legislation, and give them and national governments the right to initiate new EU laws.

Among the proposals is that the EU should never be allowed to take a loan again; the huge RRF aid package is the only major EU loan scheme so far, but Hungary is the only member state that cannot access the money it is owed because of excessive corruption risks.

Christian foundations and protection of minorities

According to the proposal of the four Hungarian politicians, a new treaty would state that the EU is based on Christian foundations, but would remove the “ever closer union” clause from the current text.

They also see the protection of indigenous minorities as a common task, but would not give the Brussels institutions any say in immigration matters. They would quickly admit Balkan countries applying to join the EU.

No legal relevance of the draft resolution

The debate on the restructuring of the Union will be on the agenda of the European Council for the first time on Thursday. There, Viktor Orbán will have the opportunity to represent the principles, although Hungarian MEPs will not be able to vote on the resolution in Parliament until then. 444.hu underscores that the political declaration is a call for the government to adopt a position, but it has no legal relevance.

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Banning Russian gas and oil imports would not help Ukraine, says Hungarian ruling parties

Budapest Parliament Hungary Danube

In an emergency the government needs to have the ability to act fast and effectively, that is why Hungary’s constitution needs to be amended, István Simicskó, group leader of the co-ruling Christian Democrats, has said referring to a bill before parliament.

Constitution amendment

In an interview published in daily Magyar Nemzet on Tuesday, Simicskó said a fast-changing world requires state agencies, services, and their coordination to respond to a new situation as fast as possible.

“There may be no days, weeks or months to consider before making a decision,”

he said.

“The government must be given the necessary room for manoeuvre to instruct state agencies and law-enforcement bodies and effectively ensure security in the country,”

he insisted, and mentioned, for example, the war in Ukraine and hundreds of thousands of refugees taking shelter in Hungary.

Banning Russian gas

Concerning the European Union’s sanctions against Russia, Simicskó said before taking such measures decision-makers should “carefully consider whom they would in fact harm”.

Banning Russian gas and oil imports would not help Ukraine, it could not force Russia to stop its military operations, while Europe will have to buy energy at significantly higher prices,

he said. “To put it simply, the EU will punish itself rather than Russia through this ill-advised embargo policy,” he insisted.

As we wrote earlier, a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on last Monday concluded without a decision being passed regarding a planned embargo of Russian oil, the Hungarian foreign minister said, details here.

Hungarian Christian Democrats call on Finland to observe ‘freedom of religion’

finland

Hungary’s junior ruling Christian Democrats has called on Finland to observe the principles of freedom of religion and conscience.

In a statement on Monday, the party’s deputy leader, Imre Vejkey, said the Christian Democrats took a stand for Finnish MP Paivi Rasanen, who faces possible imprisonment for tweeting a biblical quote.

According to press reports, the former interior minister is on trial after being accused of engaging in “hate speech” in connection with public comments she made on marriage and human sexuality.

The Christian Democrats said

the criminal procedure was “unacceptable”. “This is manifestly a liberal dictatorship,”

the statement said.

Faith expressed through a quote from the Bible should not be criminalised by Finland or any other EU member state, the statement said, adding:

“This is Christian persecution.”

Orthodox-Christian-water-cross
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ChristDems, LMP mark Day of Szekler Autonomy

székely szekler flag parliament Budapest

Co-ruling Christian Democrats and opposition LMP marked the Day of Szekler Autonomy on Sunday.

Christian Democrats group leader Istvan Simicskó said it was a moral obligation for Hungarians living in the motherland to support ethnic Hungarians in diasporas everywhere in the world. Szeklers are a historical community whose unique traditions have enriched Hungarian culture for many centuries, he said.

“We support their demand for autonomy, the aspirations of a minority proud of its identity to be successful in their place of birth,”

Simicskó said.

“Autonomy is a right in the European Union which the Szeklers deserve and it is natural to demand it or even fight for it,” he added.

LMP group leader László Lóránt Keresztes said in a statement that guaranteeing the autonomy and rights of indigenous national minorities was an important European value “worth fighting for together”.

Day of Szekler Autonomy is marked on the last Sunday of every October on a 2016 initative by the Szekler National Council.

Prince Charles, Royal Family, England
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