Free Republic

Hungary will continue to protect its own borders and the borders of Europe, the justice minister said on Tuesday, in response to the European Court ruling earlier in the day that Hungary’s criminalisation of help given to people in making their claim for asylum breaches EU law. In her English-language post on Facebook, Judit Varga noted that the EU Court of Justice upheld the European Commission’s ruling regarding certain elements of the “Stop Soros” law package. Varga said she regretted that the EU court did not take Hungary’s professional arguments into account. “We all know that to the Brussels bureaucracy,...

France is leading a group of ten EU countries pushing for nuclear energy to be labeled “green” as the continent tries to end its dependence on fossil fuels without wrecking the economy. The group — which includes Poland, Hungary and Finland — argue that nuclear is “essential” to lowering energy costs and ending Europe’s reliance on foreign imports, while also cutting emissions without becoming overreliant on renewables. But they are being opposed by another group led by Germany, which gets around 75 percent of its energy from fossil fuels and stands to benefit from the new Nord Stream 2 gas...

Researchers examined 29 tombs from Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy, one of Hungary’s largest Middle Bronze Age cemeteries...In the grave numbered 241, the cremated bones of an adult woman and two 7-8-month-old fetuses found in the urn, as well as highly prestigious items.The site is located in the northern part of Csepel Island (a few kilometers south of Budapest), and c. They are dated to 2150 and 1500 BC.People of the Vatya culture-in the early and mid-Bronze Age of Hungary used to cremate their dead. Although this often makes studying their remains challenging, researchers from the University of Bologna in Italy turned to new...

Nations convinced to shun Durban Conference under Israeli diplomatic pressure, spearheaded by Lapid; FM says move demonstrates Israel's political power on the world stage Thirty-one nations have so far decided to boycott a UN meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the Durban World Conference on Racism later this week due to the event's anti-Semitic nature in the past, marking a major diplomatic win for Israel. The first conference was held in Durban, South Africa from August 31 through September 8, 2001, and covered several controversial issues, including redress for transatlantic slavery and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) bashed Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s meeting with Hungary’s power-grabbing prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in a speech Friday marking the 234th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution at Brigham Young University. The senator didn’t called out Carlson by name in his remarks, but instead referred to him as a “prominent TV pundit” who visited Hungary to “extol” the prime minister “as a model for us to emulate.” Last month, the Fox News host broadcast his show from Budapest, where he spoke at a right-wing conference. During an interview with Orbán, Carlson praised his leadership.

Francis, Orbán Trade Gibes at Historic MeetPrime minister prods pope: 'Don't let Christian Hungary be lost!'BUDAPEST, Hungary (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pope Francis and Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán met for 40 minutes at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest on Sunday morning in a historic event charged with loaded symbolism and ideological sniping.Francis, Orbán and the rest of the entourage After months of diplomatic wrangling punctuated by mutual put-downs, the pope and prime minister exchanged gifts and discussed the Church's role in Hungary, protecting the environment and the protection and promotion of the family, the Holy See Press Office announced....

Pope Francis urged Hungary on Sunday to “extend its arms towards everyone,” in a veiled critique of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s anti-migrant policies, as the pontiff opened a four-day visit to Central Europe in his first big international outing since undergoing intestinal surgery in July. […] Francis spent just seven hours in Budapest before arriving Sunday afternoon in neighboring Slovakia to start a four-day tour. The lopsided itinerary suggested that Francis wanted to avoid giving Orbán — the type of populist nationalist he frequently criticizes — the political boost that comes with hosting a pope for a proper state visit...

Pope Francis urged Hungarians to be more “open” and “considered” during an open-air mass in Budapest after meeting the country’s hardline Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday. Orban’s personal gift to the Pope, however, appeared to underline his nationalist and anti-immigrant stance: a copy of a 13th century letter from Hungarian King Bela IV to Pope Innocent IV. The letter asked the then-Pope for help in resisting the Mongol invasion of Hungary and Europe. Balazs Orban, Deputy Minister for the Prime Minister’s Office, described the gift on his Facebook page, saying, “there are many similarities between the situation at that...

Mass migration will make the European Union weaker, not stronger, Balázs Orbán, state secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, told a panel discussion. The 2015 migration crisis was a “milestone” in Europe, Orbán said at the event organized by the Danube Institute, arguing that it had led European politicians to realize that the world had changed and that they had been “unprepared” for what was happening. The laws that were being applied during the crisis had been enacted decades before and had been meant to address the issue of political refugees fleeing communist countries at the time, Orbán said. But...

After racist chants, England’s Harry Kane has called on FIFA to “come down hard” on Hungary. In a tough environment, England battled to triumph in Budapest. After monkey chants were purportedly heard during Thursday’s World Cup qualifier, England captain Harry Kane had harsh words for Hungary’s fans. Regardless, the Three Lions battled on, romping to a 4-0 triumph as the team found its stride in the second half. The first goal scored by Raheem Sterling was met with boos and objects hurled from the supporters. In what was a very unsavory environment surrounding the match, ITV’s Gabriel Clarke stated that...

Magyar Nemzet, a newspaper close to Victor Orban’s Hungarian government, sparked the discussion with an article titled “it’s time to talk about Huxit”. It was written by Tamas Fricz, a conservative academic with close links to Mr Orban’s Fidesz party. n his article Mr Fricz accused the EU of “more and more imperial features”, and “behaving more and more condescendingly and arrogantly towards the Eastern and Central European states”. He added: “The EU Commission, the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice and in parts the Council of Europe are determined to teach us a lesson. “Even more: They want...

Hungary: Wonderful Results!From an interview with H.E. Mr. Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen, Ambassador of Hungary to the Holy See (CittaNuova.it, 28 August).Question: Europe is going through a serious demographic crisis and falling birth rates. What is the Hungarian state doing to support the family?Answer: Hungary saw this danger years ago and decided to act. The Orbán government has been working on this for nine years and we have achieved wonderful results: a 40% increase in marriages, a 25% decrease in divorces and above all a 30% decrease in abortions.Clearly, for such a change, the government's willingness to commit itself to families is...

Hungary’s unofficial government newspaper Magyar Nemzet (Hungarian Nation) often floats issues that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government would like to gauge public opinion on without addressing those issues themselves. Last weekend, it happened again. On Sunday (August 15), the paper opened debate on an issue that had previously been deemed off-limits even in Hungarian government circles: Hungary’s exit from the EU. “It is time to talk about Huxit” was the title of the Magyar Nemzet opinion piece. The news went off like a bomb in Hungary — with most larger media outlets reporting, opposition politicians up in arms...

Christian Hungary Is Not the ProblemInstead of attacking Orban, European progressives should fix their own countries.The brutal death of a French Catholic priest last week is grimly symbolic of liberal Europe’s direction under its open-borders ideology. The priest was beaten to death by a Rwandan immigrant to whom he had given shelter. The immigrant was a known threat to the French authorities: a year ago he had been arrested for trying to burn down the Cathedral of Nantes.The French have become accustomed to these horrific stories in recent years. In 2020, a Tunisian immigrant beheaded a woman and killed two...

Hungarian President Viktor Orban was a once a dissident against communism. Then he turned to faith and flag—and became a heretic against liberalism. “The right’s entrancement with [Hungarian President Viktor] Orban has emerged fitfully over the last decade. One could find defenses of the Hungarian regime in places like the New York Post, the Federalist, the Heritage Foundation, and National Review. Yet, until recently, open support for Orban’s Hungary was an idiosyncratic minority position on the American right,” writes Jonathan Chait in one of his two articles last week on the topic, citing yours truly.In the last couple of days,...

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared on Thursday that his country would bar LGBT+ activists from schools under a new law restricting promotion of homosexuality, despite pressure from the EU to rescind the legislation. In a post shared on his official Facebook page, Orban responded to the European Commission’s decision to open an inquiry into the country over the legislation that prohibits the promotion of homosexuality within schools. “The European Parliament and the European Commission want that we let LGBTQ activists and organisations into the kindergartens and schools. Hungary does not want that,” Orban said, standing by the legislation. Orban...

On Thursday, Tucker Carlson conducted a fairly in-depth interview with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. It was a fascinating look at a classic liberal: Liberty-oriented values that don’t veer into anarchy, strong principles, and a healthy nationalism. The left has used “nationalism” as a dirty word since Hitler, as they seek a borderless world they can control, but healthy nationalism means doing what Trump did: Putting your countrymen first, without regard for other nations' demands that you subordinate your country to them – and that’s what Orbán does. Orbán was born in Hungary in 1963 when it was still under...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sits down with Tucker Carlson to discuss how western Europe is changing and how his country is moving further away.

Hungary is bearing the brunt of the anger of the “fever swamps of the liberal Twittersphere” after FNC’s Tucker Carlson announced he would be hosting his show from Budapest this week. The Central European country is led by a popular national conservative-led government which has already earned the lasting ire of the left-liberal establishment in the European Union for refusing to implement the bloc’s mandatory migrant redistribution quotas, denouncing billionaire plutocrat George Soros as “one of the most corrupt people in the world” and calling out the European politicians and institutions which “serve” him, and implementing a generous system of...

HUNGARY could quit the European Union before the end of the decade once it becomes a net contributor to the bloc's budget, according to the country's finance minister. Mihaly Varga said Budapest’s membership of the EU could fall under questioning if its budget payments increase and Brussels continues to launch political attacks on the government. If a referendum was held on Hungary’s EU membership this year, the minister said he would support continued participation in the bloc. But Mr Varga warned this could soon change. He said: “If there was such a question in 2021, I’d be among those who’d...