California Globe Interview with CPAC Hungary Director Dr. Miklós Szánthó

The California Globe had the opportunity to ask questions of  Dr. Miklós Szánthó, Director General of the Center for Fundamental Rights and Chairman of CPAC Hungary, ahead of CPAC Hungary next week. The Globe was invited but is not able to attend this year. However, we want readers to know about CPAC Hungary and that the worldwide conservative movement is pushing back against woke and Marxist ideologies with success. 

Is CPAC Hungary similar to the U.S. CPAC in format, topics, “God, homeland, family?”

Yes, the CPAC Hungary format is similar to the annual CPAC conference in the United States – although we add some Hungarian flavor, paprika to it. Hungary is more or less the last remaining conservative stronghold on the continent and as a consequence a lighthouse for national Right-wing forces in the region.  And this is mirrored by the fact thatCPAC returns to Budapest for the third year in a row, this is the first and only CPAC on European soil.

As we recently learned after the NatCon scandal in Brussels, it is also the only major conservative gathering on the continent that is not in danger of being forcibly shut down by the woke elite. Our speakers – like Santiago Abascal of Spain, Geert Wilders from the Netherlands, U.S. senators and congressmen – will address all the major issues of our increasingly dangerous world, including illegal migration, woke ideologies, draining the swamp and the deep state in both Brussels and DC, the upcoming U.S. elections, the wars threatening our security, parental rights and child protection.  

Is national interest and interest-based foreign policy at the root of CPAC Hungary?

Hungary’s elected officials with the support of the people who elected them have put forth policies that prioritize the national interests of Hungary. Not unlike President Donald J. Trump’s America First policy agenda, we also put Hungary First and we believe that this philosophy is the basis of good governance and prudent foreign policy. The most important lesson from the Hungarian example is what Viktor Orbán said at CPAC last year: “Don’t play by the liberals’ rules.” The security and prosperity of a nation’s people should always be the first priority of its leaders.

What are the foreign conservative leaders attending expecting to take away from CPAC Hungary?

We are bringing together sovereigntist leaders from Hungary, the United States, and from all corners of the world. In a strange way, the aim is to build global connectivity of anti globalist forces. We will continue building out a worldwide conservative movement to push back against the woke and Marxist ideologies that we see spreading throughout the Western civilization. World leaders, conservative politicians and thinkers can expect to leave our CPAC Hungary with new friendships and alliances to fight back against the Left. They will become the Wokebusters, who will drain the swamp in both Brussels and Washington in the course of this election super year. 

What do you expect conservative leaders can and will impart on attendees and each other? 

Although Hungary is a middle-sized country even within European circumstances, with its political impact it punches way above its weight. People of common sense see us as a beacon of hope, while the progressive woke is so frustrated and annoyed that the European deep-state even decided to froze funds officially guaranteed for Hungary. Just because we protect our borders, protect our children and refuse to finance or join a corrupt war in a corrupt country – like President Trump would do it. So Hungary serves as a special conservative laboratory, where the recipe for success is presented: order, freedom and security. That is what I hope our guests will bring back home.

How have previous CPAC Hungary events impacted participating countries?

The first two CPACs in Hungary were huge successes. The global media covered them both extensively, the conservative press with great enthusiasm and optimism, and the liberal journalists with growing alarm and temper tantrums of increasing intensity. Our guest speakers took the most important insights they’d learned back to their homelands. For instance, Viktor Orban’s 12-point recipe for conservative success was widely discussed throughout the Western World, from Japan to Brazil.

Will the conservative and centre-right media continue to be effective after CPAC Hungary, will they continue to support the conference theme for the rest of the year?

In Hungary, we have built out a strong network of conservative TV networks, magazines, newspapers and a digital media apparatus. We’ve often heard from our American friends that they would love to replicate what we’ve done in Hungary on this front. The transition to democracy in the 1990s did not bring independence to the media or an even split between Right and Left. Today, the media is split roughly 50-50, meaning that only after 34 years of the collapse of the communism has the Right managed to have at least as many print media and online news portals as the left. The Hungarian press is often criticized for being completely under “government control”, with no freedom of the press. Nothing could be further from the truth – Big Media’s real problem with Hungary is that they don’t enjoy the absolute superpower to interpret reality, as we undermined the post-communist architecture inherited from the Soviet regime. Competition has now become balanced, we are among the world’s leading democracies when it comes to media and opinion plurality, which is the real concern for the liberal mainstream media, because they seek to dominate discourse everywhere.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán speaks of the importance of Christian conservatism prevailing in Hungary. Are the other conservative leaders in general agreement? Is this an issue at all among leaders?

Prime Minister Orban and other Hungarian conservative leaders often speak of their strong belief in Judeo-Christian values. Many conservative world leaders share the conviction that Judeo-Christian values are critical to national survival. In Hungary, we believe in God, Homeland and Family. The three core principles of having a strong faith in God, protecting our homeland and borders, and empowering parents to have the final say in their children’s upbringing go hand in hand with Judeo-Christian values.

The U.S. has largely shunned Christians and Christianity, resorting to renaming Christians “White Nationalists.” Does CPAC Hungary address this as it pertains to European Christians? Does Prime Minister Viktor Orbán?

At the Center for Fundamental Rights, as hosts of CPAC Hungary, we believe in taking pride in our religious faith and beliefs. We do not shy away from the fact that we are a nation with Christian heritage that deeply believes and practices our Judeo-Christian values in politics, media, and throughout our society. The Left’s attempt to label Christians as “white nationalists” is just another example of how deranged they have become. Please keep in mind that they use these terms for their political witch-hunts and not on any moral or factual grounds. A time ago they cheered for general suffrage – now they condemn ‘populism’. Once they were the party of ‘peace, love, happiness’ and smashed every Right-wing strongman – now they act as true warmongers if it comes to Ukraine. Lastly but not least they accused every and each conservative movement of being anti-Semitic – now, as we experience all over in major cities in the West, they not only tolerate, but actively support pro-Hamas, anti-Israel groups. So we should carefully listen to their lips – and not trust them. 

Hungary borders Slovenia, Ukraine, Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia. In 1989 Hungary became a democratic parliamentary republic following the Communist era, which lasted from the end of World War II to 1989. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was suppressed by Soviet forces, and Hungary remained a communist country. As the Soviet Union weakened in the late 1980s, the Eastern Bloc disintegrated. In 1989–1990, Hungary underwent a peaceful and crucial transition to a democratic system, leading to multi-party elections and the establishment of a market-oriented economy.

Tweets by MiklosSzantho