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Hungary is a very small country — it has a population similar to that of New York — and it is very far from America, yet it is giving a lot to talk about. NGOs in D.C. say that it is a country with very few civil liberties and that has dangerous ultraconservatives in power. President Biden has even referred to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as a “totalitarian thug.” The mainstream media claims that in Hungary the rights of the LGBT community are violated and that its immigration policies are xenophobic.
Why is a country so small and so far away giving so much to talk about in America? The short answer is this: it is an openly conservative country that has decided to stand up for its principles, even if that bothers the globalists. We discussed the more complex answer in this special interview for El American with Rodrigo Ballester, director of the Centre for European Studies at Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Hungary.
Ballester begins the interview by giving us a piece of calm in the face of the scandalous headlines of the progressive press in the USA: “Fundamental rights are very well protected in this country. Don’t worry.” Ballester believes that one of the things that bother progressives the most is that Hungary — being a country that is not ashamed of its Christian values and does not follow the one-size-fits-all thinking — is doing so well. It is a small country but with a strong economy, good education, and a low crime rate.
We asked him about the recent scandal surrounding what the European Commission has labeled “violations of the fundamental rights of the LGBT community.” Ballester begins by explaining the atmosphere of freedom and tolerance that exists in Hungary for the LGBT community and for all minorities.
“In June in Budapest there is a massive Gay Pride, in Hungary civil unions of homosexual couples are recognized by law, it is a country where homosexuals have their union recognized by law.”
Rodrigo Ballester
He explains what has actually happened in this small country: it has been approved in parliament “to protect children, in general, from sexual promotion.” Ballester clarifies that what Hungary has decided is not to go against a group, but to protect children from information concerning sexuality. Information to which, he says, they should not be exposed at such a young age.
“The limit in Hungary is with children, what the Hungarian parliament has approved is a law for the protection of minors. From the age of 18, everyone can do what they want, but children are not allowed to talk about gender.”
Rodrigo Ballester
A fundamental issue that Ballester points out is the intervention of the European Union in matters in which it has no competence: “This intervention is a frankly dangerous drift.” The European Union has no competence in educational matters and should not point out to countries what to do in this regard, is what Ballester thinks.
He also points out that these international institutions and organizations seem to want to impose a single way of thinking and condemn countries that do not follow what some bureaucrats think is appropriate.
As to why Hungary is so different and has a conservative population that opposes communism in all its variants, Ballester recalls that Hungary only recently suffered a fierce communist dictatorship, and that this has provided it with a kind of vaccine against this ideology.
We also asked Ballester for his opinion on current events in the United States:
“I see the United States with great concern, because in a matter of years it is changing radically, the USA has always been the temple of freedom of expression and that is now being questioned, not by judges but by society.”
Rodrigo Ballester
Ballester notes with concern that many of the best universities in the world are in the U.S. and that at this time it is no longer possible to debate calmly. “We’ve been doing that in the West for a thousand years, confronting ideas, and suddenly in the temples of wisdom you can’t do that anymore.”
Vanessa Vallejo. Co-editor-in-chief of El American. Economist. Podcaster. Political and economic analysis of America. Colombian exile in the United States // Vanessa Vallejo. Co-editora en jefe de El American. Economista. Podcaster. Análisis político y económico de América. Colombiana exiliada en EE. UU.