Republikon Institute

The political processes of the past decades in Hungary have raised several questions about the role of populism, enemy formation, and political identity construction. Fidesz\'s political strategy under Viktor Orbán is a prominent example of how populism, used as a power tool, can change democratic norms while stabilizing political power.

The Visegrad Cooperation within the European Union is a regional organization of four Central European member states: the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. The cooperation aims to jointly represent the economic, diplomatic, and political interests of these countries and coordinate their possible actions. All four member states joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. 

Russian attempts at interference can be observed all over the world. They are part of the Kremlin\'s foreign policy to gain more influence worldwide and to make as many countries Russian-friendly as possible. The ultimate goal of this foreign policy is probably to upset the unipolar US-dominated world order. We are now at the point where Russian President Vladimir Putin declared at the 2024 Valdai Forum that the old world order is over.

Recent economic shocks and the European Union’s focus on competitiveness have directed the spotlight on the dangers of global value chains. With its unique politics of  ‘eastern opening’ and latecomer position to the globalized market economies, Hungary’s strategy in the geopolitical theatre raises many questions. In the following, I will use an interdisciplinary approach to explain the Hungarian manufacturing industries’ global value chain exposures.

On December 11, Republikon Institute held an event entitled \"Affordable Housing - Dream or Reality\", which explored the issue of housing in Budapest in a panel discussion with politicians and experts. The panelists of the first panel, all mayors of an individual city district of Budapest, are aware of the housing issues, but there is no universal solution.

The 1990s brought several significant changes for Europe. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia was dissolved, and as a result, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have since been independent states of the Central and Eastern European region. The focus of European public discourse is not always on Slovak domestic politics, but the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico in 2024 has shocked the continent.

The 2024 EP and municipal elections in Hungary, held on the same day, provide a complex and illuminating study of how financial resources, legal frameworks, and media control shape electoral outcomes. The Fidesz party\'s overwhelming dominance in campaign spending, both directly and indirectly, highlights significant imbalances in the democratic process.

For most of us, it becomes a frequent, increasingly common, everyday experience that causes anxiety, tension, or simply a bad feeling when a politically charged public topic is discussed during a conversation. We can also say that this phenomenon has become an integral part of Hungarian reality. In most cases, this sentiment is triggered by the fact that we find it increasingly difficult to contrast our opinions or narratives with other points of view.

2024 is a turbulent year in Hungarian politics, and this is especially true for the capital. New alliances have been formed, while at the same time, some previous cooperation has so broken down that the parties are running against each other.

In this article, I would like to present the importance of religion in the migrant integration process. I will get a closer look at the situation of Muslims in Hungary and France and see how they are trying to integrate religious Muslim immigrants. I chose these two countries because both countries have policies that are against migration.