[The European Conservative] Lessons From Hungary's Transition

34 years since the Soviet bloc collapsed, Hungary’s break with communism remains an instructive case study for transitioning regimes worldwide.

Editor’s note — the following essay is adapted from a speech delivered at CPAC Brazil on Sunday, 24th of September 2023.

Muito obrigado, caros amigos,

Taking this stage on behalf of CPAC Hungary, I realize I stand on a path trodden by generations of Brazilian and Hungarian stewards of what is today a profound friendship. What an honor! Such a bond defies intuition. How can a middling, landlocked European statelet with an indecipherable language expect to sit at the table of a near-superpower with 22 times its population, soon the world’s fifth-largest economy? The first bridge across this seemingly unbridgeable chasm seems to be History, but it has to do with Brazil’s present, too. Early in the 19th century, you were a haven for Hungarian patriots fleeing Austrian persecution, joined by later waves of migrants seeking a better life. Brazil and Hungary may be half a world away, but the heart of our friendship pulses at every event, festivity and commemoration gathering the roughly 100.000 Brazilians of Hungarian ancestry living in your midst. Through their rootedness, they remind us that the West spans both sides of the Atlantic, and that the Old World is enmeshed in the New.

Continue reading the entire speech transcript at The European Conservative here.