The past four years of the Polish government and the past nine years of the Hungarian government legitimise the idea of a Europe of nations, Balázs Orbán, the Parliamentary and Strategic State Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office said at a book launch event held on Thursday in Budapest.
At the launch of the book ‘The Good Change in Poland 2015-2019’ by Lukasz Kobeszko, published by the Századvég Foundation, Mr Orbán said on Sunday general parliamentary elections will be held in Poland, in addition to municipal elections in Hungary. It is difficult to decide which one is more important for Hungary, he observed.
Those standing for a Polish and Hungarian national notion constitute a united front against imperial aspirations, he added.
He referred to Israeli philosopher Yoram Hazony’s conclusion that the history of Europe is a history of imperialism – or imperial notions – and nationalism – or national notions.
There is an irreconcilable conflict between these two sets of notions, but at the same time, there is also a state of balance between them: When one gains in strength, the other weakens, Mr Orbán said. He stressed that from time to time Europe is afflicted by imperialist aspirations which have historical roots.
In the 21st century, one such notion is the idea of a United States of Europe which emerged as an idea, based on the imperial logic, which seeks to create an intellectual, political and philosophical background for an ever closer union, he said.
He stressed that, in the interest of maintaining a state of historical balance, there must be a force which wishes to keep Europe on the right track on the basis of the national idea.
In actual fact, this force lies in the strength of national communities, on the basis of which a successful political, economic, social and culture system can be created, and this is legitimised by successful governance as observed in Poland and Hungary in the past few years, the State Secretary pointed out.
Maciej Szymanowski, Director of the Waczlaw Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation said the book does not only introduce the measures adopted during the latest Polish term of government, but also offers an answer as to why they were necessary, whilst providing guidance for the coming years as well.
According to Gábor G. Fodor, President of the Századvég Foundation politics is a simple thing, and seeks answers to simple questions, such as what we do and why.
Both Hungarians and Poles had to defend their truth against the ruling liberal elite, he said referring to the Hungarian and Polish governments. He said the book explains what the Polish people have done in the interest of carefully selected goals, and why.
Today, Poland and Hungary are in a situation where there is scope for action, in which the truth finds a way. What is at stake in the elections to be held in Poland and in Hungary on Sunday is whether electors will provide a mandate for that, he said.
Lukasz Kobeszko, author of the book said that in the book that was originally written in Polish, but was first published in Hungary in Hungarian he played the role of chronicler. His goal was to not only chronologically introduce the results achieved by the Polish government, but to also highlight the reasons for those results. At the same time, rather than offering an academic analysis, he sought to write a book that everyone understands.
Conveying the principal message of the past term of the Polish government, he said American philosopher Francis Fukuyama was wrong when he believed that only liberal democracy exists. There are other types of democracies, other types of solutions.
The Polish government is not only a radical critic of the previous regime, but also offered specific, practical solutions to the emerging problems, he added.