Counterpoint Institute Events
Peace in Ukraine
A Discussion with H.E. Péter Szijjártó
October 26th 2022
with Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI)
Dr. Shea interviewed H.E. Péter Szijjártó Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, about the Russian-Ukraine invasion, the EU energy crisis, the threat of nuclear war, and the importance of Western leadership in achieving peace.
Hungary is particularly well-suited to speak on these issues -- it shares a border with Ukraine, has taken in 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees since the war began, was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991 and knows Russian aggression very well. It has also been under considerable strain due to the energy crisis brought about by Putin's response to Western sanctions.
European Conservatism: Why it Matters to the U.S.
with Miklós Szantho, Center for Fundamental Rights
& CPAC Hungary
January 10th 2023
with Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI)
Dr. Shea discusses why European and Hungarian Conservatism is so important to the U.S., with Miklós Szantho, Director General for the Center for Fundamental Rights in Hungary, and for CPAC Hungary.
American Conservatives, in many regards, are fractured and adrift, with a strong grassroots energy but a very great leadership vacuum. Conservatives often can't win elections nor articulate a vision or effective plan of action. The lockstep, monolithic liberal left, however, brands conservatives as domestic terrorists and continues to try to criminalize all that conservatives believe in.
Hungary is a conservative nation in the midst of the European Union; the EU led by a Eurocratic elite that is trying to take decision-making away from the local or national level to the "federal" or EU level. Under the guise of "rule of law" and "democracy" the EU pressures member states into compliance with EU values. They do so by withholding funds, and with public ridicule and condemnation. And, much like the leftist elite in America, they are caught up in political correctness and "wokeness".
Hungary serves as a optimistic, successful model of a country that continues to preserve and promote its own identity, culture and values in a often-hostile environment. They have both a strong domestic and Foreign policy agenda and continue to embrace God, Family, and Homeland.