The existence of sovereignty equals the growth and advancement of the Hungarian nation, Government Spokesperson István Hollik stressed at a conference of the Centre for Fundamental Rights held on Tuesday in Budapest.

At the conference entitled ‘Who has (the main) power? – Sovereignty fights yesterday, today and tomorrow’, the government commissioner for communication said only those nations and states can be successful which possess the freedom of decision, meaning those which are sovereign. “If there is sovereignty, then there is freedom” which, according to Hungary’s historical experience, equals growth and advancement, Mr Hollik stressed, also highlighting that since 2010 Hungary’s sovereignty has gained in strength.

The government spokesperson took the view, also in reference to the country’s historical past, that whenever the Hungarian people were free to decide about their own fate, they always used that freedom well, and typically not to the detriment of others which is something, he said, “we can be proud of”. Sovereignty, however, he added, is continually surrounded by vital debates, those opposed to national sovereignty try to dismantle it both for pragmatic and ideological reasons. In his view, it is in connection with sovereignty that one of the greatest differences emerges between the Christian democratic way of thinking and the “utopian nightmare” of liberal-globalist politics. The former, based on a biblical image of man, does not seek to alter man as bolshevism or national socialism attempted to, he said.

Mr Hollik also pointed out that Hungarian sovereignty is facing ever further challenges both from the European Union and from the digital world. “The Hungarian government is ready for the struggles,” he stressed.

In his welcome address, Miklós Szánthó, Director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights highlighted that they are seeking to find an answer to the question as to whether it is still the state that has the utmost power, or other entities and organisations which are gradually withdrawing it from the state. He mentioned that the right- and left-wing division in politics is being increasingly replaced by a sovereignist-federalist, localist-globalist division. At this point, Mr Szánthó drew attention to the fact that behind the globalist view “there is a new kind of colonialism based on the imperial logic which only uses federalism as a means”. As an example he mentioned the Eurozone within the European Union “representing a new dimension of the integration”. Among phenomena that pose a threat to sovereignty, the Director also mentioned economic influence, the outsourcing of decision-making and “the sovereignty of IT giants which now rivals that of states”.

During a roundtable discussion about the issues of European, Hungarian and digital sovereignty, Gábor Megadja, a senior researcher of the think tank Századvég argued that the debates about sovereignty are about whether Hungary or Brussels decides what should happen in the country. Mentioning Romania and Ukraine as examples, he also stressed that sovereignty is not a theoretical, but a vital question, and those opposed to it “will do relentlessly everything they can to gain control”.

Ernő Schaller-Baross, Deputy State Secretary for International Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office highlighted that since 2010 a positive turnaround has taken place in Hungary regarding sovereignty. Speaking about Brexit, he took the view that “it frighteningly demonstrates” the weakness of European institutions.

In the context of the IT issues of sovereignty, with reference to Facebook and Google, digital expert Magor Dukász said the company giants offer very good market products which are highly popular among Hungarian users as well. At the same time, these products create new situations in life and have given their manufacturers a near-monopolistic position, he said. For the future, in the interest of protecting sovereignty, he urged the development of a market situation in which Hungarian IT services will be able to compete with the products of the tech giants.

(MTI)