Draining the EU Swamp

CPAC Hungary 2024

The globalist Left will be heaving a collective moan as the world’s leading conservatives take the stage this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest, Hungary.

This is how CPAC Hungary organizer Miklós Szánthó described the Left's predictable reaction to the April 25-26 gathering:

This is the third time the conference has been held in Budapest and is considered a uniting force for conservatives worldwide. The theme of the conference, hosted by Center for Fundamental Rights, is "United We Stand."

“[W]e’re planning] to drain the swamp in Brussels before the European parliamentary elections, and hopefully to drain the swamp in Washington as well. Because we do hope that a new leader in the White House, most likely Donald Trump, will be able to bring stability and peace again to Western civilization,” Szánthó said.

"This year, we're planning to go into action, to be the 'wokebusters,'" he added.

CPAC is known to attract the "giants of the intellectual right," as Szánthó put it.

Indeed, this time around political movers and shakers will hail from across the world. They will include leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders; head of the Spanish Vox Party, Santiago Abascal; former Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki; and CPAC Foundation President, Matt Schlapp.

Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake of Arizona will offer online presentations.

Other American speakers include Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma — who the Hungarian Conservative points out is "a former cage fighter" — and Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland, who "has spent 13 years battling in the liberal jungle, successfully fending off attacks from gender fanatics and the liberal media."

"Joining us will be a true border warrior, Congressman Keith Self [of Texas], renowned for his daredevil approach to border protection," Szánthó enthused. "He is a former military officer and has confronted the challenges of the secret police."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will be the keynote speaker. He is expected to address the threats EU policy is posing to Europe's sovereign nation-states, including rampant illegal migration, "trans" lobby tyranny and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The prime minister's pinned post on X gives a clue to key points he is likely to cover in his speech.

"National conservative, sovereignist [sic] and Christian forces are on the rise all across Europe. We don’t represent progressive ideas, we represent the people. We are the worst nightmare of the Brussels bureaucrats. We will win the European elections this June and we will occupy Brussels," he posted.

The stakes in the upcoming European elections are huge — as they are for Americans ahead of November.

In June, 400 million people across 27 EU countries will vote in European parliamentary elections, with border insecurity, tensions with Russia, and common folk struggling to keep fed and warm as a backdrop. Polls are suggesting that so-called far-right parties will make big gains in parliament — a prospect that's making the Brussels elite nervous.

Orbán is also expected to hone in on the deadly ongoing war in Ukraine. In an interview this week, he made his position clear.

"There are two paths before us — pro-peace or pro-war. The Brussels bureaucrats are pro-war. The Hungarian Left is pro-war — they get their money from Brussels, what else could they be? We are pro-peace. European people are pro-peace. We need a pro-peace majority in Europe," he said.

As it has in years past, CPAC Hungary will serve as a rallying point for conservatives worldwide — a cause for pride among conference organizers.

"The left is worried because we not only borrow their favorite weapon — networking — but we are using it better than they ever did," Szánthó said during an earlier gathering. "CPAC is the worst nightmare of the liberal globalism: nationalist powers cooperating internationally."

He added that close cooperation among the conservatives of the world was vital in order to combat leftists’ attempts to achieve total hegemony.

For those who can't make it to Budapest, CPAC Hungary will be livestreamed.

Additionally, syndicated radio host Rich Valdés, will be broadcasting live from the conference, and will be interviewing key figures in attendance. His X handle is @RichValdes.

Anyone interested in keeping up with the conservative fight in Hungary, and across Europe, can follow Miklós Szánthó on X @MiklosSzantho, as well as the Budapest-based Center for Fundamental Rights @alapjogokert.

Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.

To support articles like this, please consider a donation to Souls and Liberty.