The Hungarians have never lost sight of their mission - emphasized Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday in Budapest, at the opening of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium.
In his speech, the Prime Minister stated: the fact that the 21st century will be the century of Asia is "not at all from the devil", but at the same time, it " spiritually takes a toll on Europe, which is so proud of its spiritual primacy ", and also on the United States, which is used to leading the world economically and militarily.
He believed that for 400 years the West was in front of the world, the West's sense of exceptionalism and mission was there all along, which gave it inspiration and self-confidence. However, he continued, something changed at the beginning of the 21st century, and now Western civilization is facing serious challenges.
He listed here that in America the so-called woke neo-Marxism is taking over the management of thought and thought-forming institutions, and in Europe a Muslim demographic, political and economic tide has been started, creating a new situation in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and in Austria.
Viktor Orbán noted:
the West is not able to provide adequate political answers to these problems "on either side of the great water".
" In short, we Central Europeans believe that the West has gradually lost faith in its own mission, " he said.
He continued: the West no longer looks for meaning in its own history, rather it talks about how it will end soon, it reinterprets or erases certain periods, it is downright ashamed, it deems them to be eliminated, and in the meantime it cannot put anything in its place. He added: those who are not paralyzed, but are very active, are "deconstructive, disintegrating forces" that "perhaps would be better if they were paralyzed."
He recalled Karl Popper's statement in his work that founded the ideology of the open society, that whoever attributes a special value and historical mission to his own nation or political community is an enemy of the open society and actually builds tyranny.
The concept of an open society deprived the West of its belief in its own values
This is the view of II. perhaps the most influential and most destructive statement of Western thought after World War II, he said, indicating that the concept of an open society deprived the West of its faith in its own values and historical mission, and thus is now hindering the West during the "Muslim tide" and the rise of Asia, to pit his own mission against the rising intellectual and political power centers.
The Prime Minister drew attention to:
Central Europeans believe they are doomed without a mission.
" He who loses faith in his own excellence and mission loses inspiration, the motivation to strive for the better, and ultimately becomes insignificant, " he said.
He emphasized: the task of the Hungarians used to be to organize the Carpathian basin and ensure the coexistence and prosperity of the peoples living here. " For many hundreds of years, the protection of the independent Carpathian basin has been our mission and vocation ," he said, "not to allow ourselves to be inserted" into the political, cultural, and state frameworks of the German or Ottoman world.
The prime minister recalled: the Tatar invasions, the advance of the Muslim world in the Middle Ages, the Nazi occupation, the Soviet occupation and the anti-Christian nature of the communist decades connected the protection of the Carpathian basin and Christianity into a profession of great national, Central European, and even European importance.
He noted: similar processes took place in the Polish world and in the Balkans, there are also peoples who can answer the question of what their national mission and vocation are.
He touched on:
Christianity consists of two things, faith and the forms of existence inspired and created by faith.
Governments are not competent in matters of faith, so when they talk about Christianity and Christian democracy, they mean the forms of existence that have grown out of societies imbued with the Christian faith, he said.
He emphasized: all of this resulted in a different perception of life and a sense of national identity in Central Europe, different from the Western one. When he talks about gender, migration, national sovereignty, "Brussels' dangerous imperial tendencies" with the leaders of Western European countries, they interpret the disputes and differences of opinion as delays in development, said the Prime Minister.
He explained: they believe that "we are simply lagging behind, but we will certainly grow up to them". They do not understand that it is actually a deep cultural, geopolitical and philosophical difference, he added.
The work of all members of the community and the nation adds up
He said: In Central Europe, the work and personal achievements of all members of the community and the nation add up in "a great joint effort to fulfill our mission". That is why every Hungarian citizen is self-consciously proud and aware of the importance of his own life and work, he added, noting that the concept of life based on mission is not primarily a matter of the mind, but of the heart.
According to Viktor Orbán, Hungarian people tend to see their work as their own personal vocation, on which their life depends, and this "mysteriously draws us together in a common destiny". This gives rise to the almost infinite sense of self-worth that Hungarians get involved in even the most insignificant intellectual debates, and "almost everyone in Hungary is a politician," he said.
He sees that the task of spiritual people here is to understand this mission, to reflect on it in public issues, to grasp the ever-changing forms and expanding content of the mission, to describe it and to offer it to the citizens of the nation who pursue a different, non-spiritual profession.
Therefore, the students have a qualified responsibility for the future of Hungarians "due to their outstanding spiritual gifts given to them by God", said the prime minister.
Balázs Orbán: We square the talent
The chairman of the board of trustees, Balázs Orbán, called the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), which has been operating for 25 years, a national institution that "raises talents to square one".
At the institution's opening ceremony, Balázs Orbán said: Hungarians often play sports because they disagree with each other, but there are topics - such as education - that go beyond daily struggles.
Quoting Kuno Klebelsberg, the minister of religion and public education between the two world wars, the chairman of the board of trustees, the state secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, stated: Hungarians cannot be saved by the sword, but by the spirit.
Balázs Orbán mentioned: the MCC, which has been operating for 25 years, supports selected students from the age of 10 until the end of their university studies in the entire Carpathian basin, thereby serving Hungarianness and the rise of Hungarian youth. He called it a goal that individual talent and success go hand in hand with the community.
He emphasized:
of the 35 generations of Hungarians born in the Carpathian Basin, few had such good prospects as today's young people,
because the country is free and independent, there is an opportunity for talent to develop, the society is meritocratic, the borders are open, so you can bring home ideas from anywhere, and the connection between the success of the individual and the community is also clearly visible.
Zoltán Szalai, the director general of the MCC, expressed his joy that the government is committed to the aspirations of the college. He said: this academic year, 23 locations will begin the development of 3,500 young people selected from a large number of applicants beyond traditional educational frameworks.
He added that their goal is to increase the number of their training places to 35 and the number of students to 10,000, and to invite about a hundred foreign guest lecturers and lecturers this academic year as well as last year.
British historian Niall Ferguson drew attention to the importance of academic freedom and free thinking,
highlighted, these values are threatened not only in authoritarian states, but also in countries that see themselves as the flag bearers of freedom.
He cited as an example that in the United States, students are increasingly taking action against their fellow students and instructors who profess ideas different from theirs, so it is becoming more and more difficult to dare to think in some academic institutions.
Niall Ferguson asked everyone not to let the Hungarian mind suffer the same fate. At the opening of the MCC, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasized that Hungarians have never lost sight of their historic mission.
MTI / hirado.hu
Photo: Viktor Orbán at the opening of the Matthias Corvinus Collegium - Source: HírTV
