We are living through difficult times. The transatlantic community is threatened in an unprecedented way by a war taking place in our immediate neighborhood. Europe and North America are suffering from serious internal crises, and the problems of more distant regions are also increasingly affecting us.
Recognizing these challenges, the Hungarian Atlantic Council renewed and strengthened its leadership in the spring of 2023 and resolved to reinforce the idea of Atlanticism within Hungarian society as a politically neutral, public-benefit civil organization built on a broad social base. We are convinced that there is no alternative to transatlantic cooperation for Central Europe, and especially for Hungary. This applies equally to NATO and the European Union.
This does not exclude cooperation with other regions of the world in the fields of economy, culture, and environmental protection. However, for such cooperation to function smoothly, strong and meaningful transatlantic relations are necessary. We trust that reason will soon prevail in our region, that we will overcome the ongoing value crisis, and that national interests will be reconciled through mutual compromise.
It is in this spirit that we organized today’s international conference to address current issues surrounding Atlanticism. We seek to clarify positions and problems. With this important event, we are launching a multi-year effort in the Carpathian Basin to promote, through our own means, the peaceful prosperity of all nations within the transatlantic community.
NATO is 75 years old, and Hungary has been a member of the Alliance for 25 years. NATO is the most successful military and political alliance in modern history, having ensured the security of Europe throughout its existence. It is no coincidence that after the regime change of the 1990s, Hungary was among the first to make NATO accession a formal policy goal and to take a leading role in dismantling the Warsaw Pact, which had divided the continent. There were years when we neglected our allied obligations. Unfortunately, most NATO member states did the same during that time, which led to serious difficulties for the Alliance. It was only the Russian aggression against Ukraine that opened Europe’s eyes to the truth of József Antall’s warning in the early 1990s—that the Russian threat had not disappeared.
The first issue we must confront is the value crisis threatening Europe and, indeed, the entire world. Much is said about Euro-Atlantic values, and many pledge their commitment to them, yet we rarely elaborate on what these values truly mean. We must not overlook emerging phenomena: alongside long-standing dangers like antisemitism, new challenges such as the WOKE movement—which questions the very foundations of our societies—are also appearing. We can only stand against these if we firmly commit to our Judeo-Christian Euro-Atlantic values, which have been the foundation of NATO since 1949, while naturally embracing and integrating newly recognized principles such as the protection of national minorities.
