Oil On Troubled Waters
Weekly briefings on the life of The New European Capital of Conservatism.
Budapest This Week
A double bill at Danube Institute this Wednesday, starring French economist Jacques Sapir, a heterodox figure with a particular eye on Russia. Sapir will be taking part in two panels, the first at 3:30PM on Russia and the West, and the second at 5:30PM, on 25 years of the Euro. Both also star the DI's Philip Pilkington, the even-more-heterodox economist and spyfinder-general. Sign up here.
Philip is running the Marathon des Sables of collquia this week. On Thursday he's back at the HIIA, on Finance and Tariffs In A Multipolar World, with Dragana Mitrović of the University of Belgrade. 5PM. Throw him an energy gel pack.
What’s Based
Was The Danube Refinery Fire Deliberate? Evidence is mounting that the fire at Hungary’s largest oil refinery, the MOL Danube plant in Százhalombatta, may have been more than a simple accident. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has pledged a full investigation. Here’s what you need to know: 1 — The refinery is responsible for processing 165,000 barrels of crude oil every day, with supply originating from Russia's Druzhba pipeline. The fire happened shortly after a similar incident at a refinery based in Romania owned by Russia’s Lukoil petro-firm. 2 — In March of this year, crude shipments to Hungary through the same Druzhba pipeline were briefly suspended after a Ukrainian drone strike hit a Russian pumping station near the border. The attack temporarily disrupted oil flows to both Hungary and Slovakia before Moscow rerouted supplies. 3 — Orbán says the government will work with local energy producer MOL to keep 'skyrocketing' prices down. 4 — He noted senior Polish government officials had advised Ukraine to 'blow up' the Druzhba pipeline feeding the facility, saying that he hoped it would turn out that Kyiv had no involvement in what could be sabotage. 5 — Germany issued a European arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national (named only as “Volodymyr Z.”) suspected of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Poland’s courts have refused extradition of Volodymyr Z, with PM Donald Tusk describing the case as 'closed'.
Other News
Paper of the Week
The Sovereigntist Zeitgeist Binding Budapest, Beijing, and America First
Are the views of the Chinese Communist Party and America's New Right really all that different? Visiting Fellow Dr. Eric Hendriks doesn't think so. In his new paper for the DI, he sees a coming world of two big 'anti-bloc' regimes, busting up the old framework to take trade back to a simpler, more transactional mode of mutual interest.
“Despite Chinese-American rivalries, ‘America first’ and the Xi-ist take on ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’ overlap on significant ideas about our contemporary world and usher in a sovereigntist zeitgeist. This Zeitgeist might come just in time to support the embattled Hungarians, who were getting perhaps a bit too avant-garde in recent years, storming deeply into the emerging era while the power centres of Western Europe were and are still frozen into the old liberal order. America first and Xi-ism lay the foundation of this emerging era by opposing the formation of international blocs centred on ideology and refraining from exporting a standardising political model.”
Eyes & Ears
George Yeo: ‘Strategically, China does not want Russia to fall’ - Hungarian Conservative Lessons From Preparing For Government In 1979 - Dominic Cummings Substack
Comings & Goings
Coming: A delegation from the King Prajadhipok’s Institute (KPI) in Thailand will be arriving at the Danube Institute this week. They'll be led by the President of the National Assembly of Thailand, His Excellency Wan Muhamad Noor Matha. Interested in meeting them? Drop us an email.
City Life
Do you have a guilty pleasure? And why did you say Roxette? Six years after the death of Marie Freddrikson, Per Gessle keeps the flame of Swedish pop-rock alive with similarly-named new vocalist Lena Philipsson at the Budapest Arena, Tuesday. Tickets vary, but expect to pay around 45 000 Ft.
Pleasure that can be taken innocently: Verdi's Requiem at the State Opera House, complete with costumed staging. 7PM, Tuesday.
Jane Austen is 250, so the British Council are discussing her satirical peak, Northanger Abbey on Super Tuesday at 6:30PM. After all, “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
The Hungarian House of Traditions is a beautifully restored venue off Corvin tér. On Friday, they're hosting a folk dance concert, featuring the work of six different choreographers and the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble: Roots And Wings.
Dates For Your Diary
Ladislav Hanus Institute Conservative Summit 2025, Bratislava — 8 NovemberBattle for the Soul of Europe, Brussels — 3 - 4 DecemberWilfred Martens Centre European Ideas Forum, Brussels — 9 - 10 December “Kevés vagy, mint mackósajtban a brummogás."— You are as little as the roaring in a teddy bear cheese.