Unlocking the Golden Road
Weekly briefings on the life of The New European Capital of Conservatism.
Budapest This Week
It's Budapest Fashion Week - and Budapest Beer Week, which is bit like putting the crocodile farm next to the skydiving academy. For anyone venturing just beyond the city limits, next weekend is also the Budafok Wine & Champagne Festival.
By some coincidence, it turns out Danube Institute Senior Visiting Fellow Tony Abbott is launching his own Substack today. Great minds, etc.
What’s Based
Off To See The Wizz
Wizz Air, Hungary's budget airline, have announced plans for a major new operational base in Tel Aviv. It will serve as a regional hub to ten destinations. Israel's flag carrier El Al has denounced the move as 'a threat to national security', but Israel's transport minister argues that the expansion will bring down prices.
Here are the numbers to know:
200 — Daily flights Wizz Air is looking to operate out of Ben Gurion Airport, making it the biggest non-Israeli carrier.230 — Planes operated by the Hungarian carrier, a figure that now includes new Airbus A321 XLR long-range aircraft.119 — Percentage cost increase of Israeli airfares as airlines begin to reopen routes closed after the October 7 terror attacks. 86 000 — Number of people believed to have travelled through Ben Gurion on August 14, a post-October 7 record for the airport.47 200 — Weekly seats to and from Tel Aviv that Wizz Air already provides.Other News
Paper of the Week
The Golden Road — Hungary’s Next Big Trade Opportunity
Hungary is landlocked - a natural disadvantage when it comes to international trade. But DI Visiting Fellow Carlos Roa believes it has a golden opportunity to capitalise on what he calls The New Golden Road. The Golden Road is the Indo-Mediterranean economic system: the trade corridor that extends from India to the Middle East, into Europe. In his blockbuster paper, he lays out an end-to-end plan to make the Danube a key staging post on this vast river of trade.
“For Hungary, the New Golden Road is not simply a corridor; it is an invitation to return to the centre of European economic life. But that return will not come automatically. It must be earned, built, and paid for. And that raises once again the question: What is the price of national prosperity?.”
Eyes & Ears
Legalised Theft: John O'Sullivan and Brian Griffiths On The Morality Of Inflation - Danube Institute
Comings & Goings
Coming:
Markus Johansson-Martis arrived on Saturday for a six month stint, and immediately went to Billy's for a beer with the DI crowd. He's a policy adviser to the Sweden Democrats, a Vice Corporal in the Swedish Army reserves, and a rare Catholic Swede. Here, he will be researching: 'How conservative ideology can be aligned with realist theories in politics, law, and sociology'. You can find him on X.
Simon Cottee touched down not long after. He's a senior lecturer in Criminology at the University of Kent, and the author of a book on apostasy in Islam. At the DI he'll be helming 'Europe’s Jihadi Migrants: Mapping Trends in Migrant Involvement in Terrorism'. This is a big project: Simon will be using his criminological skills to build a data set of the entire European migrant-to-Jihadi pipeline, taking at least a couple of years. He's also on X.
Going:
Super-intern at MKI and DI Max Keating left overnight to head back to his studies at University College Dublin. Thankfully, he will still be odd-jobbing here, with a view to a return in 2026. We've greatly enjoyed Max's good cheer and wry humour. Slán.
City Life
This week, we’ve been mostly enjoying the csevapi of the Balkan pub on Bródy Sándor utca: Yugo Resto Bar. Coal-charred cylinders of pulped pig, lively waiting staff, Balkan beers, a touch of Tito.
Economist Philip Pilkington recommends Grease Monkey, Lazar utca 7, 1065. It reminds him of his gaming youth: the pub, in a basement, is clearly based on the post-apocalyptic steampunk aesthetic of the Fallout games. The beers are good, but the owner keeps erratic hours - they're closed on Saturdays, for instance. You'll have to take your chances.
Recent DI fellow Peter Boghossian has been raving about a Brazilian Jujitsu dojo in Gellert. He’s even bounced some other fellows into going: they all survived.
Classified In Budapest
—> Peter Caddle has recently based himself in Budapest. He's at the Hungarian Conservative, and the deputy editor of this Substack. As such, he is looking for a spare desk/chair combo for his new apartment. Help Peter write comfortably.
—> Calum Nicholson is after a bicycle: "Something good for the city. Not too bouncy not too roady. Suspension but not too much." Budget: around 150 000 Ft.
—> We're looking for a DTP-oriented graphic designer to help out on a one-off project: compiling research papers into a book.
Please respond directly to this email for more information.
Need anything? Got anything you need help with? Respond to this email and get your free classified today.Dates For Your Diary
Danube Geopolitics Summit — 15 - 16 September
Brain Bar Ideas Fest — 18 - 20 September
NatCon DC — 2 - 4 September
“A hazug embert hamarabb utolérik, mint a sánta kutyát.”— They catch the man who lies sooner than the limping dog.