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OFFICIAL: WEST CAN'T AFFORD TO BE DIVIDED INTO BLOCS

 

The Western world cannot afford to be divided into blocs that are hostile to each other, the prime minister’s political director said in New York late on Tuesday. A division into blocs goes against the interests of Western civilisation, Balázs Orbán told the New York Young Republican Club. Non-western countries are already competing with the West in terms of technology and the economy, and have even gained an advantage when it comes to demographic trends and natural resources, he said. The West became great through the cooperation of free nations, which must continue in the future, he added.
Hungarian and American conservative strategies have a number of common points, such as the relationship between the individual and its community and the idea that the family is considered society’s smallest natural community in Western civilisation, the political director said. Equality between man and woman in this community comes from the ideals of Christianity, which, however, does not mean that men and women are the same, he added. Also, children have a right to a mother and a father, he said, adding that the enforcement of this principle and child care can be supported by the state even if family life is considered to be a part of one’s private life. He said the institution of marriage was under attack by progressive forces. Another common point, he said, was that the nation embodied the highest level of the natural political community, adding that the idea of the nation, too, was under attack today. Orbán highlighted the responsibility of the state in the representation of its communities as a fourth common element of Hungarian and American conservative strategies.
The event organised by the New York Young Republican Club and Liszt Institute New York also featured the presentation of the English-language edition of the political director’s book titled The Hungarian Way of Strategy. It was followed by a panel discussion between the author and American intellectuals on political, security policy and social issues.