ROME — Globalism is the wrong path for nations to follow and must be resisted, said Hungary’s outspoken family minister, Katalin Novak.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News in Rome on Wednesday, Ms. Novak, who is also vice president of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, insisted Hungarian opposition to globalism was part of the key to its success.
“Hungary represents an obstacle to the globalist project, where nations surrender their individual identity, their distinctive culture, and give in to an undefined, universalist path,” she said.
“Globalism is a bad choice,” Novak said. “Those who support globalism choose the wrong path.”
“For example, in Canada, Justin Trudeau recently said that Canada will have the world’s first post-national state. What is a post-national state? What does that even mean?” she asked.
Ms. Novak insisted that the nations of Europe and of the world need to rediscover their distinctive identities and cultures, which are a source of richness for their own people and for the world.
“We have our own history, our own characteristics as a nation, and that’s what makes Europe so rich,” she said. “Italians are not like Hungarians. Germans are not like Hungarians. Even Bavarians are not like Hessians or other Germans.”
“We have these differences that make us beautiful. We are different and we respect each other. We respect these differences and we don’t want to become alike,” she said.
“The same goes for relationships between men and women. We want to be equal but we don’t want to be the same.”
“The beauty of a relationship between a man and a woman is that we are different, and I think that goes for nations as well,” she added.
“That’s why this globalism, by which everything is homogenized and made the same, destroys many values,” she said.
“We have to preserve these values. We have to preserve the characteristics of our culture: the Hungarian culture, the Italian culture, the French culture, the German culture, the Swedish culture. It is something people want. They are proud of who they are.”
“Of course, we are also all Europeans. But first of all, we are Hungarians. And first I am from Szeged, a state in the south of Hungary, and then I am from Hungary, and then I am from Europe. And in the first place I come from my family,” she said.
“Your identity is first defined by being a creature of God, being a member of your family, and from the local you go to the global. But you don’t start with the global,” she said. “I am not the part of some global world and from there trying to discover myself.”
“We are not ready to give up our identity, our sovereignty,” she said. “We value being a member-state of the European Union, but a member-state with equal rights, with our history and our future.”
“This is unfortunately something that many don’t want to accept,” she added, and accounts for some of the hostility felt by globalists toward Hungary.
Novak said she has a hard time getting her mind around the harsh attitudes that many in the European Union harbor toward Hungary.
“It’s something we are used to but I have a hard time understanding it,” she said.
I can understand when there are differences of opinion or approaches. I understand debates and I very much appreciate the value of debate. I understand we have different situations, different cultures, different history. But hatred? That’s something I don’t understand and I have a hard time accepting it. It is hard to understand how people have this passionate feeling of hatred against the government or against the Hungarian people even.
Trying to explain the antipathy, Novak said that for some, Hungary may stand as a tacit rebuke to their own failures, demographic or otherwise.
“In some cases, they may recognize that they have made some bad decisions in the past and it is very human. When you make a mistake and you discover that the other one was right it makes you feel angry at that person. Human beings are like that,” she said.
“People also have a hard time with the direct language used by Hungarians. We say things directly, openly. We say what we think,” she said.
“That something that liberal politicians, journalists, and some intellectuals are not ready to accept.”
“Many politicians speak a language that nobody understands. We are more blunt, more outspoken, and people appreciate it. Just look at the results of our elections,” she said.
“But liberals don’t like it,” she said.
Hungary is not alone in Europe in standing for the importance of national sovereignty and identity, Novak said, but has a number of important allies.
“First of all, Italy. We have allies in the Lega, in Forza Italia, in Fratelli d’Italia. These are the family-oriented parties in Italy,” she said, despite the fact that Italy’s current, unelected government does not seem to represent the will of the people.
“It’s very interesting to see how the government got away from the will of the people,” she said, in reference to the recent formation of a coalition government that excludes Italy’s most popular party, the Lega.
“We know that the Italian people are behind these political parties and not the government that is currently in office. Every poll backs this up,” she said. “The recent European elections also showed this very clearly. That lets you see how Italian people feel.”
“We have an alliance not with the current government but with the Italian people,” Novak said. “That’s what really matters. Sometimes the will of the people is reflected by the current government and sometimes it isn’t. Maybe in Italy the case right now is that its isn’t. Our real allies are still here representing the will of the Italian people.”
“We also have very strong allies in Central Europe with Poland (we have never been closer than we are now), the Czech Republic, Slovakia… we have a very strong coalition,” she said. “The Visegrád group is very strong. We agree with each other and we step up together.”
“We have also been very successful, for example with the nomination and election of the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen,” she said.
“Jean-Claude Juncker wasn’t named to continue as president of the European Commission because he doesn’t represent the values that we hold to be important,” she said. “We now have Ursula Von Der Leyen leading the European Commission, which is a way better choice.”
“She is also the mother of seven children and this is not insignificant. If somebody has seven children, she has my respect and appreciation,” she said.
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