Free Speech and Freedom of Thought PART 2

Joint Conference of the Danube Institute and the Ludovika University of Public Service. This is an academic conference about the future of Europe, after the European Elections, in our series of conferences on British Conservatism. The first such event took place 2 years ago, at the Danube Institute. Last year we were at Churchill College, Cambridge, and now we are back in Budapest. Participants are British, European and American scholars and public intellectuals. 2024 is a year of elections. Not only in the UK and the USA but also in the European Parliament and in a number of the European member states. In Hungary, there will be local and European elections. These, together with a number of critical issues, including the war in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, make the year politically exceptionally open-ended. The Western world finds itself in a crisis. The culture war, initiated by extreme leftist movements, including Woke, the migration crisis, the lack of adequate energy supply, and threats of global nuclear war – all of that requires strong and dedicated leadership in Europe and the Anglo World. Conservative intellectuals are often criticised for turning nostalgically towards the past without much thought about the present and even less about the future. This is the time to organise a conference in our British conservatism series about the future of Europe – from different British and continental conservative perspectives. In Britain, the Tory party is expected to fall out of power, after managing Brexit, in the USA Trump, who divides the camp of traditional Republican intellectuals, will run again against Biden for presidency. In Europe, the so far excluded right wing powers can have a great success. All of those changes will require imagination and practical wisdom from political leaders. While the left has already presented certain scenarios for the future, conservatives have not made their voice heard on the way they would like to shape the future of the continent. This conference on Conservative Visions of the Future of Europe would like to provide the opportunity for just that discussion.