Photo: Róbert Hegedüs
Mariann Őry
28/02/2025 06:00
The main theme of the tenth edition of the Lamfalussy Lectures Conference was ‘The Age of Geoeconomics: Evolution of Central Banking’, which reflects on the need of central banks repositioning themselves and adjusting their monetary policies to a new geopolitical landscape. In his opening speech, Governor Matolcsy stated that the MNB was hosting a jubilee event: the tenth occasion of the Lamfalussy Lectures Conference took place one hundred years after the MNB's foundation. Governor Matolcsy expressed his appreciation of Baron Alexandre Lamfalussy, emphasising that the “father of the euro” vastly contributed to economic stability in Europe and the integration of the continent.
We are living in a multipolar world order, no longer a unipolar world order led by the United States: alongside the US, there is India, China, Russia and others, but the big question is where Europe is on the map, Jeffrey Sachs pointed out in his speech.Despite Donald Trump's confidence, the US is struggling with many internal challenges and is far from being on top of the world, far from being in control. He cannot defeat Russia and China. None of the great powers can defeat the other except by nuclear force.
The war in Ukraine is, according to the economist, a consequence of the US gamble and NATO's continued expansion towards Russia. He stressed that Donald Trump must tell Vladimir Putin that NATO will not expand to Ukraine, neither now nor later. There could also be peace in the Middle East, he continued, if there were a Palestinian state, if there were a two-state solution, but the US keeps vetoing it. According to Jeffrey Sachs, the US is also creating tension in East Asia. "What is the US doing in Taiwan? "Are you turning Taiwan into East Asia's Ukraine, like Ukraine into Europe's Afghanistan?" he asked. According to the economist, China and the US cannot beat each other, but it could be a huge disaster. He concluded that peace could be easy if NATO expansion is halted, if there is a two-state solution in the Middle East and if the US does not create tension around Taiwan.
Jeffrey Sachs said Europe should also seek good relations with Russia and China. He stressed that China is a dynamic and peaceful country, does not start wars, does not want to invade Europe or its neighbours, but just wants the US to be out of its immediate neighbourhood.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, referring to Jeffrey Sachs' speech, said that they had known each other for a long time and, while they had had their differences in the past, they had now reached the "Budapest consensus". He recalled that the globalists who once called for the unification of borders are now calling for bloc building and war. He pointed out that George Soros is leading the way. He also pointed out that Professor Sachs had played an important role in laying the foundations of the connectivity strategy.
He summed up the "Budapest Consensus" by saying that every nation has the right to see itself as the centre of the world and the most important point of reference. According to the prime minister, the liberal era will be followed by an era of sovereignty. In this era, stability, migration management, state efficiency and connectivity will be key to the success of countries. He pointed out that it is not Hungary that is isolated, but the European Union, because it is at loggerheads with everyone, while Hungary has the best relations with China, the US and Russia. "Hungary is not isolated, it is the European Union." Orbán says Hungary is on the main street of history, while the European Union is somewhere stumbling in the muddy back streets.
The author is deputy editor-in-chief of Eurasia