Summit Hears Demography, not Climate Policy is Key Question for Europe’s Survival

Czech PM Andrej Babis; Slovenian PM Janez Jansa; Hungarian PM Viktor Orban; Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic; Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik; and Hungarian Families Minister Katalin Novak on the stage at the 4th Budapest Demographic Summit in Budapest, Hungary, 23 September 2021. EPA-EFE/SZILARD KOSZTICSAK

"Families, the basis of our societies, are under attack by Western liberal forces, but we will not give in," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared at the opening of the summit.

As is now routine, Orban listed his grievances vis a vis the EU, which he holds partly responsible for the longstanding shrinking in the populations of Central and Eastern Europe. Forecasts suggest the top-ten fastest shrinking countries are all in CEE, of which seven of these states are EU members.

"Western civilisation cannot sustain itself," Orban stated, referring to the declining birth rates in most EU countries, including his own. "But some do not even see it as a problem; some believe automatisation will solve all our problems while others want to settle migrants as the new working class of Europe. But you cannot change the identity of 1,000-year-old civilisations."

Orban was warmly applauded by the other speakers, who are also in the nationalist-populist mould: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. Acknowledging Orban as the true ideological leader in their fight against the tyranny of Brussels and the Western liberal mainstream, they also predicted a doomsday scenario for Europe if demographic challenges are not taken seriously by other European leaders.

Vucic complained how nowadays it is impolite to speak about family values...