Danube Institute

File:Dave Rubin Live - Danube Institute.jpg

{{short description|Conservative think tank based in Budapest, Hungary}}

{{Conservatism in Hungary}}

The Danube Institute is a conservative think tank founded in 2013 and based in Budapest, Hungary.{{Cite web |title=Mission statement - Danube Institute |url=https://danubeinstitute.hu/en/content/mission-statement |access-date=2023-01-15 |website=danubeinstitute.hu |language=en}} The institute is financed through the Batthyány Foundation (BLA){{cite web |title=THE GOVERNMENT-FINANCED DANUBE INSTITUTE AND ITS DIRECTOR, JOHN O’SULLIVAN |url=https://hungarianspectrum.org/2020/08/16/the-government-financed-danube-institute-and-its-director-john-osullivan/ |website=hungarian spectrum |access-date=20 July 2022 |date=16 August 2020}} and receives Hungarian state funding.{{Cite news |last=Vogel |first=Kenneth P. |last2=Novak |first2=Benjamin |date=2021-10-04 |title=Hungary’s Leader Fights Criticism in U.S. via Vast Influence Campaign |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/04/us/politics/hungary-orban-lobbying.html |access-date=2023-02-11 |issn=0362-4331}} According to its mission statement, the Danube Institute is dedicated to "a respectful conservatism in cultural, religious, and social life, the broad classical liberal tradition in economics, and a realistic Atlanticism in national security policy."

The institute's president is British John O'Sullivan. Central European politicians associated with the Danube Institute include János Martonyi and Ryszard Legutko.{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/tim-montgomerie-viktor-orban-hungary-brexit|title=A Top Boris Johnson Aide Says The UK Will Have A "Special Relationship" With Viktor Orbán's Hungary After Brexit|last=Wickham|first=Alex|website=BuzzFeed|language=en|access-date=2020-01-08}} Fellows as of 2023 include religious movements researcher Jeffrey Kaplan, political philosopher Ofir Haivry, conservative author Rod Dreher, historian of Christian political thought David Lloyd Dusenbury, and sociologist Eric Hendriks-Kim. Research director is political scientist David Martin Jones.{{cite web |url=https://www.thebulwark.com/how-rod-dreher-caused-an-international-scandal-in-eastern-europe/ |title=How Rod Dreher Caused an International Scandal in Eastern Europe |website=thebulwark.com |date=2 February 2023 |access-date=11 February 2023}}

In 2019, a video of remarks made by Tim Montgomerie at a meeting hosted by the Danube Institute was published, creating a controversy regarding his views on the Hungarian government.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/tim-montgomerie-on-uk-relationship-with-hungary-after-brexit-1-6453735|title=Boris Johnson aide says UK will have 'special relationship' with Hungary after Brexit|last=Read|first=Jonathon|website=The New European|language=en|access-date=2020-01-08}} Other politicians who have spoken at Danube Institute meetings include the Australian politicians Tony Abbott and Kevin Andrews, and Václav Klaus, the former minister of finance of Czechoslovakia and then prime minister and president of the Czech Republic.{{cite web |url=https://danubeinstitute.hu/en/media-appearances/vaclav-klaus-we-need-political-world-economy-not-geoeconomics |title=Václav Klaus: We Need Political World Economy, not Geoeconomics |last=Klaus |first=Vaclav |publisher=Václav Klaus' Institute |date=September 21, 2023 |website=Danube Institute |access-date=July 19, 2024}} In 2021, the French politician Éric Zemmour gave an interview to the institute.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/why-australia-s-conservatives-are-finding-friends-in-hungary-20190924-p52uim.html|title=Why Australia's conservatives are finding friends in Hungary|last=Koziol|first=Michael|date=2019-10-05|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2020-01-08}}