"Following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, there were fears — based on both his pre- and post-elections statements — that the new administration may really consider NATO outdated and Article 5, the pledge to defend any of the allies against aggression, may no longer be valid. Following the President’s recent foreign tours observers have had to modify the picture of Trump’s relationship to Europe."

"The right response to the new challenges and opportunities in the external area is not differentiation — whatever form it might take — but more united policies and actions. As for security and defence, the basic objective must be to establish progressively a “strategic autonomy” for Europe in the framework of the transatlantic alliance. The meaning of this autonomy needs further clarification and more precise definition with all the elements of policies, responsibilities and capabilities. The first very important step has now been made in the right direction."

"The 1956 Revolution was a rare, an almost unique event, a spontaneous, leaderless revolution: small groups of fighters battling the mighty Red Army to a standstill in the streets of Budapest. As a story, apart from the lack of a happy ending, it could not be better. And because the Revolution died young, its perfect complexion was unmarred."

"The detractors notwithstanding, many of the instant measures we adopted in 2010 seem rather bold in hindsight, but we made it. First of all, we stabilised the national budget, without increasing the burden on households. This was why we decided to levy a Robin Hood tax on the industries least affected by the meltdown. (Subsequently, these special taxes were phased out.) By mid-2013, the European Commission had no choice but to admit that Hungary was capable of meeting the sub-3.0 per cent deficit target as expected by the Union..."