Danube Institute

The Danube Institute is a conservative think tank situated in Budapest, Hungary.^[1] The institute was established in 2013 by the Batthyány Lajos Foundation, through which it is funded.^[2][3] 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."^[1]

Dave Rubin Live at Danube Institute

The Danube Institute focuses on the "transmission of ideas and people" amongst countries in "Central Europe, other parts of Europe, and the English-speaking world."^[1] In its mission statement, the Danube Institute proclaims its dedication to a belief that "the nation-state offers the only sure foundation for democracy" and that this "tolerant civic nationalism" is essential for a democratic international world.^[1]

The Danube Institute achieves these goals through "research, analysis, publication, debate, and scholarly exchanges."^[1] It recognises its primary audience amongst the centre-right, yet retains a commitment to "engage our counterparts on the democratic centre-left."^[1]

John O'Sullivan is the President of the Danube Institute.^[2] O'Sullivan is a British journalist and former advisor to Margaret Thatcher. British political scientist Dr. David Martin Jones served as the institute's Director of Research from 2022 until his death in 2024. The current Director of Research for the Danube Institute is Dr. Calum T. M. Nicholson.

Central European politicians associated with the Danube Institute include János Martonyi and Ryszard Legutko.^[4]

Research Activities

As a think tank, the Danube Institute publishes research papers and analyses on political, economic, and social issues, with a Hungarian outlook.^[5]

Topics of research at the Danube Institute include the following:

• Analyses of the domestic Hungarian economy, such as research papers written by Visiting Fellows Ibrahim Mammadov and Hugo Martin, on the subjects of energy policy and grocery costs, respectively.^[6][7]
• Hungarian security policy and geopolitics, such as Dr. Eric Hendriks' paper on Hungarian relations with China and the United States, as well as Logan C. West's analysis of Hungarian cybersecurity.^[8]
• Political analyses of populism in Europe and the United States, such as Stefano Arroque's paper about the popularisation of the Freedom Party of Austria.^[9]
• Demographic policies and pro-natalism, such as in Elle Morse's analysis of the successes of Hungary's baby box programme.^[10]

Among Visiting Fellows at the Danube Institute, included are the religious movements researcher Jeffrey Kaplan, political philosopher Ofir Haivry, conservative author Rod Dreher, historian of Christian political thought David Lloyd Dusenbury, and sociologist Dr. Eric Hendriks. Other Visiting Fellows have included Douglas Murray, Peter Boghossian, Adam LeBor, Paul du Quenoy, and Christopher Rufo.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Events

The Danube Institute hosts events in Budapest to present its research to a public audience. In 2019, Tim Montgomerie, former social justice advisor to Boris Johnson, spoke at an event held at the Danube Institute, in which he expressed his support for Britain to have "a special relationship with Hungary amongst other states" following Brexit.^[16]

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.^[17] In 2021, the French politician Éric Zemmour gave an interview to the institute.^[18]

A book launch event was held by the Danube Institute May 9, 2024, for the release of German-British historian Katja Hoyer's book Beyond the Wall: East Germany 1949-1990.^[19]