In a formal ceremony on Monday at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s office, Christian Hafenecker, general secretary of Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ), and Harald Vilimsky, head of the FPÖ delegation in the European Parliament, were awarded the Hungarian Order of Merit for their contributions to Hungarian-Austrian relations and their efforts to promote conservative values in Europe.
The prestigious Officers’ Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (Civil Division) was presented to the two Austrian politicians by Gergely Gulyás, head of the Hungarian prime minister’s office.
Gulyás praised the FPÖ leaders for their dedication to fostering deeper ties between Austria and Hungary and for their role in “strengthening the representatives of normality in the EU.”
“Our Austrian friends have done a great deal to support Hungarian-Austrian friendship and the defense of traditional values in Europe,” Gulyás wrote in a social media post announcing the awards.
The FPÖ and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party are closely aligned in the “Patriots for Europe” parliamentary group in the European Parliament. Both parties advocate strong national sovereignty, opposition to mass migration, resistance to “woke ideology” and LGBTQ activism, and a tougher stance against foreign-funded NGOs.
Led by Herbert Kickl, the FPÖ is currently in coalition talks with a view to forming the next Austrian federal government after winning the most votes in last September’s election — although the party was initially excluded from talks after Austria’s legacy parties vowed never to work with it or accept Kickl as chancellor.
In a recent interview with Hungary Today, Hafenecker emphasized the importance of learning from Hungary’s successful policies, particularly in areas such as family support, cultural identity, and national sovereignty.
He also stressed the need for bilateral committees, diplomatic cooperation, and deeper economic and political ties between the two nations.
The awards are reflective of the increasing influence of the conservative alliance building within Brussels through the Patriots for Europe faction, which has vowed to push back against what it considers to be overreach by Eurocrats into national sovereignty and the dominance of liberal policies.
