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Welcome


Novák Katalin

A very warm welcome to pro-family thinkers, decision-makers to Budapest, Hungary, where we believe there is no future without strong families.

The Budapest Demographic Summit is the forum where politicians, church leaders, experts, representatives of the media, corporate sector and science meet every two years since 2015 to discuss the main issues affecting families. Today, some claim that environmental challenges are caused by starting families and having children. They perceive having children is damaging. Some think sustainability and family are incompatible. Therefore, this year’s summit is focusing on demography and sustainability.

Is it worth discussing sustainability if not enough children are being born? What does science say and what is being broadcasted in the media? What role ideology plays in the assessment of families and environmental protection? Are the challenges African nations face caused by the high birth rate or the lack of infrastructure? What can Europe do in times of the demographic crisis? These and many similar issues will be raised in this year’s summit.

In Hungary, the community’s fundamental building block is family. The Hungarian government, which has been in office since 2010, has pursued a family-friendly policy, entailing countless measures not only standing by family values, but supporting the starting of new families, protecting traditional values and providing opportunities for a fulfilling, happy family life for all citizens.

Sustainability today is a key issue, as humankind leads a wasteful and environmentally harmful lifestyle in many respects. We again would like to live together with nature in harmony, paying due regard to our community values.

The preservation of our created world also entails the conservation of our homes, our homeland and our culture for the generations to come, for our children and grandchildren. For a healthier, more sustainable and more self-aware lifestyle, we need to take forward the older generations’ life experiences, we need to make sure that our children are healthy, and that we have morally and financially strong families. We learn the most important values at home. How we live as adults are first and foremost a result of the spiritual, intellectual and moral upbringing, which is provided by the family.

Although we still have plenty to do, Hungary has already shown signs of success, as the fertility rate and the number of marriages have risen here the most in Europe, while the number of divorces and abortions are decreasing. Hungary’s family policy results also sparked interest among other states, more and more countries are curious, meanwhile, we are also actively looking for a way to learn more through international best practices.

Today, the traditional family is being attacked and questioned by many. This is why this year’s Budapest Demographic Summit IV. is more relevant than ever. Our goal is to create a platform where it is possible to jointly reflect on issues and share experiences in order for us to be able to leave a thriving nation that carries forward family values and protects the environment for our children.

I wish you a fruitful discussion.

Event concept

“Family: The Key to Sustainability” – that is the concept around which we organize the Budapest Demographic Summit (BDS) for the fourth time this year following 2015, 2017 and 2019, with the aim of providing a platform for decision makers, political players, religious and civic leaders, economic and media actors, as well as representatives of the academic world to think together, discuss the challenges ahead of us and draw up proposals for common solutions.

Today, the topic of ensuring a sustainable future dominates public, academic and political discourse. Sustainable progress, sustainable development, sustainable growth, environmental sustainability — so many expressions and endeavors have become dominant, which must undoubtedly be considered among significant issues of the future. However, we, Christian Democrats, who consider family as the most important fundamental unit of communities, still feel that something is missing, as there is unreasonably little said about family and having children in the discourse on sustainability. One could say that demographic sustainability is not adequately emphasized in the mainstream despite the fact that demographic trends fundamentally determine our future.

In the Western world, there are not enough children born, society is aging that threatens with the disappearance of nations in the long term. In the fight for sustainability, for our planet, we will reach the point where there is no one to preserve it for. In other parts of the world, it is the explosive, continuous population growth that poses the challenge to care systems and everyday life.

Unfortunately, many blame starting a family and having children for the aggravation of environmental challenges. However family is not the problem but the solution. Sustainability of our planet is not compromised by responsible childbearing and child rearing. It is jeopardized by wasteful, irresponsible lifestyle. The existence of strong families helps to replace wasteful convenience with conscious, responsible planning in our life. Some studies found that families with children are more committed to protecting our environment.

So it is our common duty and responsibility to address the demographic challenge as a priority, and to find efficient, long-term, country- and region specific solutions to it. The key to sustainability is the financial and moral strengthening of families; a sustainable future can only be created by thriving, booming nations built of strong families.

In 2010, we uniquely decided in Hungary to place overcoming the demographic crisis in the focus of governance. We have been working for over a decade to reverse the trend of decreasing population through strengthening families and expanding opportunities for young couples.

The history of Budapest Demographic Summit follows our endeavors to strengthen families. At the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century, we can say that the Hungarian model that is built on the duality of efficient family policy and successful economic policy is able to provide effective answers to the demographic crisis. In Europe, Hungary has seen the biggest increase in fertility rate and in the number of marriages, while the number of divorces and abortions are decreasing. We reached the fourth Budapest Demographic Summit with Hungary being able to provide a feasible alternative to the pro-migration approach.

But we still have a long way to go. The world around us is constantly changing, individual interests overwrite community interests in more and more areas of life, ideological attacks on family values are increasing, and the epidemiological situation posed challenges for our communities the likes of which we haven’t had to face for a long time. We have to strengthen our joint commitment to family-friendly values, and we have to use our resources to serve the welfare and wellbeing of families as much as possible. The key to achieve that is cooperation, thinking together, identifying ways to move forward, sharing good practices, for which the 4th Budapest Demographic Summit provides an excellent opportunity.

Venue

THE HISTORY OF BUDAPEST DEMOGRAPHIC SUMMIT

Population decline of recent decades afflicting the Western world has received relatively small attention. As a result, only one proposed solution has proven to be dominant, migration as the exclusive cure to this demographic crisis. In 2010, opposing this approach, the Government of Hungary has decided to offer a new, alternative model, which can renew European communities by relying on internal resources.

As part of this endeavour, Hungary was the first in the world to put strengthening families and overcoming the demographic crisis on the government’s Agenda. In the last 10 years, we have built up Europe’s most comprehensive family support system. Today, we spend 5% of the country’s GDP on family benefits. The family policy system is characterised by, among other things, unique initiatives, such as the lifelong personal tax exemption for mothers with at least four children, or the interest-free, general purpose, HUF 10 million (EUR 28 000) loan, the baby expecting subsidy, the repayment of which may be waived in full by young couples in the case of having children.

In ten years, the Hungarian family policy, the “Hungarian model” has evolved into a reference point in the world, as we were able to prove that family-centred governance can deliver genuine results. Among the Member States of the European Union, Hungary has seen the largest increase in its fertility rate and in the number of marriages, while the number of divorces is at a sixty-year low point.

In parallel with the progression of the Hungarian model, Hungary has become the centre of international family-friendly initiatives. One of the key elements of this is the Budapest Demographic Summit (BDS), organised in the Hungarian capital for the fourth time this year after 2015, 2017 and 2019. Every two years, for two days, pro-family politicians, professionals, corporate actors, church leaders, NGO representatives, prominent journalists visit Budapest to reflect on the most important issues affecting families. The BDS thus serves as a platform for conservative, pro-family forces to determine common goals, deepen collaborations, and exchange experiences.

To achieve all this, the initiative has taken a long road. The first summit in 2015 has already indicated strongly that a country with a population of ten million people in Central Europe is ready to offer a clear alternative, a model to reverse demographic trends. In his speech at the 2015 event, the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán defined the priorities clearly: the future lays in the hands of families. Our most important task is to strengthen our internal resources. Furthermore, European politicians, public figures, experts and ecclesiastical dignitaries spoke at the event, such as Algimanta Pabedinskiené, the then Lithuanian Minister of Social Security and Labour, Michael Farrugia, Maltese Minister for the Family and Social Solidarity, world-famous demographer Pál György Demény, Archbishop Vicenzo Paglia, President of the Pontificial Academy for Life and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences, and professor Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.

To the 2017 summit, speakers from all over the world have come, including Alberto Bottari de Castello, Apostolic Nunceo, or even the world-famous psychologist, Philip Zimbardo. In addition, as a co-event of BDS II, Budapest hosted the 11th World Congress of Families and the 2nd European Pro-Life Forum.

However, the initiative made the real leap in 2019. That year, Hungarian family policy was put on the map irrevocably, thanks to the family protection action plan announced at the beginning of the year, as part of which the Hungarian government decided to introduce the PIT exemption for mothers with four children and, among others, the baby expecting subsidy. The 2019 summit in September was attended by speakers from more than 20 countries on four continents, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Hungarian church leaders, numerous ministers, world-famous professionals and thinkers.

The conference provided an excellent opportunity for participants to share their thoughts on the impact of family and population policies on competitiveness, sustainability and the development of future strategies. The forum’s roundtable discussions focused on good practices and tools that can encourage having children, and experiences, ideas on the various demographic challenges. At the beginning of the conference, the leaders of the largest Hungarian churches and congregations said a prayer, then during the two days, speakers such as Damares Regina Alves, Brazilian Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, US Congressman Andy Harris, Phillip Blond, political philosopher, or Franciscan monk Csaba Böjte expressed their opinions on demographic questions.

Now, in 2021, we arrive at the fourth Budapest Demographic Summit in the middle of quite a challenging period. Individual interests overwrite community interests in more and more areas of life, ideological attacks on family values are increasing, and the epidemiological situation posed such challenges for our communities that we have not had to face for a long time. Consequently, the need to discuss the trends of recent years, to measure our results and to determine the common goals and points of cooperation for the next period is greater than ever. The fourth Budapest Demographic Summit will provide a platform for this on 23-24 September 2021.


Timeline

Attraction Performances
Shadow- and Black Light Dance Art Performance
23th September
9:00-9:10

LIVE VIDEO
Katalin Novák
Minister for Families, Hungary
23th September
9:10-9:15

Inaugural
LIVE VIDEO
Blessing
23th September
9:15-9:28

Zsolt Marton
Zoltán Balog
Péter Kondor
Smoló Köves
LIVE VIDEO
Katalin Novák
Minister for Families, Hungary
23th September
9:29-9:32

Topic review
LIVE VIDEO
Aleksandar Vučić
President, Republic of Serbia
23th September
9:33-9:43

Family: The Key to Sustainability
LIVE VIDEO
Mike Pence
the 48th Vice President of the United States of America
23th September
9:44-10:00

Family: The Key to Sustainability
LIVE VIDEO
Janez Janša, Republic of Slovenia
Prime Minister, Republic of Slovenia
23th September
10:00-10:10

Family: The Key to Sustainability
LIVE VIDEO
Katalin Novák
Minister for Families, Hungary
23th September
10:11-10:14

LIVE VIDEO
Andrej Babiš
Prime Minister, Czech Republic
23th September
10:42-10:52

Family: The Key to Sustainability
LIVE VIDEO
Katalin Novák
Minister for Families, Hungary
23th September
10:54-10:57

LIVE VIDEO
Milorad Dodik
Serbian Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
23th September
10:58-11:08

Family: The Key to Sustainability
LIVE VIDEO
Viktor Orbán
Prime Minister, Hungary
23th September
11:10-11:40

Family: The Key to Sustainability
LIVE VIDEO
Zoltán Balog
Bishop of the Danubian Reformed Church District, Ministerial President of the Synod of the Reformed Church
23th September
13:12-13:22

Thoughts on the role of the family in Europe
LIVE VIDEO
Marion Maréchal
Director-General, Institut des sciences sociales, économiques et politiques (ISSEP), Republic of France
23th September
13:23-13:33

Thoughts on the role of the family in Europe
LIVE VIDEO
dr. Christiaan Alting Von Geusau
president, International Catholic Legislators Network (ICLN), Kingdom of the Netherlands
23th September
13:34-13:44

Thoughts on the role of the family in Europe
LIVE VIDEO
Jaime Mayor Oreja
Former Minister of the Interior and Former Member of the European Parliament, President of One of Us Federation, Kingdom of Spain
23th September
13:55-14:05

Thoughts on the role of the family in Europe
LIVE VIDEO
Hunor Kelemen
Deputy Prime Minister of Romania; President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania
23th September
14:40-14:50

Demography and sustainability
LIVE VIDEO
Dr. László Palkovics
Minister, Ministry for Innovation and Technology, Hungary
23th September
14:50-15:01

Demography and sustainability
LIVE VIDEO
Panel discussion
23th September
15:02-16:02

Prof. Dr. Petra Aczél (mod.)
Prof. Dr. Michał A. Michalski
Dr. iur. Wolfgang Mazal
Gladden Pappin
Tünde Fűrész
Imants Parādnieks
Ignacio Socias
LIVE VIDEO
Prof. Dr. Mária Schmidt
Director-General, House of Terror Museum, Hungary
23th September
16:10-16:20

Women for families
LIVE VIDEO
Panel discussion
23th September
16:20-17:20

Zsófia Rácz (mod.)
Anna Nagy
Katalin Bogyay
Julija Stepanenko
Sharon Slater
Kinga Gál
Obianuju Ekeocha
LIVE VIDEO
Róbert Zsigó
Deputy Minister for Families, Hungary
23th September
17:31-17:40

Closing remarks
LIVE VIDEO
Panel discussion
24th September
9:20-10:45

Gergely Ekler (mod.)
Katalin Novák
Milan Krajniak
Janez Cigler Kralj
Gatis Eglītis
Tünde Bartha
Lorenzo Fontana
LIVE VIDEO
Panel discussion
24th September
11:10-12:10

Dr. Balázs Orbán (mod.)
Phillip Blond
Dr. Frank Füredi
Dan Schneider
Michael A. Blume
LIVE VIDEO
Panel discussion
24th September
13:20-14:50

Balázs Molnár (mod.)
Zsolt Marton
Nicola Speranza
Prof. Dr. Balázs Győrffy
Katalin Kardosné Gyurkó
Madeleine Wallin
Varro Vooglaid
Karl-Heinz B. van Lier
LIVE VIDEO
Panel discussion
24th September
15:30-16:30

Andrea Földi-Kovács (mod.)
Éric Zemmour
Miklós Szánthó
Dr. Gergely Szilvay
LIVE VIDEO
Katalin Novák
Minister for Families, Hungary
24th September
16:30-16:40

Closing remarks
LIVE VIDEO

Gallery - 23th September

Gallery - 24th September