5. An international-scale mechanism Before we continue to explore these international scale human rights attacks, it is worth examining the co-ordina­tion and exchange mechanisms at work. A plethora of think tanks and institutions linked to the far right works to keep relations between the various political move­ments alive. It is this which has enabled Fratelli d’Italia and PiS to keep up contacts at public events with the Hungarian government, including in 2022, when Orbán’s views on Moscow were capable of causing embarrass­ment to a Giorgia Meloni on the rise and under the guise of Atlanticism. The network in question also works on action plans, like the MCC and Ordo Iuris great EU reset plan. Ordo Iuris which is, in turn, part of the World Congress of Families, played a key role in both Poland’s anti-LGBT crusade and the anti-abortion and pro-life battles. The PiS leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, admitted in 2016 that his abortion ban battle had been inspired by Ordo Iuris. But the linch­pin of the system remains Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a pro-Orbán soft power machine which has even obtained a Brussels headquarters, just a stone’s throw away from the European institutions(and, in fact“occupy Brussels” was one of Orbán’s rallying cries at the last European elections). “It was we who helped the groups of farmers from the various European countries to network for their pro­tests”, MCC’s Budapest base is, first and foremost, a site of political connection. In the summer of 2021, while Fidesz – then without an EU political family – was dreaming of a union of the right with Matteo Salvini, Francesco Giubilei – founder of Nazione futura and the driving force between Meloni and Orbán orbit relations – was a visiting fellow at MCC Budapest. The French far right is also a frequent presence at MCC. In fact Nicolas Bay passed the night of the 2022 Hungarian elections here and Zemmour’s inner clique spent time here when he was preparing for the presi­dential elections. And the Danube Institute plays a similar role. There are exponents of both the Europe­an and US far rights who feel very much at home in Budapest, and in these think tanks. In fact, writer Rod Dreher(also known for his time at The American Con­servative ) moved to the Hungarian capital and was made Director of the Network Project at the Danube Institute. Across the Atlantic, the Heritage Foundation has finalised its Project 2025 which, behind its Presiden ­tial Transition Project facade plans to do what Orbán has done in Hungary on a larger scale: shaping the infrastructure of power in such a way as to keep it in Trump’s hands. “It is not enough to win elections. We have to put the right people in the right places”, boasted Frank Füredi, the manager of the Brussels MCC office when I interviewed him in April 2024.“Culture war” is one of his most frequent rallying cries. MCC has existed as a private educational institution for decades but Orbán changed it radically and ensured it generous funding. Mathias Corvinus Collegium extended out into rural Hun­gary and even moved beyond national borders in 2022. says Heritage in its diatribe against“liberal politicians.” Nazione Futura, a Meloni-milieu think tank, organises events together with the Heritage Foundation in Rome, while Budapest is already hosting the Conservative Politi­cal Action Conference, and, as of 2025, Poland will also have its own CPAC. This network links up capitals across Europe and with Washington, and includes enthusiastic Tucker Carlson voyages into Hungarian illiberalism. 10 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.