Hungary is the small nation the legacy media and the global elite love to hate.

“Fascist,” per Germany’s Der Speigel; “racists and xenophobes,” say top UN officials.

But in defying the unfettered immigration policies and climate-change histrionics that other European Union countries fell for, Hungary has been a beacon of common sense across the world.

And when I visited Budapest last week, I discovered that its young people possess a powerful conservative backbone strong enough to withstand the targeted attacks coming their way.

I was there to attend Hungary’s fifth annual Conservative Political Action Conference, hosted by the Center for Fundamental Rights.

It featured a keynote speech from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who’s facing a tough battle against a center-right challenger in an April parliamentary election that could usher him out of office after 16 years in power.

“Brussels has put Europe in an unsustainable situation,” Orbán lamented.

“For Brussels, it is not the European people who come first; it is the migrants,” he continued. “Terrorist threats, crime, antisemitism, anti-Christianity and economic turmoil: This is what their policies have brought.”

He ended on a rhetorical note familiar to Americans: “We will make Europe great again!”

The American influence on the event was overwhelming, starting with the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” alongside that of Hungary’s national anthem.

And while the young CPAC attendees I spoke to expressed deep appreciation of the United States, and great affection for President Donald Trump, they were firmly focused on Hungary’s interests and Hungary’s future — with or without Orbán in charge.

The media’s framing of Hungarian conservatives as modern-day Nazis or motivated by hatred, they say, is an unfair campaign that ignores their legitimate concerns about national sovereignty.

“The whole globalist fake news media machine has done nothing but spread lies about Hungary in the past one and a half decades,” said Dornfeld László, 34.

“Hungary pursues a policy based on its own national interests,” he added. “The deep state and Brussels are unhappy with Hungary being able to operate like that. They want an obedient puppet.”

These young conservatives praise Orbán for refusing to bend the knee to foreign bureaucrats if it meant risking the safety of his own people.

“Security is extremely important for young people,” said Péntek Luca, 16. “In our rapidly changing world, it is hard to plan anything, but here in Hungary, I can feel an encouraging stability.”

The main adversary these conservatives see isn’t within their country’s borders, but a foreign power they feel stands in the way of Hungary’s progress: the EU.

“The European Union is controlled by envy,” 24-year-old Dr. Püsök Kata told me. “The EU wants to be America. They’re trying to build an empire . . . and sometimes we feel like here in Hungary we are forgotten about.”

Western Europe’s economic alliance “started as an American-like project, but it ended up being like the Soviet Union,” said Kocsis Levente, 21.

Most Americans are unaware that Hungary’s national populists are the punching bag of Europe’s liberal elite.

I felt an unexpected kinship with them: As a Trump-supporting former Democrat, I understand what it feels like to be misrepresented, to have your motives questioned, to be falsely labeled as holding sympathy for evil causes.

Just like me, every slanderous blow they receive only strengthens their resolve to stay on course with their conservative principles and fight for their nation’s future against a devouring leftist power.

Through the eyes of these remarkable young Hungarians, I saw a deep love for their nation — a rare commodity in Europe these days.

Wednesday marks the 36th anniversary of Hungary’s first parliamentary election after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The young adults I spoke to were born into freedom, but the victims of communism from earlier generations imbued them with lessons and warnings about the dangers of totalitarian rule.

No wonder they’re so strident against a political body outside Hungary’s borders dictating its ambitions, just as Moscow did decades ago.

Regardless of the mainstream-media messaging, I found no monsters among Hungary’s conservatives.

Instead, I witnessed highly intelligent, purpose-driven, considerate young people who are driven to fight the bureaucratic juggernaut standing in their way.

In Hungary, the kids are alright.

Adam B. Coleman is the author of “The Children We Left Behind” and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing.