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In the interview conducted during a cabinet meeting held in Sopronbánfalva, the Prime Minister said “the Hungarian government has completely different tasks and the Hungarian people can expect a different kind of future if there is a war than if there isn’t.”
“The pro-war camp continues to remain in an overwhelming majority, both in percentage and in number, and only a very few of us speak in the voice of peace. Therefore, we must prepare for the fact that the war and the sanctions will not disappear from our lives,” Mr Orbán said, stressing that if this were to happen, “that very moment a considerable part of our economic ailments would be remedied.”
The Prime Minister added that in this situation “we must knock inflation down ourselves.” “We are phasing out some measures, are introducing others, those that have proved to work we are maintaining,” the Prime Minister observed.
He stressed that the price monitoring system was of help to many in this, and then mentioned that they had also introduced mandatory food promotions for supermarkets. “As far as we can see, the rate of inflation will decrease every month,” he said.
The Prime Minister said at the cabinet meeting they also discussed that the war and illegal migration must be kept away from Hungary, while families and pensioners must be protected against the plans of the Brussels bureaucracy.
He said the agenda of the cabinet meeting also featured “overarching issues” which could decide our fate for decades. Among these he mentioned the country’s energy supply over a period of 10 to 20 years, the exploitation of our favourable geographical situation, the preservation of the quality of Hungarian agricultural products, the army and the issue of demography.
He also said at the Sopron cabinet meeting they had further reviewed the legal and political means at their disposal to prevent Brussels from implementing the plan on the migrant quotas. “If we were to obey Brussels – which we have no intention of doing – we would be required to build migrant ghettos in Hungary,” he stressed.
“There is another direct threat, that, too, is coming from Brussels. Every year, they tell what in their opinion Member States should do to change their economies, and this year, too, they have a proposal which would lead to the cancellation of the reduction of household energy bills,” he said, adding that by contrast on Thursday members of the cabinet discussed “how we will not do away with the reduction of household energy bills, and how we must enforce the Hungarian interests in the regulation of energy prices both here and in Brussels.”
He observed that “in Brussels these clever people sit in a bubble and believe that from there they have a better understanding of the world than we do here in Budapest or Sopron, for that matter.”
Mr Orbán also mentioned that on Friday there would be one other issue on which “a decision will have to be adopted under any circumstances.” A new waste management system has been introduced which would result in a massive competitive disadvantage for Hungarian wine producers, and so they have to find a solution so that Hungarian wine producers should not find themselves at a disadvantage in the European competition that is keen enough due to the regulations relating to bottles, he said.
He highlighted that when the Ukrainian people are fighting for their survival in a war, they are not interested in the outside world, “they can only view this conflict through their own spectacles,” this is only to be expected, but “we must keep our wits about us.”
He stressed that if we did what the Ukrainian President is asking for, we would find ourselves in the middle of World War III. If we admitted Ukraine to NATO, that would result in an immediate world war “because that would mean that NATO is at war with Russia,” he added.
He recalled that they had finally managed to achieve a favourable solution; the majority did not want to run the risk of a world war, and so they decided not to admit Ukraine to NATO.
The Prime Minister also said “without doubt, the Ukrainian style of communication is somewhat unusual, given that if you’re in trouble and ask for help, you should behave appropriately.” However, “the Ukrainians are indeed aggressive, they demand things.” At the same time, in Ukraine people are dying by the hundreds and thousands every day, the Ukrainians “are in very grave trouble, they’re facing life-or-death issues, and from their point of view, the world looks very different than from here,” he explained.
He said what is important is that “we shouldn’t accept the viewpoint that they’re observing the world from because if we do, we will find ourselves slipping into the war.” Already with the supply of weapons, the countries that are supplying weapons are in the war, he added.
He pointed out that while the Ukrainians had not been admitted to NATO and with this the direct threat of a world war had been averted, “we didn’t get a metre closer to peace; in fact, the situation is escalating,” the Ukrainians are receiving ever-newer and ever-longer-range weapons as well as ever more effective explosives from the West, especially from the United States, meaning that the situation continues to remain extremely dangerous, and difficult, he said.
Meaning that in the Christian world that “we belong to,” this is the most important question. This is why Hungary says: ceasefire and peace talks. This is what is important for us Hungarians as well because this war is in our immediate neighbourhood, “the various escalations can reach Transcarpathia, and then also Hungary,” he added.
Mr Orbán agrees with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy that the United States could put an end to the war in Ukraine immediately. Why this is not happening, no one knows, the Prime Minister said.
Mr Orbán also said Ukraine had already lost its sovereignty; it has no money of its own, no defence industry of its own or military production capacity of its own. “They’re also receiving money from us, mostly from the Americans,” as well as military equipment, he said.
If America were to say that they want peace, that we should stop the war, should have a ceasefire and start talks, that would happen the next morning. “As to why the Americans don’t want that, we didn’t receive an answer to that question at the NATO summit either,” he stated.
Previously, the government planned to reduce inflation to a single digit by the end of the year, but this could happen a month to six weeks earlier, he said. Inflation is on the right course, it is following a downward trend, he added.
The Prime Minister also stated that the reduction of household energy bills must be maintained under any circumstances.
He said the reduction of household energy bills cannot be seen as a mere energy issue. It is well worth considering that it helps every family with HUF 181,000 a month. Meaning that the reduction of household energy bills is nothing less than an issue concerning the living standards of the middle classes and poorer people, he said.
“No migration, no migration of any kind,” the Prime Minister summed up Hungary’s position in connection with the European Union’s migration package.
Mr Orbán stressed that on the issue of migration Hungary relied solely on its own experiences, the Hungarian model was successful, this was why there were no migrants in Hungary.
He observed that last year 330,000 illegal migrants had been detained at the EU’s borders, including 270,000 at the Hungarian border.
He recalled the violent incidents at the Röszke border, how hundreds of thousands of migrants had “marched through” the country and how they had “occupied” Budapest railway stations.
Mr Orbán said there was a single solution to the migrant crisis: not allowing migrants to enter Europe. Only those migrants should be allowed to enter whose asylum applications have been duly assessed and granted.
He added that they now wanted to destroy this Hungarian model, but the government would defend the only successful European border protection system. “This is our country, after all, we alone have the right to say who is allowed to enter Hungary, when and under what conditions,” he said.
The Prime Minister pointed out that as long as there was a national government in office in Hungary, there would be no “migrant ghettos” in the country. He added that he had “sweated blood” to close down migrant camps in Hungary.
We finally solved our problem, and now they want to force it back on our necks, he said.
He said in Hungary the Hungarian people would have “sent packing” in three seconds a government that behaves like the governments in Western Europe.
In answer to a question regarding the means at the government’s disposal to protect the country, Mr Orbán said we must remain firm within because the first frontline of the fight against migration is to be found in the Hungarian Parliament, “we have mercenaries sitting opposite us.” He added that we must not yield to the opposition demands because they will dismantle the fence, will let migrants in, will accept the migrant quotas, will support the Brussels decisions and will build migrant ghettos.
He said a considerable part of the opposition is equally paid in dollars, euros and forints, and everyone knows that he who pays the piper calls the tune.
Brussels is able to use the Hungarian Left at any time as a means to impose the migrant quotas and migrant ghettos on Hungary, he said.
The Prime Minister mentioned that in the debate on migration there were also legal means available; they are delaying decisions and are also organising “resistance groups.” We have yet possibilities to throw spanners in the works, he stated.
He expressed hope that the number of countries adopting an anti-migration position in the interim would increase.
In the interview, the Prime Minister also stressed that we must make it clear that “in Hungary foreigners cannot buy political influence.”
He highlighted that in the context of the campaign financing received by left-wing parties from abroad, one also had reason to speak of corruption, but he saw this as an issue of sovereignty.
If members of the Hungarian legislature or the mayor of the Hungarian capital can be bought with money, that means that these people do not make their decisions on the basis of the best interests of the Hungarian people, but act according to the expectations of their foreign principals. This means that we are not sovereign, the Prime Minister explained.
Corruption is a crime everywhere, Mr Orbán pointed out, adding that on this issue “we have not yet tidied things up sufficiently,” and so while what happened is, in his opinion, punishable, the relevant regulations must be made clearer.
