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We cannot accept an increase on such a scale; if there is no agreement with a view to reducing prices, we will introduce officially fixed prices, and if needs be, we will even limit the profits of retail chains, he said, stressing that it would be desirable if trade functioned without state intervention.
The beginning of the Prime Minister’s speech was interrupted by independent Member of Parliament Ákos Hadházy who played from the gallery a recording of an earlier speech made by Mr Orbán. “From this the only conclusion I can draw – and it’s an old truth – is that only Fidesz is better than Fidesz,” Mr Orbán said, responding to the interruption, before telling Speaker of the House László Kövér that he was not bothered by the disturbance.
Mr Orbán said the government agreed with employers and workers on wage increases which employers are able to fulfil without laying people off. Pursuant to the agreement, in 2025 the minimum wage will be increased by 9 per cent to HUF 290,000, while the guaranteed wage minimum to HUF 349,000. They also agreed to raise the minimum wage by 13 per cent in 2026 and by a further 14 per cent in 2027, he stated, mentioning that salaries will increase significantly also in the fields of education, science, health care and the armed forces.
He stressed that the state helped businesses with an arrangement whereby each year they were required to pay the social contribution on the basis of the previous year’s minimum wage. With this agreement, a minimum wage of one thousand euros and average earnings of around one million forints are now well within reach. The plan is for average earnings to reach HUF 750,000, and to start increasing to HUF 800,000 this year, the Prime Minister said.
He also said last year the salaries of teachers increased by 32 per cent, while this year by 21 per cent; meaning that a trainee teacher with a university degree has a starting salary of HUF 653,000, while the average salary of teachers is now HUF 844,000 which is more than six times higher than in 2010. This year, the government will spend HUF 500 billion more on education than in 2024, the Prime Minister stressed, who also spoke about the fact that the average salaries of physicians are above HUF 2.1 million, while the salaries of health care specialists now exceed HUF 800,000; this is six and four and a half times higher, respectively, than they were in 2010. He mentioned that the government would spend HUF 330 billion more on health care than the year before.
Mr Orbán further said the government decided to increase the salaries of water management workers by 30 per cent, while a pay rise has also been launched for judicial workers, as part of which, over a period of 3 years, the average monthly salaries of judges will reach HUF 2,250,000, the salaries of court secretaries and interns will increase to HUF 1,125,000, while the salaries of court officials will reach HUF 850,000 before tax.
The Prime Minister mentioned that the salaries of researchers would increase by 30 per cent on average, meaning that the average basic salaries in this field would increase to HUF 800,000 this year, and would exceed one million forints by 2027. At the same time, police officers, soldiers and the members of other armed forces will receive their six-monthly service benefit together with their first salaries for this year.
Mr Orbán said in the first 3 months of the year, the government will pay HUF 1,100 billion in interest on retail government securities to approximately 800,000 account holders, involving millions of people in total. He mentioned that today there were government securities worth HUF 14,000 billion in total in the hands or pockets of Hungarian individuals.
The Prime Minister described the government’s measures announced previously as Europe’s largest tax reduction programme, and listed them repeatedly, including the worker loan, the rural home refurbishment programme, the student accommodation construction programme, and the programmes announced for small and medium-sized businesses, and also confirmed that the government would introduce full, lifetime income tax exemption for working mothers with two and three children. He added that in October 2025, the salaries of all mothers of three would become tax-free. In the case of mothers with two children, income tax exemption will be introduced gradually: on 1 January 2026 mothers under the age of 40 years will receive tax exemption, in 2027 mothers between the ages of 40 and 50 years, in 2028 mothers between the ages of 50 and 60 years and in 2029 mothers over the age of 60 years, he listed.
He said the number of applications for worker loans is now above ten thousand and is continuously increasing. He stressed that today young people opting for work, rather than the continuation of their studies, paid no personal income tax until the age of 25 years and also had access to an interest-free ‘life-starting loan’ of HUF 4 million.
He announced that the government had launched a rural home refurbishment programme for people living in settlements with a population of less than 5,000 in the form of non-repayable grants of up to HUF 3 million, while from 1 January, in addition to families, pensioners, too, were eligible to take part in the programme.
The government has extended the preferential 5 per cent VAT on the sale of new housing properties until the end of 2026, and they have also launched a housing capital programme, in consequence of which they expect to see the construction of an additional 10,000 new homes a year, the Prime Minister recalled.
He also indicated that the government had enabled the people to use their pension fund savings for the purchase of homes and home refurbishment projects, while in 2025 50 per cent of the benefits paid to ‘SZÉP’ benefit cards will also be available for the same purpose. Additionally, they made it possible for employers to provide housing support of up to HUF 150,000 a month for their workers under a preferential taxation regime.
The Prime Minister confirmed that the government had also decided on a new student accommodation construction programme in Budapest, as part of which they would build new accommodation facilities for minimum 12,000 students, but their plan was to increase this number to 18,000. They are currently conducting promising negotiations with universities about this, he added.
The government decided to provide loans for businesses with 3 per cent preferential interest, rather than 5 per cent via the Széchenyi Card Programme as well as to launch a capitalisation programme worth HUF 100 billion for small and medium-sized enterprises. The government further decided on a 1+1 SME investment promotion programme which will seek to help small and medium-sized businesses planning to implement investments; to support the asset procurements of locally-owned micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises at the rate of 50 per cent; and to launch an export promotion credit programme worth HUF 350 billion.
He informed Members of the House that from 1 January this year, the government had raised the limit of VAT exemption from HUF 12 million to HUF 18 million. This will provide excess revenue for businesses which may apply for the exemption until the end of February. In total, some 900,000 businesses may be eligible, he added.
He said the government decided to double the tax benefit available in relation to children, based on which in the first stage, from 1 July, the benefit will increase by 50 per cent, while from 1 January 2026 by another 50 per cent. As a result of the increase, parents will be able to deduct from their taxes and contributions HUF 20,000 in the case of one child, HUF 80,000 in the case of two children and HUF 200,000 in the case of three children.
He said the government also decided to scrap the income tax on the infant care benefit and the child care benefit, to increase the age limit of eligibility for the baby expecting loan to 35 years and to extend the interest cap until the end of June 2025, thereby providing a safety net for some 300,000 families.
He stressed that these measures were unprecedented in Europe, “this is Europe’s largest tax reduction programme.” He indicated that these measures represented an enormous expenditure for the budget, and so the government explored whether – against the background of expenditures of such magnitude – they would still be able to reduce the deficit of the budget and the sovereign debt. The government came to the conclusion that this was possible; Hungary can do it, the Prime Minister stated.
The Prime Minister said they started preparations for the introduction of a VAT refund system for pensioners in respect of basic foodstuffs where VAT exceeds five per cent. In the case of fruit, vegetables and dairy products, they will reimburse the VAT up to a fixed monthly amount. In contrast to a general VAT reduction when the money tends to stay with the traders, VAT refunds go to the intended recipients.
The recently announced decisions of the government will make it possible for the country to achieve a breakthrough in the economy in 2025 after the war years.
He further spoke about the fact that Brussels wanted Hungary to withdraw the child protection legislation. The Prime Minister suggested that – in contrast to Brussels’ demand – rather than withdrawing the legislation, they should take further steps in the area of child protection. The protection of children is above everything else, and this must be guaranteed by the Constitution as well as by the laws, he laid down.
The government suggests that they lay down in the Constitution that in Hungary there are men and women. They should enforce the constitutional principle and elementary human need that no one should be allowed to jeopardise the healthy development of children and the order of education determined by parents.
He said they are likewise unable to come to an agreement with the Brussels bureaucrats on the issue of migration. He stressed that Hungary would not accept and would not implement the Brussels migration pact. Brussels evidently abuses its power when it punishes Hungary due to our laws rejecting migration, he said. However, the fine unfairly imposed on us is still costing less and is causing less damage than letting migrants in would, he pointed out.
He highlighted that this was an open rebellion on the part of Hungary and that other countries were now following us. Mr Orbán said the European people have had enough of the Brussels bureaucrats who force immigrants on them, and can hardly wait to rebel. He suggested that “we help them.”
Mr Orbán called for the withdrawal of the lawsuit submitted against Hungary by the People’s Party, the socialists and the liberals in the European Parliament. The Prime Minister said in Brussels, the Hungarian opposition parties, with the exception of Mi Hazánk, are also suing Hungary. The European People’s Party of which the Tisza Party is a member and the European socialists of which the Democratic Coalition is a member, have sued Hungary in order to take away the EU funds we are entitled to. According to his information, in the new financial framework, EU funds to the value of HUF 3,200 billion have already been disbursed. The funds we are entitled to and fought for in Brussels are forthcoming on an ongoing basis, and this is what the Tisza Party, the Hungarian Socialist Party, the Democratic Coalition and Momentum now want to take away, Mr Orbán said, calling for the withdrawal of the People’s Party, socialist and liberal lawsuit instituted against Hungary.
Mr Orbán pointed out that Ukraine would not be a member of NATO. As to what will happen to Ukraine or the territory left of Ukraine is important from the viewpoint of Hungary’s security. This question will be settled by the ceasefire and peace talks, he indicated. He took the view that the peace treaty would have to guarantee the security of Hungary and the Member States of NATO, and would have to regulate the status of Ukraine – becoming a buffer zone again – accordingly.
It seems that this will be decided not only and perhaps not primarily by the Europeans, he observed, adding, however, that Ukraine’s membership of the European Union is an exclusively European issue. The government reassures the National Assembly that without the Hungarians’ decision, Ukraine cannot become a member of the European Union. Today none of the conditions of membership is satisfied, today this would destroy Hungarian farmers; what’s more, the entire Hungarian national economy, he stressed.
In his speech in Parliament, Mr Orbán highlighted that in 2025 the government wanted not only an economic breakthrough, but also a political one.
He recalled that for 15 years Hungary and the Hungarian government had been in a minority on the most important issues. He added, however, that in 2025 this would change; the US elections brought about a breakthrough in world politics, anti-migration, pro-family and patriotic forces are now in the majority in the western world. We Hungarians started this change back in 2010, and have persevered ever since, he recalled.
In the West, this anti-migration, pro-family and patriotic policy already has a majority in the United States, Italy, Slovakia and Belgium. But a majority in itself is not enough. It must also be enforced, and we must back it up with strength and power, he observed. He pointed out that the Hungarian government was ready for this. Therefore, following the example of the government of the United States, here, too, we must do away with the corruption network which is ruling the entire western political and media world, Mr Orbán stated.
The government of the United States and its president Donald Trump have exposed how the liberal administration in the United States bought influence with billions of dollars in other countries, including in Hungary. They financed migration, gender politics, anti-family forces as well as persons and organisations attacking national sovereignty with many millions of forints. This is unacceptable and intolerable, in fact, shameful, he stressed.
He added that there was ample information, but as yet incomplete. They have uncovered several avenues via which hundreds of millions of forints were channelled to Hungarian media outlets and organisations active in politics.
The whole truth will have to be uncovered, and therefore, the government will appoint a commissioner for this job, he said, suggesting to Parliament that having learnt from these lessons, they create the laws protecting our sovereignty that are not yet in place. The government will turn off the money taps of the Soros Network. We will put an end to the era of the rolling dollars.
The government is ready to go all the way to the wall, and even beyond. This is how 2025 will be – in addition to the year of an economic breakthrough – the year of a political breakthrough as well, he said in conclusion.
