Menu
Thank you for the floor, Mr. Speaker. Although what the Honourable Members from the Opposition have said is only tangential to what I said, it’s only fitting that, since they’ve honoured me with their opinions, I should briefly respond.
To the deputy leader of the DK [Democratic Coalition] group, I can say that I understand that you don’t like this turn of events in world politics, but I can’t change that. Please try to come to terms with the new situation we’ll be facing over the next few decades. As for your desire, Madam Deputy, for the Government to be uncommitted to NATO, or to even be anti-NATO, I’d like to remind you of the simple fact that when you were State Secretary for Defence, as a NATO member Hungary spent 1 per cent of its GDP on this, and now it spends 2 per cent. I think that two is more than one. If commitment can be measured by financial contributions, then I can say that we’re at least twice as committed to NATO as you were. You know that I don’t trade in personal insults, but I also follow the rule that one should give as good as one gets – otherwise we might end up looking like suckers. I understand that you’re accusing us of not being on the side of the poor. This is despite the fact that I spoke about the workers’ credit, the VAT refund scheme for pensioners, and increasing the minimum wage and support for families. But unfortunately I have to remind you that when you were in government you took away a month’s pension from pensioners and took away a month’s salary from w workers. Never in Hungarian history has there been a policy package which was so hostile to the poor. So I ask you to consider this when you’re attacking us. And unfortunately I must point out to you – since you’ve used the term “freedom-grabbing”, and accused us of it – that your party leader arrives here every day at his workplace having come from a villa worth billions of forints, which was confiscated from Jewish families. You might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb! And finally, Honourable Member, on the issue of the baby loan, I can inform you that the Government has twice negotiated with the banks and the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies; we’ve asked them – and I quote from the minutes – “to urgently develop an addendum, a loan guarantee to assist in such a tragic situation in the lives of baby loan recipients.”
Honourable Members,
Many of you have urged us to make debt collection a state task. I agree that abuses in debt collection need to be tackled, but I suggest we discuss whether this is best dealt with by the Government, or whether the courts are better suited to it. As I understand it, what most people here are referring to is usury, which I have to say is a form of exploitation that’s rife in many places in the countryside, and which must be combated. But in my opinion it’s worth discussing whether action should be taken by the Government, the courts, or local authorities. I’m not sure it’s wise to suggest that we should nationalise debt collection.
Honourable Member Toroczkai,
You’ve mentioned infertile couples. I think this is important. I’d like to point out here that it’s no coincidence that the Government decided to take the institutions that help infertile couples into public ownership and operation. According to our data, in recent times the number of children born in this way has almost doubled, I think… Yes it has… Some people dispute that. It’s not refined to argue about facts. I suggest that you broaden your knowledge of reality.
As for the price of basic foodstuffs, I don’t think that it’s acceptable to increase the price of certain products by 40, 30 or 20 per cent in a few months. We have to guard against that. I can see that Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary is opposed to price regulation – even temporarily; and I have to say that we should use this instrument if necessary, even if in philosophical terms we agree with you that state intervention in trade is rather harmful. That’s true in philosophical terms, but for certain products we may be forced to do so temporarily. I must say that it’s also worth studying the examples provided by the countries around us. Right now, as I understand it, Croatia is trying this in relation to about a hundred products. I suggest that we don’t turn this into a political debate, but simply agree that it’s not tolerable to see prices increase to such an extent, and thus put pensioners and families in an impossible situation. We must take action against this.
I don’t recommend doing what my fellow Member Komjáthi is proposing: that we abolish the tax on multinational retail chains. I wouldn’t support that at all, and I think it would be inappropriate and unfair.
My fellow Member Mr. Toroczkai spoke about border defence. First of all, I’d like to thank the border guards and the police officers working there for their work. They’re performing a historic task. This isn’t what our discussion is about today, but I think that it’s the job of our generation to defend Hungary and Central Europe from the waves of immigrants coming from the south; and it will be the job of our children to do the same against waves of immigrants coming from the west. So this is a serious issue. I believe that the police and border defence must be taken seriously, and in my view it must be seen as the most important issue for the country.
I cannot agree with you when you suggest that we should set up a separate anti-corruption prosecutor’s office. In my opinion, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is answerable to Parliament, is unitary and indivisible, and the Constitution says so. But that’s not my main argument: it is practice and reality. To you and to others who are suggesting this, I’d recommend that you look at what the experience has been with the special anti-corruption prosecutor’s office in Romania; and if you cannot find first-hand information, talk to the Hungarians there and to the Hungarian political leaders about how the agency set up for this purpose has been used against them for political purposes. So in this matter I’d recommend caution.
To Mr. László György Lukács I’d like to say that I also think there’s a problem with rural drug dealing. Urban drug dealing is a problem, of course, but there’s a new phenomenon here, this rural phenomenon, which is spreading like a plague. To a large extent we know the cause of this. I also agree with you that we must take the strongest possible action against drug dealers. A small blemish on our grand consensus is the fact that the last time there was an election you entered Parliament from a joint party list which was in favour of drug liberalisation. So I understand what you’re saying, but you’re not the Member who should be lecturing us on this matter. Yes, you were elected on Gyurcsány’s list, and that party and that Left had an important, defining social policy programme of drug liberalisation. That’s the truth.
And I propose that we shouldn’t continue to feed and detain people smugglers in Hungary, but arrest them and expel them from the country in short order. We should expel them from the country with the threat taken seriously by all of them who have been expelled so far: that if they come back, they’ll be punished twice as much. In fact this is why in Hungary today there are no people smugglers whom we’ve deported before and who have come back. So the fact is that we won’t continue to hold people smugglers in Hungary.
Honourable Member,
The apocalyptic visions about automobile production, the automotive industry, electromobility and battery production being taken off the modern Western economy’s agenda are wrong. The transformation is underway, and electromobility will be the defining process of the next twenty to thirty years. One can argue about the speed at which it’s moving, but I have no doubt that it’s the future, whoever invests in this industry will win the race for the future, and we’re right to concentrate our efforts there.
I regret that the Jobbik MP has attacked the workers’ credit scheme. I think that, if they take advantage of the workers’ credit, young people will decide what to spend their money on. I don’t think they should listen to your scaremongering. You didn’t vote for the “Women 40” early retirement programme, but that’s has already been discussed.
I’ve often agreed with Imre Komjáthi on many issues; but now, if you’ll allow me, I must talk about the fact that you said that you would speak about those who are carrying the country on their backs, because they hadn’t been mentioned. I’d like to point out, however, that here there was much mention of all kinds of people who are carrying the country on their backs: teachers, young workers, mothers, doctors and nurses. My fellow Member, fluctuation in industrial output cannot be avoided. I, too, would be happy if I could say that industrial output was increasing steadily. But the fact is that in the current situation – especially in the situation of the German economy – this performance will fluctuate. We’ll see whether, after yesterday’s German elections, there will be a government in Germany which can at least smooth out Germany’s fluctuating industrial performance and thus help us.
You’ve also brought up unemployment figures. I’d like to refer to the number of people in work. When you were in government, Honourable Member, there were one million fewer people in work than there are now – and currently there are 4.7 million people in work. Please take this into account.
As for Dunaferr [metallurgical plant], I can tell you that we have to pay people’s wages. For as long as we can, we’ll pay the wages and we’ll help to ensure that the people there can either keep their jobs or find other jobs. Here too, I suggest that instead of attacking the Government we look for opportunities for cooperation. With regard to what you’re asking about investors being required to pay back the aid they receive if they don’t comply with their work or obligations, I’m pleased to report that today this is the law. This is how it should be, and we’ll enforce it.
I think it was perhaps our fellow Member from Momentum who said that 70 per cent of hospital workers are depressed. I must reject this. Are you sure you know what you’re talking about? Are you saying that 70 per cent of doctors and nurses working in hospitals are depressed? On their behalf too, I would like you to refrain from these exaggerations at such a poetic young age, and for us to thank the doctors and nurses for their work, rather than describing them as depressed – nurses and doctors who have been working their whole lives there. So show more respect for the people who work there!
Finally, the war and the situation in Ukraine were also mentioned. We all know that from the beginning Hungary has been on the side of peace, and that in the beginning only we and the Vatican were on the side of peace. What’s changed now is that the United States is also on the side of peace. So when we’re accused of being pro-Russian, remember that the United States is also accused of being pro-Russian. This is what many people here think, and I’d like to congratulate you on your opinion. My suggestion is that we should try to assess the peace negotiations and the imminent peace agreement through Hungarian eyes. What happens to Ukraine is certainly an important issue, but the most important issue is what happens to Hungary. And what’s important to me is that peace negotiations and a peace agreement are reached which guarantee Hungary’s security. Unlike you, I’m not talking about the independence of Ukraine and the interests of Ukraine: you’re wrong to do so, as that’s not our business. We need a peace agreement that guarantees the security of Hungary – and, through it, the security of Europeans. And if it follows from this that the attempt to bring Ukraine into NATO fails and Ukraine once again becomes a buffer state, then the arrangements for this buffer state must be designed in such a way that they provide security for us Hungarians; this is our only concern. I suggest that you consider it.
Thank you for your attention.
