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He recalled that US President Donald Trump had stated already before the elections that he would retailor world trade and would seek to improve America’s positions against all countries. In particular, against countries where the Americans are – in his opinion – sustaining losses.
Mr Orbán said regarding Donald Trump “the world is now surprised because he’s doing what he promised to do,” adding that a number of disparities exist in world trade, and the US president pledged to redress them, after deliberating each one individually. In the end, the Americans will come to an agreement with everyone one by one, and a new state of balance, a new situation will develop. This will take a month or two. “I don’t think this uncertainty will stay with us for a long time,” Mr Orbán added.
He said the tariff war will soon turn into tariff peace because as soon as agreements have been reached, we will no longer talk about a tariff war, but about tariff peace. Hungary, too, has a vested interest in this. “By contrast, Ukraine’s EU membership will stay with us, will remain on the agenda for a very long time, and if we’re unable to protect ourselves against it, it will stay with us in the coming decades as well, and will destroy us. So, today, we must focus our attention and energy most on Ukraine’s EU membership, and must leave the issue of the tariff war to experts,” Mr Orbán said.
He highlighted that we were in a high-inflation era, and the Russo-Ukrainian war was most to blame for this. The best way to knock inflation down on a long-term basis is peace, he stated, adding that the only thing the European Union now has to do is support the US president in his peace efforts.
He stressed that prices had first started increasing drastically with the preparations for the war and the subsequent outbreak of the war. But even whilst waiting for peace, we must take steps against inflation, Mr Orbán said, reminding listeners that at the beginning of the war the government introduced price caps, with success, while now they are maximising profit margins.
The government is currently working to extend the same method to other retail products, in addition to foodstuffs, he stated. He mentioned that the government had conducted successful talks with the representatives of telecommunications companies. As a result, they will not increase prices until next July and will reduce any prices they may have recently increased to the level of the beginning of the year.
“As far as I can see, we’re very close to coming to an agreement, or we may have already come to an agreement with banks about a ban on raising banking charges, even with reference to inflation, during the period ahead,” the Prime Minister stated, stressing that they attempted to reach a similar agreement with supermarket chains, but there they did not succeed. He said these measures have made it clear to everyone that “the times are over when in reference to the war or inflation, they can rob the Hungarian people,” the state will intervene in the system of pricing “if abnormal situations evolve.”
The government is determined, will protect families, will protect the people, he said, adding that this will also make it clear for the businesses concerned that it is better to come to an agreement with the government. “We’re doing on a miniature scale that which Donald Trump is doing on a much bigger scale,” he stated in summary.
In answer to a question relating to a statement by an MEP for the Tisza Party, Mr Orbán said the Hungarian people elected MEPs in order to represent Hungary’s interests in Brussels, and if needs be, to fight for Hungary. He indicated that as prime minister he himself fought for the Hungarian people’s interests, and so he had already successfully obtained one half of the EU funds Hungary was entitled to; those funds are already on our account.
At the same time, deputies of the Tisza Party “are not only not ashamed of working against their own country, but are proud of it. In fact, this is their goal; in fact, they’re happy if things are going badly in Hungary because […] they say that this is good for the opposition.”
He said in the past 30 years all opposition parties would have resented being associated with the claim that the worse-off the country is, the better-off they are. Now, however, “this is being thrown into our faces,” that not only are they doing this, but are proud of the fact that the worse-off the country is, the better-off they are, the sooner they may get into power. And additionally, they are doing this in conspiracy with a foreign power, with the Brussels bureaucrats.
He added that this brought to mind former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Őszöd speech which was claimed to be “a speech of truth.” Now, the Tisza Party is trying to explain to us that this is the right thing to do, for an MEP to work against their own country in Brussels. “So, I believe that this is the moment when the Earth opens up beneath you and you fall into the abyss,” he said.
In his view, elections can be won in one of two ways. Either you present a good programme to the people, asking for their trust, or you root for the country to do badly, and then the people will want a change sooner or later. He added that he had zero respect for people who wanted to get into power on the basis of the second script. He stressed that politics was not about power, but about the country. The people, Hungary must be served. Those who are capable of doing anything for power and money must not be trusted, he stated.
The Prime Minister said it is important that everybody in Hungary can state their opinions on issues that determine the country’s future. These are not mere empty words; the people may voice their opinions with due weight, he pointed out.
He highlighted that, looking back, this had also been the case regarding the issue of migration. We are the only European country where a referendum was held about migration, he recalled. He said it was the same with respect to the issue of child protection as well which is a major challenge in the whole of Europe: how we envisage our future, our societies, our families, the lives of our communities. Here, too, Hungary was the only country where the people were given a chance to state their opinions, he stressed.
He pointed out that a third major issue was now on the agenda which would fundamentally determine Hungary’s fate in the coming decades. The question goes like this: Will Ukraine be admitted to the European Union? If it is, it will have consequences, and if it is not, it will also have consequences, this is a crucial question.
Mr Orbán highlighted that they were convinced – also he personally – that Ukraine’s admission would destroy Hungary and Hungarian families, and would nullify the economic results we had achieved in the past 15 years.
He stressed that Hungarians might or might not agree with him on this issue. What is important is to have a common opinion, to make clear the position of the Hungarian people on this important issue that has been in the focus of European debates for years now, a position they can then stand for in Brussels.
He also said in Brussels they are fighting for the Hungarian interests, but not all Hungarian parties are doing so. “They have their masters in Brussels,” there are Hungarian parties which think in terms of a kind of big European state resulting in the absorption of Hungary where the decisions of the Brussels centre, the imperial headquarters must be implemented in Hungary. This is why they also support Ukraine’s membership as that is what Brussels wants, he explained.
Mr Orbán laid down that we must go against this, we must fight for the possibility of not losing everything that we have worked hard for, and for keeping economic opportunities open for Hungary. We must fight so that no one should be allowed to compromise our economic results, so that we should not be forced to take any risks in agriculture, and so that the Hungarians should not be forced to take any of the risks related to public security and public order that would otherwise result from Ukraine’s EU membership, he stressed.
This battle is ongoing in Brussels, this will be an ongoing struggle with the highest stakes in the coming not months, but years, he pointed out.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the fact that the issue of the war was still on the agenda because while the Americans had “already turned into the street called peace” – where we ourselves had been stationed for some time – the Brusselites were “still following the sign that says war.” Evidently, Europe is preparing to continue the war, they say Ukraine can win this war, and EU membership can help Ukraine win.
“This is the worst possible thought, Ukraine cannot win this war,” Mr Orbán pointed out, adding that EU membership cannot be used as an instrument of war. The granting of membership to a new state must serve the cause of peace, not war. However, the people in Brussels believe that if we admit Ukraine, they can continue the war, he said.
Mr Orbán also recalled that liberal economists regularly concluded that living in villages was not reasonable; that organising services on a village scale was not reasonable. Everything would be much more practical and cheaper if everyone moved into big cities. “This is very far from the thinking we stand for because we believe that it’s good to live in villages; in actual fact, you can probably lead a truly quality life in villages,” he said.
He recalled that during the communist regime a feeling had been successfully instilled in the people that villages were backward, while cities were in a higher state of development; that urban people were cultured and educated, village people were not. “I come from a village of 1,800, and sincerely hope that I’m living proof in refuting those claims,” he observed.
He highlighted that a very large number of hard-working, forward-looking people with great abilities were born and lived also in villages. We are close to the situation where urban services are available almost comprehensively in villages, and wherever this is not yet the situation, the government is working on it. Let there be shops, let there be small local pubs, let there be ATMs, let there be express roads that everyone can access within 20 to 30 minutes, let there be good schools – if not in the village itself, there should be a school centre within accessible proximity, and then let there be school buses – let there be health care services, let there be local police officers available in the village around the clock, he listed.
He added that they were expending an enormous amount of energy in order to make sure that everyone who lived in villages today should feel that they were equal citizens of this country in every respect, to boost the faith of people in villages in their own environment and future. In this respect, the Hungarian Villages Programme is successful. “As to whether we have succeeded in taking all the services there yet, I can’t give you a clearly affirmative answer to that. We have taken many services to villages, but we have yet much to do,” the Prime Minister said.
Speaking about the importance of families, Mr Orbán stressed that when someone decided to start a family, they served not only their own personal happiness, but also the future of the community they belonged to. He highlighted that therefore mothers must be appreciated not only on account of the difficult endeavour they undertook – because it was a very difficult endeavour – but also because they undertook something that wass important for the whole community, he indicated. “If that’s the case, and I think it is, it’s unfair that those who raise children should be worse-off than those who don’t,” he pointed out.
“I think it’s the government’s duty to play a role in redressing this injustice. This is also a personal issue for me. In 2010 I returned to Hungarian politics, undertaking to make this disparity go away, that the lives of families raising children should not be any harder than the lives of people without children, people who decide not to have children. And I’m making great strides,” he said.
He described supporting mothers as a matter of honour, including to achieve that those who decide to have children should be exempt from the payment of personal income tax for life. He recalled that earlier they had already introduced tax benefits in relation to children, and this was now being supplemented with lifelong tax exemption for mothers. This benefit was already introduced for mothers with more than three children some time ago. From this October, mothers with three children will receive tax exemption, while from 1 January mothers with two children under the age of 40 years will become eligible. Mothers with two children under the age of 50 years will receive tax exemption from 2026.
With this, a family-centred economic system is coming into being which regards the family and children as the number one priority, he stated in summary.
In continuation, he said we must connect the recognition of the merits of raising children with work. If we fail to connect family support with work, fewer people will work in Hungary than necessary. Therefore, it is the best policy for the country and also for families if families, primarily mothers, are given an opportunity to decide whether they would rather stay at home to raise their children or want to go back to work in addition to raising their children, he said.
It is good for the country if mothers decide to work as well. Therefore, the government has built a family support system which rewards or recognises everyone who raises children, but especially recognises those who, in addition to raising children, are also present on the labour market. In light of this consideration, the bulk of family support goes to families through work. Not only through mothers, but also through fathers because they can combine their incomes from which they can deduct the available tax benefits, Mr Orbán said in conclusion.
