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Good morning.
Thank you for coming here to be with us in such wretched weather. Since we’re in the home of the peach, I hope that at the end the organisers will distribute some kind of fortifying beverage as a reward. But as we’re here together, allow me to deliver the speech I’ve prepared for you today.
Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mayors, Honourable Members of Parliament,
We are here today to repay a long-standing debt. Hungary has long been indebted to the people of Bács–Kiskun and Békés counties. For many decades this was a neglected part of Hungary: there was neither the will nor the money to incorporate the area into Hungary’s transport and economic bloodstream. Yet there are settlements and sites in the area that played a decisive role in the overthrow of communism and the regaining of Hungary’s independence. For example, I remember the student gathering that took place in Szarvas in 1985. Heavens above! That was forty years ago. That first national vocational student meeting was an important milestone on the road to the formation of Fidesz. We called it the fourth, because at that time everything had to be licensed and in this way it was easier to slip under the radar of the communist authorities. And, next to the old Route 44, there is also Lakitelek: the centre of Hungarian national renewal. We young people who changed the system had Szarvas, while the generation of national intellectuals who changed the system – the generation of Sándor Lezsák MP – had Lakitelek.
I remember how difficult it was to make one’s way down here back then: if the truck that picked you up was one of the slower ones, it could take half a day to struggle down to, say, Békés. I also remember that after the fall of communism every government promised to do something about this situation. By 1990 the old Route 44 was recategorised from a secondary road to a primary road, and that was all there was energy for; anything’s possible on paper. Our national government started to pay off its debt in 2014 – and around 2014, if I remember correctly, Minister János Lázár received a strong request to resolve the matter or face the consequences. We have been working on this route since 2016. Several of the Members present here were at the groundbreaking ceremony, and the first steps are a credit to them. Thank you very much for your work! Then in 2019 we opened the Tiszakürt–Kondoros section of the M44, in 2020 we extended the road to Békéscsaba, in 2021 we connected it to Lakitelek, and last year to Szentkirály. Now Kecskemét’s turn has come. But we are not finished yet, because while the connection from Békéscsaba to Budapest is now a direct one, the same is not true in the other direction. Perhaps next year we will be able to complete that. We have built more than 125 kilometres of expressway, creating fast and convenient connections.
We have greatly improved the quality of life for the people who live here, and who deserve it; because this area is inhabited by hard-working people who want to get on in life and who love their country, who love their country and who feel strongly about nationhood. There is a saying that city air makes you free, but this place and you are proof that country air makes you Hungarian. Hungary has always been able to count on the people who live here, and I personally thank you for the support I have received from you. Today is proof that you can also count on the national government.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Kunság is the centre of the country; it was so when we lived in historical Hungary, and it is so today. This region today not only provides the country with agricultural products and the beauty of the Great Plain, but it has also become an industrial powerhouse. The Mercedes factory is here in Kecskemét, along with several automotive suppliers. It is also home to Univer, one of the prides of our food industry. Here in Szarvas they make that indispensable accessory for every Hungarian household: the coffeemaker – which in the morning brings to our kitchens the inimitable aroma of burning rubber. And Gyula is home to Airbus, a company that represents high-tech industry. Not far from here are the headquarters of Duna Aszfalt, without which we would not be standing here today: we would not have a road to hand over. From here we thank them too!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In Europe today factories are closing; but we want new factories, and we will not close old ones, but expand them. This new road will help us to do this. Industry can grow, and trade can grow. It will be easier to build new factories and increase the capacity of old ones. With the M44 more opportunities, more jobs and more resources will come. The country’s last major labour reserve is in Békés, and we want to create opportunities for them too, to bring them into the country’s economic bloodstream.
Dear Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Over the years we have become the government of road construction. Since 2010 the combined length of expressways in Hungary has increased by 50 per cent. In fifteen years state assets have doubled. Hungary can be proud of this achievement. We have also decided that every city with county rights will have direct access to an expressway. In recent years we have provided such connections for Eger, Szolnok, Salgótarján, Sopron and Kaposvár. Today, with the M44, Békéscsaba is joining this club. But we will not stop here, and are continuing to build: in the next few years, the Minister says, we will be widening the M1, M3 and M7 motorways to three lanes. We are also building the M8 motorway, which will pass through this area, and which will allow travel between western and eastern Hungary without going through Budapest. Our meeting today is also an important staging post in this grand plan.
We have heard my colleague Sándor Lezsák speak about the importance of villages. In the area served by the new M44 there are more than 120 settlements with fewer than five thousand inhabitants – people who will now be able to reach their destinations more quickly. Villages are also the winners from the development of the expressway network. Villages need to be built up, not wound up, and they need good roads. In addition to roads, major rail improvements are also underway. The bridge that is now being built at Mohács features the country’s most advanced engineering work, and the Danube bridge at Paks was handed over just a year ago. Ladies and Gentlemen, the entire country is under construction.
This is all well and good, but there are also serious dangers. The most important threat is Ukraine’s potential accession to the European Union. This threat is hanging over our heads. In Brussels yesterday a package to speed up Ukraine’s accession was put forward. I can report that our troops in Brussels are fighting. If such a thing were to happen, we would have to spend all Hungary’s money on Ukraine. The cost to Hungary of our eastern neighbour’s accession would exceed 20 trillion forints. Not only would EU funds owed to us not arrive, but even money from the Hungarian budget would end up in Kiev; and then it would be a long time before any roads were built again on Hungarian soil. This is why the vote on Ukraine’s EU membership – Voks 2025 – is important. I ask all of you to vote in it!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the coming years, this issue – Ukraine’s membership of the European Union – will be the most important issue in Hungarian politics. The positions are clear: Brussels and the Tisza Party are in favour of Ukraine’s membership, while we, the national forces, are against it. This has serious consequences. Brussels wants a pro-Ukraine government in Hungary that will do what it demands. This is what the Brussels–Tisza pact is about. Brussels is helping to block the Hungarians’ economic development, thereby putting Tisza in power; and in return Tisza is supporting Ukraine’s EU membership, and economic and military aid to Ukraine.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A new era in Hungarian politics has begun. Brussels and the Tisza Party have openly admitted that their aim is to undermine the living standards of Hungarians. They want Hungary to be an unsuccessful country, and they are working together with that shared aim. They are working to prevent the renovation of fifty hospitals, to prevent the development of public services, and to prevent the building of roads and railways. The worse things are for the country, the better they are for them. They are capable of doing anything for power and money. We shall not let them! They can try to trip us up, but we shall make Hungary a success. There will be a big fight – or, rather, there is a big fight. Together with Ukraine, they must be stopped. This is a great task, but we shall not shrink from it: we shall not back down, and we shall win!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today is one such victory. Thanks are due to the builders and those who commissioned them, those who have helped us to make Hungary an even better place. We owe them a debt of gratitude. As we approach Easter, I wish you all a happy Eastertide. In the words of Széchenyi, “I believe that Hungary is not in the past, but in the future.”
Go, Hungary, go Hungarians!
