Mr Orbán, who started his speech – referring to the size of the crowd – by saying that “you can even see this from space,” said the Peace March is perhaps the whole of Europe’s biggest national and patriotic movement which has been able to defend its country against the liberal zeitgeist and the Brussels oppressors.
“For sixteen years – and God only knows how much longer you will – you’ve been able to keep Europe’s only Christian, conservative and national government in office,” “you have been able to protect Hungary’s borders and to keep our country as Europe’s only migrant-free country,” the Prime Minister stressed.
In continuation, he said they have been able to protect their families against the whole “Brussels snake den,” to banish LGBTQ activists from schools, and to protect their children “from ideologies and teachings that are contrary to nature and the order of creation.”
He added that today, millions of Europeans – from Portugal through Germany to Lithuania – would like such a political force and movement for themselves; they would give an arm to have a migrant-free country again; and would give years of their lives if they could send packing and banish “crazy gender activists” from schools.
They would give their all if they could have a free, Christian and patriotic country again, he stated.
“We didn’t have to give an arm or years of our lives, and neither do we have to give our all for a normal country because you – yes, you – woke up in good time, you kept your wits about you, you were brave, you stood up and persevered,” Mr Orbán said, thanking the attendees for this.
Regarding the Peace March, the Prime Minister said today the attendees have again occupied, filled and dressed the capital of our nation, the streets of Budapest in the colours of a dignified celebratory march. “You have brought with you flags, faith and hope, the same as on 23 October 1956,” he added.
He said today, instead of guns being fired, there is singing. Instead of blood being shed, flags are flying proudly. Hearts are beating together. Hungarian hearts. And we remember. The lads of Pest, girls, workers, mothers who expected no glory, had no desire to turn into heroes, but “merely protected the wounded country.”
Today, we are showing the world that Hungary does not forget, does not let go of the hands of its heroes, and is ready to create new ones and to put them into battle array at any time, he stated.
The Prime Minister highlighted that we Hungarians had always done more history than we had needed. There was plenty left for others as well, he added.
Mr Orbán pointed out: when a Hungarian heart beats, the whole world hears it. In 1956, too, the whole world heard it, and in fact, did not just hear it but trembled under its weight.
The whole communist world shook because Budapest set an example for the world’s enslaved nations. It gave hope to those who lived in oppression. It released the chains of fear which kept souls captive. And it taught the whole world that freedom is not a gift, not a favour, but a right fought for, Mr Orbán laid down.
He said without the Hungarians, communism would never have been toppled. Without the Hungarian 1956, there would have been no 1968 in Prague, there would have been no Solidarity in Poland, the Berlin Wall would not have come down, and in 1990 the ceiling of the socialist world order would likewise not have fallen in.
He also said that the world has changed much since 1956 – 69 years is a very long time – but one thing has not changed, and in fact, cannot change. Posture. “Posture cannot change. Because the spirit of the revolution lives on not in the fight, but in the self-esteem of the Hungarian people,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
He underlined: 1956 is a celebration of human dignity, a universal human message. Every nation has a right to live in freedom, dignity and peace.
We are proud that in 1956 we fought for the whole free world. Yet, we were left on our own. They let us down as they have always done when things took a serious turn. “1956 is proof: we Hungarians have given the world more than we have received from it,” Mr Orbán said.
He highlighted: Since 1956, everyone has known that there lives a nation on Earth in whose soul freedom is encoded. That nation is our nation. Those who failed to learn this in 1956 may have learnt it in the past sixteen years.
The Prime Minister greeted the surviving heroes of 1956 whom he described as “the staunchest wayfarers of freedom,” the last generation that shed blood for Hungarian freedom.
He recalled: Sixty-nine years ago, the Hungarians found themselves in lethal danger, a degree of oppression threatened us like never before. At the time, he said in continuation, the foreign power even wanted to invade our souls, wanted to eliminate our national self-awareness, wanted to lie our past away, and wanted to force on us “the ugly gowns of deformed ideologies”.
He stressed: This is why we had to take up arms. This is why we had to rise up. And this is why we must rise up time and time again “when strangers want to impose on us how we should live.”
He said the Hungarians do not ask much of life. We are content with freedom. “If there is freedom, there is everything, and everything is possible. We’ll take care of the rest,” Mr Orbán said, adding that the Hungarians are not impressed by compliments, “good boy treats,” prizes, certificates or decorations, they do not want to conquer, and neither do they want to build empires. They do not want to tell others how they should live, and do not want to lecture anyone about what is right in life. They do not pursue worldly glory, but do undertake missions for true causes.
In his ceremonial speech, the Prime Minister said “for all we care, anyone can make an iron ring out of wood, or can turn chalk into cheese. It’s their business, nothing to do with us. Today, we ask for one thing alone, but on that we insist. We want to be left alone.”
We only know a single kind of freedom. The freedom of the Hungarians. That is ours, and we insist on it. And we have the means to do so. Powers or Brussels pathetically imagining itself to be a world power are threatening us in vain, Mr Orbán stated.
“We’re not kneeling down, and we have a few more master strokes up our sleeves,” he observed, adding that “the lieutenancy council has already packed off out of here, the Soviets have left, the IMF has moved back home, the pro-migration Brusselites have taken their leave.” Not one of them managed to swallow us. We were too big a bite for them, and they were happy to get away with minor injuries, he said.
In continuation, the Prime Minister said: Brussels has decided to go to war. The pro-war countries have already formed a war alliance which they call “with inimitable elegance” the ‘coalition of the willing.’
“They’re willing to send others to die. They’re ready to send even more weapons, even more money to Ukraine. They declared the Russo-Ukrainian war their own war, and with this, they have entered it. They’re in it up to their necks,” he added.
He took the view that if Brussels stopped foiling the US President’s peace mission, the war would already be over. Everybody knows: if Donald Trump had been president, the war would not have even broken out, and if he was not foiled now at every turn, there would already be peace, he stressed.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that Hungary had taken the side of peace. The Russo-Ukrainian war is not our war. And the Hungarians of Transcarpathia found themselves mixed up in it “like Pilate in the Creed.”
“Also from here, we’re telling them: we haven’t forgotten about you, we are with you, you are in our hearts, and we are helping your families,” he said, stressing that only a country has borders, a nation does not, and not a single Hungarian is on their own.
Soldiers are dying on the front in the tens of thousands. The number of widows, orphans, parents having lost their children is now sky-high, he said.
He highlighted: this war – though it is not our war – is also taking its toll on our lives. The war is blocking the growth of the European and Hungarian economies. They have poured 185 billion euros into this hopeless war so far. And now, they want to pull further tens of billions from the pockets of the Europeans, including ours.
The money of the European people is being poured into Ukraine uncounted, and what we receive in return: high energy prices, wartime inflation, national economies balancing on the edge of the abyss, and locks on the gates of once world-famous European factories. As long as the war lasts, there will be no economic growth in Europe, the Prime Minister stated, adding that it is nothing short of a miracle that we are able to implement Europe’s largest housing programme and Europe’s largest tax reduction revolution all at once.
Mr Orbán said Brussels has run out of money. They have no money, but want to wage a war. This is why they want to raise taxes, this is why they want to tax pensions, this is why they want to do away with the reduction of household energy bills. They want to make us pay war reparations. And this is why they want to push Ukraine into the European Union at any cost. To bring the war into Europe, and to take the money out to Ukraine.
He described this as the old colonial logic, partitioning debilitated countries, making sure that they do not miss out on the loot. They are talking about supporting Ukraine, but Ukraine’s partition is already on the agenda, the Prime Minister concluded.
The billions given to Ukraine is not a waste of money, but an investment. For them, the war is not some horror, but an opportunity. Buying countries, partitioning countries in a war is the cheapest way. Ukraine has not been sovereign, has not been independent and definitely has not been self-sufficient for a long time; its fate is in the hands of others.
He said the Ukrainians are treating us Hungarians and the Hungarians of Transcarpathia badly. Despite this, Hungary is helping with concluding a peace deal. This is what Christian morality and common sense dictates. “We are the only country in Europe where a peace deal can be concluded, carried off, and we’re ready to play our role in this,” he laid down.
He observed: We want Ukraine to form ties with the EU and to have a strategic partnership with us. But we do not want to and will not be in the same alliance with Ukraine. They cannot be a member either in our military or economic alliance, he underlined.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that today in Europe Hungary alone stood for peace, but Hungary itself had not always had the strength to do so. He recalled: in World War I, we lost 660,000 lives, in World War II another 850,000. That is one and a half million people. Had they not perished and had their children and grandchildren been able to be born, today we would not have to worry about population decline. “This cannot happen again. We couldn’t stay out of World War I and World War II, but we will stay out of this one,” he pointed out.
Mr Orbán said “now, we’re a strong and sovereign nation which has dignity, which preserves itself and its future; the traitors keep shouting ‘Slava Ukraini’ in vain.”
All we say in response: Glory to Hungary, the Prime Minister stressed.
“Those who say no to the war are with us. Those who are Hungarians want peace. Those who are Hungarians want to live. We won’t give our money, we won’t hand over our weapons, we won’t go to war, and we won’t die for Ukraine, but we will live for Hungary,” he stated.
Mr Orbán reminded his audience that in five months’ time the country would have to decide on its fate, and as they could not give up on a single soul – as every Hungarian was responsible for every other Hungarian – “we must also speak to the mislead Hungarians.”
“Those of us who are here know what we can do, we know what we must do. And what we must do we will. We are fine. You can see, if we must move, we move together. If we need strategic composure, we wait for the right time. And when the moment comes and we must strike, we will. With our ballpoint pens – making sure that the ballot paper doesn’t tear,” he said.
He said there are many Hungarians who believe that they stand with a good cause when they support Brussels and the puppet government candidates sent here from Brussels. “We must tell them: today, Brussels is a threat, not help. The European People’s Party is not a friend of ours, but an ill-wisher. Brussels and their Hungarian agents are bringing to Hungary war, not growth,” he pointed out.
He added that he was not talking about the leaders of the misled Hungarians, “they have their masters” and “they know precisely what they’re doing and why.”
“Those who believe that they support a change of government in actual fact support the war, whether they know about it or they don’t,” he laid down.
In continuation, he said the misled Hungarians support not a change of government, but the Brussels bureaucrats who want to impose on us the migration pact and want to turn Hungary into an immigrant country.
He said those who want a change of government want not a better life, but the very opposite: tax increases, a pension tax, the cancellation of the reduction of household energy bills and the curtailment of family support. “And this is so even if they do not know this, do not believe this or do not want to believe this. So, we must talk to them,” he stated in summary.
Turning to young people, the Prime Minister said the Brussels Empire wants them to be stateless Europeans.
Mr Orbán highlighted: “It’s a different world today. Reality has been replaced with digital and virtual spaces. It’s difficult to know what’s manipulation and what’s reality. Is there reality left at all anymore? We believe that there are real things,” he pointed out.
He said “Hungary, your country is real, freedom that your grandparents fought and died for is real, and the attack under way, too, is real.” He said our peace, our freedom and our security are in jeopardy, “that’s the real world.” “And it is likewise reality that we need everyone, including you, to protect Hungary. Defending one’s country is a true cause. It’s not manipulation, it’s not something fake, it’s not a scam,” the Prime Minister said, addressing young people.
He added: if they want what they do to have weight, significance, then they must stand with the true cause and get on with it. “Dare to take action. Take risks.”
Defend that which is the most noble in life, the Prime Minister said, appealing to them.
He said the Brussels Empire wants young people to remain in the virtual world, to slumber, “connected to machines.”
“It’s time to rebel,” he said, adding that young Hungarians, too, can be patriots.
“You, too, can be patriots. You can be free and proud Hungarians. But first of all, you must come off the machine, and must throw the Brussels infusion out of the window. Wake up, rebel, your country awaits,” Mr Orbán said, addressing Hungarian youths.
“We again have two choices. In 1956: freedom or slavery. Today: war or peace. There is nowhere to hide, and nowhere to retreat,” he said, adding that Hungary stands in the way of “the Brussels warmongers.”
“In 1956 they came with tanks; today, with financial sanctions. The same as they found their own mercenaries back in the day, today, too, the Brussels master plan has its own slim-fit advocates,” he said.
At the same time, he said it is good news that “we have a choice.”
Mentioning Italy, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland, he took the view that the supporters of peace were gathering, “we have with us the President of the United States,” while “the ground is shaking beneath the feet of the European liberal elite.”
And we are here, too, he said in continuation, stressing that in 1956, Budapest was the capital of European freedom; in 2025, Budapest is the capital of European peace.
The Prime Minister took the view that the cooperation of European peoples had for centuries been the greatest idea; yet, it had turned into Brussels oppression.
“You can’t come to an agreement with them. They only know submission. Those who come to an agreement with Brussels submit to Brussels. They have submitted to migration and have submitted to the war plans. There is no golden mean. European Union yes, Brussels no,” he stated.
He said next year, we will have to show the world that there is a nation in the heart of Europe which is not afraid to follow its own path. There is a nation which does not submit to blackmail. There is a nation which does not back down in the storm of history.
“That’s us Hungarians, the wayfarers of freedom. And as long as we are here, in this square, and as long as there is a single Hungarian on Earth, there will be someone to say: There will be peace here because we want peace. And there will be freedom because we were born for freedom,” Mr Orbán stressed before his numerous audience.
