The Prime Minister was asked about the validity of the exemption from the US sanctions because the US Secretary of State spoke about one year. Mr Orbán said the word of the person on top counts, and the President is on top. In continuation he said, as long as the president of the United States is called Donald Trump and there is a patriotic government in Hungary, the reduction of household energy bills remains in place.
He added that should either element of this deal change, should a new situation emerge, “we can forget about the reduction of household energy bills.” This is a person-specific agreement, and while the bureaucrats are free to write down what they like, that is of no importance.
Mr Orbán said had they not concluded the agreement, “if there was a different setup,” then from the end of November, every Hungarian family would receive – “as a Christmas present” – triple household energy bills and the price of petrol would reach a thousand forints per litre. This agreement is good news for every Hungarian.
“I said also in 2022 that even those who don’t vote for us are better-off with us,” he stated, adding that this is an issue where there is no room for any party policy debate. It is not that Fidesz voters pay a low petrol price, while left-wing voters pay a high petrol price; the agreement applies to everyone, every Hungarian benefited from it, he pointed out.
Mr Orbán said we did not pay a penny for this exemption because the President of the United States of America likes the Hungarians. As Hungarian energy imports only account for a small percentage of the total Russian energy exports, this has no significance from the viewpoint of the “disciplining” of Russia, he indicated, adding that energy purchases that are made “craftily” by Western European companies which are outwardly extremely anti-Russian, but which at the same time “shamelessly trade in Russian oil and gas in backyards” represent a much larger item.
He also highlighted that if Donald Trump scrutinised the Central European situation, he had every reason to want to offer a fair solution. “He wants to harm the Russians or to push them into a tight corner, but he doesn’t want to harm those that he likes. It’s not any more complicated than that. He gave his word on this, we can trust it,” he said in summary.
He added that he tended to conclude agreements which were good for the Hungarian economy not only as a package, but also individually. This is the case in this instance as well.
He said he agreed on the purchase of American liquefied natural gas for a period of five years. Over a period of five years, the Hungarian economy needs 45 billion cubic metres of natural gas in total, and we will buy 2 billion cubic metres in the form of liquefied natural gas from the Americans over a period of five years, he explained, pointing out that the more sources gas or oil comes from, the more secure Hungary’s situation is.
He also recalled that after 2010, they had built multiple pipeline connections, including the Slovak-Hungarian interconnector “without which today we would be in much bigger trouble.”
Today, Hungary is a country which though mostly purchases gas and oil from the Russians as part of long-term contracts, it also has secondary, supplementary options that enhance security, Mr Orbán said, adding that for the time being, we are unable to replace the pipelines with the largest capacity in the direction of the Russians with anything else, but we do have other contacts on a supplementary basis.
In answer to a question, Mr Orbán described opposition claims related to his talks in Washington last week as “absurdities conceived in pain” as these claims refer to the protective financial shield provided by the Americans as a giga-loan and likened it to the 2008 IMF loan. “How could a protective financial shield be bad for the country?” he raised the question, adding that the IMF loan which the Left took out was indeed a loan, in return for which Hungary was expected to implement all sorts of measures in its economy, including the scrapping of the thirteenth monthly pension and the thirteenth monthly salary.
“It’s true that left-wing governments concluded an agreement with the IMF which included very grave measures with very grave consequences for the Hungarian people, this is why I sent the IMF packing” he said. By his account, the protective financial shield provided by the Americans is an arrangement whereby there are 4 or 5 instruments in the international money world – these are used partly by central banks, partly by governments – with which countries in a friendly relationship are able to help each other out should one of them find itself in trouble.
He stressed that should an international speculative attack be launched against the Hungarian forint – something that regularly happened – these instruments would be activated. He indicated that these instruments are currently being taken stock of, they are in the process of exploring their features, and when the need arises for one or the other, Hungary will check in with the Americans and will make a drawdown.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the fact that the Hungarian government had a bad relationship with the previous left-wing US leadership, while it has a good relationship with the incumbent Christian, conservative US administration, and the reason for this is that they see the world in a similar way. He mentioned the issue of migration as an example, highlighting that this is perhaps the most important pillar of present-day US politics, and the Hungarian government, too, says that only those can enter Hungary whom we give permission, rather than those whom “Brussels sends here or forces on us.” Hence the fact, he added, that the criticisms of Brussels from Washington and Budapest “turn on the same hinge.”
Mr Orbán highlighted that Christian values, the policy of peace and family support were equally important for the US and Hungarian governments. He added that finally, also in the United States, there was a pro-family policy protecting the rights of children and parents, after the previous administration which had supported, also financially, LGBTQ forms of cohabitation. He described these as suspect, complicated and unnatural, stressing that this policy allowed LGBTQ activists into the education of children at the expense of parents.
In the context of how Hungary can contribute to the conclusion of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the Prime Minister said he does not wish to talk about specifics as the preparations for a major Budapest peace summit are under way. He stressed that Hungary was the only European country which had always kept diplomatic channels open towards the Russians, and he was the only prime minister in Europe who – should the need arise – was able and from time to time wanted to talk to the Russian president. He described this as a very important capability from the viewpoint of the preparations for peace.
“I invested ten-something years of my life in making Russian-Hungarian relations advantageous for both countries, but especially for the Hungarians, despite the negative historical background,” he said, adding that this invested energy is proving to be useful in the present war situation.
Mr Orbán said the government had two battlefields regarding the issue of the reduction of household energy bills; one was the former US government, the other one is the realm of Brussels bureaucrats. “We have consolidated the American frontline,” but the Brussels one is still open where we yet have fighting to do.
In continuation, he explained that as he had previously vetoed sanctions against Russian energy every time, Brussels had now invented an arrangement whereby the ban on the importation of Russian energy into Europe no longer qualified as a sanction, but it was a mere trade policy measure. And while sanctions require unanimity, in the event of trade policy, a majority decision is enough.
The Prime Minister stressed that this was an open violation of European law and an evasion of everything that the cooperation of European states was based on. He said he is fighting against this with multiple means, he will go to the European court and will also seek other instruments of a non-legal nature.
Regarding the war in Ukraine, Mr Orbán said the fundamental question is what benefits Europe more: peace or war. “My answer to this question is that Europe benefits more from peace,” he laid down, and therefore, every effort should be aimed at the restoration of peace. Regrettably, not everyone agrees with us Hungarians on this, according to a number of countries, war is better than peace. With this, they are taking an enormous risk, they are pushing Europe into this war step by step. They are providing weapons, they are providing money, they are providing technology, and now it is also on the agenda whether they should provide soldiers, and if so, how, the Prime Minister listed.
He stressed that the Europeans “must rearrange the chess table,” must turn around and must proceed towards peace instead of war, or else they would bring the war into Europe, would take the money out and would destroy the European economy. They have already burnt more than EUR 185 billion, and they want to burn tens of billions more time and time again, while they ran out of money a long time ago. They want to take out loans, meaning that they even want to indebt the whole of Europe, he said. “Even our children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences of this flawed, bad pro-war policy,” he pointed out, adding that this is why he is fighting “so ferociously” to find allies in order “to move the Europeans off the war track.”
Regarding the introduction of the fourteenth monthly pension, the Prime Minister indicated that long-term measures such as the lifetime personal income tax exemption of mothers with two children or the introduction of the fourteenth monthly pension had long-term financial implications. Therefore, the debate on these is a “genuine,” open-ended debate with the Left, with DK [Democratic Coalition] and the Tisza Party. The question is whether the considerations, on the basis of which the governments adopts its decisions are well-founded. “I can reassure you that our decisions are well-founded, they have proper financial and economic foundations, these can be defended even against the Left, and must be implemented,” he pointed out.
Tisza and DK do not support the fourteenth monthly pension, they want to transform the pension system, he observed. He also said the National Consultation itself is the debate on this, regardless of the fact that there is trickery in politics and a party striving for power with Brussels behind its back refuses to reveal its true intentions.
Left-wing parties pursue left-wing economic policies, and tend to support tax increases and dependence on Brussels. At the same time, on the other side, there is a patriotic government, he stated.
The Prime Minister was asked about the latest measures related to foster parents, in light of the fact that the opposition has recently most attacked the government in this area. In answer, Mr Orbán said he cannot say that there is no truth in what they are saying. This is a very difficult area where it is difficult for the state to function well. He recalled that they would double the amount foster parents were entitled to per child. He sincerely hopes that this will boost the number of foster parents and even more children will be able to grow up in families.
Mr Orbán indicated that he would be happy if more children in care were in institutions operated by churches because churches had extensive experience and moral commitment in this field. He added that the rest of the children had to be provided for in state-operated institutions, and rules must be created in order to protect them and to raise them well, including disciplining. These decisions must be reviewed time and time again, the government has adopted multiple decisions in recent weeks, “these are great decisions, they’re good for children and good for foster parents, too,” he said.
