The Prime Minister said Tisza, with ministers “parachuted down here” from Shell, London lobbyists and Erste Bank, “will never in a million years be able to – even if they wanted to, but they don’t – say no to Brussels, say no to war.”
Only we are because in Hungary Fidesz is the safe choice, Mr Orbán stated.
As to how this position will win a majority in Brussels, the Prime Minister said time is on our side. People in Munich, Barcelona or France do not want to go to war, he added.
The European people do not want what their leaders want. We just need a little time – we need at least one more Fidesz Government – to win the European people over to our side in the battles fought in Brussels, the Prime Minister stressed.
We will start with the Hungarians, next up will be the Czechs and the Slovaks, and the others, too, will join us, the Austrians, the Germans, and so on, he listed. He observed that they did not want war and they likewise did not want their money to be sent to Ukraine.
According to the Prime Minister, there is a trick with which they are deceiving the European people: European leaders are telling their own voters that the war will not cost them a penny. Because they are now taking out a loan, then they will defeat the Russians who will pay them reparations, and there will also be some loot, from that they will recover what they have given the Ukrainians, and people in Europe believe this. It is true that their numbers are diminishing “because also over there not everyone is barmy,” Mr Orbán said.
The Prime Minister started his speech delivered in the Hatvan Sports Hall by recalling that the common story of Hatvan and Fidesz did not start well as Fidesz won here neither in 1990, nor in 1994, they then managed this feat in 1998, but in 2002 the locals elected others again.
“A miserable separation for 8 years, and then a happy reunion in 2010. We found each other again,” he said in continuation, highlighting that since then the locals have elected Fidesz MP Zsolt Szabó for the representation of this constituency.
He also spoke in words of praise about the work of Heves County Fidesz politicians-Members of Parliament Gábor Pajtók and László Horváth, also highlighting that László Horváth as government commissioner responsible for the elimination of drug trafficking has taken on the extremely difficult struggle of making Hungary drugs-free under his leadership.
Mr Orbán stressed that it was difficult to talk about this issue dispassionately as drug traffickers lived off destroying or even killing other people’s children. “We will never accept this. We fathers in Hungary will never accept the idea of the legalisation of drugs, the idea of anyone wanting to make us accept drugs,” he laid down.
The Prime Minister spoke about the fact that at an earlier session of the UN General Assembly, a decision had been adopted about starting to legalise the use of drugs for medical purposes. He added that Hungary had been the only country in Europe that had said no to this, while the majority position of the European Union had been to support it.
Therefore, the European Union instituted proceedings and the Brussels court ruled against Hungary “because we’re not prepared to consent to a European policy which liberalises the use of drugs, which makes drugs more readily available to our children,” he stressed.
He also said Fidesz governments have brought Hungary, including Heves County, tax reductions, increased family support, while Fidesz also restored the thirteenth monthly pension, and is now in the process of introducing the fourteenth monthly. He highlighted that during Fidesz’s governance, 91 hospitals had been refurbished in the countryside, including the Hatvan Hospital.
Mr Orbán listed: in Hatvan the number of nursery school places has increased by 13 per cent; before the Fidesz Governments, there were six thousand cars in the Heves city, while today there are as many as nine thousand; before Fidesz came into power, there were twice as many crimes committed in the settlement as now; while unemployment has decreased by 42 per cent. Additionally, in 2011, the government assumed a debt of HUF 1.4 billion from the city.
They recently brought a Chinese factory to Heves, a project worth HUF 50 billion, creating 900 new jobs; they agreed with the people of Gyöngyös on the construction of the western bypass road and a new industrial park, while as a result of a major US investment, the plant of Procter & Gamble will also be enlarged; and they likewise agreed with the people of Eger on the construction of a bypass road that will cost a hundred billion forints, he listed.
In Hatvan, there is no need to explain why war is bad because here war is not a theoretical issue to contemplate, but “flesh and blood suffering,” he said, recalling the county’s war losses.
Regarding his peace mission experience, Mr Orbán said in Kiev he offered his assistance to negotiate a swift peace or at least ceasefire agreement, however, President Zelenskyy “crudely rejected the offer,” saying that time was on the Ukrainians’ side.
He also spoke about the fact that at his meeting with President Putin, the Russian president described the Ukrainian army as a good army which – while running out of people shortly – is putting up a good fight. However, the Russians are stronger, and they decided that, come what may, they will occupy Donetsk Oblast.
In this situation, what is the most important for us is for external forces to induce, to force the two parties to reach a peace agreement by making them good offers, Mr Orbán pointed out.
The Prime Minister stressed that the war was a risk for Hungary because the Europeans had decided – in contrast to the Americans – to support the war and to give the Ukrainians everything they needed for the war.
Sooner or later, this will lead to them sending soldiers as well. There is already a written agreement on this between France and the United Kingdom, and if they start sending troops to the territory of Ukraine, then soldiers will also go there from here, especially if there is a government that is unable to say no in Brussels, Mr Orbán stated.
Unless the people clearly resist and the country’s leaders stand for peace everywhere, in both Berlin and Brussels, saying that we will stay out of this war, Hungary will be pushed into the war, he pointed out.
“You need brains and finesse” to stay out, you cannot just “stay out as a straightforward lad,” you must be cunning, you must be smart, you must be experienced. “I can keep Hungary out,” Mr Orbán stated, observing that István Tisza and Miklós Horthy were unable to keep the country out of the world wars.
He also said together with two or three other prime ministers, they are fighting against the Brussels illusion that the war in Ukraine will not cost the Europeans a penny due to the reparations payable by the Russians and the “loot.”
He observed that people in Europe believed this, even if in diminishing numbers, and so this struggle required painstaking hard work.
Drawing a parallel between the war in Ukraine and migration, he spoke about the fact that “you can’t enter either only just a little bit” because there is no turning back on either path. There are a great many similarities between the two issues, and also in who took them seriously, he said, highlighting that due to immigration, the image of Western Europe has changed fundamentally.
Based on Tisza’s programme, there are things in the making that will destroy this country, Mr Orbán stated, stressing that in addition to the elections, they will also win the battle of war and peace.
He stressed that if we were dragged into the war, that would cost us 10 to 20 years, but could even cost us our own children and grandchildren; this is why we must say no to it.
He underlined that we did not need to side with the Ukrainians or the Russians. “I stand with Hungary,” he said, adding: “We’re Hungarians. Why should we define our position in relation to anyone else?”
“We have our own goals, national interests, and that’s it. We will continue to buy gas and oil from the Russians, and we’ll have to strive to establish good neighbourly relations with Ukraine after the war,” he laid down.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that if there was no cheap Russian energy, there was no reduction of household energy bills.
The Prime Minister warned that if the efforts to detach us from Russian gas and oil succeeded, then the reduction of household energy bills would have to be phased out and bills would increase several-fold, seeing the situation in Romania, Slovakia, Croatia and Austria.
He highlighted that in Hungary there was a system like nowhere else in Europe; in the Brussels economic regime, there is no reduction of household energy bills, it is not known in Western Europe. They provide benefits for some members of society, but that household energy is provided more cheaply, below the world market prices, for the entire population, there is such a system only in Hungary, and this is why they are continually attacking us; Brussels constantly demands that Hungary should put an end to this, he added.
He highlighted that the Ukrainians were asking for EUR 800 billion for the functioning of their country in the next 10 years, and another EUR 700 billion for military expenditures. This sum would cover the total expenditures of the Hungarian pension system for 60 years or would be enough to run the entire Hungarian family support system for 40 years. He stressed that in the national petition, people could say no to making the Hungarians pay for the functioning of the Ukrainian state in the next ten years, and could also say no to an increase in household energy prices due to the war.
Someone has to pay for this in the end: in Hungary, the government takes the profits made on the rise in energy prices away from large energy providers and traders, and re-distributes the money collected from banks in the form of the bank levy for the purposes of the reduction of household energy bills and family support.
Everyone who wants to do away with the reduction of household energy bills and wants to increase the household energy bills of families two-, three- or four-fold must be kept well away from government, he stated.
“They sent in a man” from Shell who advertises himself by saying what a great manager he is. Shell is “an exploitative institution,” he said, pointing out that when the price of energy increased, Shell more than doubled its profits. They took that money away from the European people, Mr Orbán observed.
“We’re talking about a man coming from an energy provider who boasts about the fact that his company made vast profits from having taken money away from the people. He would be the minister responsible for energy affairs in Hungary.” The first thing he will do will be to do away with the taxes of companies such as the one that he came from which are used for financing the reduction of household energy bills, and to immediately “push” the Russians out of the market, the Prime Minister said.
He also said there is a school which advocates that if the price of energy is high, the state must not interfere with market processes. For those who are not after just profits, the market, the economy serves three purposes: for people to have jobs from which they can support their families; for people to earn enough from which to buy a home; and either to have enough savings for old age or to be eligible for a pension which you can live off. Everything beyond this is nothing more than blah-blah-blah. There are a few things which form part of the core of human existence, such as that people should not have to freeze to death and household energy bills should not drain away 70 to 80 per cent of people’s salaries, and to this end the state can and must intervene.
The Prime Minister said he will continue to stand for the reduction of household energy bills.
He drew attention to the fact that Hungary helped Ukraine; 30,000 Ukrainians have jobs in Hungary, and they also have a school here.
He stressed: he is not saying that “the European Union should kick the Ukrainians off itself,” or that “we should slam the door on them as if we had never seen them,” but similar to Turkey, the European Union, too, should conclude an agreement with them, rather than admitting them as members. In reference to statements made by the Ukrainian president, he raised the question: If he now talks to those that he wants to join like this, then what will happen when Ukraine is finally admitted to the EU?
“You let them into your house, and they will kick you out,” Mr Orbán observed, taking the view that if a country of this size is admitted to the EU, it will lead to trouble.
We should not replace Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó with Anita Orbán, Mr Orbán stressed, describing – in answer to a question – the Tisza Party’s foreign affairs leader as a lobbyist, “a typical fixer, an influence peddler.”
“First of all, I’m not stupid. While Anita Orbán is my namesake, I wouldn’t replace Péter Szijjártó with her, and I suggest to the Hungarians that they should refrain from such a poor deal themselves,” he said.
Praising the foreign minister’s work, he added that Péter Szijjártó was the only person who could be in two places at once. “Such a person is worth gold, especially as foreign minister,” he stated.
In answer to the question of why they did not notice that “there is something wrong with Anita Orbán” when the Hungarian government employed her as ambassador, he said Anita Orbán was a lobbyist, the Hungarian government, too, employed her in order to achieve certain things. “She’s a typical fixer,” he added, pointing out at the same time that this time, she is supposed to fix something against the Hungarian government which is “not a good idea.”
He observed that also now he could use Anita Orbán “as a fixer,” proceeding on behalf of Hungary in some international organisation, but would not rely on Anita Orbán for deciding on anything.
“As long as we engage her, it’s fine; when others do, it isn’t,” he stated in summary. In his view, there are people in politics who may be useful when mobilising their skills in the interest of the government and the nation, but when they do so in the interest of their former business principals, it is not desirable. He stressed that Anita Orbán’s principals wanted Ukraine to be admitted to the European Union within the shortest possible time, despite the fact that this would mean war.
In answer to another question, he said we should tell Tisza to stop setting the Roma against the Roma, and to also stop setting the Roma against the Hungarians because that will lead to trouble. He asked the members of his audience to not succumb to provocations of any kind, to calmly consider these difficult questions and to find common answers because “this is the only way to keep the peace in Hungary.” He added: what happened in Gyöngyös was unprecedented and is unacceptable, namely that criminals organised into a gang make a scene on behalf of a party in order to intimidate the supporters of Fidesz. He stressed that murder, robbery, theft, extortion and rape were among the crimes committed by the people who had been sent there by the Tisza Party, “some of them having committed more crimes than years they have lived.”
He stressed that the cooperation concluded with the Roma in 2010 must be continued. The essence of this deal is that if they want to become a part of the middle classes, the government can help them with work and education. The government only asks them in return to take advantage of these opportunities, meaning that they should work and educate their children. “You will have the kind of fate that you choose for yourselves, and that you work for,” he added.
He highlighted that since 2010, the number of Roma graduates had doubled, the number of Roma having completed secondary education had increased even more, and meanwhile, the majority of those employed in public works schemes had found jobs on the labour market. He said the situation is not good, has only moved in the right direction, and then mentioned as an example that the percentage of degree-holders is just a tenth compared with the total population, 3 per cent, within the Roma community.
He highlighted that a person’s worth depended on the quality of the work they performed, not on their origin or education, stressing that he holds a cleaner doing a decent job in higher esteem than a poorly-performing white-collar worker.
In answer to another question, he pointed out that rather than moving out of vehicle production, we must reinforce our positions.
He observed that in Hungary hundreds of thousands of families were earning a living in the automotive industry which was clearly on a downward course, the reason being – in addition to cyclicity – that Brussels “messed up everything it could mess up” in the field of transition to electromobility. In his view, people working in the automotive industry need not worry. The sector has a future, and within the large concerns operating here, their Hungarian operations are the most successful, and in the event of austerity measures, these will not be the ones they will close down. He mentioned as an example that BMW in Debrecen only manufactures electric cars, the cars to be made this year have been sold in advance, he has good news from other factories as well, and added that an old Hungarian brand, Rába would soon start the production of trucks together with Tatra.
He also observed that the transition to more convenient, faster and cheaper electric cars would be slower than expected earlier.
Regarding preparations for the formation of the next government, he said they must first understand what is coming in the years ahead, must identify goals, and it is only after that they can start looking for the right people and forming an organisation. “We should first shoot the bear, and then talk to the furrier,” he recommended. He said the goal is to complete the government’s family support programmes – staying out of the war in the meantime – stressing that the family is at the centre of the cabinet’s social and economic policy.
The goal is to ensure that those who have children should not be any worse off than those who do not, he said, pointing out that the state of families and the state of the nation are directly related to one another.
He said he will not accept calling configurations, comprised of something other than a man and a woman, families because these are not capable of that which families are capable of, namely, sustaining the nation.
Mr Orbán also said the literature and press concerned with economics is obsessed with the idea that austerity measures are required to be implemented in Hungary. These people want to lay the groundwork for a change of governments, and if they succeed, they make up excuses for the prospective government in advance. They want to take money away from the people, claiming that the state of the economy demands this.
“This is a barefaced lie,” Mr Orbán stated.
He pointed out that the state of the economy did not require any austerity in Hungary. There is a five per cent deficit of the budget which is near the European average. This must be reduced, calmly, slowly and gradually, he stressed.
The sovereign debt currently stands at 74 per cent, it was already at 65 per cent before, while in 2010 when they took over, it stood at 82 per cent. This must be reduced slowly as the economy starts growing and the war stops blocking the Hungarian economy, he laid down.
If the war stops blocking the economy, its performance will increase, and they will be able to reduce the deficit and the sovereign debt, he added.
He said there is no need for austerity, nothing should be taken away from the people. We should be happy that they finally have something; rather than taking anything away from them, they must be supported, the Prime Minister said.
He also spoke about the fact that Hungary could not be allowed to find itself in the rear of technological development. We must understand the process of technological transformation and must take the lead; this is why there is a government commissioner responsible for artificial intelligence and this is why there are people dealing with modern technologies within the government, he indicated.
During the period ahead, regulations will have to be adopted with a view to protecting children from the harmful effects of modern technology.
In the next four years, he would also like to see the average salary reach minimum one million forints by the end of the term, the Prime Minister listed, thanking members of his audience at the end of his speech for the invitation as well as for their support expressed in votes, good wishes and prayers, and asked for their continued support in the future as well.
