In his account opening the spring session of Parliament, Mr Orbán said the patriotic government will not depart from its programme in response to any threat, will continue to act solely in accordance with the Hungarian people’s best interests in line with its constitutional oath, and will not yield to the demands of any external power.
“We insist on our independence and sovereignty,” he laid down.
He highlighted that in 2014 the Ukrainian state had concluded an association agreement with the European Union in which it had agreed that the energy transit crossing its territory for the Member States of the European Union was inviolable. Meaning that Ukraine is required to guarantee Hungary’s oil supply pursuant to the EU association agreement, and most certainly cannot use it as a political weapon. What Ukraine is doing is an open violation of the agreement, he stressed.
The Prime Minister took the view that Brussels’ behaviour in this incident was “ambiguous at best” because the Treaties of the EU made it incumbent on the EU to rush to the aid of a Member State sustaining any injury to its interests at the hands of a third party. It would be Brussels’ duty to stand up for Hungary, but they are not doing so.
It is public knowledge that the positions of Hungary and Brussels on the issues of the war, the financing of Ukraine and Ukraine’s EU membership are contrary. Yet, in the present situation, Brussels should represent Hungary’s interests, he stated, pointing out that the fact that they are not doing so is a grave contractual violation to Hungary’s detriment. Brussels has sided with Ukraine, a country outside the EU, instead of Hungary, a Member State, Mr Orbán stated in summary.
He said Brussels has entered into an alliance with the Ukrainians. Brussels and Kiev agree that as long as there is a patriotic government in Hungary, they are unable to implement their plans. All this is happening just 50 days before the elections, and so this measure is an open interference in the Hungarian elections, the Prime Minister highlighted, adding that he has reason to presume that its goal is to change the balance of power according to the intentions of Brussels and Kiev. “However, I’d like to remind everyone that the Hungarian people will decide on this matter in Hungary,” he observed.
The Prime Minister also said that the government has warded off the emergency caused by the Ukrainians. They have opened the strategic oil reserves and have guaranteed the country’s energy supply.
Now, everyone can see, can experience first-hand what detachment from Russian energy really means. It would cause an emergency, and would destroy Hungarian families in the hundreds of thousands financially. Families quite simply can not afford the thousand-forint petrol price and household energy bills increased several times over, he pointed out.
He observed that large western energy companies such as Shell would make good money on this, but the Hungarians would find themselves at the receiving end. The government, however, is not on the side of energy companies or Shell, but on the side of the people, Mr Orbán stressed, pointing out that on Monday morning, the price difference between western and Russian oil was USD 13 per barrel. Those who claim that the reduction of household energy bills can also be maintained without Russian energy “are either ignorant or are lying,” Mr Orbán stated.
Regarding the government’s response measures, he said, in consultation with Slovakia, they have stopped diesel shipments to Ukraine. Additionally, the government has vetoed the disbursement of the 90 billion euros previously awarded to Ukraine without Hungary’s participation. The government has further decided to also veto on Monday the 20thwar sanctions package about to be adopted, Mr Orbán said.
He said on Monday in Brussels they announced that as long as Ukraine refused to let crude oil through to Hungary, we would block all Brussels decisions seeking to support Ukraine.
He recalled that every week in the Russo-Ukrainian war 9,000 people died or became disabled; this is an irreplaceable loss and an inconceivable tragedy. He added that the war was also consuming vast amounts of financial resources: so far, the European Union has spent some EUR 200 billion on Ukraine. In Europe, the prices of electricity and natural gas are three to four times higher than in America and China. Europe is eliminating its own competitiveness, he said, pointing out that against the background of such a difference in energy prices, European companies are unable, and indeed can not compete with Chinese and US businesses.
He stressed that in the past few years a million jobs had ceased in European industry. The chemical industry and the automotive industry are suffering in particular, and so Europe has a vested interest in the conclusion of the war within the shortest possible time. However, the very opposite of this is happening, Brussels openly supports the continuation of the war, he underlined.
He said the European Commission has presented its strategy, based on which while the Russians are, for the time being, enduring the burdens of the war, they will not for much longer. They will be shaken economically, says the Commission, and will be forced to accept a peace deal that favours Ukraine and the European Union. According to Brussels, as they say, openly, the war must therefore be continued because the war can be won this way, and this way a favourable peace deal can be achieved, he pointed out.
He said the Hungarian government is convinced that this war strategy is flawed. “As far as we can see, Ukraine and Europe will run out of military supplies sooner, will run out of money sooner and will run out of deployable live force sooner than Russia. Additionally, Russia has nuclear weapons, and there is no answer to the question of how a nuclear power can be defeated,” he underlined.
He highlighted that Europe could not afford this war financially, would be ruined and would indebt itself for decades. According to the government’s position, Hungary must stay out of this, he stressed.
Brussels and the large countries of Europe are preparing for war with Russia, and the consequences of this will be inconceivable, the Prime Minister stated, adding that Hungary can only lose on such a war, our historical war experiences point that way, too. Therefore, he asked the National Assembly to support the government in its efforts to keep Hungary out of the war and to ward off its security and financial consequences.
He said over and above the EUR 200 billion already spent, Europe will spend another EUR 90 billion on Ukraine in 2026 and 2027, while in the next budget EUR 360 billion is allocated for Ukraine to the detriment of developments and agricultural subsidies which will decrease by 20 per cent. Additionally, he said in continuation, the European Commission has announced and presented the Ukrainian welfare plan, that is 800 billion dollars, while the Ukrainians have submitted a claim for 700 billion euros for military expenses as well.
“You can’t raise this much money. There isn’t this much money in the EU’s common budget. But neither is there that much money in the budgets of the Member States. Not just in ours, not just in the Hungarian budget, but in any Member State’s,” the Prime Minister stated in summary, taking the view that Brussels’ policy is “a straight path towards Europe’s total indebtedness.”
He also warned that the sovereign debts of five Member States were already above the GDP, and several others were nearing that level. Additionally, the first written agreements have also been concluded between France and the United Kingdom to the effect that they are ready to station soldiers in the territory of Ukraine, while Germany has expressed its willingness to join.
He took the view that what Brussels was doing was enormous irresponsibility not only in a military and geopolitical sense, but also economically, “what’s more, it’s tempting providence.”
Mr Orbán also recalled that there had been extraordinary, unusually cold weather in Hungary between the two sessions of parliament. The snow situation required swift decisions and measures, an operational group was formed to coordinate the necessary efforts, he stated. “We rescued those who needed to be rescued, took care of the needy,” he highlighted, adding that they deployed almost 800 pieces of machinery and 2,300 persons, and the costs of these efforts which exceeded 10 billion forints were covered from the central budget.
He observed that they had also managed to conquer the extraordinary circumstances that had emerged in Western Hungary at the weekend. This time, 12,000 homes were left without electricity, a pipeline system along the length of 40 kilometres became paralysed, but by Monday morning, there were only 85 homes without power, he indicated.
The extraordinary cold in January also put the budgets of families into a difficult situation. Therefore, the government decided to assume 30 per cent of the January gas bills; that is the household energy bill cap. They raised the necessary funds – amounting to 55 billion forints – from energy traders and energy producers as well as from the reserves of the budget, Mr Orbán explained, stressing that only Hungary was capable of this feat in the whole of Europe.
Despite pressure from Brussels, the government has maintained and will continue to maintain the protection of household energy bills, as a result of which Hungarian families pay the European Union’s lowest gas and electricity bills, he stated. He highlighted: the Hungarian average annual consumption means a household energy bill of HUF 250,000, while for the same consumption of gas and electricity, people in Poland pay HUF 800,000, while people in the Czech Republic more than HUF 1 million.
Listing the economic results and economic measures of the recent past, he stressed that both last July and from 1 January this year, they had increased the family tax benefit by 50 per cent, meaning that they had doubled the benefit, as a result of which the incomes of 1 million families had increased. He added that after mothers with three and more children, from 1 January this year, mothers of two under the age of 40 and all mothers under the age of 30 had been granted exemption from income tax for life.
“With these measures, we have exempted half a million mothers from the payment of income tax at this stage. In the next three years, all mothers of two, regardless of age, will be income tax-free, meaning that within three years, a million mothers in total will receive tax exemption for life,” he indicated, stressing that this is an unprecedented measure, such a thing only exists in Hungary.
He also said the government has decided on the introduction of the fourteenth monthly pension, the first instalment of which, due this year, was paid at the beginning of February. Over and above the thirteenth and fourteenth monthly pensions, from 1 January, they have raised pensions by 3.6 per cent, he said.
He also spoke about the fact that as part of the housing credit programme with fixed 3 per cent interest launched from 1 September last year, by mid-February as many as 25,000 contracts had been concluded, and the construction of tens of thousands of family homes and apartments could start. This will provide an enormous investment boost and many thousands of new jobs for the entire Hungarian economy, he added.
He said from 1 January this year, the minimum wage has increased by 11 per cent to HUF 322,800, while the guaranteed wage minimum by 7 per cent to HUF 373,200. He thanked trade unions and employers for their cooperation, and confirmed that the government’s goal was to continue this increase during the next term and for the pre-tax average wage to reach HUF 1 million.
He further reported that they had significantly raised salaries in the public sector; the salaries of teachers and nursery school teachers increased by another 10 per cent on average from January, and as a result, their average salaries now reach HUF 950,000 before tax. He added that they had also increased the salaries of people working in vocational training by 10 per cent, while the salaries of persons working in the various offices of small settlements, in the cultural sphere and in social services by 15 per cent. They raised the wages of the workers of the water sector by 30 per cent in 2025, they will increase them by 15 per cent this year and by another 10 per cent next year.
He also said that they are making progress with the three-year pay rise programme of judiciary workers as planned; by 2027, the salaries of judges will increase by 48 per cent, the salaries of law clerks by 89 per cent, while the salaries of court workers by 100 per cent.
As part of his account rendered to Parliament, Mr Orbán informed the House that they had paid the six-monthly armed forces allowance; almost 80,000 police officers, soldiers, finance guards, border guards and cadets have received this allowance.
The Prime Minister said since October 2025, 23,000 businesses have joined the fixed 3 per cent Széchenyi Programme, representing a total credit portfolio of around 1,200 billion forints, while they have increased the threshold for VAT exemption for individual entrepreneurs – from 1 January, this is HUF 20 million, and will later be increased to HUF 24 million.
The government has launched an action plan for the catering sector comprised of 5+1 points; this programme is set to provide assistance for 9,500 restaurants and 3,000 confectioners to the value of more than 100 billion forints, the Prime Minister stated.
He recalled that at the beginning of the year they had decided on the extension of the profit margin cap designed to curb inflation.
He also highlighted that the number of applications for the interest-free worker loan of 4 million forints launched for young workers under the age of 25 had exceeded 40,000 in January, while as part of the rural home refurbishment programme available in settlements with a population of less than 5,000 – providing a non-repayable grant worth 3 million forints – in January the threshold of 50,000 had been exceeded.
The government has decided on the launch of a solar panel programme offering a non-repayable grant of 2.5 million forints per household, and so far more than 100,000 persons have applied as part of the programme, Mr Orbán said, informing Members of the House.
