We must not elect a pro-Ukraine government, we need a Hungarian government, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated on Tuesday in Eger. The Prime Minister asked the Hungarians to elect a government which can say no, cannot be blackmailed, cannot be put under pressure and has proved also to date that they only follow the best interests of the Hungarian people when it comes to the issue of the war.
The Prime Minister said we need to gain the confidence of those for the elections who already concluded an alliance with them four years ago and we also need new ones, everyone who has understood in the past four years that the future of Hungary stands or falls on whether the government succeeds in keeping Hungary out of the war.
He said we want peace, even if they put us under pressure from Brussels and Kiev. We must say no to war and to those who entered into a contract with Brussels in the interest of getting into power. We must not elect a pro-Ukraine government, we need a Hungarian government, Mr Orbán stressed.
We harbour no anger in our hearts towards the Ukrainians, but neither do we owe them anything, he observed. He recalled: since the outbreak of the war, we have given Ukraine everything a Christian country must give. But they cannot ask us to not buy cheap oil and to thereby destroy our economy; they cannot ask us to send our children to their war; and they cannot ask us to destroy our economy because the money that the Hungarians have worked for must be given to the Hungarian people.
Therefore, without any anger, but firmly, we must say no to all aspirations to involve Hungary in the war on Ukraine’s side. We must also say no to the Hungarian collaborators who have entered into a contract with Brussels so that Brussels and Ukraine support them in the interest of getting into power, he stated.
They want to force us, with every possible means, into an economic situation, the price of which we will have to pay in the end. Therefore, they have imposed an oil blockade on Hungary, he warned, adding that Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians have no right to impose an oil blockade on Hungary.
Today, they suggested in the European Union that we vote for the money in Brussels which the Ukrainians asked for, and then they would reopen the pipeline in six weeks’ time. The situation is clear: if there is oil, there is money; if there is no oil, there is no money, Mr Orbán laid down.
He recalled that “the wretched pipeline” had broken down 22 times before, but all 22 times it had been repaired. “Now, a few weeks before the elections, the twenty-third time around somehow they didn’t succeed in repairing it. So, we don’t believe in fairy tales,” he said, adding that Ukraine cannot count on a single decision of support on Hungary’s part until they give us what we are entitled to.
Mr Orbán also responded to a suggestion from a member of the audience, saying that Hungary should stop power supplies to Ukraine. Regarding this measure, he called for caution because on the one hand, the Ukrainian people are not our enemy, and on the other, there are Hungarians there as well.
In his view, in actual fact, they want to lay their hands on the Hungarians’ money. He recalled: in the past 10 years, they have introduced a system of taxation under which large multinational corporations have been required to pay a part of their extra profits into the Hungarian budget.
“In the past 10 to 15 years, we have, I have taken 15,000 billion forints away from large international corporations and have given it to the Hungarian people, families, pensioners and workers,” he recalled, adding that meanwhile, “someone from Shell, another one from Erste turns up” on the opposition’s side. This is all about the fact that international big capital is preparing to win these elections, and to take back the money that we have given to the Hungarian people in the past 15 years, he stated in summary.
He also warned that they had announced on Monday that they would set up a committee to transform the oil company Mol. “We will not allow anyone to detach us from the cheap oil that Mol imports and to be forced to choose Shell’s expensive fuel instead. We will not allow them to take away, we will not surrender our large national companies to large western companies even if the whole Tisza Party goes berserk,” he laid down.
Mr Orbán said he came to Eger because he would like to renew the alliance which they concluded four years ago against the war. At the time, they pledged that if there was going to be a patriotic government in Hungary – and there was – then they would keep Hungary out of the war regardless of any amount of pressure being brought to bear upon them. He said no one in their right mind wants war, but this is not enough, not wanting something is not enough, if there is pressure, you must be able to say no, he underlined, advising and asking members of his audience to elect a government which can say no, cannot be blackmailed, cannot be put under pressure and only follows the Hungarian people’s best interests when it comes to the issue of the war.
“We will stay out of the war which is no simple task,” he indicated, adding that neither did our ancestors want to take part in any war, yet, we were there in World War I and lost many hundreds of thousands of people in World War II. No one wanted war, yet, we found ourselves pulled in, dragged in; yet, we were pushed and pressed in. The government and the people together must undertake to make every effort to stay out of the war should the same situation emerge again that Europe starts marching towards the war.
“May we succeed in that which István Tisza and Miklós Horthy failed in, let us save Hungary from the war,” he appealed to members of his audience.
He pointed out that they had managed to deliver on their pledges because we had managed to stay out of the war. The Prime Minister said Western Europe is suffering from the fact that their governments have taken them into the war and their money is being sent to Ukraine, rather than being spent on themselves.
Factories are being closed down, a million jobs have been lost West of us, entire industries are disappearing. The aluminium industry in no more, the chemical industry is in trouble, the German automotive industry which was once so famous is struggling to survive, he listed.
In Hungary, while the war is blocking economic growth and we only had a one per cent economic growth, we were able to increase the minimum wage by 11 per cent because we did not allow the money generated by the Hungarians to be taken away and under no circumstances did we allow it to be sent to Ukraine, Mr Orbán stressed.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the fact that they had delivered on all the promises they had made to pensioners four years previously. They managed to give back the thirteenth monthly pension, and this year they also started introducing the fourteenth monthly pension. “If we obtain your trust, we will fully implement it, and in Hungary, pensioners – who worked hard for this – will be entitled not only to a thirteenth monthly pension, but also to a fourteenth monthly one,” he said.
Turning to families, he said in the past four years, they have also delivered on the pledges they made to families. They have doubled the tax benefit available in relation to children, and have worked out an entirely separate taxation regime for mothers. Children are the key to the future, if there are children, there is a future; if there are no children, there is no future, this is why we need families. Without families, there is no nation and there is no strength, he laid down.
He also said families are kept together by mothers, and so they had to provide for the security of mothers and children as a separate priority. This is why they introduced something that does not exist anywhere else in the world: every mother with at least two children receives income tax exemption for life.
He quoted Minister for Construction and Transport János Lázár who said ‘the father is a man, the mother is exempt from income tax.” The Prime Minister pointed out: they introduced a tax benefit in order to restore justice, namely that those who decide to have children should not suffer any disadvantage in their personal lives, should have minimum the same living standards as those who decide not to have children. This is how it is fair, they have taken important steps in this direction, and by the end of the next term, he promised and undertook to achieve this, he laid down.
He told people living off work: in 2010, they promised to build a workfare economy in Hungary. No one can live off wheeling and dealing anymore, it is out of the question that those who work should support people who could work, but do not want to, he stated.
In Hungary people must and can live off work. He pointed out: 15 years ago, just 3.6 million people had jobs, today as many as 4.7 million, and if they are given the mandate, that number will go up to five million. Five million people will have jobs here, making Hungary strong and rich, he said.
He highlighted: the people’s place and recognition are designated by the quality of the job done. The country is better off with a blue-collar job done honestly and a blue-collar worker than with “a brain surgeon” doing a poor job.
He also said they have restored the honour of work, and promised to continue that effort in the next four years as well.
Turning to young people, Mr Orbán said he does not want to give them any coaching advice, all he can tell them is that they should go and find a partner, start a family, love their country and then everything will fall into place, “you will immediately find your own way.” “Love your country, defend it, join us so that we can protect Hungary’s sovereignty,” he appealed to them.
Mr Orbán thanked the people of Eger for having persevered with the government parties in the past 16 years, asking them to send Gábor Pajtók to Parliament for the next four years as well. In Parliament, Gábor Pajtók has always stood up for his electorate, has always bravely fought for the interests of the city of Eger and its vicinity.
“He’s a gentle man, but a fierce warrior,” the Prime Minister said, describing the candidate of the government parties.
The Prime Minister said he likes to come to Eger, “when we meet here, it usually turns into a victory.”
He recalled that when after the 2002 lost elections they were compelled to reorganise the civic, patriotic and Christian camp, the people of Eger, too, took part in this effort. “Standing at the feet of [the 16th century soldier] István Dobó is always a good feeling, after all, the city of Eger and he himself are symbols of victory,” the Prime Minister said. “From here, you can’t deliver a losing speech,” he observed.
The Prime Minister thanked members of the local electorate for having persevered with the patriotic government throughout the past four years and having helped them to deliver on the promise that regardless of the amount of pressure being brought to bear upon Hungary, “we will keep our country out of the war.”
“I promise you that in the next twenty-something days, we will plough the whole country. We will go everywhere, we will swarm out, we will talk to everyone and we will win in the end. We will score a big and bright victory,” Mr Orbán said, concluding his speech.
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