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Mr Orbán added that as we were talking about a Hungarian-Ukrainian dual citizen, the victim belonged to our community, not only in the cultural, national sense of the word, but also in a public law sense.
“This gives us the right to avoid the careful tone that I observed in news reports. He didn’t just die in consequence of forced recruitment. He was beaten to death. Meaning that a Hungarian citizen was beaten to death, that’s the situation. And this is an incident that we must investigate,” he pointed out.
Regarding the tasks of the Hungarian party, he said we must look after the victim’s family, must look into what happened, and the Ukrainian authorities, too, must be queried; all that is already ongoing. “So, we must take this seriously as the person that was beaten to death was one of us,” he said.
The Prime Minister also said that the root of the incident must evidently be sought in the war.
Many in Hungary may think that this frontline is far away, and so, so is the war, he said, adding that the truth is that this war is being waged in the territory of a neighbouring country, and it is almost irrelevant in which part. The now deceased victim, too, lived just 15, 20, 30 kilometres from the Hungarian border, and that is where he was beaten to death, he recalled.
This war, and the threat that stems from it, is here directly, right next door to us. Meaning that it is no exaggeration to say that we are living in an era of threats and must keep our wits about us because every movement, every decision, every word may have significance, Mr Orbán warned.
All this draws attention to the fact that the Vote2025 vote on Ukraine’s European Union membership was indeed a justified common campaign, a common movement of the Hungarians, he observed.
A country where a person or persons are beaten to death in consequence of forced recruitement – as naturally, forced recruitment affects not only the Hungarians, but also everyone else – cannot become a member of the European Union because if we admit such a country, then we also admit this, we admit the war, and all its consequences, he stressed.
Mr Orbán also reacted to the statement of the command of the Ukrainian land forces, saying that the victim did not die in consequence of physical abuse, highlighting that we cannot be satisfied with this explanation at all.
The Prime Minister took the view that this was a very difficult war, a meat grinder war, adding that he himself comes from an area – from the vicinity of Székesfehérvár – which changed hands several times during a war, and meanwhile an enormous number of people died. “This is a blood pump, pure and simple,” he stated.
“This is why I’m saying – not only based moral considerations, not only as a prime minister responsible for the security of a neighbouring country, but also on the basis of historical experiences – that there is no solution to a war of this kind on the battlefield,” he said in summary.
He warned that such a war could not be won. The outcome of this war will not be decided by military force, but by diplomatic efforts.
The Russians are winning and the Ukrainians have already practically lost this war, and together with Ukraine, Europe, too, has lost this war, except for the time being no one has the courage to admit this and to draw the necessary conclusions. Instead, they pretend that this war can be won, despite the fact that this war cannot be won on the frontline, we need diplomacy, we need a ceasefire, peace talks, he pointed out.
Mr Orbán also argued that taking a collective EU loan out in order to finance Ukraine was a bad idea. “I will oppose this to the very end,” he stressed.
The Prime Minister said the European economy is suffering, and has lost its competitiveness. The continent is paying three to four times more for gas and twice to three times more for electricity than its competitors. Therefore, if they do decide in favour of collective borrowing “which is problematic in itself,” then rather than giving that money to someone else, Europe should spend it on itself to restore its economy, he argued.
Regarding his talks in Győr the day before, Mr Orbán said they had confirmed the alliance between Hungary and Audi which he described as one of the gems of Hungarian industry. The company “has grown into the fabric of life in Hungary; this is our factory,” providing jobs for tens of thousands of people directly and indirectly.
We have every reason to be proud of the workers and engineers working there because using the same technologies as in Volkswagen’s all other factories worldwide, they were capable of becoming the most competitive and the most successful, Mr Orbán said, adding that this is thanks to the workers, engineers and management who are all Hungarians.
If we observe Audi as a Hungarian factory, rather than through a German lens, and see the Hungarian workers and engineers in it, Audi is a fantastic Hungarian success story, and we have reason to be proud of the people working there, he pointed out.
He stressed that the people working there had all studied in the Hungarian education system, while the company trained its own prospective workers as one of the finest examples of dual training.
Regarding the situation of the Hungarian factory, he said while the Győr plant is unable to make as many of its models as it has orders for, there is a decline in the production portfolio of the world’s largest engine factory that also operates here.
In the latter, “managers will need all their skills in order to organise work in such a way as to provide meaningful jobs for everyone, to not have to lay people off, and to keep the production lines going.”
Mr Orbán added that Audi’s example had also made him wonder about Germany.
Hungary would like to be what Germany was 15 years ago. Because we would not like to be what it is now. We would like to be what they were before migration, when the automotive industry, too, did well, Germany was competitive. We would like to be like that, but what they are like today, the conditions that now exist in Germany we would not like, the Prime Minister said.
We will do everything we can to keep this factory going, to maintain it, and to continue to provide jobs for tens of thousands of people directly and indirectly, Mr Orbán stated, stressing that the situation of the sector is difficult “because European manufacturers are suffering in competition due to Brussels’ flawed policies.”
He said “the Brussels bureaucrats are not only poor drivers, but are even worse navigators: they are navigating us into a wall.”
The Prime Minister said it is stated at every summit of EU prime ministers, and it is now also stated before the wider public, that Ukraine has, in actual fact, met all conditions of membership. They claim that they have done away with corruption, the rule of law prevails, human rights are duly respected, the economy is in a fine state, he listed, adding that the EU’s leaders talk about Ukraine as a country fit for membership, in the case of which membership talks are mere formalities. Ukraine has already done its part, it is our turn now, we must admit Ukraine by 2030 under any circumstances, he said, recalling the position of EU leaders.
The Prime Minister said he just facepalms in despair. Those who say that Ukraine is ready for EU membership are so far from reality as Makó is from Jerusalem, he said, adding that perhaps in Brussels, people can be deceived, but where we live, next to the Ukrainian border, this is evidently an orbital mistake, or enormous nonsense.
There is indeed forced recruitment, people die, none of the fundamental civic rights are guaranteed, the economy is dysfunctional, we are maintaining them from western money, we cannot even see the outlines of a would-be modern Ukrainian economy, and neither do we see an intention on their part to bring the war to a conclusion, he laid down.
If Ukraine were a member of the European Union today, the European Union would be at war with Russia. If we admit Ukraine, we admit the war, too, and no one can possibly want that, he said, adding that despite this, everyone in Brussels seems to have lost their minds, they are continually talking about winning the war, about how we will defeat Russia in the territory of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, incidents such as the one mentioned are happening in countless numbers, orphans, widows, suffering, tears in the eastern part of Europe, within our Christian European culture, he said in summary. The Prime Minister stated that this war must be concluded, not supported, not financed.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that he did not regard the debates about this under way in Hungary as unnatural, “these are grave, serious debates, with far-reaching consequences.”
He said the Hungarian parties, DK [Democratic Coalition] and Tisza supporting the Commission of the European Union and European leaders can be legitimately described as pro-war parties which are the Hungarian members of the Brussels war coalition.
There are pro-war parties and pro-peace parties, Fidesz belongs to the latter European camp, he pointed out, indicating that the majority of the Patriots party family are on the side of peace.
He believes it is not surprising that this debate also emerges in domestic politics in Hungary, it is a natural consequence of the fact that Hungary is a member of the European Union, and there, there are two positions: pro-war and pro-peace.
Hungary has two options: to join Brussels and to say ‘come on, let’s throw everything into the war, money, weapons, later if needs be, also people, let’s defeat the Russians in the territory of Ukraine, this is our war, this war is also being waged for us.’ The other position is that this is not our war, this war must be restrained, localised, concluded, not extended, and a peace must be concluded within the shortest possible time. This is the position of the Hungarian government, he underlined.
Mr Orbán said when starting a family, one must also know “where you will live with them.” He said so far, the government has provided support for young families because, at the end of the day, they take on the largest burden, working and raising children at the same time.
They are now launching a three per cent fixed interest housing loan for people who do not yet have a family and would like to buy their first homes, he added.
If they have their first home, and it is not rental, but a property they own, it is easier to decide on a first child, meaning that this way the government is also able to improve the country’s demographic situation, he indicated.
He also recalled that at the beginning of the year he had promised electors a breakthrough. One such area was support for small and medium-sized businesses where they launched the Demján Programme and are already in the process of disbursing grants. The Prime Minister takes the view that they have managed to achieve a breakthrough.
The second area was family support where the child care benefit and infant care benefit became tax-free from July, also from July, they have raised the tax benefit available in relation to children, while from January, there will be another 50 per cent increase. According to Mr Orbán, there will be a breakthrough here, too.
The third pledge they made related to the facilitation of housing and the acquisition of housing properties, he recalled. He pointed out that more than half of people under the age of 40 did not live in properties they owned, while 80 per cent of over-forties owned properties. The best form of help is the three per cent loan, the details of which will be announced shortly, and the programme itself could start from September, he stated.
The Prime Minister said the ten per cent own contribution is a realistic, achievable goal, observing that he is working to provide further assistance for state workers in this regard.
In the case of such a loan, the amortisation payment is less or not more than the rental that would be payable, meaning that this can be a good start, he said, adding that “it’s young people’s turn now, here is an opportunity, they should take it.”
Regarding the storm that struck Hungary at the beginning of the week, Mr Orbán stressed that political considerations could not override professional ones in any way. Anyone can post anything they like, that will not affect the defence efforts, “governmental work is a serious job, it’s conducted in real life, not on Facebook,” he stated.
He stressed that rather than devising catchy statements, they must take responsibility for people’s lives.
He highlighted that, according to experts, not for 30 years had there been such a powerful impact on the Hungarian power supply system as during the storm. There was a moment when almost 400,000 people were left without electricity, and the number of settlements affected by supply problems was above a thousand.
More than two thousand persons were mobilised, and some four hundred people worked in the various despatch services. They worked in order to avert actual trouble, the Prime Minister indicated, thanking them for their hard work at the same time.
The law enforcement agencies – police officers, disaster management, the fire brigade – transport experts and railway workers all did an excellent job, Mr Orbán stressed, adding that the country has reason to be proud of the fact that we survived such a natural disaster without mass accidents.
The government needs to have the capacity to make decisions and to take action, the Prime Minister said, mentioning as an example that while at the beginning of the week, they were compelled to fight against the drought because there was no rain, “a few days later we fought against the rain.”
He added that at times like this, he meant not only ministers, but also state workers who agreed to serve the state and rushed to the aid of others in trouble. Their work is to the highest standards, they would stand their ground anywhere in the world, Mr Orbán said, praising those who took part in the emergency alleviation efforts.
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