In his speech delivered at Erzsébet tér, Mr Orbán recalled the speech he delivered at Imre Nagy’s reburial, in which he said ‘the next twenty or God only knows how many years of Hungarian youth lies in the sixth coffin.’ In continuation he said: “Dear Young People, Dear Tisza Supporters, if a pro-Ukraine government is formed in Hungary, you can say goodbye to your next twenty years.”
He said a pro-Ukrainian government, in addition to taking Hungary to war, would give Ukraine weapons and would “toe the line,” giving the Hungarians’ money to Brussels which would then send it to Ukraine, and the interest on all that money would be paid by our children and even our grandchildren. He pointed out that the Member States were taking out a loan in order to send the EU 90 billion to Ukraine. However, the Ukrainians would only have to repay it once they have defeated the Russians who would then pay them reparations. This money will never be recovered, he said, observing that there is already a package of USD 800 billion as well as a package of USD 700 billion intended for Ukraine on the table.
He added that there was a single way to escape all this, “if we elect a patriotic government, if we don’t allow a pro-Ukraine government to be formed.”
Addressing his audience, the Prime Minister said if they put their trust in him, he will continue to do everything he can to keep Hungary out of the financial burdens of the war. “This is what I have done so far, I’m ready for this, and I will be able to do that in the next four years as well,” he stressed.
He said, the same as in the previous four years, he will pledge to keep Hungary out of the war in the next four years as well; “I will protect that which belongs to the Hungarians,” “I will not allow the Hungarians to be pocketed, I will not allow anyone to take your money to Ukraine.”
He also spoke about the fact that the Ukrainians are threatening Hungary every day, and now their secret services, too, have started interfering in the Hungarian election campaign: they are tapping the telephone conversations of our foreign minister, are infiltrating Hungarian politics, the Tisza Party most of all, and are doing everything they can so that a pro-Ukraine government is formed after the elections. He asked members of his audience to renew the anti-war alliance they concluded with them in 2022.
Regarding the elections, he said “we have turned into the home straight,” now there is not much left to think about. This is like a 400-metre race: there is no tactic, there is no thinking, there is no speculation. “If we all do our respective jobs, we will score a major victory in 19 days’ time,” he stated in summary.
They say in America that people believe their neighbours more than politicians, he indicated, adding that the job in hand in the next 19 days is for his supporters to speak to everyone and to tell everyone what is at stake in the elections. He added, however, that it was not so easy to bravely stand up for the good cause because there were constant efforts on the other side to scare and threaten us. In digital space, Tisza supporters continually incite hatred; at the same time, President Zelenskyy is threatening him with soldiers, while Hungary with an oil blockade.
“We cannot be intimidated, we cannot be blackmailed,” Mr Orbán laid down.
At the forum of his tour of the country, the Prime Minister said he took the lead in the campaign, he will travel all around the country so that everyone who believes in what he believes in, with whom he has a shared passion called Hungary, can see that this time we must all stand up for our country.
He told the attendees not to allow anyone to spoil their fun; they gathered together because they like being together, the campaign is not a burden, but in actual fact, an opportunity for like-minded people sharing the same views to get together. The campaign is a beautiful and good thing, it is good to be together, and therefore, they reject all threats, hatred, spite and denigration, he pointed out.
He also said that the past four years have been extremely unfair; in fact, we have been compelled to endure constant injustices ever since 2020. “Hungarian politics and governance as well as your lives have been all about averting crises caused by others. Warding off crises which we are not responsible for: we didn’t cause the coronavirus pandemic, we’re not responsible for the war, inflation or the flawed Brussels sanctions; yet, all these things are blocking the Hungarian economy,” he explained.
In luckier times, with this much work we could make twice the progress, he observed, adding that the four years ahead do not seem any fairer either. Yet, despite all external difficulties, we are charging forward, we are not giving up a single goal of ours, but are trying to achieve every single one of them even amidst these difficult circumstances, he stressed.
He also spoke about energy prices which had increased due to the war. He mentioned that the minimum wage had increased by 11 per cent against the background of a 1 per cent economic growth. There is not a single country anywhere in Europe that would have been capable of this, but Hungary was, he pointed out.
He said they restored the thirteenth monthly pension, and by the end of the next term of government, if they are given another mandate to govern, they would like to fully introduce the fourteenth monthly pension as well. There has been a war in vain, neither have they given up on the programme of supporting families, he said, highlighting that the family is the most important thing; if there are children, there is a future, if there are no children, there is no future.
He laid down: Hungary is the only country which does not allow anyone to mock families. The Hungarian Constitution clearly lays down that marriage is between a man and a woman, the father is a man, the mother is a woman. “We will not engage in any debate on this because if we did, by doing so we would only mock families, the very people who live their lives according to the traditional values they inherited from their ancestors,” he pointed out.
The Prime Minister spoke about the doubling of the tax benefit available in relation to children and the tax exemption of mothers.
He said they are building a workfare economy and if the government is allowed to continue its job, by the end of the next term, as many as 5 million people will have jobs in Hungary and the average income will reach one million forints.
Mr Orbán said it is an enormous feat that, despite the Ukrainian oil blockade and the war in the Middle East, they were able to introduce protected, capped prices for fuel. Had we not been able to do that, the price of petrol would be around a thousand forints, he stressed.
In his view, there will be a need for capped prices both for household energy and fuel in the future as well. There will be a price to pay for that as we will have to pay more for energy, he said, adding that Hungary will be able to generate that extra money.
He said due to the war in the Middle East, we should expect another wave of mass migration. Turkey is only a stone’s throw away from Iran, the Balkans next, and here they are at the fence, he explained. Mr Orbán said only those will be able to protect the country from migration who have already done this before. You must be able to say no when leaders supporting migrants want to force Hungary to toe the line, to pursue the same migration policy as the Dutch, the Belgians, the French or the Germans, he pointed out.
He also said neither is it a question who wants war because “none of us do.” The question is who is able to, who has the courage, who has the experience to be able to say no to war. He observed: it is a frequent criticism against the government parties that they have been in power for too long. “In actual fact, this is not an argument against our government, but an argument for it. Because at this moment in time, we need experience, we need security, and Fidesz is the only safe choice,” he laid down.
Mr Orbán also indicated: he does not shout at Tisza supporters, he does not disparage their president as this is a free country, everyone is free to try to get into government. However, everything has its ordained time, he warned, highlighting that there are times when change is necessary, and there are times when we must aim for security. We are living in times today when security is the greatest value, and therefore, we must vote for security, he stressed.
“We must keep our wits about us, without wits, courage and experience, it won’t work, without these we won’t be able to ward off the threats that Hungary will face in the next four years,” he indicated.
Thanking electors for their support so far, he stated in summary: “these have been such good years that we have no reason to leave them behind,” adding: “let us win the April elections, let us protect Hungary, let us not allow a pro-Ukraine government to be formed.”
