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Mr Orbán described the continued openness of the world economy as key for Hungary. Hungary is unable to maintain the present standard of living if it can only rely on the market of the Hungarian economy of ten million, he said, stressing that “isolation from the rest of the world” would be tragic.
He highlighted that Germany is an ally of Hungary in wanting an open world economy as Germany, too, is a manufacturing country and must be able to sell its products in the world. Mr Orbán mentioned Mercedes as a good example of economic relations between the two countries, indicating that the automotive manufacturer will create 3,800 to 4,200 new jobs in Kecskemét for the production of new models “currently kept as most carefully guarded secrets” and the parts necessary for them.
He stressed that German industry was undergoing a phase of transformation, and the question is whether the Hungarians will have a place in this technological transformation or not. “The answer is that they will” as the Germans are carrying out a considerable percentage of these developments in Hungary, creating many thousands of new jobs and taking part in the training of engineers and qualified workers. “This is what I have to have confirmed with the Chancellor,” the Hungarian Prime Minister said regarding his meeting later during the day with his German partner.
He stated that “the German chancellor of the day must attach the kosher seal to German-Hungarian economic cooperation.” The primary goal is to guarantee Hungary’s participation in Germany’s economic development, he said.
He stressed that the German Chancellor was an ally of Hungary as both states had a vested interest in an open world economy, the same as in restraining those forces in Europe which wanted to achieve the opposite of that.
He said given that from 1 July Hungary will take over the EU’s rotating presidency, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz he will also discuss “overarching European issues,” reviewing “the issues Hungary will table, and how much progress it wants to achieve on those issues.” He mentioned as examples Serbia’s EU membership, tax reduction, the issue of family support and the improvement of the competitiveness of the European economy.
Mr Orbán highlighted that at an informal meeting of EU heads of state and government held this week, left-wing parties announced that they had made a deal, and the European People’s Party (EPP) that always tended to move to the Left when it came to alliances had joined the Left.
The coalition that has come into being has agreed on a programme which is not good for Hungary and is fundamentally contrary to the way Hungarian people think. This is a pro-war coalition, those who continue to want to push Europe into the war – at an ever-accelerating pace – have joined forces, he said. He added that there is a process of militarisation in Germany that has been inconceivable since World War II.
The coalition’s second programme is pro-migration, they are the executors of the Soros Plan, he stated, adding that George Soros wrote already back in 2015 that every year a million migrants must be brought into Europe, and that he was happy to lend money to the Europeans in order to finance this project.
There is a population exchange under way in Europe, the number of white, Christian, European people is decreasing, while the number of those belonging to Muslim communities is radically increasing, he warned.
On the issue of competitiveness – how to strengthen industry, how to provide more jobs, higher salaries and better living standards for the people – the coalition “stands for tax increases, meaning that it’s not pro-market” which does not favour the European economy, he said. A pro-war, anti-economy and pro-migration coalition has come into being, he summarised.
Mr Orbán stressed that instead of representing traditional moderate, conservative and Christian democracy, the EPP always takes its voters to the Left, and rather than a right-wing majority, a left-wing majority comes into being in Europe.
Evaluating the results of the European Parliament elections, he said that election after election, the People’s Party has recently gathered the support of moderate, right-wing voters, but instead of entering into coalition with other right-wing forces, it goes and forges a coalition with the Left, meaning that it “steals votes, pushes” voters from Right to Left.
“This is the inglorious role that the European People’s Party plays, and therefore, the balance of power in public opinion has shifted to the Right in vain; this cannot be directly enforced in Brussels,” the Prime Minister said, adding that with indirect steps – with the forging of alliances and the conclusion of deals – the Right is, however, becoming ever stronger.
He recalled that people with right-wing sentiments have struggled with a major dilemma in the past two to three elections because many of them do not want to vote for the robust Right, including Hungarian, Italian and French parties, and more moderate right-wing voters with a preference for traditional Christian democracy tend to vote for the EPP.
He pointed out that as the European elections had been conducted on a national basis, in almost every country in Europe, non-right-wing parties have become weakened or been shaken. He mentioned the election results in Belgium and France as examples.
There is a shift towards the Right, but it has not manifested in a shift in power because the EPP always takes its voters to the Left, and so rather than a right-wing majority, a left-wing majority comes into being in Europe, he stressed.
In the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war, he said led by the Americans and Germany standing by as an extra, the western world wants to defeat Russia, but rather than becoming directly involved in the war, they “leave it to the Ukrainians,” now that Vladimir Putin – in contravention of all basic principles of international law – attacked Ukraine because he wanted to prevent Ukraine from becoming a member of NATO.
The West saw this as an opportunity to weaken and then to defeat Russia, instead of the position Hungary stands for which is that in this situation, the number one task would be to isolate the conflict and to reduce the impact of the war, he said, observing that the West wants to defeat the Russians through the sacrifice of Ukrainian soldiers, at the expense of an inordinate number of victims.
The question is whether Ukraine will become a member of NATO or not, meaning whether, for instance, in the port of Sevastopol on the Black Sea “there will be a NATO flag or a Russian flag,” he said, observing that the Russians do not want to live next to a country like Ukraine armed by NATO with the latest cutting-edge military equipment.
He said the West does not stand a chance of winning the war because – in his words – this involves a terrible price which is simply not worth it. Many hundreds of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have died to date, and slowly, a million children at the eastern end of Europe will grow up without a father or with a father who is disabled because of the injuries sustained in the war, he stressed.
He added that there will be a generation condemned to a hopeless situation because – despite the promised reconstruction – for many long decades, the people’s living standards will fall far short of European living standards.
Mr Orbán recalled that earlier in Hungary, referenda had been held on momentous political issues. Arguing against migration, “I derive support” from the referendum on migration, he said, adding that the situation is similar regarding the issue of the protection of the traditional family model.
He stressed that under no circumstances did we want someone else to tell our children what was wrong and what was right on these issues. “When I fight this battle, I lean on the referendum that we had in Hungary about the gender issue,” he pointed out.
He said while no referendum had been held about the war, there had been a European election. “I kept saying throughout the campaign that this was about war and peace,” he recalled, adding that the people stated clearly that they did not want Hungary to take part in the war.
“I said that there was a minimum goal that we could achieve now. At present, this carriage, this train, this European carriage is heading for war. If we have enough support, I’ll be able to pull the emergency brake, the train will stop and we Hungarians will be able to get off this train. And if there is a lucky constellation, we might be able to convince the engine driver to not only allow the Hungarians to disembark, but to stop the train altogether,” he recalled.
In his view, we have achieved the minimum goal; he succeeded in agreeing with the NATO Secretary General that Hungary will not take part in NATO’s Ukraine mission either with money, weapons or personnel.
“We also spoke to the engine driver, but couldn’t convince him. He’s a stubborn engine driver whom only Donald Trump will be able to remove from the engine,” he said in reference to the upcoming US elections.
He stressed, however, that we will stay out of this war, Hungary will remain an island of peace equally regarding public security, social security and the war as he agreed on this not only with the now-departing NATO Secretary General, but also with his successor.
At present, the pressure of war is coming not from NATO, but from Europe; this battle must be fought in Brussels, he observed. He highlighted that EPP leader Manfred Weber had a single goal truly close to his heart, namely to harm Hungary.
We prevented him back in 2019 from becoming president of the European Commission because he said he did not want to become president of the Commission with the Hungarians’ vote, he recalled, adding that there are problems also with Ursula von der Leyen eventually elected with the Hungarians’ vote, “but she’s a mere maid compared with the level of Hungarophobia that Mr Weber suffers from.”
As long as he is there, we know precisely that the European People’s Party is headed by an anti-Hungarian leader, he warned.
He recalled that in 2018 when Fidesz won the elections, a few days later, with Manfred Weber’s effective support, the EU launched a procedure under Article 7 against Hungary. The same thing happened now: the pro-peace camp won in Hungary, and the Brussels pro-war camp immediately imposed a previously unprecedented fine on us, he observed, stressing that there is a close connection between the migration fine and the issue of war and peace.
He indicated, however, that they had set up task forces to ward this off, and solutions were already on the horizon in order to ensure that those would pay the fine who made the most money on migration and the war. We will ward off this Weberian attack that has now been launched against Hungary as well, he said.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the problem of migration, mentioning Germany as an example. This is a colourful, changed, multicultural world in which the migrants coming here are no longer guests, but – receiving citizenship in expedited proceedings – are present in the country in their own right, and the country will increasingly become theirs, he explained.
He recalled that in 2015 he made a decision: unless the Hungarian people demand that we let migrants in, we will not let them in because otherwise Hungary will no longer be a Hungarian country. Migration is one of the few issues where you cannot rectify the mistake later on, he pointed out.
I have always advised the Hungarians – and I’m asking them also now – to say no to migration, to resist the pressure, to preserve our country as an island of peace, Mr Orbán said.
