From 1 January, the government will increase pensions by 15 per cent, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on his social media account on Tuesday.

In a video shared on his Facebook account, Mr Orbán said he had just signed the government decree providing for a 15 per cent increase in pensions from 1 January.

“Due to the misguided Brussels sanctions, an energy crisis is raging in the whole of Europe, and this is affecting, weighing heavily upon us Hungarians as well,” Mr Orbán stressed, adding that we must seek to protect ourselves, “we Hungarians are protecting families with price caps and the reduction of household energy bills”.

He indicated that even during the present defensive phase, we must not lose sight of the fact that Hungary has overarching goals which point beyond difficult times.

The Prime Minister described guaranteeing a dignified life for pensioners and preserving the value of pensions as one such overarching ambition.

Every year since 2010 we have succeeded in achieving this goal; now that we are raising pensions by 15 per cent from 1 January, this will be so in 2023 as well. “Pensioners can count on us,” the Prime Minister stressed.