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The Prime Minister said the Democratic presidency got off to a bad start as “at the end of the day, they took the presidency away from Donald Trump by cheating” which is unprecedented in a western democracy. Had they not cheated in 2020 and had Donald Trump remained president, there would be no Russo-Ukrainian war today, he said, adding that Democratic governance is always different from the Republican style of governance because while the Republicans stand on national foundations, the Democrats are globalists and enforce their interests through organisations – such as the Soros Network – intertwining the whole world. These networks are not direct government agencies, but are connected to the US administration, he observed.
Mr Orbán pointed out that the Democrats had fundamental economic interests, subjected politics to their economic interests, and had strong intentions to improve the world. At times like this, migration and the chaos brought on by migration flood the world; at times like this, gender madness breaks loose. At times like this, it is best if traditional families retreat because “there will be Pride marches, rainbow flags, transgender propaganda and gender reassignment surgery galore, and the world will no longer consist of men and women, but of God only knows how many different species of creatures,” he said, adding that neither do the Democrats hesitate to achieve their goals with war as they did in the case of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The Prime Minister said it was to be expected that during the Democratic administration, US-Hungarian relations would hit rock bottom; they refused to renew the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation, they made entry for Hungarians into the United States more difficult, and “they harmed us wherever they could.” In his view, that they placed a minister of the Hungarian government, Antal Rogán on a sanctions list is “only a tiny last fragment of this story.” He stressed that this had unprecedentedly reinforced the position of the minister heading the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister in Hungarian politics and the Hungarian government because there was only one thing he could decipher from this: if a great power punishes Antal Rogán, the minister responsible for the national security services, the number one guardian of Hungarian national sovereignty, it means that he is doing his job well.
Referring to departing US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, he said the Democratic administration sent “a goon” here whose job it would have been to cudgel or press Hungary into the globalist, liberal, Democratic canon which is pro-migration, pro-gender, and is also ready “to spread the word” and Western values in the world with war. In his view, the root of the problems was that Hungary is not such a country; Hungary does not want migrants, but has a history of 1,100 years in the Carpathian Basin, a path and mission of its own which “cannot accommodate the notion that a goon comes here from America” and says that “from tomorrow this land […] is no longer yours,” people will come here from the other end of the world and “will take away from you that which you have worked for for 1,100 years.” In his view, therefore, the US Ambassador’s mission was doomed from the start; it is for a reason that in four years – as a rather unprecedented state of affairs – not once was he prepared to meet with the ambassador. “Already when he was sent out here it was evident what mission he was tasked with, and I didn’t wish to have anything to do with that,” Mr Orbán observed.
He also said Hungarians are pro-family, they are unable to accept that the traditional family model is looked down upon and ridiculed, and “all sorts of nonsense is recommended in its place,” while the war is contrary to Hungary’s economic and security interests as a matter of course. He added that he had an agreement with Donald Trump, conveying the promise of the start of a fantastic golden era in US-Hungarian relations which will also be perceivable in daily life, “in people’s pockets and in family budgets.”
In his opinion, a pre-condition of “the Hungarian economy being able to get off to a flying start already in January” was that Donald Trump should win the US elections and bring peace back to the horizon so that after three years of war, after three years of destruction, we should finally resume an era of construction.
Donald Trump has liberated America, George Soros lost the battle there, and his troops have retired to Brussels. We Europeans can only have a single goal: to expel them from Brussels, said Mr Orbán, adding that unless we do so, Brussels will become the new Washington, Brussels will pursue the policies of the US Democrats, and this would be contrary to the best interests of the European and Hungarian people. Therefore, the most important foreign policy goal of 2025 will be to expel the Soros Empire from Europe, he pointed out.
He said Hungary – which has openly taken on this conflict also to date – will probably be the first country to expel the Soros Empire. “The time has come to make a clean breast of things, and to eliminate and send home the foreign networks that pose a threat to Hungarian sovereignty,” he said, indicating that it is to be hoped that Hungary will not be on its own in this endeavour. He said this is expected to result in serious debates with Brussels which will have to be conducted in a meaningful manner. We will have to demonstrate that the presence in Europe of networks, the likes of the Soros Network is contrary to the European people’s best interests.
The Prime Minister said the most important goal is to take the money away from them, or to be more precise, not to give it to them. “The Soros Network is today financed to a considerable extent from the Brussels budget. We can’t tolerate that, that’s our money, too,” he stated.
Mr Orbán said the biggest corruption scandal is that “Brussels is in George Soros’s pocket.” “Members of Parliament, Brussels bureaucrats, important decisions have evidently been bought,” said the Prime Minister, adding that in Brussels representatives of the Soros Network are regularly received, they have infiltrated Brussels. By his account, Hungary will have to set an example in expelling the Soros Network; the spring will be about these efforts.
Regarding Hungary’s EU presidency that ended on 31 December, Mr Orbán highlighted that even Hungary’s political opponents in Brussels had recognised its achievements. He recalled that at the time when the Hungarian presidency started, other than in the Vatican, the subject of peace could only be broached in Hungary, while today everyone talks about peace. Meaning that we managed to table the issue of peace and to keep it on the table, he concluded, adding, however, that the peace mission which Hungary undertook to carry out was not in keeping with its international weight, but as a Christian country Hungary nonetheless made an attempt out of a moral duty. The time has come for Donald Trump to take over the baton once he takes office and for him to continue this difficult mission which is more in keeping with the size of the United States, he observed.
As the second important result, he mentioned the fact that we had managed to abolish the borders between Bulgaria, Romania and the EU. This was hard work, he himself as well as minister for EU affairs János Bóka and interior minister Sándor Pintér worked hard for this achievement, Mr Orbán recalled.
He also highlighted that during the Hungarian presidency EU accession talks had begun with Albania, while we had succeeded in re-elevating the issue of the Western Balkans to the ranks of “the Ukrainian issue which relegated all other issues.” At the same time, in the economy we managed to pull off important agreements on the issue of competitiveness, meaning that compared with its size and weight, Hungary overperformed during its European presidency, he said in summary.
He warned that a new era was about to begin, and so what was the most important was for Brussels to adapt to the changed situation, primarily on the issues of war and peace and the sanctions. “It’s time to throw the sanctions out of the window, and to develop a set of sanctions-free relations with the Russians,” he indicated, adding, however, that for the time being, there are no promising signs emerging from Brussels, this will take a month or two.
Mr Orbán said he sees far more threats in Ukraine’s EU succession than opportunities from Hungary’s point of view. He said after the end of the war waged in the neighbouring country and the closure of the policy of sanctions, “we can start dealing with Ukraine” which is “a major challenge, a threat even” to the European economy. Mr Orbán stressed that if a neighbouring state were to join the EU the way it was presently envisaged in Brussels, Hungarian, Polish and even French farmers “might as well shut up shop;” we need sufficiently stringent regulation in this regard.
The Prime Minister added that Ukraine was unable to stand on its own two feet, without western money, “today, this country doesn’t exist,” it has no business activities that could be integrated into Europe, “there are only ruins,” while in agriculture where there is continued production, Ukraine – rather than fitting into – clashes with the European economy. While we speak about the Hungarian economy, we must at all times keep an eye on Ukraine and Brussels, the Prime Minister stated.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that this year would be a year for the middle classes to gain in strength. “I expect a perceivable step forward in every stratum of society in 2025,” he said. He added that those who were below the level of the middle classes must be helped into this form of life. In Hungary before the coronavirus pandemic, “this was the determining social process,” he observed.
In the Prime Minister’s view, the number one objective is for everyone to have jobs. He said this is an achievable goal this year. The employment rate among those aged between 20 and 65 years is 81 per cent, and with this we are ranked in fifth or sixth place in Europe, he indicated.
He said the second goal is for everyone to be able to support their families from their wages – this year’s pay rises will make this easier – while the third goal is for everyone to appreciate that they can take a step forward. He stressed that while he liked “to play safe,” he expected 2025 to be a fantastic year. Last year was consumed by the efforts made to compensate for the losses caused by the war, including the energy price shock, but having made those efforts, we have a good starting position for this year.
The Prime Minister also mentioned that Hungarian households had a 24 per cent savings rate, compared with the EU average of 14 per cent which meant that “there is a financial family reserve system which can be mobilised in 2025.” He added that high energy prices posed the biggest threat to the success of Hungary’s economic policy, and so we must prevent Brussels from pursuing a policy of sanctions that was contrary to the reduction of prices.
He recalled that the Paks II project would be completed between 2030 and 2032, and until then “we are exposed on the energy side,” meaning that “a major rise in energy prices could frustrate our economic plans.” The TurkStream gas pipeline must be protected, it must continue to operate, or else we will not be able to realise our economic plans, Mr Orbán said, referring to the natural gas pipeline as an artery of the Hungarian economy.
