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He indicated the Europe had two options in response to the economic rise of Asia: either it enrols in the race or “disqualifies” the opponent and seals its borders. The EU is heading towards the development of blocs, we hear news reports daily about the introduction of protective tariffs, but for Hungary the development of blocs would be a tragedy as was the socialist economy when the world economy was split into a Soviet world economy and an American world economy. In the event of such a split, “we will find ourselves on the periphery, we will be insignificant players of the world economy, we will lose opportunities, we will be locked into a dead-end street.” According to Mr Orbán, Hungary must compete, it is best for Hungary if “rather than rejecting, sending home, excluding challengers, we seek to understand what it is that makes them better than us and start competing with them” by improving our performance, the Prime Minister said, adding that this was the conclusion of the Draghi Report as well.
He described the Hungarian automotive industry, the production of vehicles as a key issue, recalling that hundreds of thousands of families earn a living in this sector. He recalled that in the past few months he had spoken to the executives of all major European car manufacturers and they were opposed to the European punitive tariff imposed on Chinese electric cars. However, the European Commission is not listening to them and continues to think in terms of punitive tariffs. He pointed out that there are many significant European actors in both politics and the economy who share the same views as Hungary, and we have to cooperate with them in order to develop a force which is able to change politics in Brussels.
He also mentioned that only the other day the courts had repeatedly ruled against Hungary because the government had sought to protect families against unjustified price rises through the introduction of price caps. The court’s argument was that multinational companies must be allowed to charge the prices they want to. These are bad thoughts, these are mistakes on the part of the European Commission, Mr Orbán concluded, taking the view that we must not assume that just because someone is from or resides in Brussels they are cleverer than we are. They are wrong and must be induced to change their ways, he pointed out.
The Prime Minister also said there is a heated debate about the state and prospects of the Hungarian economy. “Everything, including the kitchen sink is brought up in this regard,” he hears both clever opinions and nonsense, he said, adding that he hears a lot of negative things about the Hungarian economy which partly stem from a lack of knowledge and are partly motivated by political plotting. He said if we take a look at the facts, the Hungarian economy has successfully survived a very difficult period, and is on the verge of an economic boom, at the gates of prosperity. He explained that the Hungarian economy’s growth exceeds the average of the European Union, inflation is slowly falling to below 3 per cent and the investment rate, too, is better than the EU average: the latter is 20 per cent, while Hungary’s is 23 per cent. He highlighted that the same is also true of consumption. About this, too, there is a debate, but perhaps not everyone who talks about this observes the situation through the right lens. The people themselves – rather than economists – should decide whether to consume or not, he stressed. Those who are more cautious choose to save, while those who are braver consume; consumption is now around four per cent, meaning that people are spending more. For increased consumption, two conditions must be satisfied: people must have money and must have the intention, he said.
He pointed out that in Hungary there is a wage increase of 9 to 10 per cent – above the rate of inflation – which is among the highest in Europe. As regards tourism, historical records are being broken: never before had this many Hungarians gone on holiday, both domestically and abroad, as this summer. These are all numbers that give rise to optimism, he said in summary.
He also spoke about the European Union’s projections, underlining that they, too, claim that next year Hungary will be the third best-performing country in the EU as regards economic growth. He observed that he is not satisfied with this because we want to be in the number one spot, but a third place out of 27 is not too shabby. He said the question is whether there is anything that threatens these promising prospects, whether we have an enemy. In his view, there is one thing which could thwart our plans and calculations: the war which – if it escalates – will upset all economic calculations based on the present situation, and will worsen, rather than improve them.
Mr Orbán welcomed the fact that also this year workers and employers have succeeded in agreeing on major pay rises. Therefore, he expects a serious increase in wages and believes that a perceivable pay rise could be maintained in the next two to three years as well. He pointed out that “we must be cautious when talking about wages” because pay rises are desirable but if they are not implemented in a reasonable fashion, it may turn out that businesses are unable to raise the necessary funds and are therefore compelled to lay off personnel or to hold back developments. It is best if those people decide about wage increases who implement them, and the Hungarian practice is just that: every year, employers and workers agree on the rates of pay rises, he added. The government has only a single task: to affix a seal to their agreement and to announce it, he said, adding that this way they can be sure that all possible pay rises will be granted, but there will be no pay rises which would later have a detrimental impact on workers. Those who promise pay rises without having consulted the actors concerned do not know what they are talking about, he pointed out.
Regarding the war in Ukraine, Mr Orbán stressed that “the normal-thinking part” of the world has always been pro-peace, and other than the countries of the West, one can see almost only pro-peace countries.
With his peace mission, he wanted to induce people in the West, too, to start considering the possibility of peace as European leaders “have dug themselves in” as if this war was theirs, despite the fact that we are not at war with Russia. This has resulted in a pro-war Europe, he recalled. In his view, it is possible to move out of this position if we finally realise that this is not our war and everyone has a vested interest in a ceasefire and peace talks because quite evidently there is no solution to this war on the battlefield. The peace mission has launched this thought as we have started an enormous debate in Europe, and without the peace mission such a debate would not have even started, he concluded. He added that once the dialogue about peace started, it has been revealed that ever more countries would be happy to join the peace camp; for instance, the German Chancellor, too, has recently spoken in a similar vein. “I have a few more peace mission initiatives up my sleeve,” Mr Orbán said.
Regarding the issue of migration, the Prime Minister recalled that Hungary has been saying ever since 2015 – when “the migrant crisis reached its peak” and the invasion started – that we must protect the external borders, and so instead of “moaning and finding excuses for our inaction” “we took a deep breath,” built the fence and apprehended migrants. Western European countries have become immigrant countries; however, the Hungarians stood up for their own interests, “we have not become an immigrant country, and whatever Brussels does, whatever extreme they may go to, we will not become an immigrant country, Hungary belongs to the Hungarian people, full stop,” he said. He stressed that rather than penalising Hungary, the EU should reimburse the Hungarians for the very significant sum of money which we have so far spent on border protection and should give us money so that we can continue this work. In his view, “it’s not that we will succeed already tomorrow,’ but “once we grab hold of something, we don’t let go of it,” “they will pay us,” it is only a question of time.
Regarding the fact that for six months from Monday Berlin will reinstate border controls on all German borders, Mr Orbán said while earlier anyone who stopped migrants was “a bad person,” now Germany and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, too, have finally woken up: it has been revealed that terrorism, crime, the social and financial burdens imposed by migrants who refuse to work are all beginning to dawn on the Germans. He added that now Western European leaders should take next step which is not particularly difficult intellectually: if they recognise and admit that borders must be protected and even close their own borders down, they should not penalise those who have done so all along. By contrast, he pointed out, Hungary has been handed down serious penalties due to the protection of its borders. “Evidently, this is not right, this is a mess, chaos, political chaos,” he said, describing the situation caused by the European Commission and European legislature, stressing that this must be changed.
The Prime Minister took the view that the German Chancellor did not reach the conclusion that their migration policy must be changed on his own; it is in response to pressure from the people. “He has come to this conclusion because migrants stabbed a few peaceful German citizens in the street, because crime rates have increased, because they’re no longer able to cover the costs of this flawed policy and the people are outraged,” Mr Orbán added, taking the view that it is a major success of democracy that “the German people have achieved that their own government should finally take their side.”
He recalled that Hungary had been the only European country which had consulted the people on the issue of migration in a referendum, and the Hungarian government had represented the outcome of that referendum ever since. In his view, now also leaders in the West – who put the cart before the horse – are realising that it is simpler if they do what the people say. “It is the people who in actual fact suffer the negative consequences of immigration, not the many clever clogs who demonstrated on paper that the liberal immigration policy will have all these positive impacts, while the people were shaking their fists,” he said. He stressed that it was time that real flesh and blood people, rather than egg heads decided on this issue; not only in Hungary, but in the whole of Europe, too.
