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Mr Orbán highlighted that the new Danube bridge named after the late Kalocsa archbishop and Hungarian military leader Pál Tomori was not only a transport facility connecting the two banks of the river together, but also a memento, an enormous exclamation mark made from steel and concrete. “It reminds us Hungarians what a great threat dissension is,” especially in times of war, he added.
He said if we do not combine forces and pull together, “then we will become a playground for foreign powers, our country will senselessly perish and we will write ourselves out of history for a long time because control over our fate will be removed from our hands.” Today, this warning – when Europe is preparing for war – is timely again, he pointed out.
We must preserve unity by declaring it time and time again. Therefore, on Sunday, on 9 June, “in the name of national unity, we must not vote for anything but peace,” he stated.
He reminded his audience that we were in the middle of an election campaign, and there was much hard work yet to be done in the remaining three days. He encouraged the attendees of the inauguration ceremony to support the candidates of Fidesz-KDNP and put their “all” into the campaign. The nature of an election campaign is like that of a sports match: “it ain’t over till it’s over,” he said, quoting from the film ‘Rocky.’
The Prime Minister described the construction of the Kalocsa-Paks bridge as part of a complex, carefully thought-out, long-term country development and country building plan, stressing that Hungary is living in an era of peaceful construction, while the cabinet is a government of peaceful development and bridge builders.
In his view, in recent years, the national government has become a professional in the inauguration of bridges. Since 2010, they have built nineteen bridges, while the socialists only built five in total. “Quite evidently, this, too, reflects the golden ratio of Hungarian politics: two thirds, one third, but at least this is a meaningful political competition,” he observed.
He said the government is determined to install as many projects and industrial enterprises as possible South of the Zalaegerszeg-Székesfehérvár-Kecskemét-Debrecen axis, and for this we need roads and bridges.
He said he is convinced that the South Hungary region will gain in significance in the future, and in this the cargo traffic and trade between Serbia and Hungary will play a key role, elevating this region to the status of the “Gate of the West.” As part of the plan, they will extend the M6 motorway all the way to the border, thereby connecting Croatian-Slavonic territories to Hungary, he pointed out.
The next step will be to redirect a considerable percentage of the cargo traffic coming from Serbia and in its wake, a number of logistic centres, investments and production units to this region, thereby connecting the environs of Paks and Kalocsa to a swiftly developing region.
Mr Orbán also said two of the country’s most important, strategic projects will be implemented in this part of the country: Paks will host a new nuclear power station, while the Budapest-Belgrade railway line – which is one of the most important building blocks of this Hungarian country building programme – will pass not far from Kalocsa.
He also indicated that the next bridge would be built near Mohács.
In connection with the construction of the Kalocsa-Paks bridge, he thanked Mayor of Kalocsa Géza Filvig (Fidesz-KDNP-For the Future of Kalocsa Association), Mayor of Paks Péter Szabó (Fidesz-KDNP), Members of Parliament for the constituency János Süli (KDNP) and Sándor Font (Fidesz) and contractor László Szíjj who was responsible for the project, stressing that the bridge is not only for the convenience of the residents of Paks and Kalocsa, but will serve to benefit the whole of Hungary.
He took the view that a Hungarian, “as is typical of the peoples of the steppe,” wants to live and exist in every direction, wants to fill every space, wants to connect both to his own people and the outside world. However, until now Kalocsa and Paks were unable to connect to each other. Until now, Sárköz was far from all the motorways, but the government believes that it is its duty to release these interior territories and to connect them to the country’s blood circulation. “In doing so, we release the country’s hidden gold reserves, and as a result, not only the locals’ quality of life improves, but the entire Hungarian economy gains in strength all at once,” he said.
Mr Orbán recalled that in 2010 as regarded state of advancement, there was an East-West type of division in Hungary: there were all the big plants in the West, and this area accounted for the lion’s share of industrial production and economic growth, including the Paks nuclear power plant.
This was not only unnatural, but also unfair and harmful for the country as a whole, he stressed, adding that this is why they created the Miskolc-Nyíregyháza-Debrecen industrial triangle in North Hungary which released the economic potential that was inherent in the region.
Enormous developments are under way, and their completion is now well within sight. Once they have been completed, the region of North Hungary will represent a whole different economic standard, he pointed out.
