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Mr Orbán said they say in Brussels in vain that they will not take the result of the Vote2025 opinion vote into consideration. They will be forced to, they will not be able “to skip us,” there will most certainly be some trickery, but the reality is that, in the end, Ukraine cannot under any circumstances be admitted against the will of the European people.
According to the Prime Minister, the situation will be the same as in the case of migration; there, too, Hungary was initially on its own, while “if we take a look around now, almost everyone is with us, and the same thing will happen on the issue of war and peace and the issue of Ukraine as well.”
He pointed out that if a vote was held in each Member State of the European Union the same as in Hungary, in the majority of countries, but perhaps in all of them, the people would say no to Ukraine’s accession. He added that “the bureaucrats living in the Brussels bubble” might well be able to give a complex explanation for why Ukraine’s accession to the European Union would be good. However, the people have two very simple, “ground level” reasons for why not. He said if Ukraine is admitted to the EU, the war, too, will be admitted with it. Additionally, Ukraine’s accession would also destroy the economy, and the risk of this is enormous.
He also said there are people in Hungary who believe that insulting other people is commendable and acceptable, and that if they feel like it they can do that. It is not right to mock the votes and opinions of 2.3 million people, he pointed out in connection with the result of Vote2025. He added: not even the Tisza Party or a musician – however talented they may be – can be allowed to do so, he said, referring to a statement by a musician who described the government parties and the ‘pro-government’ people who took part in Vote2025 as amoebae.
“You can’t speak to anyone like this. No amount of talent, young age or political ambition gives you the right to do that. So, we must reject these statements, we must defend one another. We must treat one another with respect,” Mr Orbán stated.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that the Brussels bureaucrats thought that with all the vast amount of money, diplomatic influence and media power they had and with the assistance of their agents in various countries – in this instance, the lieutenants in Hungary – they acould achieve fundamental changes in the domestic political life of one country or another. Brussels does not even hide the fact that they have their own interests in the specific outcome of a parliamentary election in one Member State or another, and that they would prefer one party to another to form a government, he pointed out.
Brussels wants to tell the people – and this is so in the case of Hungary as well – whom they should vote for, how they should live and what stance they should take on important matters. This is wrong, Brussels has no right to do that, this is an abuse of power. The European Union was not created for this, Brussels was not created in order to exert pressure on the political opinions of the citizens of Member States, the Prime Minister underlined, stating that we must follow our own interests, convictions, ways of life and principles as Hungary does.
In the context of the Ukrainian secret service operations conducted in Hungary, the Prime Minister spoke about the fact that the Tisza Party held a referendum in which 60 per cent of respondents – evidently, their supporters – said they support Ukraine’s EU accession. There is a prefabricated plan, a product: You must create another big party in addition to or in place of the governing party, must help them to win the elections, and then you make them implement the decisions that are made in Brussels. “It’s as simple as that, as a block of wood,” Mr Orbán said.
He added that in Europe the issue of war and peace would be the most important issue in the next ten years; meaning Ukraine. Whether a country at war is admitted to the EU, whether the war is admitted to the EU or not. He said the Ukrainians believe – which is hardly surprising in the case of a country at war – that they can take care of this with force; hence their ongoing secret service operations in Hungary. Not only vis-a-vis politicians; they are also seeking out people in the realm of the intelligentsia, in the realm of foundations, in the realm of influencers, among journalists and the media – using secret service methods.
There is very active Ukrainian presence in Hungary, but we are here, too, watching, the Prime Minister stressed.
Regarding the adoption of sanctions with respect to the importation of Russian energy carriers, Mr Orbán said in Brussels “they want to sacrifice the financial situation of Hungarian families in the interest of Ukraine.” The Prime Minister stressed that EU leaders were unable to name a single reason why “any person with a sound mind would do such a thing.”
He highlighted that due to the sanctions, gas would cost Hungarian families three and a half times more, while electricity twice more than at present, and in such a situation, the entire system of family support in Hungary would have to be reconsidered. If high energy prices absorb all our money and savings, then families can surrender all their dreams, plans, their common plans for the coming years. Then there is no new car, no bigger home, then we are happy to be able to pay our energy bills, Mr Orbán pointed out.
The Prime Minister stressed that EU leaders had a plan broken down into years about the process of Ukraine’s admission to be concluded by 2030, and then said the essence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plan is to try to “ban” from the purchase of Russian energy carriers the two countries – Hungary and Slovakia – which still do so.
If we surrender, the financial security of families will be shaken. Therefore, we must make every effort to prevent Brussels from telling us what is happening in Hungary, the Prime Minister stated regarding the planned sanction on the importation of Russian energy carriers.
Mr Orbán highlighted that the “Zelenskyy Plan” was not an abstract political affair, but “one that was rooted in the ground: in people’s homes and jobs.” There are war times when families must be protected, and at times like this, a national government is required and we must confront Brussels, he stated.
The Prime Minister described what will happen to Hungarian agriculture and plant cultivation under such climatic circumstances as a long-term issue, and said that we need a plan for adaptation. At present some 100,000 to 110,000 hectares of land are irrigated, but this number must be urgently increased to minimum 300,000 to 400,000, and even further because there are four to five million hectares of cultivated land in total, Mr Orbán said, indicating that we need an overarching irrigation plan for which the outlines already exist.
He drew attention to the fact that in order to reduce the losses caused by drought, they were required to mobilise five billion forints and to deploy around a thousand people, while more than 200 pieces of machinery were also in use, digging gutters and canals and repairing sluices in order to have water.
We have good experts, we have plans, we must get through this summer, he stated.
He said most of the wheat has already been harvested; we have the usual quantity of grains, and there will also be some left for exports. There is a problem with sunflowers and maize because they would need rain now, he pointed out, adding that if the situation remains unchanged in the longer term, August and September will also be problematic, and if there is no precipitation in the winter to drain into the soil, that, too, will have to be replaced somehow.
Mr Orbán reacted to the concept that would do away with the free usage of water for farmers. The Prime Minister said the people proposing this “live in a bubble,” they have no contact with reality. “We have the same problem with Brussels as with the Buda high-society kids in Tisza” – they live in a bubble, do not know reality, he said. They sit there in Brussels and say it is good if things have market prices. It is good indeed, but farmers in Hungary cannot afford to pay for water because they do not have that kind of money, he pointed out, observing that at times like this, rather than going through textbooks, one must say that there is a specific affair, and help must be provided here and now.
At times like this, it does not matter what the Buda high-society kids or the Brusselites read in their textbooks; at times like this, reality must be the basis, he argued, adding that farmers must be given water more cheaply, if possible free of charge, “even if Brussels goes berserk.”
He said they will always find the legal method for providing farmers with water free of charge because this is key to Hungarian agriculture and farmers’ personal lives.
The Prime Minister described Pride as a much more serious, real and direct challenge than any time before. He said politics cannot be left out of the debates on this, cannot yield to the pressure to let sensitisation back into nursery and elementary schools.
Mr Orbán said last week’s event organised under the name Budapest Pride took him by surprise because he thought that “this whole Pride issue was ‘case closed.’” He said in Western Europe, Pride is “an everyday threat,” people would be shocked if they saw the textbooks designed for the sensitisation of children in Western Europe.
Mr Orbán said he thought that Hungary had protected itself against this at the 2022 referendum. At the time, 190,000 people said – “I believe they were out in the streets now” – that they would like this, he added. He pointed out that peaceful disagreement had a culture in Hungary, and that a demonstration like this could be held without incident was a great feat. The authorities will do their job, politics should be left out of this, he laid down.
The Prime Minister said it is not the size of the demonstration that matters the most, but the fact that the opposition parties decided to combine forces in Pride and to turn the sensitisation of children into a programme again, despite the fact that in the referendum three and a half million people said they do not want this.
Mr Orbán said nothing can change his position on the issue of Pride, but he does not wish to argue with those who attended Pride because they are Hungarian citizens, too, except they disagree with the government. “We never fight against the Hungarian people. We fight against the foreigners, and their local lieutenants,” he laid down. Referring to an interview with a teacher at Pride, the Prime Minister said they must investigate what is going on in schools because sensitisation is banned.
He said the government wants to help young people with the Home Start Programme with a fixed three per cent interest rate starting in September because while in Hungary 80 per cent of people over the age of forty years live in their own homes, this percentage among those under forty is just 40 per cent.
It is difficult for young people to buy their own homes, we want to help them, “it’s young people’s turn now,” he stressed. He said they are offering a maximum loan of 50 million forints with a fixed three per cent interest rate for a maximum term of 25 years, with a ten per cent own contribution, without any restriction on residence or age.
He also spoke about the fact that in his state-of-the-nation address, he introduced a plan about the programmes the government was going to implement this year. “We will realise everything we pledged at the beginning of the year,” he stated, observing that they hoped that there would be peace. This has not materialised, and so the situation is not easy. From 1 July, child care benefit and infant care benefit are tax-free, box ticked, doubling of the family tax benefit, box ticked, first home for young people, box ticked, Mr Orbán listed, indicating that while the programmes have been announced, it will take time for them to start. The housing credit programme will be available from September.
