According to the Prime Minister, the years between 2026 and 2030 will be perhaps the riskiest years in our lives. This is when it will be decided whether Europe will go to war and whether we will go with them, he said, adding that the 2026 elections will be the last pre-war elections.
The Prime Minister said today the greatest threat is that our money will be taken to Brussels and from there to the Ukrainians. So, today, the threat is not whether the war will come here, but that they want to take something away from here without which we are unable to operate the Hungarian economy, he pointed out.
We read in the report of the European Court of Auditors ten days ago that the contributions of Member States – as every year, we pay a sum to the EU somewhere between one and two billion euros – should be raised one and a half-fold during the period ahead, he said.
The Ukrainians tabled a proposal: they are asking for USD 800 billion for the functioning of the Ukrainian state in the next ten years alone, and the EU wants to give them that sum. In addition to the USD 800 billion, the Ukrainians are asking for another USD 700 billion for weapons. USD 1,500 billion. This also includes our money; if we let them, they will take our money, too, Mr Orbán pointed out.
The Prime Minister added: at the same time, within a year or two, we will be discussing what the NATO Secretary General is talking about, that we should also send soldiers. However, if a single western soldier appears in the territory of Ukraine without an agreement on this with the Russians, it means that we have entered the war. The Russians stated that they would regard these troops and units as legitimate targets, the Prime Minister underlined.
Mr Orbán does not believe that the European Union and Brussels would resign themselves to only one half of the continent taking part in the war. Therefore, we must prepare for maximum pressure coming our way from Brussels, and there will also be enormous pressure exerted upon us from Berlin in order for us, too, to go to war, he said.
The Prime Minister indicated that “in this election campaign, our opponent is not Tisza.” The Tisza Party has 27 members, “there are more members in Fidesz’s Szombathely town organisation than in Tisza’s whole national party,” he stated.
Mr Orbán also responded to the words of Zsolt V. Németh who spoke at the rally earlier. The Fidesz Member of Parliament said that, luckily, the Yugoslav Wars did not pose a direct threat to Vas County. The Prime Minister recalled that in 1999 US President Bill Clinton asked him and Hungary to open a second front and to attack the Serbs, “or to at least shoot at them from Hungary, and through Vojvodina all the way to Belgrade.”
“That you didn’t find yourselves involved in a war at the time took the then government to say ‘no, sir’ to the US president’s direct invitation. If back then we had had a prime minister who can only say ‘yes, sir,’ then you would have been, we all would have been up to our necks in the war,” he stressed.
Mr Orbán pointed out that “you can say no if you have the courage.”
The Prime Minister also spoke about the fact that something was happening every week that was taking us closer to the war.
Mr Orbán said there are constant new developments, things to talk about at the anti-war rallies because new things keep happening. Most recently, the NATO Secretary General said ‘we’ll be there on the ground, aircraft in the air, and support at sea,’ and that we will station soldiers in the territory of Ukraine, the Prime Minister pointed out. He added: parallel with this, the leader of the European People’s Party – of which the Tisza Party is a member – said in Zagreb that he would like to see soldiers in Ukraine wearing uniforms that bear the symbols of the European Union.
We are members of the European Union, we do not want to see such soldiers in the territory of Ukraine, and we especially do not want to see young Hungarians in such uniforms in the territory of Ukraine, Mr Orbán stressed.
According to the Prime Minister, there may be two clues to this phenomenon, that they are taking a step forward every week: either that these are mere coincidences or they are part of a bigger plan. He said today – rather than prime ministerial summits – European leaders hold war councils; they only talk about military issues. “I believe that they are implementing a plan,” he stated.
He added that they had actually announced that by 2030 the European Union would go to war.
Throughout history, the people have been inured to the idea of war. First comes the disruption of diplomatic relations: we no longer communicate with the opponent. Next comes conscription, then the serial production of weapons, followed by a changeover to wartime economy. And then comes the open conflict. Today, the European Union openly declared that the EU must change over to wartime economy. This is their official programme, the Prime Minister laid down, adding that they also stated at the plenary session of the European Parliament that – so it is not a secret – by 2030 we must be ready to wage a war.
He also said Szombathely was the fourth or fifth city in Hungary which sustained the most extensive damage in the war. “War – never again in Szombathely,” he stated.
The Prime Minister greeted the town of Szombathely, and said thank you to Csaba Hende who was Member of Parliament for the constituency for a long time, now serving as a constitutional judge, and who did the lion’s share of the work in the re-organisation of the patriotic-Christian civic right wing after the 2002 elections.
He recalled that the digital civic circles were the continuation of the civic circles which had been called to life after the unfair 2002 election defeat in order to save everything they could from the first civic and patriotic term of governance.
The story of Szombathely and the patriotic forces never split for a second, Mr Orbán stated, recalling that when in the mid-eighties they started organising forces among radical anti-communist, pro-freedom university students, which Fidesz eventually grew out of, one of the strongest legs of the movement was to be found in Szombathely, while the other at the other end of the country, in Debrecen.
Szombathely never meant the edge of the country, but in a political sense the very middle of the country, “this is where Fidesz was born,” he stated.
He added: Vas County and Szombathely were in the vanguard during the change of regime; when the rest of the country was only just thinking about what a civic Hungary meant, Szombathely had long since been a civic town. He also recalled that in 1998 when MSZP [Hungarian Socialist Party] was in government, Fidesz received here 57 per cent of the votes which is a fantastic result, and even in 2002 they scored a major victory here.
In the town of Szombathely, we have a confident lead both in the race of party lists and the race of constituency candidates, he highlighted. He said as the elections are approaching, everyone keeps guessing, “we can also read propaganda reports disguised as surveys.”
“Don’t believe them, believe me instead,” he said, indicating that according to their polls, the government parties have a confident lead in Szombathely.
He said he sincerely hopes that Zoltán Vámos, too, will be able to convert his chances, but “the emphasis is on converting them.” A chance does not mean victory, an advantage does not amount to victory, there is a single time to win: on Sunday night. “And in order for us to win, we must work hard,” he stressed.
Regarding road projects planned in and in the vicinity of Szombathely, he said in the past 16 years in Vas County, they have refurbished 286 kilometres of road. He stressed that they had built the M86 and M80 express roads from a hundred billion forints each. Outlining their plans, he added that they would continue the construction of the M86 from an allocation of HUF 279 billion, would build the M87 as part of a project worth HUF 190 billion, would connect the settlement of Bük to the M87, would build the M76 between Körmend and Zalaegerszeg, and the Szombathely western bypass road would also be built from an allocation of HUF 25 billion.
The Prime Minister said Szombathely is a special town because there are as many as four capitals situated closer to it than Budapest. He added that the border zone which also included Szombathely would require a separate programme because unless there was a separate development programme, this region would be left out.
The Prime Minister observed that whenever he came to these parts, he regularly heard that the people living here wanted to catch up with Austria. “We shouldn’t just want to catch up with Austria, we should overtake them or should at least be better than them in some departments” because catching up is not enough, he said. In his words, Austria was lucky, but not better; the difference is that the Soviet Union withdrew from there in 1955, from here in 1990.
In answer to a question concerning the Szombathely football team, he said as regards Hungarian football, “I have to say, bowing down and with due modesty, that I have amazing ideas; the problem is that I’m banned from making them known.”
In explanation, he said those who are observing the campaign can see that multinational corporations with major capital strength “are coming at us.” One of the Tisza Party’s economic experts was sent here by Erste Bank because they would like a change of governments, he pointed out. The other fair man of theirs came from Shell which – similar to banks – we tax heavily. He was sent here in order to achieve a change of governments and to serve the interests of large energy companies, he stated.
It is unfair that the football team Szombathelyi Haladás is in the third division, and it is a shame that the town has been unable to make good use of the grants coming here, he pointed out.
Mr Orbán highlighted that rather than paying attention to professional footballers, we should take good care of our youth players and children. The Tisza programme conceived in Brussels clearly states that sports grants must be cut. However, sports grants go to our children as when we support and subsidise sports, we support and subsidise children, he laid down. He stressed that as long as there was a Fidesz government, sports would always remain a strategic sector due to children and families.
The Prime Minister said young people are our children and grandchildren, and we have every reason to have faith in young people, the apple does not normally fall far from the tree. He observed that he would not confuse a few young people chanting nasty things after a heated concert with young people in general, “you say all sorts of things there.” They have every reason to have faith in young people, they can talk to them in a reasonable tone, they can reach them, they can discuss with them even the most difficult political issues, he pointed out.
He said they do not give up on their own youths, including as their voters, they ask them to come forward in the April elections and to vote for their own future, for Fidesz. Those who vote for Tisza as young people vote against their own future; those who vote for Fidesz vote for their own future, this must be discussed with young people, he said.
Mr Orbán advised those who wanted to contradict their parents “just to annoy them” to take themselves seriously, to rebel against Brussels, that was where the threat to Hungary came from. “Fake rebelling is worthless, rebelling against the Hungarian government is no great shakes,” he said.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that they had refurbished four thousand churches and had built 200 new ones, and highlighted in the context of the importance of supporting churches that the more communities there were in Hungary, the stronger they made the country. This is why non-believers should not look upon believers and their communities with animosity, he added.
Our true opponent is not today’s Hungarian opposition, the Prime Minister stated. Mr Orbán said our true opponent is Brussels who wants to help a government into power in Hungary which sends the Hungarian people’s money to Ukraine when the time comes and sends Hungarian soldiers to war.
They want a pro-Ukraine, pro-Brussels, pro-war government in Hungary, and this is the real challenge. We must defeat those who would comply with this Brussels request, the Prime Minister said.
According to Mr Orbán, there are some on the other side, among their opponents, who know what this is about, and there are also misled people among their ranks who do not understand what is behind all this.
This election is not about what is happening in Hungary, but about what will happen to Hungary. Whether we will go to war, whether our money will be taken away, or we will have everything we need for our lives – young people, money, peace – staying here in Hungary, he said. This is what we will have to decide about in April, and this is what we must make every single Hungarian elector understand, he stated.
In answer to the question of what would happen if Hungary was stripped of its right of veto in the EU, he highlighted: as regards international affairs, it is quite clear what the difference is between the two options facing the country, the Hungarian path and the Brussels path. He recalled that earlier Fidesz itself had been a member of the European People’s Party, though he himself had never voted for Manfred Weber, and then they had quit because on the issue of migration the EPP had wanted to impose the Brussels policy on Hungary.
Led by the German chancellor, the leadership of the European People’s Party demands that Hungary give up the policy of not allowing migrants to enter the territory of the country, the policy of building a fence and not allowing anyone in who did not receive permission from the Hungarian authorities, he laid down.
He stressed: they blackmailed us, that unless we surrender the policy that Hungary will not be turned into an immigrant country, at every possible turn, led by Mr Weber, they will hinder us, trip us up and will punish us. “In response to this we said, ‘Have a good time, goodbye,’” he observed.
He said they next waited for like-minded forces to gain in strength and then established the Patriots which is today Europe’s third largest political party family, and will soon be the second and then the first. “I have insider information about how things stand in the People’s Party. You can’t reason with them because if you don’t do what they tell you to do on the issue of migration, you have two options: you quit or you toe the line,” he indicated.
He added: there is a short film made with artificial intelligence which shows that orders are coming from Brussels, saying ‘we want your money for the Ukrainians,’ and the president of the Tisza Party says ‘Yes, sir.’ This is the truth, Mr Orbán said, adding that earlier he himself was served such invitations, in response to which he said ‘if it’s good for the Hungarians, we’ll do it; if it isn’t, nein, danke.’ The Tisza Party will not be able to say no, he laid down.
It takes a great many things for you to be able to say no in such a tense situation. You must be absolutely positive that what you stand for is the Hungarian people’s position. And today, on the most important civilisational issues such as migration, the protection of families, gender and the war, the positions of the Hungarian people and Fidesz coincide, he pointed out.
He added that whatever Tisza was saying, in actual fact, they stood for something else civilisationally, and therefore, they were unable and perhaps unwilling to say no to Brussels.
Regarding the EU veto, he said the question is not whether you can say no, but whether it has consequences. Saying no has consequences as long as there are rights attached to it, he explained.
In actual fact, Fidesz is not vetoing the Brussels decisions as the adoption of an EU decision requires the yes vote of every Member State. As long as there is no ‘yes’ from everyone, there is no decision. “So, what I do is not that I veto a decision they made, but I’m not prepared to take part in the decision itself, meaning that a decision itself does not come into being. Therefore, the EU’s accusation that I veto their decisions is not true,” he stated in summary.
All of this is a fundamental right according to the Treaties of the European Union, and therefore he cannot consent to the cancellation of unanimous decisions. If they want to change the rule of unanimity, that itself can only be done with unanimity. “But as long as I’m alive and I’m there, this won’t work,” he observed.
Mr Orbán said so far they have tried to convince him; now, they want to replace him with another prime minister.
It is enough to make a mistake once, and then it will not be possible to enforce national interests on any issue in foreign policy anymore, “then there will be war,” he stated.
Regarding “forced conscription” in Ukraine and whether it is enough to ban those involved in it from Hungary, he said their message to the Hungarians in Transcarpathia who are finding themselves in an extremely difficult situation is that they stand with them. Each and every Hungarian soldier dying on the Ukrainian front can count on the assistance of the Hungarian government not only in words; they contact their families and help wherever they can, but “will not shout it from the rooftops,” he said.
In the context of “forced conscription,” he said it cannot be tolerated without saying a word about it. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has a mandate to keep this issue on the agenda in Brussels, he said, indicating at the same time that they keep records of everything and everything will have consequences because “everything has its own ordained time.”
It was a long time ago when we looked like losers, and allowed others to mess with us; this is over now, it is best if everyone remembers this, he said, laying down that we are in a different world.
He said the Ukrainians must not be allowed into the European Union, “we don’t want to belong to the same military or economic alliance with them because that will only lead to trouble.”
The first thing they will do will be to drag us into the war. This is true even if a peace deal is concluded in the interim because no one is able to guarantee that there will not be a war again in one or two years’ time. “There is no such thing as that a Member State of the European Union is attacked, and the others just watch this idly. No, everyone will go, soldiers, money, weapons,” Mr Orbán laid down.
The Ukrainians must not be allowed into the EU in the foreseeable future because they pose a constant war threat to us by virtue of the fact that a Russo-Ukrainian conflict might re-emerge at any time, he pointed out.
He also said our farmers are complaining about the fact that inferior, but cheaper Ukrainian products produced against the background of much less stringent Ukrainians regulations are already now posing a challenge to Hungarian agriculture. If the Ukrainians are allowed in, they will destroy Central European farmers and the Central European economy, he indicated.
He observed that they should forget about freedom of movement.
He pointed out: at the same time, we must not and it would not be reasonable to “simply shake them off ourselves.” We must form some sort of cooperation with them which is equally good for them and for us. Mr Orbán described this as strategic cooperation, and said we must cooperate with the Ukrainians, but membership is out of the question.
He said Ukrainians must stop making the constant demand in Brussels that Hungary must be detached from cheap Russian energy. As long as Ukraine keeps making this demand, it is our enemy, it violates our elementary interests, he said, adding that if there is no Russian oil and gas, in Hungary, too, we would have to pay prices that are several times higher than those at present.
If anyone, including István Kapitány, says that Hungary can be detached from cheap Russian energy and it is possible to protect the reduction of household energy bills at the same time, they are either ignorant or are lying, this is not possible, he observed.
At the event, Mr Orbán announced that at the invitation of Donald Trump, he would again meet with the US President in Washington in two weeks’ time when they would hold the inaugural session of The Board of Peace in the US capital.
The Prime Minister also said at the rally that Ukraine’s future is not settled.
Either the Russians will occupy Ukraine in its entirety, or “a scenario would set in that I wouldn’t bet on, but this is what the EU is playing for,” that Ukraine and the EU will together defeat the Russians on the front and will push them back even as far as Moscow. Meaning that another Afghanistan or something similar will evolve, but no one can say anything certain about this today, he said.
We run the least risk if we stay out of all such conflicts in the territory of Ukraine, and meanwhile make every effort to reinforce ourselves, the Prime Minister pointed out. It is for a reason that Hungary has never before had such a large foreign currency and gold reserve as today, and the country has never before spent this much money on buying modern weaponry and building the army’s capability of stopping anyone who would turn against Hungary, Mr Orbán highlighted.
Deep down, we must also prepare for a worst-case scenario, and any government that “doesn’t keep this constantly on the agenda somewhere at the back of their mind” is irresponsible, he pointed out.
He stressed: he “pushed” western energy companies out of Hungary not only because the programme and goal was to raise national ownership in the energy sector to above fifty per cent, but also because this is a national security issue. He added that it was also for security reasons that he had insisted on having Hungarian majority ownership in the banking sector as well.
Today, we are living in an era of threats, Mr Orbán stated, adding that nothing is certain regarding the future of Ukraine.
What is important for us is to have good relations with the Americans, to have good relations with the Russians, and to manage our relations as well as we can with Brussels, he said. From a military point of view, what is important is that we should not have enemies, and at the same time, we should have allies, he argued.
Today Hungary is safe, but this only remains the case as long as there is a Fidesz government, Mr Orbán said in conclusion in Szombathely.
