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Today, there is a political consensus in Hungary, and the Constitution, too, lays down, that the Hungarian government bears responsibility for the Hungarians living beyond the borders as well, the Prime Minister said. He stressed at the same time that the introduction of the institution of dual citizenship had been one of the historical deeds of the national government, and that they had also launched economic development programmes.
In the public service media’s temporary local studio in Tusnádfürdő (Baile Tusnad), Mr Orbán said the borders of the Hungarian state and the Hungarian nation do not coincide, “we lost territories, things were taken away from us, and therefore, one third of Hungary’s population found themselves outside the borders.” “When you’re a Hungarian and think about the future, when you think about yourself, you should consider not only the Hungarians living in Hungary, but should also include the Hungarians living beyond the borders. We call this ‘thinking in terms of a nation,’” he said.
He mentioned that the volume of trade between Romania and Hungary exceeded EUR 13 billion, meaning that this was an extremely important economic relationship for Hungary. Therefore, when we conduct economic development programmes in territories beyond the borders, they effectively expand the opportunities of Hungarian trade.
“Then there are educational and cultural institutions. At any given point in time, around 230,000 young people study in Hungarian in the Carpathian Basin. We built and refurbished hundreds of nursery schools and creches. It’s important for us that the Hungarian children to be born should be able to learn and study in Hungarian-language institutions, to learn about and to understand the world in Hungarian,” he stated.
Among the “practical consequences” of thinking in terms of a nation, the Prime Minister mentioned the construction of motorways all the way to the country borders as they also connect us with the Hungarian communities living there. He indicated that at present there were two connections with Transylvania, but a motorway in the direction of Szatmárnémeti (Satu Mare) would soon be completed, and they would also “open” Békés County from the direction of Nagyszalonta (Salonta).
Mr Orbán stressed that ‘thinking in terms of a nation’ manifested itself in almost every facet of life and politics, from transport, through culture, fiscal policy, citizenship, all the way to education policy, and in order for this to succeed, it helped if bilateral relations with the countries in which Hungarian minorities lived were good.
Regarding the fact that before arriving in Tusnádfürdő, he met with the Romanian prime minister in Bucharest, he said “we start from a good position as last year Hungarian diplomacy accomplished a fantastic feat, given that we did away with physical borders between Hungary and Romania,” this is a joint achievement, Romania was admitted to the Schengen Area during Hungary’s EU presidency.
“Based on history, based on relations between the two countries, the Romanians could expect us the least to help them, but the very opposite of this happened. We were the ones who – cooperating well with them – managed to achieve this,” he said.
Mr Orbán described the Romanian prime minister who previously served as mayor of Nagyvárad (Oradea) as a serious person who had clear ideas. The situation in Romania is very difficult, they must rise to extremely severe economic challenges, the management of which requires much expertise, but “I met with a determined prime minister who is experienced, and so Romania has a good chance of overcoming its problems under his leadership,” Mr Orbán pointed out.
The Prime Minister described the Tusnádfürdő summer free university as the escape of Hungarian politics. Mr Orbán, who will address the event on Saturday, said perspective is extremely important in politics. Politics is concerned with the administration of day-to-day affairs, and it is a pleasant experience for both politicians and those who are only interested in politics to sometimes escape from this narrow perspective and to step out into a wider space, to talk about what will happen tomorrow, what will happen in 2030, 2040 or 2050, what the meaning and perspective of what they do is, he argued.
He added that the whole thing was given an intellectual sparkle, some extra energy, excitement that “somehow liberates us.” The event should not be regarded as a free university in the sense that there are concerts, there is culture and there is politics, but more in the sense that it opens a perspective before the participants, freeing them from the daily confinement, liberating them, Mr Orbán pointed out.
The Prime Minister said last year he spoke about the fact that there was an overarching Hungarian strategy, and he flashed up some of its items. On Saturday, he will go one step further and will introduce some important elements of the strategy.
Regarding Ukraine, Mr Orbán highlighted that Hungary had an elementary interest in persevering with its position rejecting Ukraine’s EU membership. Ukraine’s EU membership is unacceptable for Hungary because if we admit Ukraine, we also admit the war, and “we will become the site of the war.” Admitting a country at war to the European Union means that we also admit the war, and geographically this affects most the region that neighbours the EU Member State at war, he explained.
This is impermissible, this would destroy Hungary, he stated, adding that many Hungarians would die, our young people would be taken away, we would become involved in a war, we would have to sustain terrible devastation, and our economy would be in ruins.
Meaning that membership is out of the question as it is irrevocable, he said. Whomever the EU admits, it also admits its fate, and today, Ukraine’s fate is that it is a buffer state neighbouring Russia. We do not want to share this fate, the Hungarians only just escaped from this fate as we ourselves were a buffer state during the Cold War. We were not a part of the Soviet Union, but were located on the western periphery of the Soviet Union.
He highlighted that instead of EU membership, Hungary proposed settled strategic cooperation resting on contractual foundations between the EU and Ukraine; one that could be maintained, terminated or adjusted as the situation warranted.
He also spoke about the fact that Ukraine levelled very serious threats at Hungary which he tried to manage calmly, with strategic composure. “There is no place for hot-headed action, this is not a stage,” he said. “When necessary, I let these comments pass, when necessary, I take them seriously, when necessary, I order counter-measures on the part of our secret services and law enforcement agencies, meaning that we respond appropriately every time even if we don’t always shout it from the rooftops,” he said in continuation.
At the same time, the Ukrainians are increasingly infiltrating Hungarian politics, the media and the realm of experts, meaning that we must defend ourselves. He observed that he knew the journalists who specifically stood for the Ukrainian position “in an agent-like fashion” in Hungary, while the Ukrainians have also infiltrated the world of experts, he said, mentioning as an example expert opinions which claim that Hungarians set the church in Transcarpathia on fire in order to provoke a conflict, “which is nothing short of insane.” Evidently, you do not say nonsense like that of your own accord, “there are interests in the background.” Ukraine is increasingly infiltrating – not publicly, but covertly, in the dark, grey zone –Hungarian public life, politics. We must defend ourselves against this, and we always take counter-measures appropriate in their weight, we will not hesitate, he said, adding that the Ukrainians know us, and they, too, are aware that we will defend our national interests to the very last.
Farmers would be the greatest losers, while some multinational companies already present in Ukraine would be the winners if the EU budget was shaped according to the European Commission’s present concept, the Prime Minister stressed. He said according to the Brussels plans, over a period of seven years, Ukraine would be given grants worth EUR 360 to 370 billion; each year, this would be the equivalent of 18 times the money Hungary spends on pension payments, while some of these grants would come directly from Hungarian payments.
To put this into perspective, Mr Orbán said the annual Hungarian gross domestic product amounts to EUR 200 billion, meaning that “we’re talking about an enormous sum by Hungarian standards.” In theory, every European citizen stands to lose on this because we unnecessarily burn this money in Ukraine, Mr Orbán stated, adding that among the losers of such a fiscal change, farmers would occupy a prominent position, given that, on the one hand, Brussels “wants to take a lot of money away from them and to redirect it to Ukraine,” while on the other, with Ukraine’s accession, farmers would also lose markets as in Ukraine, the conditions of agricultural production are completely different.
He stressed that in the EU agricultural production was much costlier due to compliance with various community regulations, and as a result, “competition would not be fair if you could import produce to the European market from there where farmers can produce more cheaply, while we’re forced to make production more expensive.” We must protect our farmers, the Prime Minister laid down, adding that it is shocking that an expert of the Tisza Party referred to farmers as trained chimpanzees for having adjusted their production to the existing subsidisation regime. You cannot speak about people like this, and on the other hand, this is a flawed diagnosis, Mr Orbán stated, observing that there is an arch of evolution in the wordings used as the Left’s previous candidate for prime minister described right-wing people as mushrooms fed with manure.
The Prime Minister described the planned tightening in Brussels of the conditions attached to the rule of law as a regime for political blackmail, stating that it is “a political truncheon which has nothing to do with the rule of law.” He observed that at present, the biggest violator of the rule of law was the European Commission itself. “This is the cheekiest thing I’ve ever seen, an imperial centre that is trampling on the rule of law criticising a Member State on the grounds of the rule of law,” he said.
Regarding the affair of the Irish band Kneecap banned from Hungary, the Prime Minister said it is not the Hungarian government that should have intervened; the organisers should have had the sense not to invite the band. “Initially, to tell you the truth, I was very angry with them. How can they put Hungary into such a position?” he observed, adding that for days they were looking for a legal solution that enabled them to ban the band from Hungary. The legal system is very clearly based on the position that Hungary is a free country, an island of peace, and the underlying tenet is that we live together in peace here, and no one can be hurt even verbally on account of their religion or ethnicity. There is no place for this here, he laid down.
Mr Orbán said this affair is not about artistic self-expression, but „already about the elections.” He said the situation is the same in the United States, the majority of show business “line up behind liberal, left-wing parties, the same thing is happening in Hungary, too, and that they also get paid for this, we should have no doubt, such is life.”
The Prime Minister pointed out that the people did not like to be told by popular or even respected figures of show business how to think about life and politics. This has not worked in the United States either so far, he stated, adding that in a political sense “this, rather than harming those who are attacked, may well benefit them.”
