Viktor Orbán pointed out: “In Europe, the highest rates of economic growth are in the Central European region, in the Baltic states, the countries of the V4, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania. Without this, the EU would hardly have any economic growth today, and would be a stagnating continent”.
“Previously, people thought Central European countries were incapable of operating their economies without the Western countries, but the situation has since been reversed; the Western countries cannot operate their own economies without Central Europe”, he reminded.
According to the Prime Minister, for this reason the fact that the countries of the V4 could successfully fashion the future of the EU does not fall within the realm of dreams. “This is what I call a new reality in Europe”, he stated.
Viktor Orbán declared: “Hungary must remain in the European Union; the single market is in the country’s interests. But it would like Central European interests and aspects to be taken into consideration with a greater weight than they have been until now, that is in proportion to the region’s actual economic performance. “We feel that in comparison to our actual economic performance and weight, our influence on EU decisions is disproportionately small. This must be changed”, he noted.
With relation to protecting traditional national identity, the Prime Minister said: “The winners will be those who are most persistent”. “Education, family policy, schooling and media regulation are all issues that fall within a national sphere of competence; nobody can take these away from us”, he explained.
Mr. Orbán called the woke movement that is gaining ground intensely in the West a “new Marxism”, which “although it uses different words, follows the same ideological patterns as Marxism”. “Marxism becomes successful or popular if it is preceded by a few decades of liberal governance and preparation in which culture, tradition, history and religion are ignored”, he noted. But in Central Europe, “we are vaccinated against Marxism”, “we have a vaccine, a woke vaccine”, because Marxism was in power here for 45 years, Mr. Orbán said. “For the West, Marxism is an intellectual issue, but in Central Europe we know that if the economy and society are organised on a Marxist basis, then that will turn into a dictatorship, because Marxism and democracy are not compatible with each other”, he added.
According to Viktor Orbán, the West was a unique lifeform that grew out of Christianity and incorporated rationality, of which both enlightenment and rationality became an intrinsic part. “By combining these, it became the most competitive and successful world on Earth. This is what we are now losing because we are giving up our historical and Christian foundations”, he pointed out.
The Prime Minister noted that he had hoped that the accession of the Central European countries to the European Union would bring an anti-Communist, anti-Marxist and anti-Leninist sentiment to existing pan-European culture, but they want nothing of it.
In the interview, the Prime Minister made it clear with relation to the Child Protection Act: “Hungary has adopted a piece of legislation stating that parents have an exclusive right with relation to school education and education relating to sexual topics, and that LGBTQ activists or representatives of any other ideology are not competent with relation to this issue. Brussels wants to overwrite this, and their standpoint is that LGBTQ activists must be allowed into schools”. He emphasised that the new Act does not apply to people over the age of 18. “This is purely about protecting children”, Mr. Orbán confirmed.
The Prime Minister said the recent suggestion by French President Emanuel Macron, according to which the EU should practice an independent foreign policy, is an interesting idea. “We are approaching the idea with a wish to achieve understanding; Hungary is indeed glad to take part in debates concerning strategic autonomy and sovereignty”, he said.
Ha also mentioned that it is possible to bridge the fact that the countries of the V4 don’t speak in the same tone with relation to Russian issues. “One of the most important tasks of the European Union should be precisely to provide a European security and military guarantee to Poland and the Baltic states”, he declared.
With relation to disputes concerning natural gas, Mr. Orbán said: “We can brandish our fists, but the reality is that Europe cannot operate without Russian gas today”.
The recent visit to Budapest by Pope Francis was also recalled during the interview, with relation to which Mr. Orbán said: “Those who believe that Christianity is not just part of the past, but also part of the future, must join forces. Today, there are many power groups that want to move the European continent into a post-Christian era, and this idea is particularly popular among the ranks of the Brussels bureaucrats”. In view of the fact that the largest Christian power in global politics is after all the Vatican, he humbly asked his Holy Father to help in continuing to exist as a Christian, the Prime Minister stated.
On the topic of migration, Mr. Orbán said: “There is a double standard in Europe”. Referring to the fences constructed by Hungary and the Baltic states, he stated: “If a liberal government does something, that’s always good, but if a conservative government does something, that is always bad, even if the two things are one and the same”.
According to the Prime Minister, the EU should not admit Afghan migrants; they should remain in the region and Europe should help the region’s countries to tackle the burdens posed by people leaving Afghanistan. “But if the Germans wish, Hungary will be happy to open a corridor, and Afghan refugees can use it to reach Germany”, he said.
He drew attention to the fact that Brussels will repeatedly continue to force the distribution of migrants onto member states, “and we will have to repeatedly veto it at Council meetings, just as we did several years ago with Prime Minister Andrej Babis”.
“EU monies are something to which we are due; they must be given to us eventually, but Brussels is capable of slowing the decision”, he emphasised. “This is why the Hungarian state has taken on enough money from the money market, four and a half billion euros in credit at an interest rate under one percent, a good deal, to enable the launching of all of the development projects required to recover following the coronavirus. Not a cent has arrived from Brussels, but the Hungarian programs are already running”, he highlighted.
With relation to the introduction of a global, 15 percent rate of corporation tax, Mr. Orbán declared: “I don’t usually support any international decision that seeks to interfere in the tax policies of individual member states”.
Concerning Hungarian domestic policy issues, Mr. Orbán spoke about the fact that the “advocacy groups and the European bureaucrats” remained silent with relation to the bloody repression of demonstrations following the Őszöd speech, because they are left-wing, and always forgive the wrongdoings committed by left-wing governments.
“In Hungary, the current government is battling its predecessor, and the challenge now is to prevent the return of the participants of Gyurcsány-style governance”, the Prime Minister explained with relation to what is at stake during the course of Hungarian political struggles. “The electorate does not forget; this is why we have won three times in a row, and this is why we will also win a fourth time”, Mr. Orbán declared.
He drew a parallel between Anti-Orbán political cooperation in Hungary and anti-Babis political cooperation in the Czech Republic, stating: “The processes are the same in every Central European country. When some major power doesn’t like a government in Central Europe, they attempt to help a group that sympathises with them and serves their interests to gain power”.
“Those who are protesting on the side of Europe are in fact protesting against Czech and Hungarian sovereignty, and this is being supported from the outside by the ‘Soros network’ and the Brussels bureaucracy. Today, Brussels needs servile governments rather than those who fight for their country’s independence”, the Prime Minister highlighted.
Concerning relations between the Czechs and Hungarians, he said: “There are differences between the two peoples: the Hungarians are more attracted to Christian intellectual traditions, and the national sentiment is also more radical in the Hungarians, and this is also evident in the manner of the two leaders, but nobody can deny that Andrej Babis is one of the greatest fighters in Europe”.
In reaction to the German elections, Mr. Orbán said: “Something new is happening in Germany”. “I am used to emphatic German leaders; Bismarck, Helmut Kohl, and also Angela Merkel were leaders of this kind. If there is a dispute, a leader is always able to summarise and close these disputes, and then create a predictable Germany. The great question now is whether this election result gives rise to a predictable and dependable Germany that is led by a great Chancellor”.
