He said that once again the day had come which lifts the heart of every Hungarian, the day when the word “Freedom” had been written in the Hungarian language in the great book of world history.
Mr. Orbán stressed that in barely more than three weeks’ time “we will again decide the fate of Hungary”, and at that in this election what is at stake is not only a four-year term. He highlighted that “Together we have realised many things […] we have fought many great fights and memorable battles. But the greatest thing that we could realise in our lives, the greatest battle that we could fight together is still ahead of us”.
Others want to take our country from us
According to the Prime Minister, others want to take Hungary away from Hungarians, but “Not with the stroke of a pen, as happened one hundred years ago at Trianon; now they want us to voluntarily hand our country over to others, over a period of a few decades. They want us to hand it over to foreigners coming from other continents, who do not speak our language, and who do not respect our culture, our laws or our way of life.” He added that others want outsiders from now on to increasingly live in the country, instead of Hungarians and their descendants. He observed that “we see the great Western European countries and nations losing their countries: little by little, district by district and city by city”.
He said that countries which do not stop immigration at their borders will be lost: they will simply be “consumed”. External forces and international powers want to force this upon Hungary, he stressed, “with the assistance of their satellites here in our country”, and they see the upcoming election as a good opportunity for this.
In his speech the Prime Minister wished for a Hungary that remains a free, independent and Hungarian country. “Everything that we need today is included in these words”, he stressed, adding that Hungary is a country that was, and “the question is whether it will be”.
He stated that “not only do we want to win an election, but also our future”, going on to say that “We, the millions with national feelings, are on one side; the elite ‘citizens of the world’ are on the other side”. In other words, “On one side, national and democratic forces; and on the other side, supranational and anti-democratic forces”.
According to the Prime Minister, Europe – and within it the Hungarian people – have reached a turning point in world history: “National and globalist forces have never squared up to each other so openly”.
He said that the work to be completed is far from over, and while the results of the past eight years speak for themselves, and it is important to remind oneself of them, this is not enough. Hungarians “must defend our achievements so far, and enter battle to ensure that there will even be any point in continuing”, he said, because “If in the future the country is not Hungarian, what is the point of progress?”
Mr. Orbán argued that Europe and Hungary are in the midst of a civilisational struggle, and are facing a mass population movement which poses a threat to life: to people’s way of life as we have known it.
He stated that “we do not need to fight the anaemic little opposition parties, but an international network which is organised into an empire. We are up against media outlets maintained by foreign concerns and domestic oligarchs, professional hired activists, troublemaking protest organisers, and a chain of NGOs financed by an international speculator, summed up by and embodied in the name ‘George Soros’”.
The Prime Minister highlighted that “We have grown from Christian culture, and we make a distinction between a person and their actions. We have never hated anyone, and we shall not hate anyone. On the contrary, we continue to believe in the power of compassion and solidarity”.
He stated, however, that he will fight against what George Soros’s empire is doing to Hungary and what it wants to do to Hungary: “This is our homeland, this is our life, and we have no other. Therefore we shall fight for it to the end and we shall never surrender”.
The Prime Minister said: “We know that ultimately in every electoral district [‘a Soros candidate’] will stand against our candidates. Their task is to win power and implement the grand plan: to break Hungary, which stands in the path of immigrants; and first to settle thousands, then tens upon tens of thousands of immigrants in Hungary within a few years”.
He pointed out that “Europe is now under invasion. If we allow it to happen, in the next one or two decades tens upon tens of millions will set out for Europe from Africa and the Middle East”. He also stated that “Brussels is not defending Europe and it is not halting immigration, but wants to support it and organise it “.
The Prime Minister stressed that those who raise their hands in surrender have laid down their weapons, they will no longer decide on their own fate, and the history of the defeated will be written by others. The young people of Western Europe will see this, he said, “when they become minorities in their own countries, and they have lost the only place in the world that could be called home”.
He predicted that the European people will not forgive their leaders, who are changing Europe completely without consulting them. The Hungarian government is the only one in Europe that has asked the people whether they wanted mass immigration, he highlighted.
Regarding the parliamentary election in three weeks’ time, he said that “We know [the candidates]. There are those we have fought for thirty years, and those we have fought for ten years”. He added that “They themselves admitted that they are able to lie morning, noon and night”.
We must prepare for a single “Soros candidate” facing our candidate
The Prime Minister believes one must prepare for “a situation in which ultimately in every constituency our candidate will be standing against one Soros candidate. Perhaps more will seem to be standing, with some of them pulling the handbrake”. There will be others who will be in disguise, “like last time, when they hid behind a candidate posing as an independent”, he remarked.
The Prime Minister stressed that everyone knows that Hungarians opposed to immigration are in the majority. The opponents only have a chance if they manage to “divide our camp, and if they manage to dismantle our unity”. Their goal, he continued, “is for any subject to come up for debate, except the danger which threatens Hungary”.
“Our opponents also know that now Hungary’s fate could be decided for decades to come. Therefore they will stop at nothing: they will not argue, but censor; they will not fight, but pinch, kick, bite and sow hatred wherever they go”, he said. “We are calm and good-humoured people, but we are neither blind nor gullible. After the election we will of course seek amends – moral, political and legal amends – but we cannot waste our strength or our time on that now. We shall shake off the attacks as a dog shakes off water. We shall focus our strength only on our mission, and only on our common goal: the defence of Hungary.”
He called upon the audience not to forget “the first law of electoral battle: unity is strength, one camp, one flag, and we need everyone”.
As he put it, “we must fight against an opponent which is different from us. Their faces are not visible, but are hidden from view; they do not fight directly, but by stealth; they are not honourable, but unprincipled; they are not national, but international; they do not believe in work, but speculate with money; they have no homeland, but feel that the whole world is theirs. They are not generous, but vengeful, and always attack the heart – especially if it is red, white and green”.
But, he continued, “Hungarian history has accustomed us to fighting for that which is the natural prerogative of more fortunate peoples. For us a single tremor is enough, a lame duck government is enough, an election result which goes awry is enough, and everything is set adrift – everything that we have spent years of hard work on”.
He said that a cowardly people has no homeland, but the Hungarians summoned up courage when they needed to – even though it was never easy. He reminded his audience that Prime Minister Gyula Andrássy was sentenced to death by the Emperor in Vienna, Ferenc Rákóczi II died in exile, Lajos Kossuth was driven away by the Austrians, and Prime Minister István Tisza was shot by the communists.
It was never easy, “but still in the end we always won”, he stressed. “In the end we sent the Sultan home with his Janissaries, the Habsburg emperor with his accomplices and the Soviets with their comrades. And now we will send Uncle Georgie home, together with his network. We ask you to go back to America and make Americans happy rather than us”, Mr. Orbán said.
He said that it is quite a mystery that, after all their troubles, the Hungarians are still here after a thousand years. He added that this is perhaps because “we always knew that our existence has a meaning beyond ourselves”. He went on to say that “We know that neither are we a blameless people, and in our history there have been dark hours and cold days; but we are certain that we have given more to the world than we have taken from it. Without Hungarians the world would be a poorer place, the history of Central Europe would be more painful”.
Again and again we shall win, because Hungary belongs to the Hungarian people
“We have no reason to be afraid. All we have to say is that those who are Hungarians will join our ranks, and we shall win. Again and again we shall win, because Hungary belongs to the Hungarian people”.
He highlighted that “In 2010, when we once more stood up on our own feet, when we rose up and in Brussels and in the other centres of empire we started to fight for the Hungarians, we were still alone. But then along came the Poles, the Slovaks and the Czechs. Then America elected an anti-immigration president and the British struck out on their own path. To this day Israel stands firm. Then in Austria the patriots came to power and the Italians also rejected immigration.”
There will be no second chance, no examination to retake: the future is now at stake
According to Mr. Orbán, the only question is whether the Hungarians have learnt from the mistakes of others: “Have we learnt that one can only ruin something once – and if we have lost it once, that is the end? There will be no second chance, no examination to retake. If the dam bursts, then the water floods in, and the cultural occupation will become irreversible. The stakes that are the future have been put on the table.”
The Prime Minister then addressed young people. In his view, young people may now believe that the whole world is theirs, and that they can “take on all comers”. They are right, he said, for “a lack of ambition is the definition of mediocrity. And life is good for nothing if you do not do something with it”.
However, he continued, “there will come a moment when you realise that one needs a place, a language, a home where one is among one’s own, and where one can live one’s life in safety, surrounded by the goodwill of others. A place where one can return to, and where one can feel that there is a point to life, and that in the end it will not just slide into oblivion. By contrast, it adds to and becomes a part of the majestic thousand-year-old creation which we simply call our homeland: the Hungarian homeland.”
Young Hungarians, now the homeland needs you
“Young Hungarians, now the homeland needs you. The homeland needs you; come and fight with us, so that when you need it, your homeland will still be there for you”, he enjoined them.
“I think that we have said everything that needs to be said. We have harnessed up, saddled up and prepared for the three-week election campaign ahead of us”, he said, adding that “All that remains is for us to ask for God’s help”. He went on to recite the Hungarian National Anthem together with the crowd.
Mr. Orbán concluded his speech thus: “Hungarians! Lift the flags high! Advance to battle! Long live Hungarian freedom, long live the homeland! Forward to victory! Go for it Hungary, go for it Hungarians!”
At the beginning of his address, the Prime Minister had specifically welcomed the Polish participants in the Peace March, which had arrived in Kossuth tér. “Our closeness is natural, and our embrace is a source of strength”, he said, adding that “If Poland is strong, Hungary cannot be lost; if we are strong, we can help our Polish friends […] Honour to Poland! Honour to Hungary!”
Gates had been installed at the entrances to Kossuth tér, where an enormous number of attendees carried national flags and signs with the names of their local settlements. The umbrellas of several of those in the crowd were in the national colours of red, white and green. The slogan displayed on the stage read: “15 March. The homeland before all else”.