Mr. President,
Good morning, and greetings to you all. The end of our conversation, the end of the meeting, did indeed come down to the simple question of whether I would be able to cope with the task of forming a government. My clear answer to this question was “yes”. I make no secret of the fact – and I made no secret of it when talking to the President – that I am extremely pleased to be here, to be commissioned to form a government for the third time in Sándor Palace, and for the fifth time overall.
As I understand it, the interest of you and the public is today primarily focused on the composition of the new government. This is the subject on which I usually receive the most questions, but I do not want to answer them now. This is not only because I am unwilling to do so, but also because in preparing the formation of a government I have not yet reached the point at which I am able to inform you of any specifics. I am in contact with several candidates for ministerial posts. These discussions are progressing well, and I have reached agreement with some candidates. But there are others with whom I have not yet been able to reach agreement, so at this stage it would be premature to talk about any specifics. I will maintain the approach that has guided my work when forming all four of my previous governments. On all previous occasions we – the civic and national side – have formed governments by basing their composition and structure on an understanding of the tasks confronting us in the coming four years. As was the case when I formed my previous governments, I now want to – and will – agree on a four-year programme of work with each minister and secretary of state. After four years a mandate expires, and after four years a new government is formed. This is necessary, because all over Europe life is undergoing rapid change, and Hungary always needs a government that is best suited to respond to the challenges facing the country. The structure of the Government must be designed in line with this logic, and the individuals who lead it must be selected accordingly.
You too can see the conditions and the situation in Europe. I am certain you can see – and to understand it one does not need to be a leading politician – that the decade ahead of us will be different from the one behind us. To put it simply, I can tell you that the decade ahead will be a decade of perils: there is a war, and the consequence of this is rising prices across the whole of Europe; there are signs of a serious energy crisis, with resultant torments for European economies; and we have not yet emerged from a period of pandemics. On 3 April people made a clear decision showing that they expect their country’s leaders to protect them from these threats, and to protect Hungary: the country must stay out of the war and there must be responses to the unfolding European economic crisis that enable Hungary to preserve the gains it has made.
You can also see that there is not yet a new government, but that in recent days decisions have been taken by the “old” government. The logic according to which all of these can be understood is the need to protect Hungary from external effects which present a serious challenge in a decade full of dangers. Therefore you have seen that we have prolonged the price freeze on petrol and food, and that the steep rise in prices has also led us to increase pensions. I have promised the President, the President of the Republic, that I will form a government that – both collectively and in terms of its individual members – will continue to be capable of protecting Hungary in the dangerous decade ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity of saying this to you.
