The Prime Minister said that he is always present when Hungarian national interests must be fought for, but will not be taking part in this debate, because he does not want to assist a pro-immigration campaign event.
Commenting on the debate, he said that “Pro-immigration European Union MEPs are coming together for a straightforward witch trial, in which they will roundly condemn a country that they don’t like: in this case Hungary”. Another reason he gave for not taking part in the debate is that “in five months these people will all be gone: this model is going out of production, and a new parliament is on its way”.
He also observed that the lead candidate of the European left, “the main strength of the pro-immigration forces” is First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, whom he described as “George Soros’s man”. Mr. Orbán said that this means Soros is now openly set on capturing European institutions.
In the Prime Minister’s opinion, the continuation of the infringement proceedings against Hungary also indicates the huge influence of Mr. Soros, who wants to gain even more. This must be prevented in the elections to the European Parliament (EP), he added, because “we want the pro-immigration MEPs to be reduced to a minority in the European Parliament”.
Mr. Orbán also spoke about two recent EP decisions: the tripling of funding for “Soros NGOs” and the tying of EU funding to “rule of law” criteria. He described the former as “a decision that serves and implements Point 6 of the Soros Plan”. He said the latter is a simple-minded proposal, which will not become reality because it goes against current EU regulations, as it would require the authorisation of every Member State – and he will certainly not accept this regulation.
He pointed out that “Fidesz opposed these decisions that go against Hungary, but the Hungarian opposition supported them”.
With regard to the National Consultation on family protection, the Prime Minister highlighted that very many people – 1.38 million citizens – returned completed questionnaires. In his evaluation this means that a large proportion of Hungarian society is prepared to take action on important issues, and thereby create points of agreement.
He went on to say that during the Consultation it emerged that the safety of children is paramount. Since currently child protection is fragmented within the legal system, he has asked Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás to draw up a concept for a unified framework which addresses the most important child protection challenges of the modern age and includes the government responses that may be given to them.
He also drew attention to the fact that, according to the Hungarians, demographic difficulties must be solved through family policy and not immigration. He called this a historic decision.
In relation to supporting young people making a start in life, he stated that Minister of State for Family and Youth Policy Katalin Novák has drawn up a “long and very costly” family protecting action plan, within which support for young people with children has been given top priority, and which includes introduction of a new element of Hungarian social and family policy. The Prime Minister is expected to provide detailed information on this in February.
Asked whether certain family protection measures will be included in the Constitution, the Prime Minister said that there are certain elements of family policy that it would be worth setting down at constitutional level, but care must be exercised with regard to the extent.
Moving on to the state of the Hungarian economy, Mr. Orbán highlighted that in terms of investment Hungary is today one of the world’s ten best countries.
He said that the Government’s target is for Hungarian economic growth to exceed that of the EU by at least 2 per cent every year, because in that event “we will be developing much more rapidly that the other countries, meaning that Hungary’s competitive advantage and the resulting opportunity for prosperity, a higher standard of living and a happier life will also increase”.
In relation to the reduction of government debt, he said: “Today the Hungarian economy would be capable of reducing debt from its current level of 71 per cent to under 50 per cent within a year or two”. In this case, however, “we would have less in the budget to spend on economic development”. He concluded that “A balance must be found, in which government debt is reduced – and if possible rapidly – but meanwhile a high proportion of economic development funding is also available”.
Concerning film producer and Government Commissioner for the Hungarian Film Industry Andrew G. Vajna, who passed away last week, he stated that Andy Vajna “couldn’t have cared less” about party politics, but he loved his country very much, and it says a lot that perhaps the most poignant film ever made about 1956 – Szabadság, szerelem (Children of Glory) – was his creation.
He added that “We are a difficult people, and it’s not easy to be successful in Hungary. […] Unfortunately, in Hungary the environment rarely inspires us to succeed and perform outstandingly”. Nevertheless, he noted, “in Hungary it is very difficult to create something, but there have always been and will always be people who undertake to do so. Andy Vajna was such a man”.
In closing Mr. Orbán said: “He was a wonderful man, and his passing is a serious loss. We have lost a man who loved Hungary passionately, and who succeeded in achieving world fame […] within a field that is extremely sensitive in the modern age: the field of cinema. The question of who acted positively or negatively will be decided by everyone upon self-examination; I don’t think that is the job of the Prime Minister”.