Ailments of Hungarian economy stem, without exception, from the war

Without exception, the ailments of the Hungarian economy stem from the war and its consequences, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated on Friday on Kossuth Radio's programme 'Good morning Hungary.' Mr Orbán said after the US presidential election they submitted to Parliament a peace budget, and next year could be a fantastic, great, unprecedented year.

The Prime Minister said he has been saying for a long time that the war must be brought to a conclusion also on the basis of human and Christian considerations as people in the hundreds of thousands are dying and with every day there will be thousands more orphans and widows in Ukraine and Russia. However, there is another argument, a Hungarian argument. "For us this war - also from the viewpoint of our pockets, our economy, our incomes, our living standards - is an utter pest, it's best to put an end to it as soon as possible," he said.

He argued that the poor response given to the war, the flawed sanctions - for which the Brussels leaders are to blame - had led to a rise in energy prices, this in turn had brought about inflation, and in the whole economy "the attitude of how to become better" had been replaced with "a defensive posture," the atmosphere had changed. If we are unable to put an end to this, if optimism is not restored in the economy, if businesses do not believe in what they do, there will be no economic growth. Therefore, in order for the country to become successful again, the war must be brought to a conclusion, he stressed.

Mr Orbán recalled that in recent periods Hungarian diplomacy had worked hard to restore peace; they achieved everything they could, they made every effort and attempt, "at times, earning the wrath of others." But "we needed a protagonist" who is strong enough to restore peace, this is why the US presidential election was important, he stated.

He pointed out that they were required to plan next year's budget on the basis of two sets of logic: if there is peace or if there is no peace. In continuation, the Prime Minister said for various reasons he had been certain for quite some time that Donald Trump would return, and therefore Hungary has a carefully elaborated budget.

Regarding the 2025 budget, Mr Orbán said there will be a robust growth, but in actual fact, he would have preferred to see words such as 'fantastic,' 'splendid' and 'unprecedented' in connection with the description of the budget. "In 2025, things will indeed happen in Hungary like never before, and regarding which using the word 'fantastic' is not unjustified at all," he laid down.

The Prime Minister pointed out that this budget was the budget of a new economic policy; they are closing a chapter and are opening up new perspectives, hope and new opportunities. Next year's budget will primarily focus on the smallest players, "on families, first of all." He spoke about the doubling of the family tax benefit and the fact that they are engaged in major wage negotiations with employers and trade unions. They would like to increase wages as the only help the government is able to offer the people against price rises is if it gives them the opportunity to earn more money, he said, adding that they set a very high, very ambitious, multiannual goal, the goal of reaching a one-million-forint average income in Hungary.

He mentioned housing as the topic of the next major action plan. Several measures are aimed at making the costs of home purchase and housing affordable, and so they are now trying something which we have not had before and to which he attaches high hopes. He said employers will be able to offer young workers under the age of 35 years preferential housing support of up to HUF 150,000 a month - maximum HUF 1.8 million a year - which can be used for rental or, in the event of purchasing a home, for the amortisation of the loan. He indicated that they had been thinking about this for some time now, that rather than going in the direction of building state housing - because that would lead us back to the communist times - they should incentivise private sector players to provide housing support for their young workers. This will be a major attraction, businesses that are able to provide such housing support will find themselves at a major competitive advantage in attracting skilled and talented young people, he pointed out.

He further spoke about the fact that the programme bearing the name of Sándor Demján will help small businesses with capital to grow in size, and to gain in strength. He added that with the new worker loan, they would be able to help young workers with starting an independent life; rather than merely saying that work must be appreciated and rewarded, they will now be able to offer them tangible support. In his view, they are introducing measures overall which have not been part of Hungarian economic policy to date.

Regarding the current situation in the wake of the US presidential election, Mr Orbán said the wind has calmed down. Up until now, the boat had sailed fast, the wind had blown, the campaign had been nothing short of a hurricane, and it had moved the pro-peace boat forward at a high speed; the struggle between pro-peace and pro-war forces was continually on the agenda. "The pro-peace presidential candidate won, and now we're waiting for peace," he said, adding that the question is what will happen in America until Donald Trump enters into office on 20 January, whether the incumbent US leaders acknowledge that the pro-peace presidential candidate won.

He pointed out that if there was democracy, if there was integrity, they should stop intensifying their war efforts and their commitment to the war. Instead, they should give the new pro-peace president a chance to implement his programme as easily as possible. He also said Donald Trump is not president yet, and under American law, taking action in a non-presidential capacity is a risky endeavour. As there are constant attempts to lock Donald Trump up, in his view, he will think long and hard about what he can and what he cannot do in this interim situation and during this interim period. The sailing boat of peace is out there on the open sea, having come to a halt. We have a difficult, exciting and complex two months ahead, he said in summary.

He pointed out that we had a single job; we must work hard in order to achieve change in Brussels.

Just because a pro-peace fellow fighter won in America, no change has occurred in Brussels yet. We must continually urge a pro-peace turnaround in order to nip in the bud the very thought that we are able to continue this war even without the Americans, he said, adding that this notion has supporters, they must be tackled and forced to engage in a reasonable dialogue so that they finally tell us how they think we will be able to support Ukraine without the Americans without destroying our own economies. There is no doubt about it that in Europe we do not have the kind the money that would be necessary for financing this war without America, Mr Orbán stated. Hungary must continue its struggle for peace, this time in Brussels, with a result under its belt that conveys a great promise in America, he stressed.

He added that unless we implemented certain reforms in the next six months, the French President's prophecy - that the European Union could die within two to three years - could come true. Among the main tasks, he mentioned the reduction of energy prices which also involved a review of the sanctions, and the implementation of an anti-bureaucracy reform. In the next six months, we will have to achieve these two goals, these two results, Mr Orbán said, stating in answer to a question that he believes that there is a 30 per cent chance of success, adding that "it is therefore very important we shouldn't wait for Brussels." We must rebel wherever Brussels wants to force on us something that is bad for Hungarian families; we must rebel openly and without hesitation.

The Prime Minister described the Hungarian budget as an open revolt, saying that it continues to feature the reduction of household utility charges. At the same time, the government is introducing housing and small business promotion programmes, while next year more than 300 new state-financed projects will be launched in Hungary. They will launch major railway projects, motorway refurbishment and construction projects are under way, we are also building a new university, and we will perhaps finally have money for the Heim Pál Children's Hospital as well. Major, overarching projects will start here which are in stark contrast with everything that Brussels does and thinks, Mr Orbán said.

The Prime Minister said 10 to 15 years ago the development of the United States and Europe was neck and neck, but since then the European economy has increased by 15 per cent, while the American by 65 per cent, "the Americans have overtaken us by a large margin." The European institutions must conduct a profound self-assessment because they have evidently messed up the past 10 to 15 years, the Prime Minister stated.

He also spoke about the fact that Hungary has fallen out of its pace of growth much less; however, Member States richer than ourselves "have had terrible years," in the absence of a reduction of household utility costs, the drastic increase in energy prices "has eaten up, has devoured a considerable part of family incomes." There is no such race that the Americans pay four times less for electricity and gas than the Europeans and we win, not them. You cannot win like this, Mr Orbán laid down, describing this competitive disadvantage as one that cannot be compensated for. He observed that "with such a policy of sanctions, energy prices will not go down." He added that the review would be painful for those who had argued for the sanctions. "Not for us because we will experience this as a victory." However, without taking this step, they will destroy the European economy.

He said "we must also start an anti-bureaucratic revolution" because in the EU the second biggest problem is that "there are so many idiotic, unrealistic rules that are alien to real life" that they simply kill the economy.

Mr Orbán further spoke about the fact that the Draghi report presented at last week's Budapest EU summit had truly hit home and had induced European leaders to make decisions. He added that the report, drafted by a former president of the European Central Bank at Brussels' request, concludes regarding the state of the European economy that Europe is pursuing a path that inevitably leads to suicide. He said the language of Brussels politics is similar to the language of the French royal courts where there is a competition about "who can compose softer, more velvety and more tuneful songs" about European unity and European values, instead of facing the real problems.

In Budapest, however, there was no scope for such speech due to the Draghi Report, and this brought about an atmosphere and a moment when everyone agreed that if indeed this was the situation - and Mario Draghi whom everyone respects within the EU says so - we must take it seriously, we must make decisions and we must start on the path of implementing them. This is how the Budapest understanding and the Budapest declaration on competitiveness came about "on which we managed to bring all Member States on board unexpectedly smoothly," Mr Orbán said.

Regarding the national consultation, the Prime Minister said they need munitions for the battles in Brussels, and in democracy, the people themselves, the people's will is the strongest political argument. If you have that, then you can fight, he pointed out. The other purpose of the consultation, he said, is to enable the one to one and a half million people participating in it to exchange a few words with one another about affairs "concerning the common future of all of us." "In this sense, the national consultation is also capable of communalising political debates, the overarching issues facing the country," Mr Orbán said, asking everyone to complete the questionnaire, to devote a few minutes to discussing with others what they think.

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