PM Orban: We must clamp down on unjustified price hikes

It is unacceptable that multinational companies and large food chains raise prices unjustifiably, and we must take action against this, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview with Kossuth Radio this morning. Regarding EU disputes, PM Orban said that Hungary has fulfilled its commitments, and Brussels now owes money to Hungarians. On the issue of migration, the Hungarian premier said that we do not want a migrant quota, nor a migrant ghetto, and if we do not want them, there will be none.

Budapest, 2023. július 26. A Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda által közreadott képen Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök a Karmelita kolostorban tartott kormányülésen 2023. július 26-án. MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán Fotó: Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán

In Baile Tusnad, Hungary's prime minister invited the audience to think together, and in his opinion, it is telling how everyone reacted. In this morning's radio interview, Viktor Orban was first asked about the international reactions to his speech delivered at the Balvanyos Free Summer University and Student Camp in Baile Tusnad [popularly called Tusvanyos]. In response, the prime minister said that Tusvanyos is a free university, which makes the genre of his speeches interesting.

"Baile Tusnad is an iconic place for the national side," Viktor Orban said.

"The Left in Hungary has become provincial," PM Orban pointed out, adding that not only the international, but also the Hungarian reactions are telling. There is an intellectual drive in politics, he noted. In response to the Romanian reactions, he said he had met Romania's new prime minister, with whom serious he believed serious things could be accomplished.

"Slovakia is a more difficult case because elections will be held there," he noted. It would be a mistake to draw the issue of separated territories into the centre of Slovak-Hungarian relations, he pointed out, adding that he also sees great potentials in Slovak-Hungarian relations.

We should put the focus on the future

PM Orban emphasized.

As for the Czechs, he said that they prefer to argue with each other and now they are more in favour of federalism.

We must clamp down on inflation

"We have encountered two different meteors in three years," PM Orban  said in answer to a question. In response to the economic impact of Covid, jobs had to be protected, he noted.

"However, Hungarians are hard pressed by inflation because of the war," Viktor Orban pointed out. In this situation, protecting Hungarian families through household utility cost cuts is the most important, the Hungarian premier stressed.

We pay the least for utility bills in the whole of Europe, and this is a huge achievement, Viktor Orban highlighted, pointing out that the next step is to curb inflation by various measures. This process has already begun, he noted. "Price caps, compulsory discount prices, a price monitoring system," PM Orban listed the government measures designed to facilitate the process.

"While the whole country is fighting inflation, the multinationals and the big food chains are behaving like price speculators, raising prices even when there is no basis for doing so," Mr Orban said.

 "We will not tolerate price cartels, and artificial price rises, we cannot accept unjustified price hikes, and we must take action against them," the prime minister made clear.

The authorities are at work, he said, noting that the competition authority has already imposed fines. This is the way forward, he said, stressing that everyone must comply with the regulation on compulsory discount prices.

Talking about peace always makes sense

It always makes sense to talk about peace, the Hungarian premier said, because there is a war, which has so far claimed hundreds of thousands of victims. If the voice of peace is not strong enough, the general perception among politicians will be that war is the only solution, he remarked.

Perseverance is needed to ensure that Hungary country remains the voice of peace, PM Orban said. He noted that Ukraine has practically lost its sovereignty, as only Western money keeps it alive. 

The question is what the US president will decide: whether to start the 2024 presidential elections with a proxy war or with a ceasefire and peace?

he said.

Speaking about the EU, he said that the bloc's economy is in trouble. The Commission wants money from member states again, but the EU cannot meet its obligations to its member states.

“We have fulfilled our obligations, but we are not getting the money, so they owe us," the premier said. He pointed out that the EU owes us money for border protection, and they also owe us the recovery funds and teacher’s salaries. "Don’t they owe us the money because they spent it on something else, perhaps Ukraine?” the prime minister put the rhetorical question.

Commenting on the EU-Hungary debate, the prime minister said that we should not link things that have nothing to do with each other, but only coincide in time.

PM Orban said it was conceivable that Europe could be left alone in supporting Ukraine, but if that were to happen, Europe would also become pro-peace.

He says that European public has an increasingly hard time seeing how a victory is possible, and more and more Europeans are recognizing the importance of peace talks.

“In a democracy, the will of the people and the steps of the country's leaders cannot go against each other. The people cannot be replaced, it is the governments that are replaced.” European leaders do not have much time to realize this, the Hungarian prime minister said. 

“The problem lies in the starting point. When Russia attacked Ukraine, Europe had two options: try to keep the conflict local, as Chancellor Merkel did. We proposed this," PM Orban stressed. In contrast, the West made the conflict global, he said.

and the war is placing a heavy burden on the world economy.

“We are allowing the war to be used as an excuse to cut the ties on which the prosperity of countries depends, for example by cutting off Europe from Russian energy supplies," the premier said. He stressed that the whole issue had been mishandled from the start. “We have to go from war back to the negotiating table," he added.

We don't want a migrant quota or migrant ghettos

Speaking about the migration situation, the PM said that Italy, which for a long time opposed quotas and the creation of migrant ghettos, has now changed its position and received 19 billion euros from the recovery fund, of which the Hungarians, for example, have not yet received a single cent.

But migration cannot be part of political games, said Viktor Orban.

“If you let migrants in, you will flood your country with people you know little or nothing about. People who have been foisted on you by people smugglers. The immigrants who keep their cultural identity will increase in number. Once you feel like an indigenous person in your own homeland, it can destroy a country," the Prime Minister explained. 

The pro-migrant countries of Western Europe have already decided, but the Hungarian prime minister does not want to take the risk of making this irreversible decision. 

We don't want a migrant quota or migrant ghettos, and if we don't want them, there won't be any,

Mr Orban said, concluding the interview.

Cover photo: Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer)