PM Orban: Economic situation would soon change if the war ended

Hungary's prime minister presented the government's new decisions in his regular Friday morning interview on public radio.

If we can keep up the work, we could achieve 5 per cent, PM Orban said.

There is more to the World Athletics Championships

There is an economic link between the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest and economic growth, Mr Orban pointed out, adding that he believes that there is a bigger issue at stake.

"We have set ourselves the goal of making our capital the host city for world events," Viktor Orban said. He recalled that it all started with the renovation of the Hungexpo exhibition and convention center, the largest in Hungary, followed by cultural facilities, and the third big step was taken towards the world of sporting events.  "All these will bring the world to Budapest. The World Athletics Championships fit into this series," he said and thanked the organizers of the event.

Today, Budapest is a national capital that one must visit. People rightly feel that if they don't come here, they are missing out.

PM Orban pointed out, adding:

Budapest belongs to everyone!

The premier also stressed the diplomatic importance of the World Athletics Championships, mentioning that the Turkish President, the Emir of Qatar and the President of Serbia will also visit Hungary.

He added that Hungary will also have "political friends" from the Central Asian region, including Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, as well as many businessmen from all over the world, especially from Western Europe and China.

He noted that political and business talks will also be held and that as prime minister, he will have more than a dozen official bilateral meetings during the 20 August celebrations and the world championship.

 

Survival of the nation requires strength

PM Orban also spoke about the 20 August celebrations of the foundation of the Hungarian state. Hungary's history is winding and stormy, he said. "We came from far away 1100 years ago, since then we have lived here as an island, but what we hold on to what we have conquered," he emphasized.

"St Stephen has played a key role in ensuring that we have the ability to do this, that we have a tradition and culture that helps us to survive," the premier said.

On Friday morning, the premier is to attend the inauguration of the Rheinmetall plant in Zalaegerszeg. He praised the project and recalled:

Hungary's defense industry has been in decline for the past twenty years, so now we need to talk about how to rebuild it.

“We cannot survive without strength. To survive, we need spiritual strength, but we also need military strength. We should have warriors, not employees in uniform! The most important factor is the soldier. The emphasis is on their training and pay. But we also need a military industry. We cannot create a functioning army without our own production capacity," the prime minister said, adding that the lesson of the Russian-Ukrainian war is that it is not only important how many weapons you have, but also how many you can produce.

Magyar Nemzet will report live from the handover ceremony in Zalaegerszeg and Prime Minister Viktor Orban's speech.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the studio of the Kossuth Radio (Photo: MTI/ Prime Minister’s Press Office/Zoltan Fisher.)