PM Orban: National consultation to be launched + video

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in his regular Friday morning public radio interview on MR1, reported on the latest government decisions and the developments at the ongoing EU summit in Brussels

Brüsszel, 2023. október 27. A Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda által közreadott képen Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök (j) interjút ad a Kossuth Rádiónak a Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelõ Alap (MTVA) brüsszeli képviseleti irodájában az Európai Unió állam- és kormányfõinek kétnapos brüsszeli csúcstalálkozója idején, a második napon, 2023. október 27-én. Balra Törõcsik Zsolt mûsorvezetõ. MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Benko Vivien Cher Fotó: Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Benko Vivien Cher

Discussions at the EU summit continued until late into the night, with the most important agenda point being the raising of the common budget by more than €60 billion, or by €100 billion according to others. The European Union wants to use the surplus to aid Ukraine and to deal with migration. "Three years have passed, the EU has a budget for seven years. And now the money-grabbers in Brussels are telling us to give more money," the PM said.

Hungary did not let migrants in, Mr Orban recalled, adding that therefore we do not have to live with conflicts that were not present in the country before. 

Along with the migrants, they brought terror and crime into Europe. The significance of this is perhaps less felt by Hungarians, because we don't have that here,

he explained.

EU bureaucrats thought it would be a good idea to build up a bit of a reserve and to also increase their salaries, the PM noted. He described the whole EU budget proposal as unfit for serious debate, stressing that "We threw it back for them to come up with a serious proposal".

New EU strategy needed, new national consultation to follow

It is important to have a strategy that we want to achieve, and to make the money available, but the strategy that drew the EU into the war had failed. "Today, everyone knows, but does not dare admit that this strategy has failed. All military experts say that Ukraine will not win on the battle front," he said, adding that Hungary has always held this position.

Ukraine has to win, Russia has to lose and their president must fall - this was the European strategy.

We need change in Brussels in the upcoming elections, Mr Orban said, because the current leaders cannot handle this problem. In the European Parliamentary elections, those leaders who can harmonize the work of member states's national leaders must be found.

We now want to hold another National Consultation. It is important to give people the opportunity to tell us what they would like to see happen. In this way, the government can confidently negotiate in Brussels,

the Hungarian premier said. The new National Consultation, slated for launch in November, will contain 10 or 11 questions for Hungarians to express their opinions on. He said Brussels must alter its migration and economic policies, as there are irrational economic ideas on the table.

We decide who comes to Hungary

"Back in 2015, when we said that migration is bad, we were all but crucified for saying it," the PM Orban recalled, adding that by contrast, today almost all countries are of the same opinion, therefore, Hungary won this battle. Migrants should be allowed into the country only after their applications have been processed "this should be the norm throughout Europe", he noted, but sees difficult moments ahead regarding the migration issue.

"They let in migrants who are attacking and even shooting at our police at the southern border. Then they want us to let these people into our own country? These are absurd notions," the prime minister stressed, saying that a long battle lies ahead to make Brussels bureaucrats understand how life in reality works.

"Here, in Brussels, they sit in a bubble and think that if they write something down on a piece of paper, it will happen. Every decision has a human dimension. Wherever there is conflict, there are human factors. Migrants, in general were not the ones being let in. They have let in migrants with different cultural characteristics. People cannot be used as a human experiment," the prime minister explained, adding that we are talking about people from other civilizations. Mr Orban said that he personally considers Islam a great cultural achievement.

The only question is: what it is doing here, where we live in our world, which was shaped by a completely different culture. Who guarantees that good rather than conflict will necessarily come of the mass coexistence of these two worlds? There is a risk in this, which I recommend Hungarians should not take. Let's fight for being able to decide for ourselves who comes to Hungary,

the premier said.

China and green energy

Mr Orban recalled that he had lived under communism for twenty-six years, and finds it is difficult to say that there was anything good about it. When Hungary gained freedom in 1990, we had good Sino-Hungarian relations. There was also a tradition here of left-wing governments seeking to strengthen relations with China.

In a matter of a few years, China will become the strongest economy in the world. This is a huge opportunity if we can project this into economic relations terms.

On the topic of green energy, he stressed that it must be produced, something the Chinese are very good at. "Then the energy must be stored. The competition today is how long this storage capacity can be extended, and Chinese companies are the best at the latter. We have to look for the points where we can accelerate our catching up. The guiding direction of our cooperation with China is green energy," he said.

New program to encourage having children

On the so called CSOK Plus Program announced at Wednesday's cabinet press conference, the PM said that the government's most important task is to help people who want to have children.

If you want to have children, we wan't for you to not run up against problems that prevent you from having them,

he explained, adding that the existing CSOK Program  [a reduced rate home buyer's loan and subsidy for families with children] has been very popular in rural areas, while demand for the urban CSOK has fallen, so a new scheme had to be developed, which has been in the making for a year.

Cover photo: Prime Minister Viktor Orban giving an interview to public radio MR1 at the MTVA Brussels office (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Vivien Cher Benko)