Balazs Hidveghi: Brussels Wants a Puppet Government in Hungary

We believe in involving the people in important decisions about the country's future, Balazs Hidveghi emphasized to Magyar Nemzet in a recent interview regarding the next government-sponsored National Consultation. The deputy minister of the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office explained that the consultation survey would cover topics that are necessary to make the country stronger. He also noted that the greatest threat to Hungary's sovereignty comes from Brussels, and that Peter Magyar would surrender to the EU on critical issues.

Balazs Hidveghi, Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Office (Photo: Zoltan Havran)

– What is the significance of the upcoming national consultation?
– The national consultation is a proven tool for establishing points of agreement with the Hungarian people on critical issues. We are now at such pivotal moments with regard to the new economic policy, family support programs, the 13th-month pension, and migration. We are convinced that for the economy to strengthen, Hungary must maintain economic neutrality. A new economic policy is needed to keep the Hungarian economy on a sustainable growth path, as we successfully did before the pandemic and the war. We are currently seeing efforts from Brussels to initiate an economic cold war and to block economic and trade cooperation with certain countries purely for ideological reasons.

This is also about Hungary’s independence: that we should be able to decide for ourselves with whom we trade, where we source some raw materials that are key to us, and where we receive investments from. Hungary will do best if it keeps its trade options open in all directions and builds economic cooperation with the emerging economic powers of East Asia while maintaining and developing its existing and well-funcioning Western ties.

Allowing Brussels to restrict, by means of ideological dictates, with whom we can trade or cooperate is not in our interest. This is not an ideological issue. The reason we are turning to the Hungarian people through the national consultation is to receive confirmation and support for this policy.

– So, the consultation primarily focuses on economic issues?

– Yes, primarily on economic issues and key topics within the economy that are necessary for strengthening the country and improving the lives of Hungarian citizens. This includes supporting Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We also need to revisit the issue of multinational corporations. We are at a crossroads here: either we allow Brussels to dictate, or we impose strict control over multinational companies, as their presence must serve the interests of Hungarians. It is unacceptable for these companies to focus solely on abusing their economic power to increase their excessive profits, which they then take out of the country. The issue of housing, which has received strong government support so far, is also important. Here, besides the existing home purchase subsidies, we must discuss whether we should involve employers and perhaps even banks to create a housing loan program with a 5% interest rate. It is also crucial to decide whether we should help young people entering the workforce with a work-based loan initiative. And it is important to clarify whether we should protect retirees' 13th-month bonus pensions. This still requires significant battles today, as it's one of the measures Brussels seeks to abolish, alongside our utility price cap scheme and migration policy.

– Why is it important for Hungarians to be able to express their views on key issues on numerous occasions, between two elections?

– Unlike Brussels and the left, which consistently attacks national consultations, we believe that people should be involved in making important decisions about the future of the country. It's not enough to ask people once every four years during parliamentary elections; we need to maintain continuous communication with them. When reaching a turning point, decisions should be made knowing the people's opinions. This way, the government can stand up for the country's interests with more force and legitimacy even during the four-year periods between elections.

When the Hungarian left or Brussels bureaucrats attack the national consultation, it is a clear sign that we are on the right track because our opponents sense that this is a working tool that strengthens the country. Just look at the countries where Brussels and their leaders have decided to resettle migrants without consulting or considering the people.

Emotions are boiling over, parallel societies have emerged, and crime, violence against women, and anti-Semitic attacks have skyrocketed. The Hungarian government is the only one that regularly engages in dialogue with its people about the direction of governance. This gives us the strength and a mandate to stand against any dictate coming from Brussels.

– What are the foundations of the policy of economic neutrality, as announced by the government?

–  The basic logic behind economic neutrality is that significant changes are taking place in the global economy. We can either acknowledge them and become winners, or we fall behind. Due to Brussels’ poor decisions, Europe is starting to lag behind, while the economies of the United States and China are growing much faster than Europe’s. Hungary's economy is on a growth trajectory, expanding faster than the EU average, but we want to grow even stronger. Brussels wants an economic cold war, and to dictate to us whom we can or cannot trade with. This is harming Hungary’s interests. We benefit from trading freely with both the West and the East because that’s how we can achieve higher economic growth than the EU average. The economy is not an ideological issue; it requires neutrality. Over the past decades, new economic powers have emerged in Asia, and I’m not just talking about China, which has clearly become one of the world’s leading economic powers, but also about South Korea, Singapore, Japan, and many others with significant economic might. It is not in our interest for an economic cold war, pushed through by Brussels,  to begin. Hungarian companies and families benefit most when the economic policy is open, attracting more foreign capital, investment, and innovation.

– What is the government's economic action plan about? 

– The preparation of the new economic action plan has begun. It is built on three pillars and consists of 21 planned measures. The three pillars are: increasing the purchasing power of incomes, ensuring affordable housing, and supporting small and medium-sized businesses. The 21 government measures will contain the details of all these. The government plans to support the increase in purchasing power through three measures: a three-year wage agreement with employee and employer representatives, launching the Workers' Loan Program and doubling family tax allowance for children. This would be implemented in two steps: with a 50% increase from July 2025, followed by another 50% increase in January 2026. Of course, these measures will be implemented if the Hungarian people support them in the national consultation. The government's planned measures to assist with housing include some that target Budapest. The capital is facing severe housing problems, and solving these should be the municipality's primarily responsibility, but Budapest's current leaders clearly cannot handle this issue. To ease Budapest's housing problems, the government is working to introduce three measures:

tightening the conditions for private accommodation services like Airbnb, reviewing the system of rental prices and lease conditions, and expanding dormitory spaces for higher education students. The government's goal is to improve housing conditions not only in Budapest but across the entire country, which is why we are planning an additional seven steps related to affordable housing. 

These include developing a housing program for young people, launching a Rural Home Renovation Program, temporarily allowing 50% of the benefits provided through the Szechenyi Leisure Card to be used for home renovation purposes, allowing voluntary pension savings to be temporarily used for housing purposes on an optional basis, outlining the details of employer-provided tax breaks for housing support, maintaining the preferential 5% VAT rate on new residential property sales until the end of 2026, and introducing a 5% interest rate cap for voluntary home loans, in cooperation with the banking sector. We will also ask people about these issues in the national consultation. 

The government is also launching the Sandor Demjan Program, aimed at doubling the size of domestic businesses. This could include a significant capital financing program, an SME investment incentive scheme, and the facilitation of digitalization in the sector. In the case of any investment-type loan products under the Szechenyi Card Program, it could include a significant reduction in the annual interest rates to 3.5%, the restarting of Eximbank Zrt.'s export promotion loan program, as well as its outbound investment loan program, and the outbound investment capital program administered by the National Technology and Innovation Agency (NTH).

Our goal is also to speed up the implementation of EU programs affecting the domestic SME sector and to reduce the administrative burden on the sector.

– How can Hungary address the threat of migration?

– It is essential to firmly uphold the Hungarian position, which we have consistently maintained through numerous conflicts - namely, rejecting illegal migration and protecting the EU's external borders. This is crucial because one of the EU’s most important achievements, free movement within the Schengen zone, is now practically being restricted by Brussels’ failed migration policy and the EU’s failure to defend against illegal immigration. This has led to the reintroduction of internal border controls in several places. More and more member states are being forced to admit that the EU’s migration policy is unsustainable, and they are calling for new solutions. Yet Brussels continues to punish Hungary and push us to join the pro-immigration camp. In the national consultation, we will once again make clear the stance of the Hungarian people: do they expect the government to protect the country from migration, or should we follow Brussels' demands, as the left would?

– How can our country defend its position on the war?
– Amidst the strong headwinds, the escalation and Brussels’ pro-war rhetoric, we must maintain our rational stance that has been consistent and clear from the get go. We reject the notion that this is our war. It is a war between two Slavic nations. There will be no solution to this conflict on the battlefield, so the strategy that Brussels keeps pushing is misguided. Europe is rapidly drifting into war, with potentially far-reaching consequences.

We need a peace agreement, which requires negotiations. Negotiations can only begin if the parties agree to a ceasefire, after which a difficult and long but peace-seeking dialogue can commence. We must avoid any EU decisions that seek to force Hungary into weapon deliveries or aim to make Hungary a participant in the war. 

We are not part of this war; we do not supply weapons, only humanitarian aid to Ukraine. During the migration debate, Hungary has faced criticism for not wanting to assist those in need. However, as evidenced by the tragic Russia-Ukraine war, this is not true: over the past two and a half years, about 1.4 million people have arrived in our country from Ukraine. Hungary has provided, and will continue to provide, support to every war refugee.

– What do you make of Peter Magyar's statement that our country should renounce part of its sovereignty?

– We should not give up anything from Hungary's sovereignty. If anything, we need more sovereignty, not less. Of course, we share certain rights with EU member states without having relinquished anything. However, we consistently reject any efforts that would undermine the powers of the nation-state, autonomy, and independence. Peter Magyar would be willing to assist Brussels in advancing its agenda of influence. Peter Magyar is Brussels' man, ready to give up part of Hungary's sovereignty. This would go hand in hand with accepting migration, supporting the pro-war plans, and abolishing Hungary's child protection law.

Thus, Peter Magyar would submit to Brussels on the most important issues, about which Hungarians have already expressed their views multiple occasions in parliamentary elections, national consultations and referendums, clearly stating that they do not want any part of it. 

We must not allow outsiders to dictate to our country. The Hungarian people can decide who should lead the nation; they have done so in the past, and we stand firm to ensure that it remains that way.

– There is a certain symbolism in Peter Magyar’s discussion of renouncing sovereignty as we near the anniversary of the 1956 revolution. What are your thoughts on this?

– The country’s independence must be defended again and again, always in different ways. Today, we see that the greatest threat to the country’s sovereignty comes from Brussels, where a violent, centralizing, arrogant power machine seeks to undermine the autonomy of nation states, increasingly allowing a political committee - an unelected and unaccountable body - to make decisions instead of nation states. This is the greatest danger today. Hungary and the Hungarian government have many conflicts with Brussels because we are the most determined opponents of the EU's centralizing plans. We are a strong government with a broad mandate that stands against these efforts, and it poses a threat to centralizing Brussels.

They do not favor strong nation-states or robust governments with broad mandates because such governments are not easily dictated to. Hungary is a leader in this regard. Since 2010, Brussels has consistently had individuals in the leftist-liberal camp who have made repeated attempts to oust the Hungarian government. After their numerous failures, only the façade changes; the essence remains the same: they want a puppet government.

– Peter Magyar has angered 1956 organizations by attempting to use the 1956 flag - with a hole - as a political symbol. What's your view on this?

– The holey flag symbolizes the desire for freedom expressed by the 1956 Revolution and the entire Hungarian nation. It belongs to all of us, and no party can claim it as its own. It is telling that every ’56 organization has firmly condemned Peter Magyar’s actions

– How did you feel when you heard that you would become Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Office?

– It came unexpected, and it's a great honor. Over the past five years, I have fought hard for Hungary in intense debates at the European Parliament. Now, I have been asked to serve as the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, which directly assiss the Hungarian prime minister's work. To me, it's a sign that my work is wanted and appreciated at a high level here, at home. I will need humility and plenty of strength to stand firm. I'm serving my country.

Cover photo: Balazs Hidveghi, Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Office (Photo: Zoltan Havran)