PM Orban: Opposition Pursues Same Agenda, Switches Lead Actor

Hungary's prime minister gave an interview to the Mandiner news site.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban (Source: Facebook)

Brussels will not give up and remains committed to enforcing a change of government in Hungary, Viktor Orban told Mandiner in an interview. Hungary's prime minister also addressed domestic political changes triggered by the presidential pardon, Donald Trump’s victory, and the economic outlook for 2025.

The most immediate benefit of Trump’s victory is economic in nature. The United States was once the second-largest investor in the Hungarian economy, but it has now slipped to fourth place, a change linked to the discriminatory policies of the Democratic administration,

– Mr. Orban said. He pointed out that, with Trump’s victory, the current administration's anti-Hungarian policy would come to an end, and he outlined prospects for trade agreements, fair visa treatment, and high-tech American investments.

Speaking further on the impact of Trump’s victory, PM Orban also emphasized that 

in international politics, we Hungarians have been the only ones consistently advocating - since 2010 - what Trump himself represents. As a result, we are viewed in the United States as having been ‘Trumps’ even before Trump. We were patriots at a time when in the West, the winds were still blowing the sails of progressive liberalism. However, in politics, size does matter. America is a global empire with vast GDP and military might. Hungary must not overestimate its significance or expect the world to find solutions to our historical challenges. President Trump is not our savior but our ally - a patriot fighting for the same values in his world as we fight for here, in Hungary.

According to PM Orban, the Brussels agenda of creating a United States of Europe, governed by European institutions rather than nation-states, will falter under Trump’s leadership. Nations that oppose the imperial vision will grow stronger, while the imperial center in Brussels will weaken.

Mr. Orban highlighted that with Donald Trump’s presidency, Hungary will be able to maintain simultaneous strategic partnerships with both the United States and China, while sustaining its tried and tested relationships with Russia and cordial ties with Turkey. He also emphasized Hungary’s alliance with Giorgia Meloni’s patriotic Italy and the country's balanced relationship with France.

PM Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI / MTVA / PM's Press Office / Zoltan Fischer 

2025 will be a fantastic year 

Looking to the year ahead, PM Orban noted that a wage agreement had been concluded with unions and employers just a week ago, ensuring a 40-percent wage increase over three years. Additionally, the government will double the existing tax breaks for families raising children in two phases, introduce a new housing policy to make it easier for young people to buy or rent homes, and launch a large dormitory construction program to alleviate the burden of high rents for students. A new workers’ loan program will also be available for young professionals, Mr. Orban said.

Reflecting on domestic politics, Mr. Orban remarked that Hungary’s political community suffered the loss of major figures this year. 

We didn’t just lose a president and a minister; we lost two political stars of global stature who performed outstandingly,

– he recalled. “Wherever they represented Hungary, people tipped their hats, and Hungary was spoken of with the highest respect. Their loss is a tremendous blow to the national community,” he said.

Concerning the opposition, and the rise of Peter Magyar, PM Orban underlined that 

the opposition's agenda is the same as before; only the lead actor has changed. Peter Magyar’s mission is the same as that of the previous failed candidates: to ‘brusselize’ Hungary. These are essentially Brussels-backed parties that just happen to operate in Hungary. This was true of Klara Dobrev’s party, and it remains true of the Tisza Party today.

Mr. Orban argued that Brussels has a serious, vested interest in forcing a change of government in Hungary. The Brussels elite wants a government that will impose pro-migration policies, embrace the crazy gender ideology, drag Hungary into war, and one that won't resist economic decisions harmful to Hungarian citizens. “They want a puppet government that they can remotely control,” he said.

Responding to Peter Magyar’s accusations that Hungary’s public services are neglected and of poor quality, Mr. Orban commented: 

We've seen similar attacks in Hungarian politics before. The most recent one was Peter Jakab, who waved a sack of potatoes at us in Parliament. There is a solution for this as well: to fight fire with fire. Hungary is not a perfect country, and its government could certainly perform better, including the prime minister – we can never be fully satisfied.

But to claim that Hungary isn’t advancing, or that life hasn’t visibly improved from the smallest villages to the capital, is absurd, Mr. orban said. 

Public services will never reach a point where everyone is fully satisfied. By the time you’ve finished improving the hospitals, schools, and social institutions, you’ll need to start again, because what you fixed first will already need attention. That’s just how it works. You can try to turn it into politics, but it’s worth only as much as we saw in the European Parliament elections in June. Real governing ability and the work done every day will pay off at the polls,

– PM Orban said. Addressing claims that Romania has caught up with Hungary, he said the Tisza Party “lies as naturally as water flows."

The primitive argument that Romanians consume more than Hungarians and therefore live better is pure nonsense. Hungarian families’ savings are among the strongest in the European Union. As the saying goes, a liar and a lame dog are always quickly caught,

– OM Orban concluded.

Cover photo: Hungarian PM Viktor Orban (Source: Facebook)