The Question Is Whether We Want to Be Crushed by Ukraine’s Accession

Here in its entirety is Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s celebratory speech commemorating the 177th anniversary of Hungary's 1848–49 Revolution and War of Independence.

Orbán Viktor ünnepi beszéde március 15-én

Celebrating Hungarians, on this side of the border and beyond! Hungarians celebrating without borders!

The idea of Hungarian freedom has swirled in the skies of time and history for centuries. Its origins stretch back a thousand years, and surely it will continue to exist for thousands more. The idea of Hungarian freedom is eternal and timeless. Yet, 177 years ago, it became bound to a single date—the Ides of March—and a single place—Pest-Buda. On that day, Hungarian freedom took form, gained shape, and came down among us. March 15 is not just an ordinary celebration for us, not even merely historical—it is a sacred moment. March 15 is a day for every generation of Hungarians. It is forever marked and unavoidable, and this will remain true as long as there is a single Hungarian living on Earth. With the perpetually exaggerated, but innocent confidence of youth, Petofi declared: 'Our grandfathers and fathers, in a hundred years, did not achieve as much as we did in twenty-four hours.' Glory to the young revolutionaries of March!

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban addressing crowds celebrating Hungary's 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence, March 15, 2025.

Every year, before life sprouts anew, before the trees bud, before the crops emerge, and before civic life stirs, at precisely that moment, we Hungarians must gather for an important assembly. That is why we are here today. Before we become absorbed in the joyous coming of spring, we must remind each other of a few things that Hungarians can only speak of with due seriousness. We must remind ourselves of our shared national mission. And we must remind ourselves of the paramount cause of our homeland, which demands our support and service. Then, for another year, until our next reckoning, everyone may return to their own affairs.

For years, we have hearing that we are the past. They said it back in 1848 as well: the future belongs to the grand Austrian Empire. They said it in 1956 too: the future belongs to the red Soviet Empire. They say it now again: the future belongs to the rainbow-colored global empire. They told us we are the past. But on the other side of the Atlantic, a shift has occurred, and it turns out that we are in fact the future. It turns out that the future does not belong to empires but to patriots and independent nations. They also claimed we were isolated. They said that in 1848 too, yet all of Europe resounded with the voice of Hungarians, and even in Vienna, a citizen from Buda led the rebel forces. They said it in 1956 as well, but in the end, it was we Hungarians who knocked out the first brick of the Berlin Wall, bringing freedom to all of Europe. And they say it now too—we are isolated—yet today, the whole world is watching us. Why is half the world interested in us? It is certainly not because of the size of our economy or the firepower of our army. What do we have that they in the West lack, yet desperately need? Szechenyi taught us that every nation has its own mission, its essence, its defining element. For some nations that defining element is commerce, some are defined by conquest; some by philosophy, others by art, and some by science. But what is it that makes Hungarian blood surge through our veins, that makes our hearts beat, that defines us as Hungarians? Freedom, dear friends! The defining element of Hungarians is freedom.

A Hungarian is in his element when he fights for his freedom.

We are freedom fighters. We know how to win our freedom. We know how to defend our freedom. This knowledge is ours. We have been cultivating it for a thousand years. It is our trademark—indeed, in our DNA. And this is precisely what the world needs today, more than ever. Once again, we have stood our ground against a global empire. Only we have managed to achieved this. This is our great secret—the alchemy of the modern age. That is why half the world, from Vienna to Washington, is coming to us.

Photo by Prime Minister's Press Office/Vivien Cher Benko

Our fight for freedom today, just like in 1848, is not only for a Hungarian cause. The real battle today is for the soul of the Western world. The empire seeks to mix and then replace Europe’s native inhabitants with invasive masses from foreign civilizations. It wants to divert our children and grandchildren from the natural order of creation into the chaos of unnatural lifestyles. The empire wants to cast off the Christian order of life and culture and enlist us in the service of the gods of war instead of peace. The imperial machinery has ravaged the entire Western world, but we have stopped it at the borders of Hungary. We did not surrender. We did not allow our country, our Parliament, or our government to be taken over. For fifteen years, they have not been able to defeat us, and every weapon they have used against us has proved ineffective. They failed with blackmail, money, threats, mercenaries, and Brussels bureaucrats. We have won four elections in a row, and for fifteen years, our defensive lines have held firm. We endured, we stood our ground, because we believed that one day the winds would change. And the winds have changed. The patriots of the Western world have gained strength. They have won in Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, and now in the United States as well. We are flying in joint formation. In the battle for the soul of the Western world, we are now winning. We can be proud, because we were the heralds, the initiators and the trailblazers of this worldwide struggle for freedom. Glory to every Hungarian who did not back down before the Soros empire, who did not bend a knee to Brussels, and who did not submit to the liberal American empire either! The Hungarian flag still flies proudly. We can answer to our children and grandchildren with pride. We will leave for them something to carry on.

The secret of Hungarian struggles for freedom, past and present, is the same: Hungarians never fight only for themselves, but also for their nation - one blow delivered on their behalf, and one on behalf of the nation.

We are the people of freedom, who cannot live without two things: freedom and nation. These are what we live for, and if necessary, these are what we die for, on our own terms as free Hungarians.

Freedom belongs to the nation. This country, the land of Hungarians, is ours. We do not covet others' lands, but we will not give up our own. It cannot be taken from us—not by force, not by threats, not by flattery. And we will not compromise on this. Not now, not ever.

Just as nations are eternal, empires never change in nature either. Be it crescent moon, eagle, red star, or the Union’s yellow stars—the empire always seeks subjugation and perpetual provinces. It wants subjects and taxpayers, never free Hungarians. And there is always an empire that covets Hungarian freedom. Right now, that empire is Brussels.  Brussels is abusing its power, just as Vienna once did. They want to rule over us in the same way the governors of the Viennese imperial court did in the past. The solution is not to turn our backs on the European Union, but rather quite the opposite: we must go deeper in, not out. We must take it over and change it. History will take a turn in Brussels as well. The time will come for their reckoning and we will settle every account. We will break its excesses, reclaim the rights that were unlawfully confiscated from the nation, and send back, by return post, those mercenaries paid by Brussels. Let them entertain each other in the European Parliament.

Photo by Attila Polyak

Empires are, by their nature, hungry, and their bellies are bottomless. They always crave more money and new colonies. But Hungarians know that being free is not only an uplifting feeling but also a profitable one. Work, prosperity, wealth, and security are only ours if oppressors do not rob us. Servitude impoverishes, freedom enriches. This is the law of Hungarian prosperity. Here in Hungary, over fifteen years—under the shadow of battles fought against the empire—we have built Europe’s only patriotic national economy. We sent the IMF packing. We tamed the multinationals and banks. We took back the Hungarian energy system. We have put the entire nation's economy at the service of the Hungarian people. We have repelled every scheme from Brussels that sought to hand over Hungarian money and assets to speculators. And then, we endured three years of war, even though Hungary has suffered the greatest economic loss in the EU due to the Russian–Ukrainian war. Yet, despite this, we are implementing the largest tax cut in Europe and even the entire Western world. This will open a new chapter in the history of the Hungarian economy. We will establish the world’s first family-centered economy.

Mothers with one child will not pay income tax until the age of thirty, and mothers with two or more children will be exempt for life from income tax. In all modesty, this is still a global sensation.

With this, we will secure the future of Hungarian families for decades to come. Our only remaining task is to defend it again and again against Brussels's attacks, which at times seek to take away our utility cost reductions, our thirteenth-month pensions and the money meant for families.

Photo by Arpad Kurucz

Ferenc Deak once said: 'we may risk everything for our homeland, but we must never risk our homeland for anything'. But in Brussels, they do not read Deak, so Europe plunged headfirst into the Russian–Ukrainian war. We must never cause greater harm than what we seek to prevent. We cannot help anyone by destroying our own country. That is why we did not jump in with them; we remained on the side of peace. The empire does not want to help Ukraine—it wants to colonize it. War is the tool of colonization. The rulers of Europe have decided that Ukraine must continue the war, no matter the cost. In return, it will receive fast-track EU membership—at our expense. There can be only one response to this: the Union, but without Ukraine! The Hungarian people were not consulted about the war, but they cannot be ignored when it comes to Ukraine’s EU membership. No European decision can be made without Hungary. A year ago, the question was: do we want to die for Ukraine.

Now, the question is: do we want to collapse under the burden of Ukraine’s accession. My dear friends, let your voices be heard in the public opinion vote.

The euphoric day of March 15, 1848, was followed by sober and wise legislation in April. These laws protected the freedom won on March 15. This will be exactly the case now. After today’s celebratory gathering comes the great Easter cleaning. The parasites have survived the winter. We will dismantle the financial machinery that has bought politicians, judges, journalists, pseudo-NGOs, and political activists with corrupt dollars. We will eradicate the entire shadow army. They are our modern-day traitors, Brussels’ minions, who, for money, push the empire’s agenda to the detriment of their homeland. They have been here too long. They have survived too much. They have taken money from too many sources. They have changed sides too many times. In 1848, imperial birds weighed down on our necks; today, Weber’s fledglings caw above our heads. We have had enough of them. The spring wind will bring showers, swelling the rivers—let it carry them away… They bear the scarlet letter of shame; their fate is disgrace and contempt. If there is justice—and there is—then there is a special corner in hell waiting for them. We know who you are. No matter how you try to disguise yourselves in new European party attire, your masters are the same, your plans are the same. Your hopes are futile—your fate will be the same as those before you. We will defeat you again. Again and again. 'Because the sword shines brighter than chains'.

May God be above us all, and Hungary above all else! Go, Hungary! Go, Hungarians!