In a TikTok video clip showing the prime minister taking flowers to his mother on Mother's Day, Viktor Orban relates, “My mom worked as a clerk at the local AFESZ office,” referring to Hungary’s cooperative retail network during the socialist era. He added: “There was a lot of poverty back then — it was the late ’60s, early ’70s.”
“And then one day, she suddenly said she wanted to teach. My father told her, ‘Okay, but your salary will be cut in half — we’re barely getting by as it is.’ She said it didn’t matter, she wanted to teach, even though she didn’t have a teaching degree. Still, she started working as an uncertified teacher, planning to earn her certification later. And that’s what she did.”
“My dad, obviously, accepted it — because there are good husbands. Somehow, he supported her through it. Later, she completed her degree through correspondence at the Barczi Gusztav Teacher Training College and ended up working with children with disabilities,” the prime minister recounted.
