“Heading to Vote on New Asphalt Is Good” – PM Orban Opens Hungary’s New Motorway

Another milestone in nation-building has been reached: a new 34-kilometer stretch of the M4 motorway between Torokszentmiklos and Kisujszallas has been completed. According to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the investment not only makes transportation in eastern Hungary faster and safer, but also proves that the government has a Great Plain development program—one that keeps Hungarian tax money at home instead of sending it to Ukraine.

M4 Motorway opening, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in center (Photo: MTI / Prime Minister’s Communications Office / Zoltan Fischer)

Speaking at the opening ceremony, PM Orban recalled that it was Sandor Fazekas who reviewed the nationwide road development proposal and asked, “But what about them?” referring to the region. “We owe him thanks for ensuring this road was never taken off the agenda,” Viktor Orban said. He added that he also learned from Fazekas that “it’s best when people go to vote on steaming asphalt.” The prime minister thanked local residents for their past electoral support, saying that kind of backing is still needed today. 

Mr. Orban also remarked that it is unwise to cross the Kun people, noting that they produced Hungary’s last regent, who was from Kenderes, and occasionally they even contribute a Nobel Prize winner to the nation. He emphasized that the government has its own development program for the Great Plain, adding that unemployment in the region has dropped from 12 percent to 5 percent since 2010.

“The major expense, however, was the two roads, because the M44 was also critically important,” the PM said. “There are still 60 kilometers left to build, and that will be done as well.”

Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Office Communications Department/Zoltan Fischer

Industrial Zones Linked by Motorways

The prime minister announced that starting January 1, 2026, trucks weighing more than 20 tons will be permitted to use only motorways. He noted that thanks to post-2010 motorway construction, Hungary—on a per-capita basis—has caught up with even the most developed countries. As a result, 22 county-level cities are now accessible by motorway.

“If we can carry out all our plans, every Hungarian will live no more than 20 minutes from a highway,” Orban said. He outlined ambitious plans for the region, including the creation of an industrial zone linking Debrecen, Nagyszalonta, and Bekescsaba. As part of this effort, construction of the Debrecen–Bekescsaba expressway will begin soon.

Two Paths Before Hungary

PM Orban stressed that Hungary managed—after a hard fight—to stay out of a Brussels-backed loan scheme. “For Hungarians, that would have meant a cost of 400 billion forints,” he said, noting that the newly opened road section cost 170 billion forints. “This money has a better place here than in the pockets of an oligarch in the shot-to-pieces Donbas.”

According to the prime minister, this is what the election is really about. “It’s clear that two paths lie before us. One is the Brussels path, which means our money is taken away. The other is that it stays in Hungary, and Hungary grows stronger—just as it has over the past 15 years,” he emphasized. Mr. Orban added that if the Kun people stand with them, they will win the election. 

On Monday morning, PM Orban had indicated in a social media post: “Another important moment in nation-building. This morning we head to the outskirts of Kenderes to inaugurate the brand-new, 34-kilometer section of the M4 expressway between Torokszentmiklos and Kisujszallas.”

With this opening, more than 150 kilometers of the M4 have now been completed between Budapest and the Jászság region.

According to a summary by Vilaggazdasag, the 34.29-kilometer project consists of three main elements:

• Expanding the Torokszentmiklos bypass to four lanes (8.1 km),
• Expanding the Kisujszalas bypass to four lanes (8.7 km),
• Building a new four-lane section between the two towns (17.5 km).

Traffic has already been using the completed right-hand carriageway of the Torokszentmiklos bypass for some time. Construction progressed so smoothly that the section—originally scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2026—was completed ahead of schedule, before Christmas.

Nation-Building Despite Headwinds

In his post, Orban wrote that 

what we commit to, we get done—step by step, even against headwinds.

He recalled that in 2010 Hungary had 1,273 kilometers of expressways, a figure that rose to nearly 2,000 kilometers by 2025.

As a result, 90 percent of Hungarians now live within a half-hour drive of a motorway,

he said.

PM Orban acknowledged that it has been a tough road, citing the financial crisis, the migration crisis, COVID, and now the war. “Just last week alone, we saved Hungary from a 400-billion-forint war levy by securing an exemption from the Brussels war loan,” he wrote.

The road section inaugurated today cost less than half of that amount—money that will also allow construction to continue as far as Berettyoujfalu.

Mr. Orban pledged that the work will go on, saying Hungarian money is better spent “on four-lane asphalt in the Great Plain of Hungary than blown to pieces in the Donbas or sunk into the gold-plated bathrooms of Ukrainian oligarchs.”

“That is our plan: peaceful nation-building instead of Brussels’ war plan,” Orban concluded.

Next in Store for the M4

Following the Kisujszallas opening, construction will continue with the Karcag bypass, and in the next cycle the motorway will be extended by 22 kilometers to Puspokladany. 

The Puspokladany–Berettyoujfalu section of the M4 is to be completed by 2032.

Contracts are already in place to begin work on the Karcag–Puspokladany section in the coming period, with construction expected to take three years, followed by the stretch between Puspokladany and Berettyoujfalu.

Cover photo: M4 Motorway opening, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in center (Photo: MTI / Prime Minister’s Communications Office / Zoltan Fischer)