Viktor Orban Wraps Up a Grueling Week

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered a comprehensive assessment of the past week, touching on foreign and domestic policy as well as economic developments. He addressed the outcome of the EU summit, the anti-war rally in Szeged, the success of the fixed 3 percent loan program, the Tisza Party’s proposed austerity measures, and the banning of a Bors special issue that reported on those plans.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Communication Department/Zoltan Fischer)

“Once again, we are coming off a grueling week. And on Saturday, together in Szeged at the final and largest anti-war rally of the year, we showed that those who stand for peace stand with us,” Viktor Orban told members of the Digital Civic Circles (DPK), summing up the week’s events. He began his weekly review with developments at the EU level: “At the unusually tense Brussels summit, we managed to avert an immediate threat of war.”

Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the anti-war rally in Szeged. (Source: Facebook)

The prime minister recalled that using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's aims would have amounted to a declaration of war and would have dragged Hungary directly into the conflict. “We managed to protect ourselves from that—and that is a tremendous achievement. Credit is also due to the heroic resistance of the Belgian prime minister. But this story is far from over,” he added.

A War Council in Brussels

Reflecting on the European Council meeting, PM Orban said it was not a political consultation at all, but rather a war council. Ninety percent of the interventions, he noted, focused on how to defeat Russia. During the remaining time, he discussed peace efforts with the Czech and Slovak prime ministers. Talking to the others about this issue is “like talking to a brick wall,” he remarked.

PM Orban pointed out

Western Europe has long been promoting the narrative that the Russia–Ukraine war would not cost Western European citizens anything, because the money would eventually be recovered from Russian reparations. Now it has become clear that this is not true. That idea is dead,

he said. He placed responsibility squarely on Germany, arguing that Europe is currently being led by three Germans: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber, and the German chancellor.

According to Orbán, what they share is membership in the European People’s Party—the Tisza Party’s sister party—which he described as an outright pro-war political force. From there, he said, “all the trouble comes.” In the short term, he sees little chance of change. While Germany will hold elections, they will be regional rather than national, making it unlikely that peace-oriented forces will gain the upper hand in Germany or Europe anytime soon.

Tisza Party Awaits Death of Pensioners

“The audacity and crudeness of our opponents have reached a new high,” Mr. Orban said, responding to statements by figures associated with the Tisza Party suggesting that their electoral success hinges on the death of pensioners. He noted that most recently Ervin Nagy had made such remarks, following similar comments earlier by Gyorgy Rasko and Robert Puzser.

There is nothing new under the sun. The previous left-wing joker, Peter Marki-Zay, also pinned his hopes on pensioners dying ahead of the 2022 elections. But where is yesterday’s snow now? This one, too, is already melting,

he added.

Long Live Press Freedom

Viktor Orban also highlighted a high-profile campaign launched by the National Resistance Movement to expose the Tisza Party’s tax plans. A dedicated website now lays out the proposals in detail. “Here is the banned edition of Bors! We are publishing the special issue detailing the Tisza tax package. Long live press freedom!” the website reads. “You can see, tax by tax, what the Tisza package would mean in practice for Hungarian families. The Tisza Party tried to hide its program from the Hungarian people.”

Turning to government achievements, PM Orban pointed to the success of the Home Start housing loan program. Since its launch on September 1, banks have already disbursed 15,000 loans. Nearly half of the applications came from young married couples, meaning more than 20,000 young people will spend Christmas in a new home—and perhaps even ring in the New Year in their own apartment or house. An additional 7,000 applications are under review, with another 8,000 contracts in preparation.

That adds up to roughly 30,000 loan contracts, half of which have already been disbursed.

He also noted that since its launch in 2019, the Hungarian Village Program has invested more than 1,300 billion forints in rural development. This year alone, 786 municipalities renovated roads and sidewalks and built new pedestrian crossings, totaling 10 billion forints in investments.

“City Air Makes You Free, Country Air Makes You Hungarian”

The government has allocated the same amount to refurbishing secondary roads connecting small towns, and another 10 billion forints to property development and equipment purchases in 936 small municipalities.

May we never have a worse year for the village program. We know: city air makes you free, country air makes you Hungarian,

he stressed.

He also highlighted progress in reducing school dropout rates. In 2024, the share of young people aged 15 to 34 affected by early school leaving stood at 6.3 percent—the fifth lowest in the European Union and well below the EU average of 14.2 percent. Hungary also performs better than the EU average in terms of youth employment and education participation, meaning fewer young people are neither working nor studying.

Let’s continue the digital conquest. We remain unshakable in our belief in the power of love and unity. I wish everyone a blessed, peaceful, and joyful Christmas,

the prime minister concluded his message.

Cover photo: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Communication Department/Zoltan Fischer)