Sending Hungarians' Money to Ukraine Would Have Thwarted Eastern Hungary’s Rise

One of the most important economic achievements of the past fifteen years is that eastern Hungary has caught up with western Hungary in terms of economic development, which would not have been possible if Hungarian people's money had been sent to Ukraine, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said in Nyiregyhaza.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: MTI)

At the handover ceremony of the Nyiregyhaza Industrial Park project on Tueasday, Peter Szijjarto fist stated that ten years ago there was a painfully sharp difference between the economic development of western and eastern parts of Hungary, which is why the government set the goal of eliminating this gap as quickly as possible. He pointed out that due to the external environment and the severe European crises of the past ten to fifteen years this was not an easy task, but it was achieved because, despite the sanctions and the war economy being built from Brussels, the Hungarian people’s money was spent on developing Hungary.

Eastern Hungary has caught up with western Hungary in terms of economic development, which would not have been possible if Hungarian money had been sent to Ukraine, Peter Szijjarto said (Photo: MTI)

The level of economic development in eastern Hungary has reached that of the western part of the country. I would like to quietly note that if we had spent Hungarian people’s money on developing Ukraine and/or financing the war over the past year or two, we would not have been able to develop the eastern part of the country,

he said. He added that he considers it one of the most important economic achievements of the past fifteen years that eastern Hungary has caught up with western Hungary in terms of economic development. He stressed that this required infrastructure development, the construction of roads and railways, the creation of large industrial parks and industrial zones, and record-breaking corporate investments. Peter Szijjarto explained that Nyiregyhaza has played a key role over the past decade in the rise of eastern Hungary, helping the region become one of the strongholds of the modern global automotive industry. He also recalled that during this period, 121 large scale corporate investments were launched in Szabolcs Szatmar Bereg County with government support, worth around 1700 billion forints. These investments created approximately 15,000 new jobs, while industrial output increased two and a half times.

Over the past ten years, the government has agreed on 42 major corporate investments that were implemented in Nyiregyhaza. We provided 130 billion forints in government support, which resulted in 1300 billion forints worth of investments and factory construction here in Nyiregyhaza, creating 9300 new jobs in the city,

he said. He also noted that since the first industrial park filled up quickly, an agreement was reached to build a new 640-hectare industrial park to make the area attractive to the largest corporate investments, which proved successful, and several important automotive companies moved into the site, including one of BMW’s key suppliers. He emphasized that this industrial park is now also largely full, thus a new phase of development of the area must begin.

The government has decided to allocate a total of 220 billion forints in support for the development of infrastructure in the Nyiregyhaza industrial park so that the city remains an attractive destination for major corporate investments, resulting in many new, modern jobs providing secure livelihoods can be created in the city,

he announced. He detailed that from this 220 billion forints in government support, new roads and bicycle paths are being built and will continue to be built. The energy infrastructure of the city and the industrial park have been developed and these improvements will continue. A new interchange will be constructed on the M3 motorway. The capacity of the access section of Road 4 will be increased, and new railway developments will be carried out so that the increased rail traffic does not cause inconvenience to the people living here.

Thank you for your cooperation in the developments so far, and we are ready to begin the second phase of development of the new 640 hectare large industrial park as well. Every government decision required for this has already been made, so the 60 billion forints needed for this phase of development is available to the city, 

he summarized. The minister stressed that Brussels is building a war economy in Europe and wants to give Ukraine more war loans from European taxpayers’ money.

I want to make it clear that as long as Hungary has a sovereign national government, we will not send Hungarian people's money to Ukraine. Hungarian people's money will continue to serve the development of Hungary, just as it has until now,

he concluded.

Cover photo: Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: MTI)