“The blockade would be a tragedy for Hungary,” the Prime Minister declared on Radio Kossuth.
Viktor Orbán began the interview by saying that the term neutrality has been used frequently in Hungarian politics over the past 100 years, but it seems to be more of a military-political term than an economic one.
But now something is happening in the world, in the global economy, that it is worth introducing this concept and becoming familiar with it
said the Prime Minister, who had already spoken about this concept earlier this week.
At this point, he referred back to the fact that the former president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, prepared a study of several hundred pages. According to Viktor Orbán, this showed that there is a big problem, Europe is suffering a huge loss of competitiveness, and it will be a big problem if we do what we have been doing now. “The USA and China are also withdrawing from us” said the Prime Minister. Viktor Orbán then spoke about how the world system change and the rise of Asia is an existing and current thing that politicians must take into account.
“You can compete, or you can disqualify the competitor. The question is which one serves our interest. Blockade would be a tragedy for Hungary. If there is a division, then we are forced to the periphery”
– he said, then added:
Hungary has to compete, it is good if the world economy is unified and we start competing with the others. We need neutrality, we must not be closed to the East or the West.
The prime minister said: the concept of economic neutrality has so far been left out of public discourse, even though it serves the interests of the people the most. He also touched on the fact that the leaders of other EU states are also against the EU tariff imposed on Chinese cars, but the European Commission does not even listen to them. As he said, the automotive industry is a key issue, it is important that it survives.
There are many important actors in politics and economy who think like Hungary
– said Viktor Orbán, adding that it is necessary to change the policy in Brussels with their help. As he said: it should not be assumed that they are “smarter than us” in Brussels, because Brussels is wrong and they must be persuaded to change.
Economic recovery, inflation below 3 percent
The prime minister also spoke about the fact that there is a lively discourse in Hungary about the state of the economy. You can hear a lot of bad things about the Hungarian economy, even though, according to him, it is now at the gate of recovery. He also noted that the bad things “part of it stems from a lack of knowledge, another part from political bias”and then listed several things about why he thinks the situation is favorable.
Inflation is starting to fall below 3 percent
Viktor Orbán said on the one hand. Not much later, referring to the issue of domestic consumption, he added: “Those who have money consume or save, but let people decide what they want, not economists.”
“No matter how we look at it, there is a consumption of around 4 percent, so people are spending more. What does it take? To earn more, in addition to wanting to spend”
– said the prime minister on this topic, according to whom Hungarian consumption is still better than the EU average. In the meantime, he also talked about the fact that the domestic investment average is also better than the European one, and also about the fact that tourism numbers could set a record this year. “There have never been as many Hungarians on vacation as this year, neither at home nor abroad” he noted.
He also addressed the issue of wage increases and said:
“Talking about wages should be done with caution. A wage increase is a desirable thing, but it must happen sensibly, so it is better if those who do it decide about it. It is best if employees and employers agree”
– he stated, and then noted: in his opinion, serious wage increases are expected, and the momentum in this field can be maintained in the next 2-3 years.
Could Hungary be the third fastest growing economy?
The Prime Minister later also spoke about: “Brussels cannot be accused of tying Hungary to the ground without a collar”but even they say that Hungary will be the 3rd best country in terms of economic growth. However, he added:
There is one thing that can pull our ideas through, war […] so we have one enemy, war.
Regarding the war, he later stated that it was being fought by the Ukrainians against the Russians, not Europe. “Let’s get out of the trenches and realize that this is not our war” he said.
Another peace mission, unexpected initiatives?
Then, speaking of his previous peace missions, he remarked: it is in everyone’s interest to have a ceasefire and peace negotiations, because “clearly visible” there is no solution to war on the battlefield.
“The normal-minded part of the world has always been pro-peace. We had to launch a peace mission so that European leaders would start thinking about peace. It is in everyone’s interest to have a ceasefire” said Viktor Orbán.
“Our peace mission started the thinking and discussion about this. The dialogue on peace has started, and there are more and more countries that would like to join it” added the Prime Minister, and then announced:
I still have peace mission campaigns in my arsenal, and we will have unexpected initiatives in the next period as well.
The question of EU resources and border controls
When asked about the situation with the suspended EU funds, Viktor Orbán said: it does not look like the matter will be resolved anytime soon, but the government will not let this matter go, and sooner or later we will receive the money.
Not long after, he also touched on the fact that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had called for stricter border controls the other day.
“All my credit goes to the German chancellor […] but he did not come to this conclusion on his own. He came to this conclusion because migrants stabbed some voters in the street” Viktor Orbán said about this. He added: Hungary did not become an immigrant country, but Western European countries did, which is why border protection is necessary, and now Germany has realized this as well.
It’s time for flesh-and-blood people to make decisions instead of eggheads
“We should not be punished for protecting our borders. In the European Union, people were not asked whether migration was good, the elites decided that” – then said the Prime Minister, according to whom Hungary was an exception to this and therefore did not become a country of immigration.
It’s time for flesh-and-blood people to decide on this instead of a lot of clever eggheads
Viktor Orbán said at the very end of the interview about the issue of migration.
Featured image: In the image published by the Prime Minister’s Press Office, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is in the Kossuth Rádió studio, where he gave an interview on Good morning, Hungary! on November 10, 2023.
MTI/Prime Minister’s Press Office/Zoltán Fischer
