Prime Minister Praises Vocational Students and Their Parents

The question of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union will determine what the next 20 years will be like for today’s young people, the most active, productive, and promising two decades of their lives, emphasized Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the opening of the 18th Profession Star (Szakma Sztár) Festival on Monday at the Hungexpo Budapest Congress and Exhibition Center.

Orbán said he was certain that today’s young people do not want a fake life, they do not want a job as an excuse, they do not want to live off their parents’ money even as adults, but want a meaningful life with valuable knowledge, serious challenges, and successes. “Because you are capable of it. Because you want to be capable of it,” he emphasized, adding that he feels this every year when he looks out over the rows of seats at the event and sees that “the country is in good hands.”

The Prime Minister told the young contestants that they are “students of a country that is hopeful and has good reason to be optimistic.” He added that today there are one million more people working in Hungary than 15 years ago. He also asked young people to be proud of their parents, because it is thanks to them that the future in Hungary once again belongs to the professions.

He recalled that in 2010, when the Fidesz government was formed, Hungary “was pretty much a bankrupt country.” The general consensus was that it was impossible to make a living, so millions of people lived on support, scrounging, cheating the system, or looking for a government job. He continued by saying that most people at that time were still trying to get into high school so that they could go on to higher education. “Many people trusted a piece of paper more than their own knowledge, diligence, and willpower,” he highlighted, emphasizing that such a country has no future, such a country “is doomed to decline and will sooner or later fall into ruin.”

“Our generation did not want to accept this,” the Prime Minister recalled. He added that they did not want their children and grandchildren to grow up in a “struggling, hopeless country unable to get back on its feet.”

You can be proud of your parents, who worked hard to pull Hungary out of bankruptcy, put it back on its feet, and restore its self-confidence,”

he stressed. He continued by saying that they have their parents to thank for the fact that work has regained its dignity and that the majority of young people once again want to acquire solid professional skills. “They have them to thank for the fact that we have built the most modern vocational training system in Hungary, investing 140 billion forints (346.3 million euros) in vocational training centers, classrooms, new buildings, and machinery. They have them to thank for the vocational scholarship system, workers’ loan, and tax exemptions for those under 25. They have them to thank for the fact that a good carpenter can now take home 800,000 forints (1,980 euros) a month, a good electrician can earn a million forints (2,475 euros) a month, and you will earn even more if you learn your vocation properly and work hard,” explained the Prime Minister.

Only countries that value talented people who are highly skilled in their professions can be successful in the future, and Hungary is such a country,

he emphasized. At the same time, he said that due to “rapid changes and threatening dangers,” “Hungarians must stand their ground not only as individuals but also as a nation.” He explained that the war next door, the customs war, illegal migration, energy poverty in formerly wealthy Western countries, and climate change in nature all pose a threat. He said that despite this, “we have our own good scenario for Hungary’s future,” but the worst-case scenarios are also on the table.

Emphasizing the importance of the referendum on Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, the Prime Minister told his audience: “This issue will determine what the next 20 years will be like for you,” that is, the two most “active, productive, and promising” decades for today’s young people. He believed that if young people want “a Hungary free of migrants in the future” and do not want “millions of Ukrainian workers” taking their jobs and driving down their wages, then they must not allow decisions to be made over their heads. He therefore encouraged everyone to vote and make a decision.

In closing, Viktor Orbán thanked the young people and their teachers for their work and their parents for raising “not useless individuals, but capable young people,” and then called on the students to “show what they can do, let everyone see that the Hungarians have arrived.”

Via MTI, Featured photo via MTI/MTI Fotószerkesztõség/Máthé Zoltán