The Prime Minister said that one of the most important tasks of the spring is to uncover how and in what way public opinion was influenced.Continue reading
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held his 26th Annual State of the Union address on Saturday in Budapest. During his speech, he mentioned the president of the opposition Tisza Party, Péter Magyar, the war in Ukraine and the fact that mothers with at least two children will soon be entitled to tax exemption for the rest of their lives, reported hirado.hu.
The prime minister reminded that last year he spoke about the fact that “great opportunities are opening up for Hungary, and world politics will look very different by the end of the year, while Hungary’s room for maneuver will expand”. “And it has,” he added.
He noted that the during last year’s European Parliament (EP) election his Fidesz-KDNP coalition won the second largest share of the vote in Europe. Back then the economic outlook looked bleak due to sanctions, inflation and energy prices. “It was like a nightmare,” he said. “The US ambassador (David Pressman) has become the leader of the opposition, we were under fire from Washington and Brussels, and George Soros’ agents here were busy burning haystacks and poisoning wells. And, as usual, the betrayal was not long behind. As it turns out, it is not such a long way from the front row of the (audience watching) the annual state of the nation speech to Manfred Weber’s Brussels cash box. It is a good lesson”, Viktor Orbán said, referring to the fact that the leader of the opposition Péter Magyar used to be an invited guest at government events, while today he is a member of the German-lead European People’s Party in the EP.
Photo: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán
Also referring to Péter Magyar, he said: “He who betrays his friends betrays his party. His kind betrays anyone at the first turn. Would not he betray his country?” He added that, on the contrary, the virtue and strength of Fidesz is, in his opinion, loyalty.
The Prime Minister continued by saying that “we have seen that if we work together, Hungary can do it.
Yesterday we were heretics, today half the world is knocking on our door. They said we are the past. It turns out we are the future. We are evergreen, like the Rolling Stones,”
he joked.
“We have been fighting for fifteen years. A handful of Hungarian rebels against an empire,” he continued, adding that looking back from the soothing shadow of the US election victory of Donald Trump, everything is embellished by memory. “Let us be proud that we Hungarians have done our fair share to change the world. Far beyond our size, economic strength and population. We were the pioneers, the heralds and the initiators of this rebellion.”
“Father Padre Pio predicted that Hungary is a cage from which a beautiful bird will one day fly. They have much suffering ahead of them”, he wrote, “but they will share unparalleled glory throughout Europe. Could this be what he meant? At times it was hard as hell, and there were times when it seemed damned hopeless. I am not talking about Fidesz, I am not talking about the government, I am talking about Hungarians. The Hungarian nation was behind us all the way, together and individually. I must bow my head to the perseverance and determination of the Hungarians.”
I am grateful to serve such a nation. It is the envy of every politician in the world,”
the Prime Minister said.
In the remainder of his speech, Mr Orbán said that this year will be different because we are now on the main street of history, while our opponents are wandering in muddy suburban backstreets. “After last year’s gloomy ballad, this year it is rock and roll. It is worth buckling your seat belts. The fight goes on, but with one important difference. We have been rebelling up to now, but from now on we want to win. After Hungary, the United States has also rebelled. But let us not think that a successful American rebellion alone will bring victory for Hungary. They cannot win it for us, they can only improve our chances”.
President Trump is not our savior, but our comrade-in-arms,”
the Prime Minister said.
He believes that Donald Trump is not yet done with his job, he has only just begun, and that he still has serious struggles ahead of him. He said that from Hungary’s point of view, all that has happened is that during David’s fight with Goliath, David’s brother, who seems to be a pretty tough guy, has arrived.
Photo: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán
“Now is the time to think boldly and big. So I propose to you, to ourselves, that 2025 should be the year of the breakthrough. (…) Although our opponents have been badly wounded, and for the first time I see fear in their eyes, and for the first time they have to retreat, it would be a mistake to underestimate them. Even so, in these circumstances, we can only break through with a disciplined and planned campaign,” he said.
“The empire has two heads and a central depository. One head in Washington, one in Brussels, and George Soros’ depository here in Budapest,” he said. Viktor Orbán pointed out that the Americans had thrown the skeletons out of their closets and exposed the repressive power machine, corrupt to the core, which has been pumping billions of dollars from the US budget to bogus civil organizations, bought journalists, judges and prosecutors, politicians, foundations, bureaucrats – a huge machine that has been operating liberal dictatorship of opinion and political repression throughout the Western world, including Hungary.
The purpose of this power machine is to oppress nations.
“It is nice and inspiring what is happening in America, but let it be the business of the Americans. We Hungarians must now mind our own business. First of all, we have to deal with Budapest, that is the dumping ground of the empire. We will send a government envoy to the United States and collect all the data and evidence concerning Hungary. Then, we will urgently create the constitutional and legal conditions to ensure that we do not have to stand idly by while pseudo-civil society organizations serve foreign interests and organize political actions in front of our eyes”, said Viktor Orbán. We cannot stand idly by while some people “pocket their pay” in front of our eyes, while claiming impunity on the grounds of international protection.
According to the Prime Minister, US ambassador Pressman is gone, and international protection for these proxy-groups is over. “Let us have a new law on the model of the US Magnitsky law. Let us shut off the money taps of the Soros network, let the state bodies fulfill their duty to protect sovereignty, and let us enforce the law against the current perpetrators. Let in the fresh air from the West”, Viktor Orbán said. “So far we have had a policy of Eastern opening. Now comes the West.” He added: “We can finish off the empire’s dumping ground in Hungary by Easter”.
“But we have to use our strength well, because in the meantime we have to fight an ongoing and increasingly complex battle with the head of the empire in Brussels.
The people of the liberal networks are now retreating to Brussels,”
he noted. Mr Orbán believes that the truth is “on our side” against Brussels. But that is not enough, he said, because Brussels was tripped by the truth several times, but somehow it has always got up and moved on. “The truth is not enough, we must also show strength,” he added.
The prime minister said that “we are fighting five big battles with Brussels bureaucrats at the same time”, even though we do not like conflict. “We are a peaceful, peace-loving, even pious people. But there are some things we cannot and will not give in on,” he said, such as migration and child protection. He also promised that, like Donald Trump, the Hungarian constitution will include the idea that a man can only be a man and a woman.
Then he told the organizers of Budapest Pride not to bother preparing this year’s parade. “It is a waste of money and time,”
he forecasted.
Viktor Orbán went on to say that Brussels (the EU institutions) believes the Hungarian pension system is unsustainable and is therefore demanding the withdrawal of the customary 13th month pension. “But the truth is,” he said, “that the Hungarian pension system is sustainable, and if we keep everyone working and keep salaries on an upward path, the average income of one million forints (EUR 2480) will be within reach. The prime minister also pledged to defend price control of energy.
The Prime Minister then turned his attention to Ukraine. He said that it is not about the war, but about what comes after it, because the war is moving in its own way towards its conclusion. According to the Prime Minister, the war is not really about Ukraine, but about “the territory called Ukraine, which has been a buffer zone between NATO and Russia, being put under NATO surveillance”. Mr Orbán does not understand why European and American liberals thought that the Russians would stand idly by.
He said the experiment had “failed” and that “Ukraine, or what is left of it, will once again become a buffer zone” and will not become a member of NATO. But will it join the European Union? “Ukraine will never become a member of the EU against the will of Hungary and Hungarians.” He also said that he believed that Ukraine’s accession would destroy Hungarian farmers and the entire Hungarian economy.
Photo: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán
Mr Orbán then announced the introduction of full income tax exemption for mothers.
In the future, mothers of two and three children will not have to pay income tax for the rest of their lives, as will mothers of four children.
“We will introduce it in one step from October 2025 for women with three children and in several steps from January 2026 for women with two children”, Mr Orbán said.
The Prime Minister said that it is a long-standing dream of his government that parents raising children should not be financially disadvantaged compared to those who do not. He is convinced that more children will be born if mothers feel financially secure with their children. He stressed that if the new family support system had not been introduced in 2010, there would now be 200,000 fewer children in Hungary today.
He also said that the statistics on drug use in Hungary were very negative, hence from now on there would be an absolute zero tolerance towards drug traffickers. He pledged that in future there would be a special government commissioner for this area, and he also asked Interior Minister Sándor Pintér to “launch a manhunt” against drug traffickers.
Viktor Orbán also said that they would support constitutional protection for the use of cash. According to the Prime Minister, only cash can be a real tangible safeguard for freedom, and they are awaiting a parliamentary motion on the subject from Minister János Lázár.
In the final part of his annual assessment speech, Viktor Orbán spoke about the opposition. He held out the prospect of a new law requiring MEPs to make a declaration of assets similar to that of Hungarian MPs “for the sake of maintaining order”.
How many times have we seen them throughout history? In various guises, bought and sold in imperial courts, they are lackeys. They have always been whatever suited their interests. They were always what suited them. They were just not Hungarians, patriots. Now we have them with us again, only this time in a Brussels outfit,”
he said hinting at agents of the past Soviet era.
State of the Nation 2025 https://t.co/nE1QcOVxil
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) February 22, 2025
According to the Prime Minister, Brussels’ only concern is to have a government in Hungary that is submissive to it. “Now there is a new show, a new stage, a new puppet, only the hand is the same”, he added, presumably referring to Péter Magyar. He also recalled that until 1990 Moscow granted impunity to the communists, now Brussels grants impunity to the liberals. “We are fined a million euros a day for keeping migrants out, while our opponents enjoy impunity for common crimes. Immunity in exchange for an oath of allegiance”, Viktor Orbán said.
Via Hirado.hu; Featured Image: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán