“Hungary is the safest country for the Jewish community,” Says Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán gave an interview on Kossuth Radio’s “Good Morning, Hungary” program on Friday morning. He spoke about the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister, the withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, the margin freeze, and the stepping up against drug dealers.

“There have been major changes in the whole international political space. A considerable number of international organizations have turned their backs on the sovereignty of nation states,” Mr. Orbán claimed, in connection with Hungary’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Prime Minister said that the organization had become a political court, noting that several countries, such as the United States and Türkiye, were not members.

Israel is our friend, we do not arrest our guests, and our country has never made the international treaty part of Hungarian law,”

the Hungarian Prime Minister stated on the occasion of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Budapest. Orbán said that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Western Europe today, adding that as migration increases, so does anti-Semitism.

Viktor Orbán remarked that if there is a conflict in the Middle East, it affects Hungary too. He added that Israel is a key country for stability in the Middle East. He also pointed out that

there were over 100,000 people living in Israel who were of Hungarian origin, i.e. Hungarian citizens, and the Hungarian state protects all its citizens.

On the other hand, he added, there is a significant Jewish community in Hungary, mainly living in Budapest, for whom Israel is their second homeland, and they are not indifferent to the relationship between the two countries. “So we have a direct security interest in Israel’s stability, and we also have an economic interest,” the Prime Minister stressed. He said that several thousand people work in Hungary in companies owned by Israel. There is military cooperation, and we are jointly developing and buying modern military equipment from the Middle Eastern country. There is also a perspective business opportunity with Israel and that Israeli citizens also contribute to our tourism.

Hungary is the safest country for the Jewish community. They are happy to come here, they are happy to spend their money in Hungary,”

Mr. Orbán stated.

Turning to domestic political developments, the Prime Minister said that ten goals had been set for this year, five economic and five political. Regarding economic goals, the government wants to bring down prices, introduce the biggest tax cut in Europe, and launch the 100 factories program. There is also a program to develop small and medium-sized enterprises with 1,000 billion forints (2.4 billion euros), and VAT on food will be refunded to pensioners.

Political goals include discussing Ukraine’s EU membership with the Hungarian people, ending political funding from abroad, strengthening child protection, an economic development package for small villages, and a crackdown on drugs. Mr. Orbán detailed that an economic plan provides the backdrop for the implementation of these goals: in the first quarter, the Hungarian economy will grow by 0.7-0.8 percent, in the second quarter growth will rise to 1.5 percent, while in the third quarter we will reach three percent and then 3.5 percent at the end of the year, providing the basis for economic growth.

The key to everything is to have jobs. Never before have so many people worked in Hungary as now,”

Orbán stated. He said that high employment is important and that he wants to see employment rise from 4.7 million to five million.

❗️ @PM_ViktorOrban: Israel’s stability is in Hungary’s direct national interest @netanyahu

Prime Minister Orbán declared that Hungary’s national interest is directly tied to Israel’s stability. “Israel is our friend, and we will not arrest our guests,” he said during an… pic.twitter.com/0YA5WDHCUE

— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) April 4, 2025

Speaking about peace in Ukraine, he said that Western Europe was not pursuing the same policy as Hungary, because Hungary wants a peace policy. Trump should be supported in his efforts to bring peace, he added. According to him, the West has a big war plan and they want to spend a lot of money to maintain the Ukrainian army. “We support the strengthening of defense, but this requires a strong economy,” he emphasized. He added: “One thing Trump has achieved is that this war will not spread to the West, the conflict has been contained.”

Regarding economic measures, the Prime Minister said that a three-year minimum wage increase agreement had been concluded with economic players. In addition, Hungary has reached the average gross wage of 700,000 forints (1,730 euros), which is far from the one million forints (2,470 euros) he envisages, but the direction is “clearly good.” However, at the same time, there have been price increases in three areas that have hit Hungarian families hard, Orbán pointed out. One was food, where the government had to intervene most quickly because people need to eat, the Prime Minister stressed. The second was in the area of services, where telecoms prices have risen dramatically. Mr. Orbán expressed hope that they would be able to talk to the service providers and that they would not have to intervene. The third area is banking services. He said the banking sector had had a successful year, so he believed there was a legitimate expectation that price increases should be curbed, and that there was a realistic chance of an agreement.

On the matter of the newly launched drug dealer hunt, the Prime Minister indicated that he had spoken to people in Tarnazsadány (northeastern Hungary), where he recently visited as part of the crackdown on drugs. He said that drugs are not an abstract problem but a concrete personal problem. He spoke to families where a child had died from drugs. “These are serious issues and they need help,” he stressed. He praised the leadership of the village, saying that the excellent mayor and great leaders are trying to get by, but are constantly struggling with drug proliferation.

Orbán thanked the police and said that they had carried out more than a thousand operations and seized several hundred kilos of drugs. A social coalition against drugs is needed, he emphasized. He said that

drugs, property, and equipment would be confiscated, the resulting assets seized, and drug traffickers would be sentenced to the most severe prison terms.

There is zero tolerance in this case, he emphasized. He recalled that they are not targeting the users, but the distributors, because if they eradicate the trade, the number of consumers will be radically reduced and Hungary will end up a drug-free country. He also pointed out that it is still illegal to use drugs in Hungary, but the law offers the possibility that if you go to rehab, you will not be punished the first time.

Speaking about the protests in Budapest against the amendment to the assembly law, putting a ban on Pride march, Mr. Orbán said that another amendment to the law would be proposed which would try to represent the views of people who are not protesting. He stressed that it is possible to demonstrate, and freedom of assembly is important, adding that it is good if everyone can express their opinion, even in a forceful way if they want to. However, he added that it is not normal that thousands or tens of thousands of people are stuck in traffic jams in Budapest because a few hundred people are blocking bridges. “One thing we can do is to change the law and make it impossible for judges to close several bridges in Budapest at the same time, because that is what happened here,” he stated.

Featured photo via MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán