Radical nationalist Jobbik’s party leader Gábor Vona has lambasted ruling Fidesz for rejecting Jobbik’s call to raise Hungary’s wages to the level of the European average. Vona announced on Dec. 18 that his party would launch a civil initiative aimed at “completing the European Union’s founding principles” with the goal of eliminating wage gaps in the bloc.
Vona reacted to the pro-government Civil Unity Forum (CÖF) disparaging Jobbik’s demand, saying “I would have been happier had Fidesz responded directly”. Vona insisted that the gap between wages in the east and west had not narrowed over the 12 years of Hungary’s EU membership, while Hungarian prices had caught up. Vona also criticised multinationals for paying lower wages in Hungary for jobs comparable to western European ones. Green opposition LMP also said that “contrary to government propaganda”, over the past years the government had “overtaxed” labour, deliberately kept wages low and “made the rich richer and the poor poorer”.
The ruling Fidesz party said in a statement in reaction to Vona’s remarks that the Jobbik leader had previously said Hungary should withdraw from the EU and now he was “preaching about the basic principles of Brussels”. Had Vona really wanted higher wages for people, then he would have voted for the government’s tax cuts and wage hikes, the statement added.
via hungarymatters.hu and MTI