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Health spending is increased, as doctors’ and nurses’ salaries were raised in the previous cycle at the highest rate since the fall of Communism, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office said at the Government Info in Budapest on Thursday.
The government would also like to see the to EU cover around 12-13 per cent of the cost of the wage increase by 2030. He added that if they get there, there will be a rapid and significant pay rise for teachers, with average teacher salaries reaching 800,000 forints (EUR 2100) in a year and a half, and 1 million forints by the end of the government’s term, or by 2027 at the latest.
The minister said that the Hungarian budget would cover 87-88 percent of the increase in teachers’ salaries until 2030, and there is no question of Hungary using EU money to finance the increase. He said that there would be a pay rise for teachers even without EU money, that the government was adamant, but that it would be crucial “in terms of scale and speed”. He also called on Hungarian opposition MEPs not to attack the Hungarian governments efforts to achieve these pay rises for teachers in the European Parliament.
We understand that they are living well, but it would not be a bad thing if teachers could live significantly better too,”
the minister added with a pinch of sarcasm.
Gergely Gulyás reported on a recent government decree ordering the transfer of 169 billion forints from the public utility protection fund, which is the state contribution to the current utility payments.
He explained that more than 132 billion forints (EUR 344 mil.) of this amount is for hospitals, schools and regional administration institutions. In the field of public education, 11 billion forints will be allocated to compensate churches and nearly one billion forints to support national minority self-government bodies responsible for public education.
This shows how much of a burden it is for the country to meet the increased energy costs due to the war and the sanctions response, but the budget is able to do so, he concluded.
The minister did not want to speculate on the possible bankruptcy of the capital and its consequences, stressing that the expectation is that Budapest will not go bankrupt. Gergely Gulyás also said that former government-backed mayor István Tarlós had handed over Budapest in a very good condition, with revenues increasing year on year, except for the years of the epidemic. The capital had a reserve of HUF 200 billion (EUR 521 mil.), and its tax revenues increased more than its solidarity contribution.
Speaking about the half a billion forints worth of support given to Gergely Karácsony’s opposition movement in the election campaign, the minister said it was clearer than ever that the Mayor was involved in money laundering in connection with his own campaign support and that the campaign had been in breach of the law.
The question is where this money, 500 million forints (EUR 1.3 mil.) came from, who gave it to the left’s campaign, what they gave it for and what they expected in return: all this must be clarified by the capital,” he said. He added that the authorities must investigate what happened, and in any case, Hungary has very strict anti-money laundering rules.
The Hungarian government wishes the French cabinet to take control of events in its country as soon as possible, and to restore public calm and order as soon as possible, the minister said in response to a question about the riots in France. He added that while it is possible to draw more far-reaching conclusions about how the current social tensions developed, the government is analyzing them only in order to prevent similar ones from developing in Hungary. This is why the cabinet is taking action against migration, he said.
Hungary welcomes the fact that Poland also wants to ask people about migration, the minister said in response to a question. Gergely Gulyás noted that Brussels wants to make decisions on migration again and again without consulting those who have to bear the consequences. Hungary has set a good example by holding a referendum.
Asked about some claims that Germany needs 1.5 million immigrants a year because of labor shortages, he said that
European refugee policy is confused because of the huge demand for guest workers.
People who are not persecuted but come to Europe in search of a better life are often referred to as refugees, as are those who are persecuted but come from a distant country and would be entitled to help in the first safe country. For those arriving from Ukraine, Hungary is the first safe country, so there is no question that those from there are indeed eligible for refugee assistance here,” he stressed. All countries have the right to receive guest workers, but there are no humanitarian considerations behind this, he said.
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