Viktor Orbán at NatCon: Immigration is Voter Import

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has delivered his keynote speech during the second day of the National Conservatism (NatCon) Brussels conference. In his address he spoke about the incident when Brussels officials tried to shut down the conference yesterday. 

Viktor Orbán explained in three points why Hungary, a small nation, had to take the lead on its confrontation with the European liberal majority. First, he said, during the COVID pandemic European officials have created a financial system to blackmail countries “not behaving well ideologically”, called conditionality. Poland and Hungary were blackmailed financially because of their position on gender ideology and migration.

The EU wanted to “suffocate us” financially, said the prime minister. Hungary had to react to these attempts.

Second, “something bad is going on in Brussels, and the EU”. During Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s rule the Commission has became politicized, they behave as political actors instead of being the guardians of European treaties as they supposed to be.

Third, there is an ongoing suppression and oppression in European countries. Ordinary people, employees, workers, loose their jobs everyday because of everyday fascism, communism, just for saying the wrong thing about key liberal-championed issues. Therefore, he suggested, we should create a conservative civic society, for all those who want to fight for freedom.

Europe is a “progressive liberal ocean, and Hungary is an island of difference in the middle of it. Our country has become a place for conservatives to come and discuss change. Hungary has become an example how to create a civic society. The prime minister suggested that the goal of the June European Parliament elections should therefore be a change in EU leadership. This is because they promised green transition while damaging the environment, damaged European agriculture, the EU’s competitiveness is decreasing, they have failed to tackle the migration crisis, they introduced damaging sanctions to stop the war, while the war is still ongoing. They promised a lot, and failed to deliver.

“They have to leave, go away, we need a new leadership”,

Viktor Orbán pointed out.

He also asked for a more conservative approach to the EU institutions, with leaders who have more respect towards nation states. He pointed out that anti-conservative forces have claimed that all conflicts originate on the national level, and claimed that thus internationalism is the solution. Nationalism is today interpreted by these opinion makers as a concept related to fascism. Conservatives were therefore forced to created substitute terms such as “patriotism”, but this is not a good term. We must stick to the concept of “national” as the only proper term for what characterizes this struggle.

Viktor Orbán emphasized that the intellectual substance of political discussion was very different 30 years ago when he started as a politician. Today it is all about language, substance does not matter that much. “Populism” is often used as a negative stigma against national forces. But populism is a historic term, referring to leadership candidates, who simply promised things that they the failed to deliver on.

But I have promised things, and I delivered. That is politics not populism”, said the Hungarian Prime Minister.

The end of communism was nicest period of his life, reminded Mr. Orbán. Like participants yesterday at the NatCon conference, who were threatened with cancellation, the Fidesz party was established in 1988 as an anticommunist organization fighting for the freedom of speech. Techniques of pressure and intimidation, such as employed by Brussels authorities against the conference, were part of everyday oppression in 1988. The main question is still freedom versus oppression. Freedom in the European Union and in Brussels is in danger, something that the alarming events from yesterday demonstrate, whether we call it communism or not. We have to fight for it, emphasized the Hungarian Prime Minister.

He also pointed out that the number of illegal migrants in Hungary is currently zero. “The reason is simple, we have a fair system, the border is a border, and crossing it illegally is a crime. It is not a human right, it is a crime”, he said. We understand that many people would like to come to Hungary, but if they do so, they have to submit a request first, and wait for the decision of the authorities. Nobody can step onto Hungarian soil without the final decision of Hungarian authorities, everyone has to wait for their turn. If we can introduce this system on a European level, illegal migration will be over, said Viktor Orbán.

Migration is about civilization, he continued. We have a continent with a Christian tradition, it is a civilization based on Christian customs, while those who are coming en mass illegally carry a different tradition. They are from the Muslim tradition, and this fact is a source of conflicts.

As a grandfather I am interested in what Hungary will look like in 2100, and what it will be for our grandchildren, he continued.

To live in a Christian society, is an amazing thing, the best thing I can imagine for my children and grandchildren. It is the best things, why should we give it up,

he asked.

I am not against Muslims, it is a great culture in its countries of historic origin. “But do not bring it here”, he said. Nations have the right to decide about their future – if one decides to create a mixed society, they can go ahead. But this must not be forced on Hungary, because Hungarians do not believe that the mixture of these two cultures will lead to good things. We had a referendum about this in Hungary, people voted against it, they said we must protect borders, and preserve our christian tradition. We had a public decision about this, it is not only the government’s opinion. It is our decision, anyone else can make their mind up whether we are right or not. But it is a matter for national sovereignty to decide on the question of migration.

This is why we do not need a common migration policy for the EU, he continued, this is for national policy. Countries that have let in millions of illegal migrants now want to get rid of them, and send them primarily to homogeneous societies in Central Europe. It is not fair, said Viktor Orbán. Defend your borders! Nations reject migration, so let us not hide behind a common European policy.

Viktor Orbán then thanked the owners of the conference hall for allowing the conference to go ahead despite pressure and police action. It was a good decision, he said jokingly.

He continued by saying that we Hungarians are in trouble because the people’s interest in the so called “eternal questions of life” is diminishing, we seem to live in the “now”. The original meaning of being a Christian is to follow the teaching of Jesus, but it is very difficult in today’s conditions. The temptations are far higher today and there are many more of them than in earlier historic periods. Furthermore, the churches are not doing so well in changing these attitudes.

However, Christianity is also a public heritage. On that plane the public authorities can do much more. We cannot force people to follow a certain faith, but we can suggest that basic spirituality should have its place in public discourse or in schools. Strangely, even though Hungary is becoming less religious, it seems to cling to Christian values more. In Viktor Orbán’s opinion issues like migration or liberalism forced them to focus on these issues more. Hence the intention of people to follow a Christian tradition in Hungary is increasing.

The Hungarian Prime Minister said that those who are saying that our societies are aging are true. But the answer cannot be a centrally enforced migration policy. Hungarians have found the answer in supporting families, the government spent a lot of money to convince young generations that establishing one’s own family is a good thing. Demographic issues, of course, impact the economy as well. Hungary lacks workers, hence the government had to bring in guest workers. However, Hungary is following the Qatari model, where guest workers can come in for a period of 2-3 years, then they have to leave and reapply for entry. They cannot stay continuously. Hungary provides a job for them, not a home, said Mr. Orbán. But in the long term there is only one solution to this problem, to raise the number of children being born. Hopefully Hungary will reach the 2.1 children per couple threshold in ten years with its family policy.

On the other hand, he also claimed that the real reason why liberals want to force immigration on their societies is not in view of supporting family policy with migrants as they claim. It is a lie, they are collecting voters, the Prime Minister said. The liberals simply recruit voters from abroad, let Muslims come in who they understand will never vote for a Christian party. The real reason for insisting on mass migration is therefore power, and power comes from collecting votes.

Asked about being often designated as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strongest ally in Europe, Mr. Orbán replied that he would not call his government an “ally” of Putin, it is a “strong word”. Hungary has a simple geopolitical strategy, he explained, we do not want to have a shared border with Russia. We do not want to have it again, the Hungarian government respects the sovereignty of Ukraine. The Russian invasion is against all values Hungary respects and against international law. Yet Hungary had always had good economic relations with Russia, the government does not want to give up that relationship.

The war between Ukraine and Russia is not Hungary’s war, it is a war between two Slavic nations. Europe has adopted this war as their own, and are financing it with money, without actually making the ultimate human sacrifice themselves.

Reason of the war is simple, Mr. Orbán explained: Ukraine’s NATO membership. Russia will never allow membership of Ukraine in NATO, he claimed. They will always want to have a buffer zone between NATO and Russia. It is probably an illegitimate desire from Russia, but it is a fact. You have to accept that you are buffer zone, you cannot change “house number”. Ukraine cannot win this war. This is reality, the war has no solution on the battle ground. Eventually, Ukraine will not have a better deal after loosing hundreds of thousands of people than they would with earlier negotiations. It is not about being Putin’s ally, it is about reality, closed his though Viktor Orbán.

 

Featured Image: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán