During the period to come, we will have to concentrate on strengthening national independence, Antal Rogán said on Saturday in Kötcse in Somogy County before the meeting Civic Picnic.

At the press conference held at the Dobozy Villa hosting the event, the Prime Minister’s cabinet chief said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will talk about the fact that “in the 9 years since 2010 we first created independence, and then protected it; the most important task of the years ahead will be to strengthen national independence”.

He added that this requires a strong and successful economy to which a sovereign and independent economy policy such as the one pursued in the past few years can lead.

He recalled that after 2010 Hungary had to repay the loan provided by the IMF and the loan taken out by the Gyurcsány and Bajnai governments from the European Union. Following that, our national independence sustained multiple attacks: At the time of the reduction of household utility bills, a measure of a financial nature, and then “between 2015 and 2018, a number of attempts were made to force us to open the Hungarian borders to immigrants,” he said.

He pointed out that “on each and every occasion, we successfully defended the freedom of national sovereignty”.

The politician highlighted that the growth of the Hungarian economy in recent years has been not only high, but one of the highest within the EU, and is also in the top rankings in the Central European region. The difference between the growth of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the current performance of the Hungarian economy stems from the contribution of Hungary’s economic policy and the economy protection action plan, he underlined.

In the next few years, all available funds will be used for creating a strong Hungarian economy. This is a pre-condition of providing continued support for Hungarian families and preserving the value of pensions, he stressed.

In answer to a question, he said the municipal elections are not ideological or political elections; they are about the kind of leaders that people elect for their settlements.

“The Fidesz-KDNP alliance has a great many tested and successful mayors who have proved in the past 9 to 13 years that they are worthy of leading their settlements,” he added.

According to Mr Rogán, the government parties are offering suitable candidates to electors; the opposition, however, is offering unsuitable candidates who only aspire to positions, in contrast to Fidesz-KDNP’s tested and tried mayors. In his view, the best example is Budapest which “is led, in the person of István Tarlós, by a person with extensive experience of 29 years in urban management, while his challengers on the opposition side are three unsuitable candidates”.

In answer to another question, he said he is not surprised at all that “the departing pro-immigration European Commission has released an OLAF report once again before an election. This is how they do it, this is how they support the opposition in Hungary whom they prefer to the government,” he observed.

He said Hungary has matched the grants provided by the EU by 110 per cent, “this is a successful drawdown practice; even if all adjustment items were enforced – over which there will be plenty of disputes – the situation is that Hungary has drawn on all available EU grants, meaning that the people have not sustained a loss,” he added.

OLAF is at odds with German Chancellor Angela Merkel who stated a month ago in Sopron that the Hungarian government has drawn on EU funds effectively, for the people’s benefit, and this also manifests itself in the Hungarian economy’s growth, the head of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)