An address by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén.

What is the meaning and purpose of the Hungarian State? The purpose of the Hungarian State is to ensure the survival of the Hungarian nation and to improve the Hungarian people’s quality of life; these are the foundations upon which everything else is built. The government takes the view that the Hungarian nation – as every other nation – is a one-time and unrepeatable value. No one can give the world the richness of values that Polish culture is able to offer; likewise, no one can give János Arany or Béla Bartók to the world, only we Hungarians. Universal humanity would be irreversibly and eternally the poorer by a specific face, by a song, and at the end of the day, by a thought of God if the Hungarian people disappeared. Therefore, the Hungarian people’s primary duty is to preserve our Hungarian identity.

Following from this, Hungarian children must be born, children who grow up in Hungarian culture, in the Hungarian language. We therefore reject migration, and support families. Because in theory it would be possible to replace the country’s population with migration in terms of mere figures, but they would be unable to replace the Hungarian people. Naturally, we extend any family support options that are not tied to residence to all Hungarians beyond the borders as well. I am happy to announce that the impact of this is now also being felt in Hungarian communities beyond the borders. The goal is that as many Hungarian children should be born as necessary for the survival of the Hungarian nation. But even if that was not enough, we can only let into the country non-Hungarians who are prepared to integrate, and if possible to assimilate, provided that Hungarian society wants that, too. Therefore, only the Hungarian nation and the government of the Hungarian nation can decide whom they wish to let into the country.

As since World War I Hungary has been a country which is bordered by itself all around, the government extends any family support measures that are not directly tied to residence to the Hungarian population beyond the borders, and the positive effects are already forthcoming. As we are a country with a Christian civilisation, and stand on the ground of common sense, we laid down in the Constitution that marriage as the basis of family is the union of one man and one woman. It also follows from this that every child has the right to a mother and a father. Children’s right to healthy development is more powerful than the demands of homosexual couples regarding their right to adopt children.

The Hungarian State supports the institution of marriage with symbolic and financial benefits. Rather than financing the sexual self-realisation of individuals, the Hungarian State wants children to be born into families; children who will help the Hungarian nation to survive, and who will as grown adults become working and taxpaying citizens. At the same time, when it comes to family support, financial support is not enough. Spiritual assistance is of equal importance, including the dignity of women and motherhood, and the promotion of pro-life movements. If the rights of the most vulnerable minority, those in the embryonic phase could be disregarded, then from there on disregarding the rights of children is only one step away. Therefore, the government also states in no uncertain terms that foetal life is human life, and is protected from the moment of its conception.

(Prime Minister's Office/MTI)