Events have recently gathered speed in Brussels, the European Parliament is trying to shame Hungary once again, János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office said at the press conference Governmentinfo 103 which he held jointly with Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács.
The Minister highlighted: the other day a liberal group initiated yet another committee hearing regarding the case of Hungary. European cooperation should be based on mutual respect, and Hungary is therefore asking every Member of the European Parliament to respect the Hungarian people and to stop insulting them, he stated.
Mr Lázár said: „he would not dare to presume” that events are speeding up because the „sponsor” will pay a visit to Brussels, but it is quite telling that news items are emerging week after week about the strong network that György Soros has in Brussels. They will discuss this topic at next week’s cabinet meeting, and will talk about how these activities and machinations affect Hungary’s reputation, and what objectives are being set regarding Hungary, he explained.
The Minister also pointed out in answer to a question: at the Prime Minister’s request, they also evaluated from an intelligence point of view what György Soros had managed to achieve in Berlin and Brussels in order to discredit Hungary and to influence opinions. He added: he himself would not have imagined the influence the organisations associated with the billionaire had over what the European Commission should say and do in the debate on the Norway Grants.
It is true that the Soros organisations are able to influence the Commission’s decision-making mechanism on its merits, and „this practically means that they are able to insert their comments into a report on Hungary”, he said, also highlighting that former representatives of these organisations even make their way into the Commission as employees. „It is not experts who dictate, but special considerations”, he remarked.
In answer to a question concerning the possible EU prohibition of the national consultation, he said: he does not believe that this attempt could be successful as this is a national affair. He is surprised, however, that European politicians who claim to be liberal protest on account of a democratic institution. He found it strange that someone who claims to be liberal should be scared of the people’s opinion and should be afraid to ask the people.
He took the view that left-wing and liberal Members of the European Union are continually „messing with” Hungary and Poland, and the fence is the permanent topic in the case of Hungary. Also on this occasion, „we are ready for a debate”, he added.
In response to a journalist’s question as to whether Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will meet with the President of the European Parliament at next week’s EU summit to be held in Gothenburg, he said: there are good working relations with the President of the EP, and the parties can discuss all matters at any time.
HUF 51 billion earmarked for protection of borders up to end of year
The Minister announced: the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence will be given HUF 51 billion for the protection of the borders up to the end of the year. These two Ministries will be allocated these grants in order to ensure that Hungary continues to remain one of the safest countries of Europe and the World, and in order to protect the country from illegal immigrants, he said.
He told the press: the Prime Minister asked the ministries concerned to take seriously the news reports claiming that there are a few subcontractors who have not received their pay for the work they completed upon the erection of the fence. The Interior Ministry recently initiated a consultation in order to look into the complaint, and the Government is ready to guarantee that those who completed their jobs will be given their remuneration, he stated.
Mr Lázár said: the Government takes the stance that while they respect that there are large Western-European countries which are immigrant countries, they cannot accept that they should want to also change the Central-European countries „which are not immigrant countries as yet”.
He took the view that while they always say about the mandatory quotas and resettlement that this is just an idea, they are moving towards its implementation step by step, and there are negotiations under way now about the importation and distribution of illegal immigrants from outside the EU. This is a fine example of how the European Commission is „stealthily” organising resettlement on an ongoing basis, he pointed out.
As he said, the Commission does not take kindly to the fact that Hungary does not observe the time limits set for submitting its replies in the new phase of the infringement procedures. The reason being that the EU body is applying double standards, and is setting unrealistic time limits in politically sensitive matters in the majority of cases, he added. Hungary is asking „to be treated the same way as everyone else”, he stated.
In response to the news that the German constitutional court decided on the introduction of a third gender in the regulation of personality rights, the Minister said: this fits well into the trend that there are communities which seem to be giving up on the model of a Christian- and family-based Europe, and there are some which are working towards creating a new transnational Europe which forgets about Christian values. „We want a Europe” which preserves its Christian roots, he said.
Rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia cannot be curtailed
Mr Lázár also told the press: the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia cannot be curtailed, and they would therefore like to conduct this debate within the framework of Hungarian-Ukrainian relations in a way which permits the possibility of cooperation. He remarked: he is asking the country seeking to gain admission to the EU to observe the custom that once a minority has been granted a right, they should be allowed to keep it.
The Minister further responded to the proposal raised by DK President Ferenc Gyurcsány to the effect that the franchise of Hungarians beyond the borders should be taken away. Mr Lázár shared the uniform view of organisations beyond the border, and contrasted the facts that the former Prime Minister has had a problem with Hungarians beyond the borders ever since 2003-2004, but is happy to welcome illegal immigrants breaking through the border.
Protection of victims is paramount in harassment cases
As regards harassment cases, both the Government and the governing parties see human dignity as the paramount consideration which means the protection of victims in this instance, Mr Lázár said.
The Minister highlighted: while the Government has no place in private relations, it is important to take a stance. He stated: they refute every manifestation of violence and every form of the abuse of power in the strongest possible terms.
In answer to a question, he said: the victims have filed no reports in years before „for understandable reasons”, this is their personal decision, and forms part of the individual’s private sphere which the Government has no possibility to interfere with. However, the law provides adequate protection, should the victim resort to it, as wherever a procedure is instituted, there is an outcome of some kind, he said in stating his view. He added: if the victims suggest that the relevant regulations should be changed, they will consider this; however, every case is different.
Representation of small and medium-sized holders has prevailed
At the press conference the Minister congratulated Magosz, an ally of Fidesz, on its victory in the elections of the Chamber of Agriculture, and highlighted that in contrast to the earlier 10 thousand voters, 47 thousand 500 members cast their votes this time round. In his evaluation, the representation of small and medium-sized farmers has prevailed over that of large holders. Mr Lázár took the view: it is a workable model that a professional group develops its own programme, and the Government decides to back it.
He also confirmed that the Prime Minister instructed the Interior Minister and the Minister of Human Capacities to organise the winter care of the homeless. He pointed out: the goal is to have as many places in homeless facilities as many homeless people there are, and no one can be left without care. He further told the press that the moratorium on evictions will enter into force on 15 November, and the social firewood programme will also start, as part of which HUF 4 billion will be provided for 2,255 local governments.
Commission favourably altered its projections concerning Hungarian economy
Mr Lázár also reported that the European Commission has favourably altered its projections concerning Hungary’s economic growth in 2017 and 2018. He described this as an enormous result, indicating: the September figures, too, show that the Hungarian economy is making good progress.
In answer to a question, he said that every project that is currently under way in the Buda Castle will be completed next year. Regarding press reports concerning the technical problems of the Castle Garden, he said: he asked the competent parties to enforce the guarantees if that is possible, while if not, to have the defects repaired.
The Minister was also asked about the development of the Transport Museum, in response to which he stated: it is not possible to build a gigantic building complex in the City Park (Városliget), and they therefore decided to deposit the exhibits in two locations. The Eiffel building complex has been offered to accommodate oversized exhibits, but a final decision has not yet been adopted with respect to the venue.
In answer to a question concerning the accessibility for the disabled of eight stations of metro line 3, he said: the Government has supported every metropolitan development ever since 2010, and also to this project it has provided a maximum contribution, HUF 137 billion. At the same time, providing accessibility for the disabled is the duty of local governments. The State has provided all the funds it could, and also those living outside Budapest have contributed to this project, he said, adding: the capital has its own budget and revenues, and no one prohibits them from providing accessibility for the disabled from their own money. The municipalities in question are local governments with large budgets, there are municipal savings worth hundreds of billions of forints on bank accounts. They should not always ask the Government for money, those who have money of their own may themselves make a contribution, he said.
In response to another question, he cited the takeover by the State of the suburban railway company HÉV and the transport developments between Budapest and Ferihegy Airport as the reason for the appointment of Róbert Homolya as Government Commissioner for transport infrastructure developments. As he said, the Minister of State had been responsible for this area also before, but his responsibilities did not include the capital, and they have now been extended to Budapest as well.
The Minister was also asked about his meeting with István Tiborcz. He said in reply: he does not see this as a conflict of interest, he is the man in the Government whose duty it is „to talk to everyone”. He said: he knew the entrepreneur from his days as mayor, before the individual in question was married and had anything to do with his prospective family. He said in explanation of the meeting that a Jobbik Member of Parliament enquired about him in Parliament, and this is what they spoke about.
He further remarked that it is a rare occurrence in Parliament that a sole entrepreneur’s name should be singled out from among the hundreds of thousands of Hungarian entrepreneurs. „If István Tiborcz made the same amount of money, bought the same house, had the same income, had an equally successful business, but were not Viktor Orbán’s son-in-law, not a single Member of Parliament would stand up and make enquiries about him”, he said, stating that it is unfair to mix family members into politics. He also added: they could have met in a non-public place, but they had nothing to be ashamed of or hide.
Mr Lázár said in answer to a question related to a stabbing incident that occurred at a football game last week: this is fundamentally a case for the police, and the Government expects the police to take severe measures against the perpetrators because „what happened is unacceptable”.
(MTI)
