One of the principal issues of the next general elections will be how much of a right Hungary will have in the future to decide about its own fate, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office said on Wednesday at the forum held with the participation of members of the public in the locality of Kiszombor in Csongrád County.

According to János Lázár, there are more and more events which call for increased unity, and it is therefore important that 1.5 million people have already answered the questions of the national consultation.

Hungary does not say that it is not prepared to take in migrants out of a lack of humaneness or solidarity, but because it takes the view that the problems should not be solved within European boundaries, but locally, where they originally emerge, and because Hungary wishes to spend its money on Hungarian people, rather than on relocated migrants, he said.

The Government is unable to triumph over Brussels’ attempts at centralisation on its own, and this is why the support of the electorate is so crucial, he added.

Upon its accession to the European Union in 2004, Hungary resigned a number of rights, including tools for the protection of its market. The local market cannot be protected by means of customs duties, and this is why foreign products flooded the shops and this is why the country is in need of imports. “It is partially in compensation for these that we are receiving funds from the European Union”, he said.

The politician argued that while the country is being threatened with the withdrawal of EU funds, Hungary will contribute HUF 3,500 billion to the common budget in the next few years. “We are not merely receiving funds, we are being repaid funds”, he remarked.

Mr Lázár said in the context of the Wednesday resolution of the European Parliament: the European Parliament condemned the country “in a manner that is pleasing for György Soros” because it intended to withdraw the privileges formerly enjoyed by the Soros university. Those who voted for the more stringent resolution voted against Hungary. “We cannot accept this”, the Minister stated.

The Minister said: the most important task at present is to encourage families to have more children and to stop the population decline in villages. This phenomenon affects Kiszombor less as 30 to 35 children are born in the locality every year which is enough to maintain a school. However, some of the 19 localities in his constituency are facing the risk of extinction, the Member of Parliament for the constituency said. “The solution to this problem is not to import here people from Africa”, he remarked.

Mr Lázár pointed out: they have been working on boosting the economy and creating security ever since 2010. Unemployment has fallen to below five per cent nation-wide, the number of crimes committed in the country has decreased significantly, they have hired five thousand police officers and seven thousand border guards, the misdemeanour legislation has been tightened, and “a number of criminals have been taken out of circulation”. They do not want these achievements to be jeopardised by letting in migrants, he said.

Regarding the situation in Kiszombor, the Member of Parliament said: the locality has received grants worth HUF 601 million since 2010 for the development of its institutions and transport, as the locality had not incurred debts before 2010.

In the context of future developments, the Minister said that the full construction of the Makó bypass road was one of his election promises. He is working on the allocation of funds in the magnitude of HUF 4-4.5 billion for the implementation of this project. Additionally, the modernisation of the Makó-Szeged railway line is also on the agenda, he added.

Concerning the Makó drinking water improvement programme, he said that the project started in 2012. A 52-kilometre section of the drinking water network has been refurbished from an allocation of HUF 3.7 billion so far. However, the quality of water has deteriorated, and those who joined the programme continue to receive their water supply from the old network.

The Minister managed to procure funds worth HUF 560 million for new filters, but another HUF 900 million would be required, “while the contractor, the principal and the technical supervisor are all gone”, he said.

Time is pressing, and they may well be required to repay the totality of the grants to Brussels. Mr Lázár said: he does not yet know how this problem will be solved.

(MTI)