Those who jeopardise Hungarian interests can expect to have to face the Hungarian State, János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office said at the press conference Governmentinfo 98 which he held jointly with Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács.
He stated: the Government will do everything to protect Hungarian interests.
The politician described the Ukrainian education legislation „which crudely violates the rights of the Hungarian minority” as shameful and unacceptable, and asked Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko not to sign the law, and to honour his undertaking to guarantee the right of the Hungarians in Transcarpathia to use their mother tongue.
Hungary regards this law as a stab in the back, „in consequence, Ukraine is losing one of its friends”, the Minister said, reiterating that Hungary has expressed its support for the Ukrainian people on a number of occasions, including the issue of visa-free travel to the EU.
He said: Hungary will seek legal remedy at every international forum in order to guarantee the right of the Hungarians living in Ukraine to use their mother tongue and to study in their mother tongue.
Mr Lázár also spoke about the Marosvásárhely school incident, confirming: Hungary will not support Romania’s OECD membership until genuine progress is made regarding the school incident. He described the case of the Catholic school in Marosvásárhely as an extremely hostile move, as in his view the Romanian party did not proceed in a fair manner, abused its superior power, and effectively frustrated the operation of the institution.
Hungary also took action against Croatia’s OECD membership due to „the violation of economic interests”, he added.
Regarding Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s coming programmes abroad, he said: the Prime Minister will pay a visit to Poland on Friday, and will then travel on to Vietnam and Singapore. As a result, there will be no cabinet meeting next week as expected.
People’s opinion ahead of new debates is important
Due to the mandatory distribution mechanism, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office is expecting new debates, and in reference to this he asked the people to state their opinion within the framework of the national consultation to be launched at the beginning of October and to answer the question whether they continue to insist that Hungary should not become an immigrant country. Mr Lázár said: European politics should not be dominated by György Soros’s plan, based on which one million people should be brought into Europe from the Middle-East or Africa annually even at the expense of more borrowing and tax increases.
The billionaire has in recent years tabled several specific proposals to the EU to the effect that migration must be organised in the interest of the reinforcement of competitiveness, and 30 thousand euros (9 million forints) must be provided for those coming here over a period of 2 years, he said.
The purpose of the consultation initiated by the parliamentary groups of Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People’s Party is for the Government to find out whether citizens support these ideas, he said, confirming: the Government does not see the solution to the demographic problems in immigration, but in providing support for Hungarian families. In the Minister’s evaluation, the debate regarding the future of the EU is only just beginning.
He pointed out that due to the expectation relating to the mandatory distribution mechanism which serves to provide help for Greece and Italy and which will expire on 26 September, Hungary, a country that maintains an absolutely clear stance on the matter, is being branded, while there is no Member State, other than Malta, that would have fully implemented the decision.
Implementation is making very slow progress, he highlighted in reference to the fact that the cases of just 28 thousand 242 immigrants have been closed in Europe out of the 98 thousand 255 to be taken in. Hungary was required to take in 1,294 immigrants, he reiterated, adding: this is what the legal dispute is about.
According to the Minister, Hungary represents a fair position when it declares that it does not want a single immigrant; at the same time, in his view, others do not state their case quite so clearly. He remarked in this context: for instance, Romania has taken in 17 per cent of its quota, Slovakia stands at 16 per cent, while Germany, too, has only taken in a mere 28 per cent of its share of the quotas.
The Minister further told the press that, in the wake of the decision adopted by the European Court in the quota lawsuit, he expects that Brussels will put even more pressure on Hungary because the difference is unbridgeable at present: Brussels wants to organise migration, while Hungary wants to stop it. He also expressed hope that Germany, too, will come round to a wiser view on the matter in the autumn.
The politician said it is a hypocritical attitude that while the international press put Hungary under pressure regarding the immigration issue, the Member States which are being protected by the fence – such as Austria for one – were “even put out” by the arrival of two to three dozen people daily via the border because, in actual fact, they demanded the full closure of the border.
He also highlighted in the context of Germany: it is important for Hungary and Fidesz that incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, CDU should win the upcoming parliamentary elections. Mr Lázár further told the press: the Government is certain that if Hungary had let the migrants in, the statistics regarding public security “would be nothing like they are”.
In his words, Fidesz fulfilled its promise made in 2010 regarding the restoration of order in the country, and as a result, Hungary is one of Europe’s safest countries today. Among the results achieved in the field of public security, he highlighted the enlargement of the police personnel, the restoration of the system of constabularies, the technical reinforcement of the police and the significant fall in the number of crimes.
Several questions were asked at the press conference in connection with the campaign of the consultation. Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said in reply: the consultation campaign will be conducted within the usual boundaries, and every one of its elements will be made public. In answer to the question as to whether there will be a hoarding campaign and television and radio advertisements, he said: all the elements will be used that have been employed before.
Mr Lázár also said: the questions of the consultation will be about the details of the “Soros Plan”, including György Soros’s recommendations made with respect to the issue of immigration: the one million immigrants annually, the dismantling of the fence, and the mandatory financial backing of migrants.
The Minister was also asked about the visit of the delegation of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control. He said in reply: it is rather interesting that the body selected 5 projects out of the some 5 thousand, and he also remarked: the reason why they did not find anything was not because they did not want to, but because the audited projects were conducted completely lawfully and professionally.
In answer to a question concerning the pensions of those who held senior positions during the communist regime, the Minister said: the Government is ready to look into the question, and is open to the review that was not carried out in 1990.
He commented on the words of former presidential candidate László Majtényi criticising the Government as follows in answer to a question: there is nothing in Hungary to prevent the thriving of a democratic public life, non-governmental organisations are free to state their views, and are not restricted in any way. It is easy to say before an election campaign that opposition groups are failing to advance their cause because of the Government. However, “what the opposition parties are now doing is that they look in the mirror, they see something ugly there, and instead of having a shave, they break the mirror”, he said.
In response to the suggestion that the opposition referendum initiatives “are frustrated one by one”, Mr Lázár said: on the contrary, the goals of these initiatives are successfully achieved as, after all, Hungary finally did not bid to host the Olympic Games, people can go shopping on Sunday once again, and Parliament decided only the other day on increasing the limitation period applicable to corruption-related crimes. They should be glad that they managed to push their ideas through in opposition, he remarked.
In answer to another question he said: there is no consensus among psychologists regarding the establishment of a chamber of psychologists, and there is therefore no chance during this parliamentary cycle for a proposal on this to be presented to the House.
Mr Lázár was also asked about press reports to the effect that, in return for assuming the debts of the City of Pécs, the State would be given the company operating the Pécs-Pogány airport which it would then lease to Rosatom. He said: this idea or any form of property exchange did not even emerge at the cabinet meeting.
The Minister was further queried about his personal plans. As he said, if it was only up to him, he would be working in his constituency between 2018 and 2022 as he believes that he would be able to be of more help there than in the Government. This does not mean that he has no long-term ambitions, he laid down, indicating: “if there are tasks to be completed, there are ambitions, but I believe that it is very difficult to ride two horses at once”.
(MTI)
