"Bolstering and making domestic capital competitive is not just a matter of business but that of freedom as well", Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Warsaw on Thursday at the event organised by the Polish Chamber of Commerce, where he was honoured with the Golden Umbrella Award.
The Prime Minister explained that he cannot imagine neither a free Hungary nor a free Poland where domestic capital is side-lined and not promoted enough to be able to overcome the disadvantage against the West that accumulated over the forty years of communism. "We have to compete with those who did not live in a communist regime".
He reiterated that he has always recognized the EU rules on competition neutrality but at the same time, he has always believed that it is a duty of Central European countries to do their best in bolstering domestic capital within the frameworks of established rules.
In front of an audience of 200-250 people, Viktor Orbán characterized Hungary as a political black sheep and an economic success story. He outlined that the core of the Hungarian strategy is that "we want to change the unfavourable way we are looked at by achieving economic successes that make us winners and champions".
The Prime Minister mentioned the government deficit that has been below 3 per-cent for years, the reduction of government debt, the external balance of trade being proportionally competitive with that of Germany, economic growth and decreasing unemployment as some of the positive outcomes of the Hungarian economy, the unique Hungarian crisis management model.
According to him, "there is a bright future ahead of Hungary" and although the road is bumpy, it is the only one that leads to success.
In his speech, Viktor Orbán urged the reinforcement of everyday economic cooperation between Poland and Hungary, since the future of Hungary is here, in Central-Europe. He indicated that there are 341 Polish businesses in Hungary and the Polish-Hungarian volume of trade increased by more than 7 per-cent last year.
The Prime Minister expressed his opinion on the European Union, according to which the project called EU is temporarily stuck. Monetary union has not been followed by fiscal union, there are diverse opinions regarding the role of the European Central Bank, and the continent seems to be losing in the global competition – he recalled.
In his view, there are "inconvenient truths" deriving from all this as a result, such as for example, that no one does the homework of others, that is, as long as countries in trouble do not fix their own economic issues, there can be no European recovery expected. He noted that only a few take the courage to admit in Europe that we have to work more and more for the same amount of money.
Viktor Orbán said that political leadership is needed to change the current European situation and he mentioned the European energy situation among the "inconvenient issues". He believes that the main reason for the lack of economic competitiveness is high energy prices and stated that it is high time to say out loud that for countries like ours, that are not rich enough, alternative energy is almost unaffordable and added that nuclear energy is indispensable in Europe.
According to the Prime Minister, someone needs to admit this "especially inconvenient truth": that “we cannot establish competitive energy prices without the Russians being present in the European energy market”. In sum, he noted that "nowadays, climate issues are ranked only second to those of price in Europe".
Regarding the situation of Europe, however, he noted that he has high expectations towards the new leaders of the EU, and he considered it an honour that former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has become the head of the Council of the European Union.
As for the Ukraine crisis, Viktor Orbán said that while everyone stresses the importance of maintaining European unity, the differences between certain countries are still visible. “It is the same with us Hungarians, for Europe must show strength, and if there is no unity, there is no strength either” – he said.
He reflected on the negotiations with Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz in Warsaw calling them strong and interesting, but said that they have jointly strengthened the Polish-Hungarian friendship. Viktor Orbán stressed that “Hungary could always rely on Poland and we have always been and will always be grateful for that.”
Prior to presenting the Golden Umbrella Award, Deputy President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce Marek Kloczko said that when the current government came to power in 2010, Hungary had been in a catastrophic economic situation and it was the cabinet led by Viktor Orbán who helped the country recover from the low point.
(Prime Minister's Office, MTI)