In an interview for Nyíregyhaza television on Monday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán cited two dangers that Hungary is facing: migration, and the loss of the results we have achieved in recent years. “We and I will go to battle with anyone to protect Hungary”, he declared.

The Prime Minister said he believes the most important achievement of the past eight years is the building of confidence with respect to the future, adding that this is the joint success of the Government and the people, which must be defended on 8 April.

Mr. Orbán spoke about the fact thatHungarians are known for being a pessimistic people, but we are now “recuperating from this illness”; we didn’t believe we could have a future and with regard to great plans we always said: “we’ll believe it when we see it”. According to the Prime Minister, this mentality has changed since 2010, because through years of hard work the Hungarians are seeing the country’s development.

This hasn’t been the case for a very long time, and I don’t mean that the macroeconomic indices or the budget figures are improving, but that we can see the construction work, the development of industrial parks, the building of new sports halls, the cities being put in order and the improving chances for young people to own their first home, meaning people can feel that something good is happening, the Prime Minister explained.

Mr. Orbán pointed out that Hungary is one of very few countries in Europe in which people feel that their children will live a better life than they are.

“This spiritual turnaround, or the building of hope with regard to the future, is what I regard as the most important thing that has happened to us during the past eight years”, the Prime Minister said, adding that this required results, however, which the Government and the people achieved together.

“We can safely say that it is a joint success that the Hungarians are expecting something from the future; we now have a future and that future must be protected, this is what is at stake at the elections”, he declared.

The Prime Minister explained that on the eve of the general election the Hungarians must also be reminded of the fact that the results we have achieved since 2010 can also be lost. There are things that the forces that are applying to govern the country today have committed against the country, for instance they took away the tax allowance for families with children and one month’s pension, in addition to which they raised utility prices, he continued.

In the current phase of wage increases, it is difficult to imagine that there were once people who took people’s wages away, he pointed out.
“I would not like the helm to be given back into the hands of international capital, so that we will once again end up in debt to the International Monetary Fund or Brussels. We should be glad that we finally managed to get out, to scrape ourselves out of that seemingly hopeless situation and are finally our own boss, and are no longer wearing a collar”, he said.

The other true danger facing the country is immigration, Mr. Orbán declared. He said that in his opinion if Hungary allows entry to migrants it will also have to provide for them. Even the more affluent Germany and Austria are having trouble shouldering the related financial burdens, and migration would quite simply crush Hungary, he stated.

“Migration is a mistake that can only be committed once, and which cannot be corrected; this is the most exciting and at the same time the most alarming thing which will be at stake at the 8 April elections”, the Prime Minister said. He stressed that it would be a mistake for Hungary not to choose a national government, which under difficult international conditions has defended the Hungarians, constructed the border security fence and is not letting in the migrants.

“We and I will go to battle with anyone to protect Hungary”, de underlined.
With relation to the elections he pointed out that in the case of a relatively close result it was important what characters the voters send to parliament: people for whom Hungary comes first, or people who want to execute international orders.

Mr. Orbán also spoke about the new investment on the part of German vehicle electronics parts manufacturer Rosenberger, which was officially inaugurated in Nyírbátor on Monday. He said Nyírbátor was a town in which Fidesz had had to put up a fight for every word and vote. He explained that didn’t want people to say that the government operated on the basis of “personal selection”, and if the Mayor isn’t a member of one of the governing parties or the opposition establishes strong bridgeheads in a given settlement, then it will not receive funding “out of spite”.

It is the people of Nyírbátor who are important to us, not the Mayor, or Socialist Finance Minister János Veres (…) “and you too deserve to have the Prime Minister visit places like this”, Mr. Orbán said.

The Prime Minister told the press that during his visit to Szabolcs County he had visited Nyírbogota at the invitation of Fidesz Mayor Miklós Simon, after which he had met with Mayor of Nyíregyhaza Ferenc Kovács (Fidesz-KDNP).
In the interview, he said with respect to the Szabolcs County capital that the Cabinet had needed to repay a major political debt towards the city, such as the issue of the ice rink and the completion of the missing parts of the ring road and western bypass, with regard to which he has already come to an agreement with the Mayor.

Not only are good things happening in Nyíregyhaza, but they are things that the city has wanted for a long time, but had not found a way to realise them until now”, Mr. Orbán said. The Prime Minister also welcomed the cooperation between Debrecen and Nyíregyháza, which according to Mr. Orbán is beneficial to both cities.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)