9 May 2015, Budapest

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

Thank you for the invitation. As friends of Hungary are gathered here, it is fitting that I should be invited to attend, and I wish to thank you especially for inviting me to be with you, not just once but twice.

As you may remember, we met over a year ago, before the 2014 general election, sometime in mid-January, and then I asked all of us not to be provincial in our outlook. It is strange that, of all communities, a nation which sees itself as a nation of the world – a nation torn apart, with members scattered all over the world – should remind itself of this. Yet we must indeed remind ourselves of this, because no matter how true it is that everywhere in the world Hungarians feel at home – and thanks to you and others, throughout the world Hungarians have earned respect for themselves and their motherland – Hungarian politics is often overcome by the evil spirit of provincialism. Yet the reverse should be true, as we have always been famous for and are especially proud of having contributed to the cause and progress of humanity with new ideas and new inventions, and with minds open to the world. Though in the digital era the ballpoint pen is going out of fashion, we often proudly point out that we gave it to humanity, and now that it is being pensioned off by information technology, we can proudly point out that the punch card version of the computer was also invented by a Hungarian. Furthermore, the impossible idea of forcing hot steam through ground coffee was conceived in a Hungarian brain, and the result was the espresso. Few people know that Mr. Illy was a Hungarian from Bánát. And so on – the list of these great ideas and inventions continues. And yet this community, this nation, reminds itself not to be provincial. However, these two phenomena may stem from the same root. Because that peculiar way of thinking which launches Hungarian culture and Hungarian science to the forefront of the world not only prevails in the realms of science and culture, but also filters into the world of politics. What on the one hand is an advantage – the fact that we do everything differently, and always seek to find new solutions, leading to the birth of inventions – causes astonishment in politics and public life, when on issues emerging in Hungary and Europe we search for approaches which are different from those followed by other countries.

But, Ladies and Gentlemen, I continue to hold that we must cast our eyes beyond the borders of Hungary, and also of Europe. I believe that we must perceive everything that is happening in the world with a keenly open mind that is receptive to all things new. The world – and in particular, Europe – stands on the verge of decisive transformation or is already in the midst of it, and those who do not pay close attention will not understand which way the world is heading, and will not prevail, but will lose out in the changes. A year ago I asked you to build the receiver stations for a Hungarian detection network; to help gather the experiences which you gain in your new countries on a daily basis. I invited you to take a closer look at what is proven to work, and what is not: to examine new ideas which may have emerged and which may – not immediately, but in the near future – radically transform life in the United States, Britain, Australia or the Netherlands. I asked you to help the development of public thinking in Hungary with your advice and comments, and to support the work of political decision-makers. In other words, I asked you to help us to see beyond our own borders. Today I still see this call or inner command as being relevant, and I am grateful for your recommendations collected together in the volume which Chairman Szilveszter E. Vizi handed over to me before our meeting here. Please allow me today to first cast a glance at the direction in which the world is headed. I then propose to take a look at what we Hungarians have learnt from recent changes in the world, and finally ask whether we Hungarians have contributed in any way to the changes taking place in the world today.

To sum it up briefly, Ladies and Gentlemen, the world has not become a simpler place in the past year and a half. For instance, Thomas Friedman writes – and now I shall read out several quotations to underline the changes and the depth of the changes I am talking about – that “the world of disorder is expanding against the world of order”. He also says that the global contest that was the Cold War – a bipolar world order which at least afforded some predictability – will be replaced by a new configuration: “The biggest challenge for the world of order today is collaborating to contain these vacuums and fill them with order”. Even the United States, “the tent pole holding up the whole world of order” is facing increasingly serious issues. Or the President of the United States says that dangerous patterns of instability and insecurity have evolved in the world. During the course of transition to this multipolar world order, the new actors, China, Brazil and Russia, are asserting their interests ever more firmly, says Javier Solana, former NATO Secretary General. Asia is posing an increasing challenge to the West. It is now easily conceivable that the world economy’s centre of gravity will shift from the West to the East.

And meanwhile, Ladies and Gentlemen, the newly re-elected British prime minister says that the eurozone is balancing on the verge of another potential recession, with high unemployment, an uncertain growth rate, demographic problems, and the unaddressed problem of migration on an ever growing scale. Or, as the German chancellor has put it, “while Australia is proud to have signed a free trade agreement with China, we in Europe still argue about whether China is mature enough to enter into a similar agreement with us. We must bear in mind that the rest of the world is not sleeping; it is, in fact, very much in motion, even if Europe is faltering”. And, Ladies and Gentlemen, Europe is indeed faltering. This may be down to the fact that it is no longer sure of its own identity and its own objectives. Europe is uncertain as regards its identity, which way it should be heading, or which way it is heading. The terrorist attack in Paris shocked the continent, but no one can be sure that the ensuing birth pangs will lead to effective answers. While Europe, debilitated by the grave problem of immigration, continues its vehement debates under the spell of multi-culturalism, political correctness and other similar magic words, Australia, for example, is able to defend its borders. There, the message is stated clearly, without ambiguity: “Australia is serious about protecting its borders and will stop anyone who attempts to come illegally… [People] should not believe the lies of smugglers and there is no way they will make Australia home”. Summing up, Ladies and Gentlemen, in an uncertain and unpredictable world, we Europeans should take more seriously the answers which are dictated by our instincts for survival, instead of escaping from our own questions, the questions of our own lives, into the world of voodoo and taboos.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is, perhaps, one of the most important conclusions that we Hungarians can learn from the current changes in the world. In my view, Europe today is engaged in somewhat futile debates on states and systems, and I can also see that these debates are unlikely to subside, because there is wide-spread disillusion throughout our continent, and this always leads to debates on states and systems in Europe. Dilemmas have emerged on the horizon which can dismantle the frame of reference supporting such taboos. For instance, how is it possible that while Europeans value democracy more than non-democratic systems – a view that we Hungarians share – the latter appear to be more successful these days? In the decades ahead will democracy be able to provide the good leadership we would like? And what is the reason that extreme political forces are continuously gaining in strength in our own world, within the European continent? To quote an analyst from the Brookings Institution: “Meanwhile, insofar as there is energy in the international system, it comes from the great-power autocracies […] it is still these autocracies […] that act while the democracies react”. The world today is about the fact that, while Europe is busy debating, the East is busy working. In Europe 65 out of 100 people work, in the United States 75 out of 100, while in China 85 people out of 100 work. One sometimes feels that on our continent debate is valued more highly than work – and if this remains so, Europe will fall behind.

European politicians, Ladies and Gentlemen, tend to assume that the issue of political system takes priority, because if that issue is solved the problems of reality will also be automatically taken care of. This assumption is wrong. I am convinced that we – and in particular, we in the realm of politics – should not solve problems of ideology, but problems affecting the lives of Europeans today. This is the second most important conclusion. And now I quote another authority. Mr. Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, argues as follows: “Gone are the days of big fish eating small fish. In the post-post-crisis world, fast fish will dominate – and slow fish will die. […] Nothing is off limits. Every practice and standard will have to be rethought”. If the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum is right, we Hungarians have a good chance of introducing new paths, means and methods – not only to ourselves, but to the entire world. This may perhaps allow us to give a decisive answer to the difficult question of how a country which is small in terms of population and area can become successful. This is perhaps the third conclusion related to the situation in the world today.

In summary, Ladies and Gentlemen, we Hungarians can learn from the great transformations in the world that in order to be successful, to remain a sure and reliable reference point in this unpredictable world, we cannot afford to treat a single issue as a taboo. We may have learnt that, instead of ideological fixations, we must deal with the problems of reality, and have also learnt from history that we must give our own answers to the problems that concern us. You are well aware, Ladies and Gentlemen, that it has been a long path, full of hard struggle, which has led us to where we are today. Twenty-five years ago – we have just celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the formation of the first freely-elected Parliament – when Hungary regained its sovereignty, it could hardly have thought that it was about to embark on twenty years of wrangling. It could hardly have thought that there would not be sufficient will, courage and strength to complete the enormous, fundamental changes required to enable Hungary, after communism, to once again become a strong, proud, Christian, western and civic country. We set out on our mission five years ago in a sorry state, a hopeless situation, amidst attacks and criticisms from abroad, but that we had struck out in the right direction was confirmed by the 2014 general election, when the Hungarian people finally ended the era of futile debate by creating a large parliamentary majority.

Dear Guests,

For five years now we have been working on the removal of rubble and obstacles from the past; in the approximately 1,800 days since then, we have overcome the economic crisis. Hungary has created the conditions for financial stability; Hungary is reducing its sovereign debt; Hungary adopted a new Fundamental Law; Hungary has reinforced national cohesion amongst the scattered Hungarian communities world-wide; Hungary has protected its sovereignty, and defended its stance against Brussels. Hungary has implemented a reduction in household utility bills, Hungary has held the financial sector accountable, and Hungary has rescued hundreds of thousands of people from debt slavery. We have overcome all these obstacles, and have cleared away the rubble. There is, of course, plenty more to do. There are some things that we have not yet succeeded in accomplishing. We are facing a number of challenges in the reform of our education system, and there are also some pan-European issues which we likewise cannot afford to treat as taboos, because if we do we shall stand little chance of defending ourselves. We must consider whether the Member States made the right decision when they gave up further and further slices of their national sovereignty in favour of the European Union, and whether there are some issues and questions which it would be better to delegate once again to the competence of Member States. The British, for instance, have fully reviewed the relevant legislation. But also here and in Europe a lot of hard work, tough fights and debates await us.

However, the good news is, Ladies and Gentlemen, that twenty-five years after the fall of communism, we may finally come into accord with the luckier half of the world. Some of the statements which once caused shock and bewilderment are now becoming increasingly common in the western world. Prime Minister Cameron, for instance, says that full employment is not an illusion; we must create the security of regular income for ever more people. The victorious Prime Minister says that hardworking people should not only hear about business achievements in the news but should experience them first hand, in their own lives; in other words, they must be better spread.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have now got so far that what the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom or the President of the United States is free to say may now also be said by the Hungarian people; for instance, we may announce the programme for full employment.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the nineteen-nineties, perhaps none of us would have thought that we would ever have the hard-won opportunities which are ours now. Hungary today has sufficient authorisation and strength to realise the plans and the dreams which were embodied in the vision of the establishment of a civic Hungary when communism fell. It took twenty years of wrangling, a victorious constitutional revolution in 2010, and five years of hard struggle and removal of rubble. We are in the situation today which we aimed for twenty-five years ago, but which we never truly believed could come about. In the three years leading up to the next election, the country has a government that is able and ready to act, with a commanding parliamentary majority and popular support.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Scriptures attribute special significance to the person who acts as another person’s advocate, or – to use a more literary word – their patron. A patron is someone who stands by us when we are in great need of help, who protects us when we are unable to stand up for ourselves, and who mostly does so without any personal gain or benefit; and they are even willing to engage in conflict to defend those they support. I would like to thank you for having been the patrons, the advocates of Hungary and the Hungarian people over the past few years. Thank you for having helped to explain to the world the successful solutions that stem from the situation in Hungary and the Hungarian frame of mind. I now ask you to spread the good name of Hungary around the world. I ask you to tell everyone wherever you go that we shall complete and bring to fruition the programme for a civic settlement. The task of the next few years in Hungary will be to furnish the structure of a civic Hungary, which always the noblest in Hungarian history have worked towards. This task is at least as formidable – if perhaps not as spectacular – as the break with communism or the two-thirds parliamentary revolution which finally swept away the post-communist system. I am certain that we shall succeed if we unite our efforts. I am certain that the friends of Hungary will have every reason to be proud of Hungary at the end of this mighty effort; at least as proud as Hungary is today of its friends.

Thank you for your attention.

(Prime Minister's Office)