29 May 2015 Budapest

Former Prime Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Now I find myself in a bind. Originally I had thought that I would deliver a speech (perhaps it will still indeed be necessary), but in the meantime we have heard four outstanding speeches, and normally when one is last on a list of speakers one is expected to refer back to previous speeches. Today that task would require a separate speech of its own. So how should we proceed? First of all, Ladies and Gentlemen, I do not want to pass up the chance of following on from what has been said – or, if you wish, to summarize.

Let us see. Former Prime Minister Boross, what can we take note of and learn from? The appreciation and the fair use of the past is the task of a civic government. I feel that it is important to draw a distinction between ideology and ideals – this is something which is not always easy to do, and it requires great skill. Ideology is a blinkered view of the world, and it results in people under constant pressure to conform, needing to somehow bring reality into line with an idea; this most commonly results in dogmatism or rigidity, and simplistic approaches. On the other hand, politics driven by ideals – as we heard from Mr. Prime Minister a few moments ago – offers the possibility of a pragmatic response to changes in the world around us. Thank you, I took note of this. Incidentally, Mr. Prime Minister, may I say that all of us would love to be able to discuss the world’s complex issues in such a clear manner at the age of eighty-six. I truly hope that occupying the post of prime minister is the secret to preserving one’s faculties at such a level. I consider the following important, and so I have taken note of it: “steadfast guidance”. Our opponents are in the habit of calling this “rulership”. “Steadfast guidance” is a positive term, while “rulership” is negative. It is important to remind ourselves that this is not only something from the past. It is also true in the present, Mr. Prime Minister, and in the recent past – as with Chancellor Kohl, who provided Germany with continuous steadfast guidance for sixteen years. He did this without laying himself open to being described pejoratively as a “ruler”. And I also made a mental note of some significant linguistic innovations, which we should perhaps introduce: image duty and the outreach efforts of MPs – which means contact with real life and with voters. There was one point, however, that I have not taken on, and that was the proposal on two new ministers.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank Mr. György Matolcsy for being here with us today and for his speech. My relationship with him resembles yours to politics – or perhaps to me. This is such a complicated thing – one cannot gauge whether things are going well or badly – and therefore everyone asks me whether I am well. Because if I am well, then obviously things are going well. This is how I feel about financial matters. I always try to gauge how the Governor of the National Bank is looking, and if I think that he is looking good – not that I’m that way inclined, of course – then I feel sure that our finances are more or less in good shape, too. Thank you for comforting us on that score, Governor!

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is important to make this point, since we haven’t yet articulated it at this level: everything that we have done in recent years can be described as a new economic philosophy – one which the Governor has described as “new mercantilism”. It is worth introducing this into our vocabulary and into our thinking. I would like to underline what we’ve heard: that the hidden source of success in Hungary has been tax reform, and this tax system must be defended. This is the truth. All tax systems can be criticized, and any tax system can be simultaneously attacked from a number of different angles. Therefore no tax system could be appropriate and fair in all respects. The question we must address is about what can bring both fairness and efficiency. I am here to tell you that if, in the foreseeable future (the distant future is beyond our time horizon), anybody were to change the pillars of this tax system, then that person would be condemning the Hungarian economy to failure and would render obsolete all discussion on revenue distribution: there would be no revenue to distribute. Therefore this tax system – about which, I reiterate, there can be all sorts of debates – must enjoy our unconditional protection. And since it is not possible to successfully govern an economy without a national bank, there is one more thing, Ladies and Gentlemen, which I would like to raise in relation to the Governor. In the modern world there is a dogma which runs thus: there is economic policy, for which a government is responsible; and there is monetary policy, for which an independent central bank is responsible. But if there is no cooperation between the two, or if there is even opposition (or, God forbid hostility, and a strategic difference expressed in differing goals), then a country can find itself in deep trouble. This is exactly what has been observed in Hungary several times in our history. This is why I need to say now with due gratitude, in the presence of the Governor of the National Bank, that without the National Bank the economy could not have been reformed, and without the National Bank we could have not achieved the economic success that we are talking about right now. This was my thinking when the post of Governor of the National Bank fell vacant, and at that time I took a risk. It was a very difficult decision for me to invite Mr. György Matolcsy – Hungary’s most creative economist, and Minister for Economic Affairs in our government – to become Governor of the National Bank, instead of letting him continue in his ministerial work. This was a very risky decision, but I feel that so far – since risk never disappears – this decision has been vindicated. What the Governor of the National Bank said about the timing of the decision affecting people with foreign currency-denominated mortgages is very important. There are moments when you cannot afford to kick the can down the road, if you’ll pardon the expression. There are moments when you need to see that the time has come, the opportunity has arrived, and that if the opportunity is missed then you will still be paying for that mistake years, or even decades, later. The conversion of foreign currency-denominated mortgages into Hungarian forint-denominated mortgages was one such moment. The Governor has described very well the possible consequences if we had failed to take the necessary steps. I agree with his calculations that monthly repayments for borrowers with foreign currency-denominated mortgages would have increased by an average of seventy per cent. Now the debate is about the extent of the decrease. Without our action the subject for debate would have been that seventy per cent increase, and I think that the Governor is right to say that the country could not have withstood such a situation. First, families would have faced ruin. Then, if you cast your minds back to the external pressure of last autumn, the Government would also have been unable to withstand the outside pressure of that time – and I say this in spite of my high regard for this government’s robustness. So Hungary would have been overwhelmed by chaos. Writings describing such a scenario have appeared in America, by the way.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank Minister Balog for making clear through the data he cited that it was no accident that we won the elections of 2014, since all that he mentioned actually happened: from sports to culture, and from health care to the social welfare system. I made a mental note of this: an important piece of advice is that the next level of development after that of a sporting nation should be that of a fair-play nation. This could also be true for individuals, and perhaps the stage of development for a sporting prime minister is a fair-play prime minister. I shall think about that, I promise you. Thank you also for mentioning public work. The story that I am going to tell you now was not brought up by Mr. Balog, but it is in some way a continuation of his thoughts. I am not sure exactly where it took place – perhaps in the electoral district of Minister Sándor Fazekas. I read in the news that there were demonstrations outside the local town hall, with the majority of local Roma residents, I believe, expressing their demands. And what they were demanding was work. Not welfare support, but work! This was the moment when I felt that we had won. When I felt that the tough period of transition from communism had ended, and that we had now entered a new era. An era in which those members of Hungarian society with the lowest living standards, and who have hitherto found no alternative to life on welfare transfers, understand that it is not aid that they must demand, but work; this is a moment when national unity can be restored and when all of us can together look to the future with hope.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

While listening to Mária Schmidt, I blessed the wisdom of the Foundation when it chose not to invite any ambassadors here today. Without doubt, the Foundation convened an impressive list of speakers and guests, but right now this would not have been something that we needed. I must add, however, that I think this approach and style is necessary, since without intellectual courage one can build neither a country nor a government. One cannot do anything without intellectual courage. And for a country the size of Hungary, foreign policy has always required intellectual courage. Intellectual courage is required not only for the making and shaping of it, but even for talking about it. We can thank Mária Schmidt for proving that in Hungary – as usual – women tend to be the braver sex. There are still some who dare to exercise intellectual courage when touching on issues which define our destiny. What I am saying may seem like an exaggeration, but I think that without dedicated, intellectually brave people, then no matter how great our numbers, we could be no more than a bleating flock. The conclusion that I draw from Mária’s speech is that we should maintain our critical faculties. And it is indeed the case that the approaches of the old world order or its frames of reference have been rendered useless. New approaches are continually being suppressed by the beneficiaries of the earlier ones; this can be seen in the debates on liberalism or illiberalism, or on eastward opening. This is all proof of it. Mária, thank you so much for your speech!

And now, after all that, I should get down to my own address. Incidentally, a shadow has been cast over my speech, as today the world is not watching us, but the FIFA General Assembly. But that's life.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

Economic growth in negative territory. Government debt at over 85% of GDP. Inflation over 6% a year. The budget deficit close to 7%. The unemployment rate heading for 12%. Out of a population of ten million, only three and three-quarter million Hungarians in work – and of these, only one point eight million paying taxes. Hungary is the most endangered country in the European Union. This is a frightening series of figures, is it not? No wonder, then, that in 2010 – the year we had to confront reality – blood ran cold in the veins of the whole country. Because these were the facts. This is what Hungary looked like in the spring of 2010. One question reverberated around the whole country: “My God, where is this leading?” And then from this despair there came first unity, and from that unity there came an election victory and a two-thirds majority. Then on 29 May 2010 – five years ago to the day – our government was formed. This was not our first government, as we had already taken the helm from 1998 to 2002. It is hard to grasp, Ladies and Gentlemen, but tomorrow we will start our tenth year as a governing party.

In 2010 we had to stand at the wheel of a ship which had run onto a reef, with water flooding in through the broken hull and everybody on the shore watching to see when we would finally succumb to the waves. Five years ago Hungary was just such a ship. Five years ago, when the Hungarian voters enabled me to form a government for the second time, I took over the governance of a county on the edge of bankruptcy – a country in despair and sinking, without hope for the future. I knew that I was taking on the greatest challenge of my life. Today it is hard to comprehend how far we have come. After eight years of socialist government and the financial crisis of 2008, Hungary was not only in ruins, but no one would have bet a penny that we Hungarians could ever get back on our feet again. First hand, we were experiencing the truth of Adenauer’s words, when he said: “History is the sum total of the things that that could have been avoided.” Our country, which in 2002 had been seen as the region’s trailblazer, had been reduced by the Socialists to an also-ran.

But now I have the honour of telling you that it is now a historical fact that we Hungarians have overcome a seemingly impossible challenge. We have overcome these dangers, and even though there may still be many problems to solve, we can look to the future with confidence and hope. Today we are the citizens of a country which is stronger in all senses, which stands more firmly and is performing well even in comparison with other EU countries. This is already a different, easier feeling. To return to my previous metaphor, the Hungarian frigate is stable and the hull is intact, although some rivets have been lost. This is more or less the same as Nándor Fa’s yacht in his last race. The main sail has been raised, and even if there is still work to do on the deck and the sea is stormy, we are riding the waves with confidence.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

While we are here today to evaluate the past five years, let us start out by clarifying the facts and telling it like it is. Since 2010 our country has undergone a surprising and uplifting transformation, and now it bears little resemblance to how it was back then. For all this, we first have to praise the Lord: Soli Deo gloria! Then, thanks are due to the Hungarian people, because they have been the ones who set the country back on its feet. The Government does not have to be thanked – it did what it said it would, delivering on its commitments. And anyway, as we know from the President of the Honvéd Sports Club, who is here today: “If it’s gratitude you’re looking for, get yourself a dog.” Our government can be judged by no higher standard than that set by Churchill for his, when he said “I never ‘worry’ about action, but only about inaction.”

Together with the people we have brought an era to an end. The biggest ever Danube flooding provides a precise setting, and symbolizes the efforts of the whole country. I think no one – not even our opponents – can question the tremendous work that has been done.

As usual, in the process we have made many mistakes and blunders – some of them fairly big. For example there was the proposal to extend the telecommunications tax, which lodged in the public consciousness as “the internet tax”. We should be given credit for having the common sense not to insist on continuing when we saw our error – but with the national consultation on the internet and its hoped-for results, something useful might come out of even this. I cannot promise that we will not make mistakes in the future, but Hungarians can count on us continuing to hear their voices and listen to their opinions. It is also an important lesson that the possibility of making mistakes should not frighten us into not making decisions or shirking responsibility, and should not tempt us into passing the buck, excessive risk avoidance, political idleness or beating around the bush. The possibility of errors and mistakes – which is inevitable in our line of work – should not discourage us and should not limit our imagination and our capacity to innovate.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

When was the last time that the inflation rate was close to zero?

When was the last time that the value of pensions could be preserved from one year to the next – and could even be increased?

When was the last time that personal income tax, corporate tax and the tax burden on families were reduced simultaneously? And all of this happened amidst a raging crisis in Europe. In earlier crises, tax benefits for families with children and mothers’ monthly childcare benefits were scrapped.

When was the last time – in Hungary or anywhere in Europe – that households’ monthly utility bills were drastically reduced?

When was the last time that 90% of Hungarian pre-school children got at least three free meals a day?

When was the last time that multinational companies and banks shared the burden for public expenditure? We are not talking about voluntary donations, now.

When was the last time that the state provided justice to borrowers in distress as a result of actions by the banks?

When was the last time that Hungary was the fastest growing economy in Europe?

At no time over the past 23 years have so many people been in employment as they are now.

When, until now, have we had a Fundamental Law which laid out our national values and took a stand on our Christian heritage, defending marriage, the family and national unity?

When and where was the last time that the number of political representatives was halved?

And this has also been the first time since the fall of communism that the number of law enforcement officers has been increased by a figure like three and a half thousand.

Nor do I remember a time when Budapest’s bus fleet was completely renewed within a few years.

When was the last time that we Hungarians stood up firmly and proudly for our country and for Hungarian interests in the international arena?

This has been the first time that Hungary has opted to go its own way and dared to try new solutions. Several of those who initially made sarcastic comments about our unorthodox methods are now politely asking for our recipe. Today everybody recognizes our achievements – from the IMF to the European Commission and the credit rating agencies.

And so I have been able to run off a list of fifteen unprecedented achievements that have occurred in Hungary over the last five years. Fifteen towering columns which prove that this nation has courage and vision.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today we should also mention the circumstances in which we achieved all this. We must not forget that we were subjected to serious pressure from the very first moment. The country, I and my colleagues found ourselves subjected to a barrage of criticism, and often rampantly aggressive attacks. We fought major battles. From the start we confronted taboos and dogmas and – even if we were not as brave as Mária Schmidt – we asked questions on sensitive subjects and refused to beat around the bush. This is fairly unusual for a Central European nation, especially for us, because our communists and liberals were famous for submission and for toeing the line in an unprincipled way. And so this was what the world had come to expect from us.

I can admit that even I was surprised with what followed, as the Hungarians loudly and clearly endorsed the Government’s policies, and in three elections approved the path that the country had been following since 2010. I thought – and perhaps I was not the only one to think so – that this clear message would, for a while at least, see sprits soothed and life running a quieter course. That did not happen. We were subjected to even more ferocious attacks and accusations. What is more, they came from all sides at once. But slowly we adjusted to this, and soon we came to the point, like the Székely sergeant in the joke: he was happy that his battalion was completely surrounded, because at least that way he could attack in any direction. Our last six months or so have been like this.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

A quarter of a century is a long time, and it leaves its mark on everybody. And this is cruelly reflected every morning in the mirror – at least it is for men. Even if somehow you manage to avoid these signs, you will be reminded by your children entering adulthood. Over the course of twenty-five years a lot can change and does indeed change. But there are some things that do not change. We who brought down communism can be proud of – and are proud of – the things which have not changed in twenty-five years. From the beginning we stood for a free and independent Hungary, and we do so now. We stood for this during communism and during the fall of that system and this is also what we stand for now. We are the ones for whom Hungary's sovereignty cannot be negotiable. We want to live in a free and independent Hungary that is part of Western civilization, and that is an equal and respected member of the European Union and NATO. And here, dear friends, Ladies and Gentlemen, let us say a few words on the issue of EU membership.

Due to the current decline of the Left, the party out on the right seems to be the leading opposition force. Time will tell whether or not this situation is temporary, but here we must make something clear: I am ready to criticize the EU on any issues, and I am ready to enter into a debate with the bureaucrats in Brussels, but I strongly oppose – and if need be we should even fight – anybody steering the country in the direction of leaving the European Union or NATO. It is true that sometimes terrible ideas and proposals verging on lunacy emerge from the EU's bureaucratic machine, and it is also true that there is no shortage of flagrant injustices either. But for us Hungarians this is our family, and it is in our best interests to improve it, and not to leave it. We shall not break with it. Similarly, we had good reason to join the ranks of NATO. We wanted to protect ourselves from eastern military threats, and we still want this, but I think it is in our fundamental interest to maintain good economic relations with Russia. We should not forget what the communists and the Soviets did to our people, to our spirit, our culture and our way of life. But at the same time there is another truth we must recognize: we are a nation which has strong economic ties with modern Russia, and it is critically important for our future to be one of those nations where trade between the East and the West flourishes. This is in the Hungarian national interest. And perhaps the logic of the Germans is reasonable. The Germans have realized the importance of maintaining the strongest economic ties with Russia, while supporting the highest level of freedom in the West.

Those here today all know that right now we have serious disagreements with EU bureaucrats. We have to talk about that, too. The issue at hand is immigration. We are among those countries which are most critical of the new immigration regulations that Brussels is trying to impose on Hungary and other countries. We hope that in Brussels they will listen to and understand our reasoning. Anyone who wants to take away my fundamental right to choose who I should let into my house, my home and my country does not wish me well, but wishes me harm. They want to deprive me of my most basic means of self-preservation. And just as we should not deprive individuals of their most basic rights, neither should we do this with a community. This is our concern, our question, our future and our country, and it is we who must decide about the future.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

So we are members of a large family, in which there are disputes from time to time. We are in a particularly sensitive state of equilibrium, but while maintaining this balance it is vital for the future of Hungary that we maintain the best possible relations with our major partners. We want Hungary to be successful. We would like all great powers to have an interest in Hungary’s continued success. Some say that such politics is not possible. In my opinion, anyone who says this does not know the West, because all Western countries aim for such politics – some with more success and some with less. The foreign policy mind-set which sees the different tendencies in international relations as mutually exclusive is in fact a legacy of communism and is, in my view, obsolete. I can also say that we need to lead Hungary away from a world in which it does not have its own interests and goals, and towards a world in which it has its own national interests and goals. It seems to me that we have managed to do this, albeit with some tough debate at national and international levels.

Only one thing has been needed for this: courage. Because to act like this is not in the interest of anybody – except us. This is solely in the interest of Hungary. But for us this is reason and argument enough. One left-wing critique considers a courageous stand unnecessary, skittish and counterproductive. This highlights the essential difference between the civic and the leftist camps. Because as we understand it, anyone can be happy: the beautiful and the ugly, the old and the young – but not cowards.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is something else, which I need to talk about. As we have known since Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Balatonőszöd speech, the previous government has been discredited – even by its own admission. We in Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People's Party have worked hard to create a government which people can be proud of because it meets the moral standards that this nation deserves. This is why nobody outside or inside should be allowed in any way to undermine the people’s trust in us. Is it hard to determine how to effectively deal with attempts to undermine this trust? Which methods are good, sensible and effective? And which ones would simply lead us into a futile, hopeless struggle? We must surely devote much energy, intellectual and political energy to this, as former Prime Minister Boross told us in his own words. But at least as important is that some moral principles and standards should be strengthened, time and again.

No one can be above the law and no one can be allowed to abuse their position and power. No one. But it is not acceptable for pure envy to lead to attacks on people who are brave and successful – those who do more and achieve more. After all, this is what we want to encourage everybody to do: to have ambitions and plans, to do more and to achieve more. Take note, as soon as the country starts to pick up – when success arrives, and with it successful people – envy immediately rears its head. The culture of envy is a legacy of communism. Moreover, extremist parties tend to build political programmes on this. They try to prove that all successful people are in fact Fidesz people – or perhaps Christian Democrats – and this is the only reason for their success. The situation is not easy, therefore. I suggest that we seek to strike a balance here. We must not accept anyone abusing their position and power, but equally we must not accept envy dragging us into the swamp of pettiness, defeatism and failure.

To obtain trust, one must work hard. We have worked hard for it. Now we must understand that it is not enough to do our job well, but we also have to do more in order to maintain trust. We must follow up on all accusations and exercise zero tolerance both against all abuses and against all baseless accusations. Maintaining trust has its own tempo, ways and means. In the water one must not thrash about, but swim, and do so with steady persistence. In this respect we will do all that is humanly possible. We are in government to serve the people. For our government, Hungary will continue to come first. We should not be embarrassed to say that we want to be the best ever government for all Hungarian people.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have governed for five years straight. Everyone can see that we do not have any special skills. I believe that there is only one thing in which we can excel. I think that there are few who so doggedly believe in the success of Hungary and the Hungarian people, and who want it as much as we do. Many people can blame us for many things, but no one can question our faith and passion. We are often accused of being led by a consuming lust for power. Those who say this have perhaps misunderstood Hungarian history, and within that have perhaps misunderstood the history of our civic, national, Christian political community. It is indeed true that we share a common passion, and perhaps we are even addicted to it. The object of our passion is Hungary. In our eyes, however, this is not a failing, but a virtue. For us, the success of Hungary and the success of Hungarian people is not a political issue, but a moral one. This is the dominant belief of our political community.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the end, one important question is all that remains. What should be the consequence of all that I have said so far? We started by saying that an era has come at an end. We have brought about great changes and accomplished great things. I could say that we have resolved some major, important issues. We have cleared away the rubble and the obstacles left from the past and we have continued and completed the transition from communism. Now we have finally got to the point at which we can deal with the things which inspired us to start out nearly three decades ago, and the time has come for us to realize our shared goal: civic consolidation. Thirty years ago we thought that it would be enough for the Soviet troops to leave, we could transform ourselves into a democratic multi-party system and a market economy and there would be nothing more to do. Now we know that the task is far more complicated, and we also know that civic consolidation is not just about ideals.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is a story in politics about a leading politician on a campaign tour who knocks on the door of an old lady on the edge of town and asks her, in front of the cameras, whether she will support his nuclear energy programme. The old lady replies: “I’ll support your programme, if you get rid of the rats in our house first.”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The old lady is right. Grand, ambitious plans are important, but when all is said and done the essence of politics is to promote people’s everyday well-being and to relieve their worries and problems. I have had the chance to encounter the dangers lying in wait for even a successful government. The biggest mistake that a government can make is to become engrossed in the business of governance and to let this distract its attention away from the people. If a government has become detached from everyday life it will not matter how wonderful its latest policy is. Therefore we cannot allow the Government to lose itself in the great issues of governance and to give people the feeling that we are not searching for responses to their problems and that the most important issues are something other than their well-being, their security or their lives. This is why national consultations were held in the previous term, this is why we have launched a new one on the issue of immigration, and this is why we will continue to consult in the future on all the important issues that we are faced with. We are the government of national consultation and we will continue to be the government of national consultation.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

Civic consolidation encompasses many things, but its essence is that it is close to people and human in scale. Civic consolidation means that politics is not arranged up above up in the world of distant, abstract ideas and important macro indicators, but knocks on the door of the people and seeks answers to their questions. Now that we have dealt with the big issues, crisis management and clearing away the rubble of previous decades, we must open a new chapter. This new chapter entails a shift in emphasis. The budget of 2016 has focused on this. Everyone can take a step forward. Now the emphasis must be shifted to quality, the quality of life: the creation of a civic quality of life. Civic governance is about making the country a better home for those who go out to work and who live from their work. Now the task is to create more comfortable and better living conditions for those who live from their work every month and want to get on in life.

But, Ladies and Gentlemen, there is something that we cannot escape. Can a Hungarian who completes a good day’s work live at the same level of comfort and security as a Spaniard, an Austrian, a Frenchman or a German? We have to face up to the fact that in Hungary the answer to this question has always been mocking irony and a dismissive wave of the hand.

Even in the glorious Reform Era of civic Hungary, Bertalan Szemere sighed: “An Englishman not only has the word ‘comfort’ in his vocabulary, but also sees its meaning in his life; we, however, not only lack the word, but also the thing it refers to.” István Széchenyi, the “greatest Hungarian”, also wrote that Hungarians had never felt comfortable, therefore they cannot truly understand what it means to make a dwelling a place of homely, enveloping comfort. Today, however, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached the point at which we can finally aim for this, and not dismiss it as we used to. We can aim for a life that in previous decades was at best an unattainable dream for the average Hungarian. For a few years yet we will not earn as much as the Germans or the French, but we can start the process of furnishing the home that is our country in a way which enables all of us to lead lives of increasing quality and comfort. We can build on the performance of a reformed economy. We all know that there are still things which mar people’s everyday lives. Civic consolidation is also about protecting people in the face of everyday frustrations, and therefore in this regard I expect much from our programmes for the reduction of bureaucracy.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

Finally, civic consolidation also means that Hungary will be the Hungarian country: two words spelt (in Hungarian) in lower case. This means that the security, prosperity and well-being of the Hungarian people comes first, and we will tailor everything to this. The prosperity and well-being of all those who do their work, take their children to school, take care of their families and care for their parents. Maybe their patriotism is not as strident as that of some, but they know that Hungary is their nation and they create around themselves a world of everyday patriotism; this has always been the greatest sustaining strength of the Hungarian nation.

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our ambitions for the future are shamelessly high. We do not simply want more jobs: our goal is to achieve full employment. Everyone who wants to work should have a job. More jobs, less tax, support for families, more order but less regulation, a better life, pride and resolution. This would be civic consolidation.

There is something that is the logical outcome of what has been said so far. Over the past five years the key word of governance has been strength. A dangerously weakened country had to be strengthened. Understandably it was most important for the country to have strong leadership. This was achieved and now Hungary can stands on its own feet. Of course strong leadership must not be weakened now, because we need to stand firm amidst swirling, relentless competition, when rapid and firm decisions are needed – but today the most important quality is not strength. From now on, the key aspect of governance is attentiveness: paying attention to people and paying attention to everyday life. Make no mistake, this might even be harder work than what has gone before.

This five-year anniversary is a good opportunity, Ladies and Gentlemen, to thank you all for the support you have given the Government so far. To those who have supported us for twenty-five years, to those who have supported us since 1998, and to those who have supported us over the last five years. We are counting on you and we will need your support.

Prime Minister Péter Boross,

Governor György Matolcsy,

Mária and Zoltán,

Thank you for coming to be here with us today.

Go for it Hungary, go for it Hungarians!

(Prime Minister's Office)