26th Fidesz congress – The congress adopts declaration and re-elects Viktor Orban as chairman

Budapest, December 13 (MTI) – The congress of the Fidesz party on Sunday re-elected Viktor Orban as party chairman. Deputies at the 26th congress of the ruling Fidesz party adopted a political declaration against pro-immigration policy.

Deputy chair Ildiko Gall Pelczne was also re-elected, while new deputy chairs Gergely Gulyas, Gabor Kubatov and Szilard Nemeth were elected to replace outgoing deputy chairs Lajos Kosa, Janos Lazar and Zoltan Pokorni.

Orban, who has been the head of Fidesz since 2003 and previously led the party between 1993 and 2000, was elected with 1174 supporting votes out of 1177 votes.

He told the congress that Fidesz is Central Europe’s longest-standing, largest and most successful party.

“We have been here for thirty years … and we will be here in the next thirty years as well,” he added.

“We trust Hungary and the Hungarians and we trust that Hungarians can lift the country up no matter how bad the situation is. Hungary does not want to be a provider for other nations and it does not want to be dependent on others either”, Orban said.

In the next few years, Fidesz will work on developing a civic Hungary and supporting families will represent an important part of this.

“The aim is to ensure that every family has their own roof above their head, which is why we propose reducing the VAT on home construction,” Orban said.

A proposal to reduce the VAT on home construction from 27 percent to 5 percent in the next four years will go before parliament on Monday, he told the congress.

Full employment, the development of the national industry, providing land to Hungarian farmers and cutting back red tape are further targets, he added. This will result in an additional few hundred thousand jobs, he said.

Orban said the third target of a civic Hungary is to ensure that Hungarians need not live in fear of criminals, terrorists or illegal migrants. This requires strict but fair regulations, strong, well-prepared and young police, a determined counter-terrorism force, and self-assured disaster prevention authority.

“While Hungary is protected, it is also necessary to see that Europe is under invasion and it looks like a battlefield,” he said.

“What shows today is only the tip of the iceberg because tens of millions might still set off to Europe which is weak because its leaders flounder instead of taking action”, Orban said.

The left-wing elite and several countries’ leaders are trying to find ways to take in even more migrants instead of stopping the flow, he added.

“It is clear to every sensible person that Europe cannot handle this many people and its welfare system would break down under such a load”, he said. Migration is also a threat to Europeans’ security because of the proliferation of terrorism and crime. It is not allowed to talk about this in Europe, but the facts show that wherever many migrants settle, there is an increase in crime, he added.

Migrants will not give up their lifestyles and under the surface, a parallel society develops which “slowly but surely will turn our world into a minority”, Orban said.

The main problem is that Europe does not stand up for itself and “issues of secondary importance” such as human rights, progress, openness, new forms of family and tolerance are placed in the foreground. Europe does not believe anymore in the virtues that all these ideals originate from, including Christianity, common sense, military virtues and national pride, Orban said.

He called on everyone to sign Fidesz’s petition against the mandatory migrant quotas in Europe.

Orban said Europe is crying out for reform, it needs new rules, and it needs to return to democracy.

He said “the past 25 years have been a great liberal period in European history, but liberalism has by now tired out, it has turned against freedom, turned against the people and democracy itself.”

He rejected the idea of a United States of Europe, “which the Left advocates”, and stood up for the “Europe of nations”.

Speaking about the position of the Fidesz party and his own future role, Orban said the chairman’s most important task for the next two years is to prepare Fidesz and its allies for the election. He said he is ready to lead Fidesz and its allies in the election campaign in two years’ time – if the confidence is there, and, in the event of victory, to continue his work as head of the government. His words were met with vigorous applause.

Orban said he had always thought that there are leaders and individuals in Fidesz who could do his job with similar success. Answering the rhetorical question of “Why me then?”, he said because the well-beaten path should not be abandoned for a road less travelled, “at least not yet”.

“These are difficult times and similarly challenging times are coming, and in times like these unity is what matters most.” The unity of Hungary, the unity of the Hungarians of the Carpathian Basin, and the unity of the Hungarians across the world, he said.

“All in all, we have been Hungary’s robust governing party for ten years”, Orban said in conclusion. (…) “What holds us together?” (…) “How are we of the same blood?”, he asked. Answering his own questions, he said “we in Fidesz all believe that the meaning of our life comes from the service of things greater and more important than us”.

Declaration against pro-immigration policy

Before the declaration was adopted, cabinet chief Antal Rogan said the document is necessary because “Fidesz wants a strong Europe and a strong Hungary, a Europe where jobs are provided to jobless young Europeans instead of immigrants, where families and responsible parenthood are supported, and where churches, and not mosques, are built.”

He said the party is adopting the document because they want to pass on a Europe to future generations that is similar to what they had been familiar with.

“We are not an enemy of Europe,” he said, it is the irresponsible policy of Brussels (that is the enemy of Europe).

MEP Jozsef Szajer said Europe is in big trouble today because of the irresponsibility of the leaders of the European Union. Today, the hands of many European decision-makers are tied down by an ideology that only knows denial, he said, denying that there could be any connection between immigration, the Muslim religion and terrorism, and placing the rights of criminals before those of the victims, he added.

However, “we are not alone”, he said, “there is hope that common sense will regain control in European politics”, he added.

Ildiko Gall Pelczne, also an MEP, said it is increasingly clear that Brussels’ mandatory migrant quota system will never be a real solution. She said the job is to “provide opportunities to Hungarian families first of all, rather than strangers”.

She said they want European leaders to return to the path of common sense and protect Europe and its citizens.

The document approved by the deputies considers the European Union’s pro-immigration policy hypocritical, irresponsible and dangerous and condemns the mandatory migrant quota system.

“European citizens never gave an authorisation for this antidemocratic policy, it jeopardises the existence of the European Union itself and threatens to shake the whole of European civilization”, the document says.

“Instead of a weak and indecisive Europe, we need a strong Europe again … and we are ready to take part in creating that,” the document concludes.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters