Orbán: New coronavirus outbreak to have ‘incalculable’ impact on economy

The economic consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic are “incalculable”, and warrant a full review of Hungary’s 2020 budget and the planned budget for 2021, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday.

In a regular interview to public Kossuth Radio, Orbán said the budgets of local authorities and institutions would have to be revised as well.

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The government is working on economic protection action plans for specific sectors, he said, as not all areas will be equally hit.

A new action plan and a corresponding budget must be devised with an aim to “restart a stalled economy”, he said.

Orbán insisted there were two “frontiers”, the Covid-19 outbreak and migration. Mobility spreads the disease, “and migration is mobility itself”, he said.

Hungary has successfully protected itself against migration, and continues to oppose European bureaucrats’ proposals of a distribution system, he said.

Hungary is capable of defending its stance on migration and refuses to give in to Brussels’s “flawed migration policy”, Orbán said.

Only Hungarians have the right to decide whom they will allow into their country, the prime minister said. “This is a Hungarian matter, it’s about our life and our country and we won’t allow anyone to destroy our way of life and hard-fought achievements with bad ideas, advice or instructions,” Orbán said.