Fidesz: Europe does not have the wisdom of the Hungarian government

Hungary has a fundamental disagreement with the majority of the European Union’s member states, but instead of aiming for a solution, the powerful EU countries are attempting to use “harsh and unacceptable forms of blackmail” against Hungary, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.

Hungary has long said that the war in Ukraine is not a solution, and that a ceasefire and peace talks are needed, Gergely Gulyás told a regular government press briefing. But, he insisted, most EU member states were “pro-war”.

Gulyás said fundamental change was needed in Brussels to allow for “a change in tone” within the bloc, adding that the European Parliament elections this summer would give EU citizens a chance to express their opinion.

He said Prime Minister Viktor Orban was busy holding talks on the sidelines of today’s EU summit in Brussels, adding that the prime minister still aimed to reach an agreement while taking national interests into consideration, “but it is not certain that this will happen”.

Teachers’ pay rise

The interior ministry has arranged for 140,000 teachers to receive the documents needed for the pay rise within less than two weeks, Gulyás said, adding that teachers at public schools would receive their increased wages by Monday at the latest.

Gulyás said the 32.2 percent wage hike would “help everybody to a rise”. The recent pay rise will see teachers’ gross average monthly wage rise to 652,000 forints (EUR 1,700), or 71.8 percent of the average wage of degree holders, Gulyás said. The minister said the pay hike was financed from the central budget, but the European Union had promised to reimburse the government. The cabinet has vowed to increase teachers’ salaries to 80 percent of the average wage of degree holders by 2030, with the EU covering 12 percent of the pay hikes, he added.

Concerning teachers’ unions, Gulyás said they had to be “handled carefully” because “it is not easy to determine if they promote teachers’ interests or work against them . they had done everything at international forums to prevent the pay hike.”

Hungarian health service

On another subject, Gulyás said Hungary’s health service would continue to offer screening newborn babies for SMA. He said the central budget had allocated a total 450 million forints (EUR 1.17m) for this purpose in 2024.

Gulyás said the screenings would continue to be offered at Szeged University, at Budapest’s Semmelweis University and at the Bethesda Paediatric Hospital “to each baby if requested”.

Italian defendant in Hungary

Concerning press reports suggesting that an Italian defendant in last year’s Antifa attacks in Budapest was being held in demeaning conditions in a Budapest prison, Gulyás said all conditions met European Union and Hungarian requirements. He added that the reports had been aimed at putting Hungary in a poor light. He said inmates were given three meals a day, and he dismissed a claim that cells were rat-infested, adding that Hungarian prisons were hygienic, none had been affected by Covid, and foreign inmates were provided with the prison rules in their mother tongue on admission.

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Gulyás also suggested that the Italian defendant was “untrustworthy”, adding that she had lied during the procedures concerning her qualifications, marital status and personal relationships. She complained about not being allowed visits, whereas her family members had visited her seven times since last October, Gulyás said. The defendant, he added, faced a possible sentence of 11 years imprisonment for deliberately causing life-threatening injuries.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had talks by phone with Italian counterpart Georgia Meloni on Wednesday evening, and gave her a full briefing on the proceedings, Gulyás said. He said the two heads of government had always had a good relationship. “It is not a personal conflict,” he added.

EU summit

Concerning the EU summit now under way, Gulyás asked journalists to “take the prime minister’s upcoming briefing for directions” because “conclusion of the talks and an agreement were not clear this morning”.

Referring to the European parliamentary elections, Gulyás said Hungary would “gain a great deal” if it had “MEPs promoting the Hungarian interest” after the elections, and he slammed Hungary’s leftist parties for “not being a part of that circle, based on their activities.”

The board of ruling Fidesz will finalise the party’s EP list before the end of this week, Gulyás said.

Concerning farmers’ protests in several European countries, Gulyás said: “Europe does not have the wisdom of the Hungarian government,” and he noted that Orban had met protesting farmers in Brussels “spontaneously” on his way to meet the former Polish prime minister. Orban was “the only premiere to speak with the protesters,” he added.

Source: MTI