Hungarian state secretary: High response to national consultation key to defending Hungary’s sovereignty

A high response rate in the government’s National Consultation public survey will strengthen Hungary’s sovereignty, Balázs Hidvéghi, the parliamentary state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, said on Sunday.

A high response rate will give the government the strength it needs to represent Hungarian independence and the country’s right to make its own decisions on important issues, Hidvéghi said in a video message. He said that in recent years Brussels had tried to force its position on Hungary on numerous issues, and now it wanted a “cold trade war” and to decide “who we can or cannot trade with”.

“This is against Hungary’s interests,” he said. “Our interests lie in trading freely with both the West and the East because that’s how we can outpace the EU average growth rate.” He said the economy was not an ideological issue and required neutrality. The new National Consultation survey, Hidvéghi said, will cover topics like family tax benefits and the 13th month pension.

He said that while Brussels wanted to solve demographic and labour market challenges through mass migration, the Hungarian government believed in supporting families with children and doubling family tax breaks. Also, he added, while Brussels called for scrapping the 13th-month pension, the Hungarian government believed it should be made permanent.

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