PM Orbán vows to stick to 2025 goals despite sluggish growth and EU tensions

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public radio on Friday that he does not want to give up on “any of the goals we have set for 2025”, adding that though his government had been aware of the expected GDP growth rate, parliament had still passed “the biggest tax cut in Europe”.

Asked why first-quarter GDP growth was under expectations, Orbán told Kossuth Radio in a regular weekly interview that the European economy as a whole was stagnant, and as a member of the European Union, Hungary was a part of that economy.

The prime minister noted that Austria’s growth rate was even lower than Hungary’s, “but the Germans are also on par with us”. He said countries with closer ties to the German economy were the ones that were generally encountering problems, adding that though the European economy was weaker “because of the war and the money being sent to Ukraine”, it should not be said that “the economic data should be attributed to reasons beyond our control”.

“Because if we start to give these explanations — which, by the way, are true — then we’ll lose our ability to act,” Orbán said. “So what actually interests me is not the reason behind it, but rather how we’ll still be successful, how we’ll achieve the goals we’ve set for 2025.”

The prime minister emphasised that he does not want to give up any of the goals his government has set for this year. This was why, he said, that though they had been aware of the expected GDP growth rate, parliament had still passed “the biggest tax cut in Europe”.

“These poor European leaders have sent 140 billion euros to Ukraine so far,” he said, adding that if this money were still in the European economy, the EU would be seeing growth rather than stagnation. Orbán noted, however, that Hungary’s parliament has passed “Europe’s biggest tax cut scheme”, which includes tax breaks for mothers.

He noted that a lifetime personal income tax exemption for mothers with three children will be introduced in October, while mothers of two children below the age of 40 will be exempt from paying income tax from January 1. A PIT exemption will also be introduced for mothers under the age of 50 from 2027, which will be followed by an exemption for those under 60, “and in 2-3 years’ time, we’ll reach a point where mothers with at least two children will have a lifetime exemption from paying personal income tax”, he said.

Orbán also said that 1,400 billion forints (EUR 3.5bn) in resources were available to businesses in the framework of the Demján Sándor Programme for scaling up SMEs.

Meanwhile, he said it was crucial to prevent Ukraine’s accession to the EU, arguing that it would bankrupt the Hungarian economy. “Let’s forget the stories. They want to admit Ukraine to the EU now. Brussels together with the Tisza Party. This would bankrupt the Hungarian economy. This can and must be prevented,” the prime minister said on Facebook after the interview. Noting the government’s ongoing referendum on Ukraine’s EU accession, Orbán said the time to vote on the matter “isn’t someday but here and now”.

Orbán said the leader of the European People’s Party and the president of the European Commission had announced that they wanted to bring Ukraine into the bloc by 2030. The EPP, he added, had also called for fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession. “Forget all the stories that say they want to do this someday when [Ukraine] is ready, that’s not what this is about. It’s about them wanting to admit Ukraine as quickly as possible,” he said.

Orbán said that if there were data that showed that this kind of enlargement would be worth it for Hungary, he would be in favour of Ukraine’s accession. “But today, there are some countries for whom it is worth it because their large companies are there in Ukraine, and there are those for whom it would be costly.”

“We’re on the wrong side because it would cost us, we’d go bankrupt, so I don’t support [Ukraine’s] membership,” the prime minister said, noting that this issue had made the referendum in Hungary more important. He said fast-tracking Ukraine’s EU membership was “a misguided and harmful policy” which could still be stopped, “but when in two to three years we’re on the verge of making the final decision, it’ll be very hard to do so.”

“A machine that’s already got momentum is much harder to stop than preventing it from gaining momentum,” Orbán said. “Now is the time to open the eyes of not just Hungarians but also the eyes of citizens of European countries who are in a similar situation to us.” The prime minister said there were “a dozen more countries” that would “lose out” on Ukraine’s EU accession, adding that they should be encouraged to speak out and their leaders should be encouraged to back Hungary’s position “so that we can prevent this together”.

Meanwhile, Orbán said the war in Ukraine had so far cost Hungary 20 billion euros, and if this money were still in the European economy, there would be a higher rate of development. He said that until Europe “turns its back on the war and joins the side of peace, the entire European economy will be coughing”. But, he added, European leaders wanted war and were trying to hinder the United States president’s successful peace efforts.