Orbán: Hungary will protect order, security, and freedom at all costs

Though in more and more places in the world, order and security are no longer a given but things that have to be fought for, Hungary protects itself and the lives, peace, property and freedom of its citizens, PM Viktor Orbán said at an officers’ graduation ceremony at the National University Of Public Service on Saturday.

History shows that order is not something that can come about on its own, but that it is something that must be created and then protected, Viktor Orbán said. “If we neglect it, if we don’t protect it, order will disintegrate, and with it, freedom, security and all of civilised life,” he added.

“Today we are again living in dangerous times,” Orbán warned, noting the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the “migrants besieging the borders of countries” and the growing political and military tensions in and outside Europe. He said new threats like terrorism, illegal migration, cyberattacks and “ideological nonsense” risked undermining the rule of law and everyday security.

The prime minister said there were more and more places in the world where order and security were no longer a given, but rather things that had to be fought for, which made the service of officers protecting the public order all the more important. He said the officers’ oath-taking ceremony was a clear stance that as its constitution states, Hungary protects its citizens.

“This is a statement of fact, and at the same time, a strict order,” Orbán said. “We protect ourselves, we protect the lives, peace, property and freedom of the Hungarian people.” But, Orbán said, the law and technology were not enough to ensure this, because the most important were the officers themselves who represented law and order and were not afraid to confront danger.