PM Orbán: security lost in the West, families feel unsafe

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán inaugurated a new swimming pool in Szekszárd, in southern Hungary, and said in his speech: “The era when we could say that everything goes well in the West and we only need to copy them has ended.”

Orbán: security lost in the West

While the West may be wealthier than Hungary, “we cannot say anymore that everything is better there than here,” Orbán said.

“Security is lost, the migrants have breached the borders, parallel societies have developed, Christian traditions are dwindling, children and families cannot feel safe, and in the meantime Europe’s economy is gradually losing ground compared with developing economies in the world. Hungary has two possibilities: go with them or go our own way,” he said.

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Following in the West’s footsteps would result in “losing not only Hungary’s security and peace, but also the possibility of people gathering for events such as the inauguration of the Sipos Márton Swimming Pool.”

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“Following the Brussels path” would result in tax hikes “so that they can send the money to Brussels, then on to Ukraine,” he said. “We will stand on the brink of war, migrants will be knocking at the door and we will pay as much in taxes as those in the West.”

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By continuing with “national governance”, Hungary “can stay an island of peace, it won’t go to war, won’t shoulder responsibilities for a war it has nothing to do with, won’t send its money to Ukraine, and won’t cede its competencies or sovereignty to Brussels,” he said.

Orbán said that Hungary’s 1,000-year history and current situation could be best described with the words “even so”.

We shall remain here

After losing the two world wars, “our opponents decided to redraw our borders and create a situation which is impossible to survive. And even if we do survive, we should stay poor and small,” Orbán said.

“Even so, we are here and here we shall remain,” he said, adding that “Hungary will become large and rich again” if Fidesz is re-elected.

He said the swimming pool in Szekszárd was part of a programme “founded on the idea that other cities shouldn’t be told from Budapest how they should spend their funding even if it came partly from Budapest”; the programme “allowed, willed, even provoked locals into saying what they needed,” he said.

Orbán noted that Fidesz has garnered more votes in Szekszárd in 2022 and at the 2024 local elections than ever before.

In 2010, Szekszárd had 15,000 jobseekers, he said. That number has fallen to 5,000, or below 3 percent, by now. “This means … that people want to work and that jobs have been created recently,” he said.

Orbán praised investments in the town

The Modern Cities programme has brought investments worth a total of 22 billion forints (EUR 56.4m) to the city, with the development of a knowledge centre for 8 billion, the development of public services for 3 billion, a swimming pool for 7.5 billion and an industrial park for 3.5 billion, he said.

The government’s Demjan Sandor Programme supported 37 companies in the country to the tune of 2,5 billion forints, while the Baross Gabor Re-industrialisation Programme ploughed 22 billion into the county, he said. Currently, there are 11 development programmes worth a total of 5 billion forints under way in Tolna County, he said.

“All this shows that despite the war, inflation and sanctions, the city of Szekszard still hasn’t run out of steam, and neither has the government,” he said.

He praised the new swimming pool as a place of meeting as well as of sports.

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