Orbán’s grand strategy until 2040: Drawing Western European Christians en masse to Hungary

As has occurred for centuries, the Hungarian government would once again seek to attract Western European families who wish to live according to Christian values. According to the Orbán government, Hungary possesses all the necessary conditions for this, with its outstanding public safety being a particularly strong advantage.

Self-reliant Hungary

It is a regular topic in the Hungarian press that German pensioners in particular are fond of choosing Hungary as their new homeland and are moving here in droves. The reason is not only that they can live much better here on their German-level pensions, but also that public safety, especially in cities, is better, and the Balaton or Budapest evoke childhood and youthful memories for many.

Government commissioner László György has built on this, among other things, in formulating the “self-reliant Hungary” strategy, according to which our country would rank among the EU’s top three for liveability by 2040. This hurrah-optimistic piece makes no mention at all of the astonishing difficulties of Hungary’s population policy, the high proportion of working-age people emigrating, the ageing society, or the growing population in lagging regions who are deprived socially, culturally, and educationally.

In the commissioner’s view, the Hungarian government has achieved astonishing results compared to the ruins it inherited from the socialists and liberals in 2010. These days, we live in times when we must be grateful if something is not lost but simply remains unchanged. He believes, in any case, that the Hungarian economy will take off the moment peace dawns (there is a chance of this thanks to Trump, though the Financial Times suggests the price would be handing Ukraine’s defensive lines in the Donbas region over to the Russians).

Western European Christians to arrive en masse

According to László György, Hungary must prepare for the fact that it will effectively become a magnet for intra-European migration. The reason is our excellent public safety, which already places us in the world’s top 10%, so masses of Western Europeans who want to live in a Christian way will soon choose it as their new homeland. In his view, the primary reason is that while Spain registers 135 robberies per 100,000 people and France 92, Hungary has just 5.5, as Index wrote.

“Any Western leader would give their right arm for public safety conditions like Hungary’s,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

The commissioner did not elaborate on precisely which age group he had in mind for this mass immigration. Experience shows that working-age people do not really come to our country due to the low wages. Rather, it is pensioners who choose Hungary as their second homeland, yet they encounter an ageing Hungarian society, with elderly care, whether in private or state structures, in need of development.

Grand strategy to 2040

Building on this, he has proclaimed a grand strategy whose essence is to adopt what works well from every country: a central region based on the Dutch model between Budapest and the Lake Balaton, where all things that are key to a quality life are within 90 minutes’ reach. On the Israeli model, they would retain water and irrigate; on the German model, bolster vocationally minded entrepreneurs; on the Austrian model, vocational training and adult education; and on the Polish model, build regional champion companies.

They would apply the South Korean model to developing domestic brands, the Singaporean model to improving state efficiency—prioritising customer experience over cumbersome bureaucratic processes—and the Finnish and Israeli models to strengthening universities, although he claims that 80% of Hungarian students already study at institutions ranked in the world’s top 5 percent. Drawing on the Japanese model, they would also strive for energy security.

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