Minister Gulyás revealed who the government may target with its dual citizenship constitution amendment
Change language:
Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, shared some interesting information on yesterday’s press briefing about who the new constitution amendment concerning dual nationals may target. Scroll down for the details.
Orbán cabinet to roll out PIT exemption for mothers under 30 from 2026
The government has decided to introduce a personal income tax exemption for mothers under 30 with one child from January 1, 2026, government spokesperson Eszter Vitályos said. Vitályos noted that the government had earlier decided to roll out a lifetime personal income tax exemption for mothers of two or more children. The exemption will enter into force for mothers of three from October, and for mothers of two in four phases starting in 2026, she added.
The government also decided earlier to double tax allowances for families and exempt child support from PIT, she said. From 2026, the measures will leave families with two children with an extra 189,000 per month, up from 40,000 forints, while that amount will rise from 99,000 to 307,000 forints for families with three children, and from 241,000 to 373,000 forints for families with four or more children.
Home renovation
The government spokeswoman said a government decree on allowing seniors in smaller towns participation in a home renovation programme has been published, adding that applications for a grant would be welcome from March 26 on.
Meanwhile, Vitályos said projects worth a total 13 billion forints have been completed in Hungary in recent weeks, and made special mention of a new 8 billion forint communications and optical cable factory in Kisbér, in northern Hungary. She also said Hungary’s “biggest ever” creche and kindergarten projects have taken place in recent years, worth a combined 2 billion forints.
Answering a question about exempting young mothers from the the personal income tax, Vitályos said the exemption applied to children already born, and to their full income rather than to the average wage. She added that the current benefit of 55,000 forints a month would increase to 100,000 forints.
Government may close shops
Gulyás said if companies violated the new price margin regulations, they would face “sanctions ranging from a fine to closure”. Also, if companies tried to “counterbalance their losses” by through increasing the prices of other products not governed by the new rules, “then the government will intervene”. He said he hoped that the government would not need to take further steps and the current measures would be “sufficient to reverse a bad trend”.
Gulyás said the government was “prepared for the European Union to possibly attack the margin restrictions”, but added that the new instrument was “one currently applied by other EU members”. He also added that the government expected the new regulations to reduce inflation, and the central budget’s VAT revenues would not be impacted.
Government will reduce inflation
Meanwhile, he said the government was not expected to change its inflation forecast “for the time being”. He said the new measures would reduce inflation “significantly”. He added however that the effects were “yet to be seen” and it would be clear “in April or May if the goals have been realistic or not”.
Asked why the government had decided to refund VAT on certain foodstuffs rather than increasing pensions, Gulyás said that in light of a previous Constitutional Court ruling, pension hikes must be implemented uniformly, and this meant that retirees with a higher pension would receive more. But it was fairer if a big expense were reimbursed equally to pensioners, regardless of the size of their pension, he added.
- HERE is what experts say about the new measures
Asked about peace talks, Gulyás said it would have been preferable for the EU to have a role in the peacemaking process, which Hungary had pointed out “countless times”. “Sooner or later Europe will have to be involved in the talks, and it would be good if by then the EU had a clear idea of what it wants … but for now there’s only chaos,” he added.
The EU “doesn’t really allow debates among member states
Gulyás said Europe was “weak” and was now “paying the price for having gone in the wrong direction”. Asked what outcome the government expected from the vote on Ukraine’s EU membership and what risks this would entail, Gulyás said he expected a “useful debate”, adding that the EU “doesn’t really allow debates among member states on Europe’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war”.
Gulyás cited EC President Ursula von der Leyen as saying that Ukraine must join the bloc by 2030. “This isn’t the distant future, but a tangible close reality which already has as direct impact on the EU’s next budget,” he said.
As regards the risks that came with admitting Ukraine to the bloc, Gulyás pointed to the potential loss of cohesion funds, noting that agricultural regulations in the EU were different from those enforced in Ukraine. Noting last year’s debate on Ukrainian grain imports, Gulyas said Ukraine’s EU membership would also come with food security risks and, in Hungary’s case, general security risks.
Admitting Ukraine to the EU without merit “is against Hungary’s and central Europe’s interests, no matter how badly the European Commission, the European People’s Party and perhaps other European political forces want it,” he added.
Ukraine measures slammed
Asked about Hungary’s upcoming vote on Ukraine’s accession, Gulyás said that on a technical level it will be organised similarly to National Consultation surveys, and voters will be able to return the questionnaire by mail. “The costs won’t be much different from the costs of prior National Consultations; if anything, it’ll be somewhat cheaper since we’re only talking about a single question, so it’s likely to cost a little over one billion forints,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gulyás slammed the measures Ukraine has introduced in connection with minority rights in the last ten years as “unacceptable”, saying they went against almost every European human rights convention and best practice. Hungary, he said, had always made it clear that good neighbourly relations with Ukraine were conditional on the restoration of the pre-2015 state of affairs.
Asked about reports that Fegyir Sándor had written a letter to the director of the State Opera House asking him not to allow a Russian singer to perform, Gulyás said he “understands the sentiment of Ukrainians towards Russians after three years of a heroic and patriotic war”, but it should be ensured “that this doesn’t turn into racial hatred”.
“A Russian athlete isn’t guilty just because they were born Russian. A singer isn’t guilty just because they were born Russian,” he said, adding that the rejection of the idea of collective guilt has been a principle since the second world war.
Polish-Hungarian friendship dead?
Commenting on Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s suggestion that it was Hungary’s EU membership rather than Ukraine’s that should be put to a referendum, Gulyás said: “The problem is that the Polish foreign minister isn’t familiar with the EU treaties, but that’s clear from what’s happening in Poland, with the Polish government indifferent to things like the rule of law and human rights.”
Concerning the state of the rule of law in Poland, he said the authorities were trying to undermine the presidential candidate of one of the major parties by denying him campaign funding. Meanwhile, he said, the government was conducting “mass criminal investigations on trumped-up charges”, and the EU was “not simply looking the other way, but loudly cheering them on”.
Asked about Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s announcement that Poland is considering negotiating with France on the transfer of nuclear weapons to its territory, Gulyás said this was “speculation” and there was “no need to comment on it seriously at this stage”. He said a nuclear power did not have an interest in expanding the circle of countries with nuclear weapons, and urged caution regarding the transfer of nuclear weapons, adding that “the other side will just aim their own weapons where another country can strike from”.