Hungarian govt announces pension bonus, faces tax battle with Brussels and gun scandal
The government has decided on a 1.6 percent inflation-linked pension top-up, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, told a weekly press briefing on Wednesday.
Pension bonus, inflation
Gulyás said the top-up would translate as 51,155 forints per pensioner, on average, with 47,200 forints to be paid retroactively in November and the rest in December. He added that the top-up would cost the budget 112 billion forints.
Gulyás noted that the decision on the scale of the top-up had been taken earlier, but the exact figure, in light of the 4.8 percent pensioners’ inflation rate, had been decided at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. He said the government maintained its position that pensions should exceed or keep pace with the rate of pensioners’ inflation.
National Consultation public survey on taxation
Meanwhile, Gulyás said the government will launch a National Consultation public survey on taxation.
Deciding on Hungary’s tax regime is an important public debate, Gulyás said, emphasising that political parties must not withhold their tax policy plans from the public.
Gulyás said it was important to clarify whether voters were still in favour of a low single-bracket personal income tax, or if they were thinking more in terms of a multi-rate tax regime. He added that preserving family tax benefits was also key.
The government believes it is crucial to preserve PIT exemptions for mothers and under-25s, he said, adding, at the same time, that there were also opposing opinions and expectations.
Meanwhile, Gulyás said there were also disagreements and different ideas in connection with Hungary’s corporate tax rate, which, he noted, is also a flat and low tax rate.
Another battle with Brussels
Gulyás said that “for a while”, economic policy “demands” from the EU contained the request that Hungary scrap that tax system. “Brussels has followers in Hungary, too, so we think this public debate is especially important and the national consultation will be an opportunity for that.”
The government’s greatest achievement, an added 1 million 50 thousand jobholders, was what made tax cuts possible, he added.
He said it was “unacceptable” for political parties “following orders from Brussels” to refuse to discuss their tax policy plans and say that “after the election, anything is possible”.
Home Start subsidised credit scheme
On the Home Start subsidised credit scheme for first-time home buyers, Gulyás said interest was “huge”, with more than 1,000 borrowers submitting applications each day on average.
Gulyás said more than 10,000 applications for the Home Start credit had been submitted since the programme’s launch on September 1. That demand, he added, was a sign of the scheme’s success.
He said Home Start’s popularity extended across the whole country, not just to big cities. He added that the scheme could drive the construction of 10,000-15,000 homes in 2025. The number of additional home builds could climb to tens of thousands later on, creating thousands or tens of thousands of jobs and contributing to economic growth, he said.
First-time home buyers may take out up to 50 million forints with fixed rates of 3 percent in the framework of the scheme.
Government spokeswoman Eszter Vitályos said last week saw investments worth a total of 10.2 billion forints concluded in Hungary, including a swimming hall in Szekszárd, in southern Hungary, a rainwater drainage system in the village of Zsombo and a new lock at the Dorozsma-Majsa canal, among others. The government ploughed 290 million forints into developing the streets of Debrecen, she added.
Within the framework of the development programmes for rural areas, nearly one billion forints were allocated to increasing the volume of irrigated areas by hundreds of hectares, she added.
Gun scandal
Meanwhile, Gulyás said that Tisza defence expert Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi reportedly carrying a weapon to a town hall meeting was in itself unlawful, “possibly a misdemeanor”. Responding to a question, Gulyás said Ruszin-Szendi’s action was unlawful even if he had a permit to carry the gun. “The framework of democratic debate is difficult to define if people arrive to forums with weapons … this has been unknown in Hungary until Tisza’s advent,” he said.
Asked if the government was planning any legislative amendments in connection with Ruszin-Szendi’s case, Gulyás said the Tisza defence spokesman’s actions constituted a misdemeanor, but “someone being incapable of putting their weapon down when attending a political rally raises questions about their sanity”.
“What reason would anyone have — especially if they’re a speaker at a political rally — to carry a loaded weapon to the event?” Gulyás said. He said the fact that a political party was “putting its trust in people like this” indicated that “sanity isn’t a merit there, but a disadvantage”.
In response to another question on the matter, Gulyás said everyone had to reject calls for violence regardless of political affiliation. He said “open hate-mongering” and the “intention to seize power through violence” had had not been a part of Hungarian politics in the post-1990 era, but “the situation has changed with the emergence of Tisza”.
Fidesz supporters violently disrupted an opposition event organized by the Tisza Party
It should be noted here that Fidesz members or government-paid employees were repeatedly brought to Tisza party events to physically or verbally disrupt opposition events. There was even a case where Fidesz’s communications director went up close to Péter Magyar’s face to physically provoke the opposition leader, who remained calm, thus thwarting the provocation.
Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said the following about the incident:
After I declared my political views, I received countless threats. As a soldier, I was not alarmed enough to report this to the party leaders, but I tried to prepare for the worst with the means at my disposal. We have now reached the point where Tisza has to provide me with increased personal protection. Since then, I have not been carrying my self-defense device, Ruszin-Szendi said, noting that his party wants to build a country where people can freely express their political opinions and therefore do not have to fear threats.
More details: PM Orbán talks about armed Tisza politician Ruszin-Szendi; Péter Magyar fights back with bullet wound story
Migration
Marking the 10th anniversary of clashes between migrants and police at the Hungary-Serbia border, Gulyás said: “In a historical perspective, Hungary made the right decision, and has taken the right side, that of lawfulness and of compliance with the European treaties, and represented national interests.”
“There is no margin of error with migration,” Gulyás said, pointing to Sweden as an example. “Everything we think of as factors dissolving cohesion in society, from terrorism to crime, unemployment, attacks on culture to growing anti-Semitism and homophobia — all those things are the direct consequences of migration.”
He also said that the European Commission had never acknowledged the positive role Hungary had played in connection with protecting the bloc’s external borders over the last ten years, and was even penalising the country for it. “Brussels is in favour of unlimited immigration, and doesn’t realise that over the past decade even most of the countries that had initially argued in favour of immigration have changed or given nuance to their position,” he added.
Sweden
Concerning Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent remarks on Sweden, Gulyás cited a German news outlet as reporting that over the past year, some 280 girls aged 15-17 have been investigated in connection with violent crimes, including murder.
Gulyás cited Sweden’s justice minister as saying that the girls were seen as victims, adding that their participation in criminal rings was far more widespread than what was acknowledged.
Gulyás said that by the end of August there had been 113 shootings in Sweden, claiming 33 lives, including children. There had been 119 bombings and there were 59 no-go zones, he said. Also, half of Christians under the age of 25 said they had experienced harassment over their faith, and 70 percent of Sweden’s population said anti-Semitism was on the rise, Gulyas said. Between 2000 and 2020, 63 percent of those convicted of rape had a migrant background, he added, citing a study.
National consultation: Government campaigns for election using public funds
Concerning the new National Consultation, Gulyás said the survey launching early next month will have five questions. The government will announce the survey’s end date in the coming days, and provide details about its costs after it ends, he said.
Gulyás also said the government’s campaign will be lawful and though political, it would not be partisan.
read also: 4 million leaflets to be distributed about alleged tax increase plans in Hungary
Put to him that Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced the launch of the National Consultation at a Fidesz party event, Gulyás said that in parliamentary democracies, the head of the biggest party was usually also the prime minister, “so one can always start guessing if a certain statement he made was made in his capacity as party leader or prime minister”.
Asked about Tisza Party leader Péter Magyar saying he would file a complaint over the National Consultation survey, Gulyás said Tisza opposed a democratic debate on an important public issue on which they wanted to conceal their own position and “deceive the public”.
Asked if the National Consultation would also cover the 27 percent VAT, Gulyás said it would not be in the questionnaire as there wasn’t an intense public debate on it.
Concerning Tisza’s tax policy plans, Gulyás said it could be concluded based on a proposal from the opposition party’s expert that those making more than 480,000 forints a month would be worse off under Tisza’s tax regime.
He said the party’s deputy leader had “openly said that they wouldn’t talk about this, and that they’d have to lie about it until the election”.
United States
Gulyás welcomed that the US reinstated Hungary’s visa exemption, saying that the US administration “has returned to normality”. He said the US had had no reason to withdraw Hungary’s exemption under the Biden administration.
Gulyás insisted the Democrat Biden administration “hated Hungary with all their heart”; but US President Donald Trump and “a normal conservative administration that doesn’t think Hungary should be punished” had returned.
Meanwhile, talks are under way with US authorities on an agreement on double taxation. “We are working on getting results as soon as possible,” he added.
Regarding Trump’s remarks on the necessity of countries weaning themselves off Russian oil, Gulyás said: “The Hungarian government is representing Hungary’s interests.”
Russia, EU, other topics
Russian energy resources have no alternative as to pricing and availability, he said. Hungary will therefore maintain purchases, as well as the stance that in the long run, Europe should engage in economic cooperation with Russia.
Meanwhile, Gulyás said Hungary was under continuous pressure from Brussels “on every new sanction package”. He said that while Hungary generally disagreed with the sanctions policy, “we will not stand in the way of the will of 26 member states” as long as the planned measures don’t directly harm Hungary’s interests. In the case of direct harm, such as energy resources, “we will veto”, he said.
Asked about a European Commission proposal to introduce trade restrictions on Israel, Gulyás said Hungary is “fundamentally against sanctions because sanctions have not worked.”
Regarding a procedure launched against Hungary over the sovereignty protection law at the Court of Justice of the EU, Gulyás said “we can’t see that body as an impartial legal platform”. Contrary to what those initiating the procedures had said, the law does not limit the free movement of capital, he said.
Gulyás said it was an “EU-friendly illusion” that the EU needed a legal justification to interfere with domestic affairs; “that would mean that treaties and law still have a role in Brussels”. “Actually, there are raw, direct power moves with no regard as to a treaty or law to support it.”
Gulyás said that the statement of former European Central Bank governor Mario Draghi on the ailing competitiveness of the EU was “surgically accurate”. At the same time, he said Hungary disagreed with Draghi’s proposed solution of taking out joint loans.
Asked about the government’s plans regarding recent Eurostat data that Hungarian babies have the shortest expected lifespan in the EU, Gulyás said the issue was not dependent on the health-care system but on lifestyle. That is why prevention and checks are important, he said.
On the matter of the director of a youth correctional facility who was arrested in May on charges of human trafficking, Gulyás said the investigation would also tackle allegations that the suspicions had been voiced against him for long before action had been taken. Should those allegations be proven, an internal investigation would be launched, he said.
In response to a question, Gulyás said anyone who claimed that a sign equating Janos Lazar, the minister of construction and transport, with the assassinated US conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a pavement art event organised by Hódmezővásárhely Mayor Péter Márki-Zay did not count as incitement “is either not telling the truth or they’re unfamiliar with the Hungarian language”.
Commenting on polls showing a lead for Tisza, he said there had never been a point in the polls he had seen in which Fidesz was not winning the election. He noted that in the lead-up to the 2022 election, pollster Idea had underestimated Fidesz by 13 percent.