Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s views on European issues – Part 1

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recently gave an interview to the Czech conservative daily Lidove Noviny. You can read about the Hungarian Prime Minister’s views on European and Worldwide problems.

Central Europeans need more clout in European Union policymaking because the German-French axis has become outdated, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said. The Central European region enjoys the highest economic growth rate in Europe, Orbán said in the interview published on Saturday, adding that without it Europe would fall into stagnation.

Conventional wisdom used to be that central Europe needed Westerners to function, he said. But the situation has turned on its head, he said, adding that it was no longer inconceivable that Europe’s future success would be shaped by Visegrád Group countries. “That’s what I call new reality in Europe,” he added.

The prime minister said Hungary must remain a part of the European Union since the common market was in the country’s interest. But central European interests now must be taken into greater consideration than before and in proportion to its economic performance, he said.

“Set against our real economic performance and weight, our influence in EU decision-making is disproportionately small, and this has to change,” Orbán said.

Commenting on the protection of traditional national identity, he said whoever managed to be more persistent should win. Issues of education, family policy, schooling and media regulation are all national competences which “nobody can take away from us”, he said.

Orbán said the “woke movement” in the West was increasing in popularity. The words used, he added, may be new but they followed “the same intellectual pattern as Marxism”.

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Whenever there is a prolonged period of liberal governments that neglect culture, traditions, history and religion, Marxism grows more popular, Orbán said. “We, in central Europe, are vaccinated against Marxism.” The prime minister added that for Westerners, Marxism was an intellectual matter. “But central Europeans know that the Marxist basis for organising the economy and society results in dictatorship; Marxism and democracy cannot work together.”  

Orbán said the West had grown out of Christianity, becoming inseparable from the enlightenment and rationality. That combination had resulted in the most competitive and successful form of life in the world, he said. “But it’s being lost now because we are giving up the historic foundations of Christianity.”

Orbán said he had hoped the EU accession of central European countries would add an anti-Communist, anti-Marxist and anti-Leninist culture to current pan-European culture. “But they did not want this.” Commenting on Hungary’s child protection laws, Orbán said Hungary had approved legislation stating that parents have the exclusive right over their children’s school and sex education, and LGBTQ activists or representatives of any other ideologies had no business in this area.

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Brussels wants to change this and their position is that LGBTQ activists must be allowed in schools, he added. Orbán said the Hungarian legislation did not apply to adults above 18 years of age and only concerned the protection of children.

Orbán said French president Emmanuel Macron’s recent call for an independent EU foreign policy was an “exciting and interesting idea”. Hungary would be glad to participate in debates regarding strategic autonomy and sovereignty, he added.

He said existing differences between V4 members’ positions regarding the approach to Russia may be resolved. One of the most important tasks for the EU would be to give European security and military guarantees to Poland and the Baltic states, he added.

Commenting on disputes concerning gas supplies, Orbán said the reality was that Europe could not function without Russian gas.

Commenting on a recent visit by Pope Francis to Budapest, Orbán said people who believe in Christianity as a part of the future and not only of the past should join forces. There are many power groups that want to push the European continent to a post-Christian era, he said, which is especially popular among Brussels bureaucrats, he added. Since the Vatican is still the greatest Christian power in global politics, Orbán said he had humbly asked the Holy Father to help Christians survive.

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Source: MTI