Orbán against the EU? Hungarian PM: economic neutrality is in Hungary’s interest, not the blocs – Interview
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While most of the Hungarian population is pro-EU, the prime minister has said it is in Hungary’s interest to be neutral on the economy. But how is this possible if the country is a member of the EU? Or is this another statement in favour of HUXIT? The Hungarian prime minister gave an interview to state radio:
Economic neutrality vs blocs
PM Orbán said that
Hungary’s interest is economic neutrality, not the formation of blocs.
Orbán remarked on the recently published report on European competitiveness by Mario Draghi, the former governor of the European Central Bank.
He said Europe is suffering from a huge loss of competitiveness, and if we continue on the path we’re on, “there’s going to be a big problem.”
He added that Europe could respond to Asia’s economic rise in two ways: enter the competition or “disqualify” the competitor and close the borders.
He said the EU is moving toward forming a bloc, pointing to the introduction of punitive tariffs. He added that the formation of blocs would be “a tragedy” for Hungary.
Dividing the world economy into blocs, similar to the Cold War, would push Hungary to the periphery, Orbán warned.
” We would become insignificant members of the world economy, lose out on opportunities, and would be locked into a dead-end street. “
Orbán said car manufacturing was an essential element of Hungary’s economy, with hundreds of thousands of families living there. He said he had held talks with the heads of all larger players of the sector in the past few months, and all have opposed to European tariffs on Chinese electric cars, “but the European Commission doesn’t listen and continues to consider tariffs”.
Hungary will have to cooperate with the “numerous European political and economic players” on a similar footing, and create a force capable of changing Brussels policies, he said.
Price cap, economy
Commenting on a ruling against Hungary on the price caps on certain products, Orbán said the ruling “said multinationals should be able to impose whatever prices they liked”. “These are wrong thoughts, these are the mistakes of the European Commission.”
While “smart and silly opinions on Hungary’s economy” were abounding in European discussions, Hungary’s economy had moved past a “very difficult period and is on the cusp of recovery”, Orbán said.
Orbán said Hungary’s economic growth rate was over the European Union average, while inflation would slowly fall under 3 percent. He added that Hungary’s investment rate stood at 23 percent, over the 20 percent EU average.
On the matter of boosting consumption, Orbán said people should be enabled to make their own decisions, rather than “economists telling them what to do”. Consumption is currently around 4 percent, showing that people were spending more, he said. As we wrote earlier, the Hungarian economy struggles: latest figures reveal significant downturn.
‘Tangible’ wage rise on the horizon
Orbán said wage increase was at 9-10 percent, outstripping inflation and among the most robust in Europe. Tourism is also at historic highs, with more Hungarians spending their holidays at home and abroad as ever before, a cause for optimism, he added.
The European Union’s forecasts are putting Hungary’s growth rate at third place in the EU next years, he said.
He said the war was “the one thing that could foil our plans”. If the war intensifies or spreads, he added, it would upset the government’s economic calculations.
Orbán said he saw a real chance for a “tangible” wage rise in Hungary in the coming 2-3 years.
Orbán welcomed the agreement on wage increases for 2024 and said allowing decisions affecting pay rises to be made by representatives of workers and employers was the best practice.
Wage rises must be negotiated carefully to avoid that employers feel forced to lay off work force or curb developments to be able to afford them, he said.
The government will not interfere, other than “put its seal to the agreement and announce it”, ensuring that wages will be raised as high as possible without risking that “employees pay dearly for it later”. “Those promising wage hikes without consulting those directly impacted by the process do not know what they’re talking about,” he said.
Nobody in Europe or the US is going to let the Chinese take over automobile production – period. The Chinese government subsidizes and promotes overproduction in industries it chooses and it has done so with electric vehicles. I like the headline of “Tangible Wage Rise On The Horizon.” Fidesz happy talk is all about what wonderful things they are going to do for you. It’s all “On The Horizon.” Meanwhile when you look at what they have done for you so far it is all bad.
Why doesn’t Hungary simply withdraw from the EU?
That’s right, Hungary’s trade and subsidies are dependent on the EU ( ex energy which is Russia’s domain) and majority of citizens want to remain in the EU, but why does the government continually complain about and try to threaten the EU?
Like Brexit, Trump, Putin, MCC, Netanyahu, Erdogan etc. it’s not about what’s good for citizens, but preserving power for the top people or < 0.01% to pillage their states, economies and citizens, but voted for by the latter?
The government needs to be careful as a single 'black swan event' can get a inflame broad cross section of society in cities and regions onto the street in protest…..
@ Larry, Just how many vehicles are made entirely in the US these days? , LOL.
What does the US actually make besides weapons of war or their prisoners making office items?
Nagy J. Do you actually believe what you wrote? The quick point I often like to make is that if the US is really bad why do so many Hungarians want to immigrate there? Best of luck answering that question and making it fit into what you wrote. Do you actually understand what takes place in the facsist dictatorships of China and Russia?
@Nagy, if you want those numbers then google it, but i am leaving it here for u. “In 2023, almost 10.6 million motor vehicles were produced in the United States. Globally, there were around 93.5 million motor vehicles produced in the same year.” China is 3 times that number, for USA it is not a bad number considering USA has been moving manufacturing to cheaper countries and china is basically all of its national production. That said what is the goal of your question? do you want to be a servant of china? The country that control your debt is the one that controls your country. Do you really want to be under chinese influence? why?
Withdrawing from the EU is not as simple, the UK is still fighting it. Now, why should Hungary cede its sovereignty to Brussels’ and incompetent leader Ursula von der Leyen when the country managed to survive for 1000 years. Hungary should be neutral country.
There is not one EU member beside Slovakia that is not the enemy of Hungary.
@mariavontheresa – can we all agree (as even the die hard Brexiteers appear to be saying) that Brexit is a total failure?
If you disagree, I challenge you to list three Brexit benefits. In no particular order.
Randon example. We recently negotiated an agreement with a UK party, who insisted on applying laws of England and Wales and English courts (naturally). Until some lawyer pointed out that due to leaving the EU, the UK had also crashed out of the Lugano convention. So the UK is now trying to sign all kinds of other treaties to remedy the issue. In the meantime, we ended up spending too much on lawyers, and now we have Dutch law as the interim solution (for some reason, they were also less than keen on Hungary). How wonderfully Sovereign!
Hungary has two choices, stay in the EU and lose sovereignty of suffer EU’s wrath. F.M. Szijarto should evaluate all prospective new trading partners, when the market for Hungary is sufficient, time to turn your back on Brussels. We all wish President Trump good luck, time for US to have a good government; the American people deserve it.