Hungary stands alone: Orbán declares nation a ‘conservative island’ in Europe’s ‘liberal ocean’

Unlike many other European Union member states, Hungary has not taken in people belonging to foreign cultures, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview with Austria’s ServusTV on Thursday, adding that Hungary pursued a family-friendly policy and was a “conservative island in the European liberal ocean”.

The prime minister said there were more children being born today on the southern side of the Mediterranean than on the northern side, adding that Germany and Austria, for example, were not defending against this trend, but instead saw the solution to this problem in migration policy. Hungary, on the other hand, favoured supporting families, he said.

He said the trend of deaths outstripping births was the result of the policies of the last 30-40 years, noting Europe’s shrinking and ageing population.

Orbán said “money alone” would not increase the birth rate, arguing that a family-friendly culture was needed.

This, he added, required that young people feel secure and choose to have families. He said this called for a predictable economic policy, persistence and a change in mindset, which, he said, meant at least 10-20 years.

Orbán said the European economy was “suffering from pneumonia” and had serious problems.

He cited French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent warning that the EU could be “out of the market” within two or three years, and former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi’s warning that the European economy could fail.

The prime minister said the signs of this decline were visible in the Austrian and German economies and many other places, underlining the need to make the European economy competitive again.

He said the crux of this problem was energy prices, arguing that Brussels’ policies had led to European companies having to pay 2-3 times what American businesses are paying for electricity, while gas was 3-4 times more expensive. Europe, he added, could not compete like this, and needed a new energy policy, otherwise its businesses would go bankrupt.

As regards migration, Orbán said there were two different kinds of European countries: those that had taken in people belonging to foreign — mainly Islamic — cultures, and those that had not, noting that Hungary belonged to the latter group.

Hungary, he said, only issued as many work permits to those belonging to foreign cultures as were needed in the labour market, and they had to leave the country once their work permit expired.