Orbán: Hungarian economy crisis-proof without EU funds
Hungary’s economy “is crisis-proof even without European Union funding” and can come through the hardest of periods, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public radio on Friday.
Orbán said that when EU money was “most needed” after the Covid epidemic and during the current period of rising energy prices, it was not forthcoming. Nevertheless, Hungary solved both crises, he said.
Inflation was pushed down from 25 percent to around 6 percent without EU help, he said, and Hungary’s “future is bright” in terms of growth prospects this year. “We’ll be in the front row of European comparisons too,” he added.
Orbán: National Consultation ‘important’
The National Consultation public survey was an important exercise in taking joint action as well as addressing specific issues, Orbán said.
“Deep national thinking is very strong in Hungary,” Orbán said, adding that Hungarian national feeling of belonging went back a thousand years, whereas in Western Europe this was one or two hundred years.
He said more than 1.5 million people returned questionnaires “because they thought it important for the country”.
It was better, he said, to assert interests together than separately. “The consultation proves that we are still a strong country and a strong nation”, he said, adding that this message “will be heard in Brussels”.
Orbán said the EU’s reasons for not handing over Hungary’s funding was “just blah-blah” and their real issue with the country had to do with “migration, gender and war”. “But we cannot compromise on these issues,” he said. “These are more important issues … than money,” the prime minister added.
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