Viktor Orbán, the Fidesz president and former prime minister, dismissed as political propaganda a series of complaints filed in connection with the previous government, speaking to reporters on Saturday before a meeting in Kötcse.
‘Everything was lawful and appropriate’, says Orbán
The party leader was asked about the investigation into the Volán case involving allegedly overpriced bus purchases, in which, among others, the former chief executive of the Hungarian National Asset Management Company has been summoned to give evidence.
Mr Orbán said that, in this particular case, the internal investigation had been launched by the previous government. He added that he was familiar with all the complaints recently filed in connection with the former administration.
“They are all political propaganda. Every one of these cases was lawful and appropriate,” he said. “I would be happy to explain them one by one,” he added.
‘The country can count on us’
“Our job is to be ready. If the country needs us, it can count on us,” Mr Orbán said in Kötcse, in Somogy County, on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters at the closed-door Civic Picnic, organised by the Foundation for a Civic Hungary, the Fidesz president and former prime minister said Hungary had enjoyed “16 fantastic years” as a result of civic and national-conservative government.
Hungary had been in a “colonial” position in 2010, but they had succeeded in creating an independent, sovereign and successful country, Mr Orbán said.
He added that the right had won four elections in a row, before losing one after 20 years. “I wish the right only had to lose an election once every 20 years,” he said.
Diesel support, migration, the future of his political group
Regarding a proposed monthly payment of HUF 5,000 for diesel-car owners, he said that an amendment to this year’s budget was before Parliament, including HUF 500 billion set aside in case of an energy crisis. “There is money available. Our proposal is to reinstate the protected price, which should never have been scrapped,” the former prime minister said. The budget contained the funds to do so, he added: “Give it to the people.”
Asked about migration policy, he said Hungary had “protected Europe and neighbouring countries” for more than a decade. “There is no migration at all in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and there is no larger influx in Austria because Hungary protected Europe’s external borders,” he said.
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The former prime minister also said there were currently numerous initiatives within Fidesz, all of which he supported. The right had always been diverse, he said, but its members had agreed on three things.
“We agreed that Hungary’s sovereignty was paramount; that freedom was essential; and that the traditions and heritage handed down to us by our forebears must be preserved and built upon,” Viktor Orbán said.
As leader of the right and prime minister, he added, it had been his task “to turn this diversity into a measure of effective government action”.
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