PM Orbán announces unique tax exemptions, possible food price caps and Pride ban in State of the Nation speech – PHOTOS

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called for making 2025 “a breakthrough year”, in a speech assessing the nation over the past year on Saturday. Orbán called 2024 a “manly year”, saying that “yesterday we were heretics, but today half the world is knocking on our door.” He also announced unique tax exemptions, possible food price caps and Pride ban in his annual State of the Nation speech.

Péter Magyar’s betrayal

He said that despite the “thunders” that preceded last year’s European Parliament elections, they had remained calm because they knew that “what matters is time, and the one thing that’s constant in politics is change”.

“We lost our president and our top MEP candidate, and the war was also looking increasingly worse,” Orbán said. “But we also faced betrayal. It turned out that the road from the front row of this event to Mr. Weber’s coffers in Brussels isn’t that long,” he said, referring to Péter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza Party.

“One who betrays his friends also betrays his party,” he said. “This kind of person will betray everyone right away. Why wouldn’t he betray his country?”

The prime minister said 2024 had been a “nightmare”. He noted that the former US ambassador to Hungary had “assumed leadership of the opposition”, and Hungary had endured “shots from both Washington and Brussels” while “the agents of George Soros in Hungary were setting fire to haystacks and poisoning wells”.

But, he added, Fidesz’s strength was in the loyalty of its community. “Those who don’t understand or feel the beauty of this are free to leave. In the end everyone will get what they deserve,” he said.

Orbán said that in politics there was no victory without suffering. “Pain is our friend, and then victory will compensate us for everything, it’s the best medicine,” he said. “We only have to wait 14 months for the next one,” he said, referring to the 2026 general election.

Orbán said that last year Fidesz had gone from the resignation of the president in February to the second biggest margin of victory in the European Parliament elections in June.

PM Orbán: we were pioneers

“The word patriot rings louder than ever in Brussels today, even though it takes death-defying courage to talk about patriotism there,” he said.

Assessing the period between 2010 and 2025, Orbán said “a handful of Hungarians have been fighting an empire on their own” for the last 15 years.

Orbán said Hungarians had played their part in changing the world, far beyond what is warranted by the country’s size, economic weight or population

“We were the pioneers, vanguard and initiators of the uprising,” he said.

“It was at times brutally difficult and sometimes seemed hopeless … I am not talking about Fidesz or the government but Hungarians. The Hungarian nation was there behind us, one and all, all the way through,” he said.

He praised Hungarians’ “perseverance and determination”. “They didn’t give up, they didn’t back down, they never said we should give in to Soros … or surrender to Brussels,” he said.

He thanked “all revolutionary Hungarians protecting their country against the empire with their diligence, work and obstinacy.

“I am grateful to serve such a nation,” Orbán said.

“We have given the country a new Christian national constitution, protected ourselves from migration, protected our children from gender activists, stood up for peace and stayed out of the war,” Orbán said. “We have protected Hungary from Soros and his affiliates, protected forex debtors from banks and families from skyrocketing utility prices,” he said, adding that the number of jobholders in Hungary was at a record 4.7 million.

“This year the struggle continues,” he said. “We’ve been rebelling up until now, but now we also want to win.”

The USA also revolted

“This year will be different: now we’re the ones on the main street of history, and our opponents are wandering the muddy suburban backroads,” he said.

Commenting on this week’s meeting of European leaders in Paris, Orbán said the EU was “outraged that the [peace] talks began without them and they want a seat at the table”.

Orbán said that after Hungary, the United States had also “revolted”. He warned, at the same time, that Hungarians should not think that the US’s “successful revolt” would secure “victory” for Hungary.

“They can’t win for us, they can only improve our chances,” he said, adding that US President Donald Trump was “not our saviour but our brother-in-arms”

“From Hungary’s perspective, all that has happened was that in the battle of David and Goliath, David’s brother has arrived and he seems like a pretty tough guy,” Orbán said

“We’ve been given a chance to break out from a castle that’s under siege … and break through the empire’s positions,” he said.

“Now is the time to think big and bold. So I propose that 2025 be a breakthrough year.”

The prime minister warned, at the same time, that they “shouldn’t fall in love with last year’s success”. “Though our opponents have been dealt a serious blow … it would be a mistake to underestimate them.”

“We can only achieve a breakthrough with disciplined and planned military manoeuvres, even under these circumstances,” he added.

Orbán said that “the empire has two heads: one in Washington and one in Brussels, and a Soros-branch here in Budapest.”

“The US has unveiled and made public a deeply corrupt, oppressive power machinery that syphoned billions from the US budget into sham NGOs and journalists, judges, prosecutors, politicians, foundations and bureaucrats they had bought,” Orbán said. “An enormous machinery that operated a liberal dictatorship of opinion and political oppression in the entire Western world, including Hungary.”

Government commissioner will be sent to the USA

Orbán insisted they had created a “robust financial and power machinery to break down the freedom and independence of nations and maintain the empire.”

The government will send a government commissioner to the US to gather all data and evidence concerning Hungary, Orbán said. Then they will “create the legal and constitutional background so we don’t have to watch idly as sham NGOs serve foreign interests before our eyes and organise political action.”

He urged legislation similar to the US’s Magnitsky Act to “turn off the money taps of the Soros network and so state organisations could fulfil their obligation to protect sovereignty, and to enforce the law against previous offenders.”

“The Budapest branch may be dealt with by Easter,” he said.

At the same time, “there is an important and increasingly multifaceted fight to be fought” against Brussels, he said.

He said liberal networks were “retreating” to Brussels from the US, and the same was expected from other “patriotic countries”.

Hungary was “fighting five major battles against Brussels bureaucrats”, and “there are things Hungary can’t budge on”, he said.

Hungary will not suffer the migration pact “which Brussels would use to direct migrants here”. “We will not stop protecting our children”, he said, proposing to enshrine in the constitution that a person is either a man or a woman.

Possible Pride ban

He said the organisers of the Pride March “should now bother with the organising, it’s a waste of money and time, no matter what kommandant Weber and his Hungarian agents say”.

Orbán vowed to preserve the 13th month pension and utility price caps, saying that Brussels was calling for scrapping the 13th month pension and calling the Hungarian pension system “unsustainable”. “The Hungarian pension system is sustainable if everyone works and we keep wages growing,” he said. The government is aiming for just that, and an average wage of 1 million forints, he added.

The EU was similarly demanding that the government scrap the utility price caps “even though it is a chance for survival for millions of families”. A 250,000 forint annual utility cost would amount to multiple times that sum in other countries, he said

Regarding Ukraine, Orbán said the war “was not about Ukraine but about an attempt to turn a buffer zone called Ukraine between NATO and Russia into a NATO member.”

“The experiment clearly failed; Ukraine, or whatever remains of it, will again become a buffer zone and will not become a NATO member.”

Orbán said that whether Ukraine becomes a member of the EU “will be decided by Hungarians. Ukraine will never become a member of the European Union against the will of Hungarians,” he said, adding that Ukraine’s membership would ruin Hungarian farmers and “the Hungarian national economy as a whole”.

Orbán called for a breakthrough in the economy as well.

He said jobs must be protected amid “the spreading cloud of a trade war”. “We cannot stop that, but we must calculate where we must expect layoffs, factory closures and other economic ailments.”

He said that while the service industry, knowledge-based economy and tourism were important, “no country can survive without production, that is, a work-based economy.”

The prime minister announced the launch of a scheme dubbed “100 new factories” with a view to ensuring that everyone who wants to work can have a job.

Meanwhile, “we must not lose sight of the future in all that fighting”. He pledged to introduce technological changes that would usher in a new world by 2030 where there will be more computers than people in production.

Palkovics can come back

“Preparation isn’t going too badly, but we must increase the speed… It is time we brought László Palkovics back,” Orbán said, referring to the former technology and industry minister.

Tax cuts

He also announced the launch of “Europe’s biggest tax cut” that will involve doubling tax breaks for families with children in two steps. Tax preferences will rise to 20,000 forints (EUR 50) for families with one child, 80,000 forints for families with two children, and 200,000 forints for families with three or more children, he said, adding that more than a million families will benefit from the scheme.

The government will also introduce a lifetime personal income tax exemption for mothers receiving CSED infant care benefit, GYED maternity allowance and mothers raising two or three children, he said. The exemption for mothers raising three children will be introduced in October 2025, while the one for mothers of two will be introduced in multiple steps beginning next January, he added.

The prime minister said the “enormous costs” of the plan would be covered from revenues from the economy gathering momentum, programmes supporting companies and full employment, while continuing to reduce the deficit and state debt.

“I am convinced that more children are born if mothers feel safe with their children. If we had not introduced the new family support policy in 2010, we would have 200,000 fewer children today,” he said.

Construction sector

Meanwhile, Orbán said Hungary needed a breakthrough in home-building, too. He said schemes to expand the home purchase subsidies, the home purchase subsidy for villages, a VAT cut for home purchases was in the pipeline, and April will see the introduction of the 5 percent mortgage interest rate cap.

Orbán also announced a project to build a student’s quarter with dormitory places for 18,000 students.

At the same time, inflation must be curbed for the breakthrough to be effective, he said. The best defence against price hikes is raising wages, he said, noting that the government had earlier introduced price caps on basic foodstuffs while raising wages.

Orbán called it “unacceptable” that vendors and grocery chains have raised the price of basic foodstuffs considerably, boosting their own profits.

He noted that the price of milk had risen by 39 percent in January, while eggs were 35 percent and cooking oil 11 percent dearer. “That is too much, that is unacceptable,” he said.

Price caps?

Orbán said he had instructed Márton Nagy, the national economy minister, to strike a deal with the grocery chains to stop price hikes. “We will ask nicely. If that doesn’t work, price caps will do the trick,” he said.

Should they fail to reach an agreement, price caps will be introduced, he said. Should that not be enough, the government will limit profits from sales, he said.

Pensioners will need more care than others, as grocery prices eat up a bigger part of pensions than of wages, he said. From the second half of the year, pensioners will receive back the VAT paid after vegetables, fruits and dairy, up to a set limit, he said.

He said the government opted for this arrangement because simple VAT cuts “would mostly increase the profits of grocery chains. The VAT cuts will be sure to reach the people they are intended for,” he said.

The prime minister said party politics should be kept out of the military instead of being brought in. Referring to Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, a former chief of staff, who recently joined the Tisza Party, Orbán said: “I recommend moderation to everyone. That’s what I would have recommended to him as well.”

Only national strategy has a place in the military, and officers should know that this is far above party politics, Orbán said.

He said rivalries and egos were not worthy of the armed forces.

He said he expected Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, the defence minister to ensure that everyone in the military act accordingly.

Meanwhile, the prime minister expressed concern over data indicating a rise in drug dealing and use. “Something’s wrong here,” he added.

He said the country was “flooded with cheap, toxic concoctions and synthetic drugs”, adding that this had to be stopped “at all cost”.

Orbán said he will appoint a government commissioner to handle the matter, and the government will introduce a policy of zero tolerance. He said he has asked Interior Minister Sandor Pinter to order a “manhunt” against drug dealers.

Drugs and cash

Drug dealers, he said, turned other people’s children into “a mess” and eventually killed them, vowing that they would not be shown mercy.

Orbán also pledged to protect cash use and small localities.

The government approved a lawmaker’s proposal to enshrine the right to use cash in the constitution, he said, adding that the use of cash was “a matter of freedom … not a habit but a right”. “We don’t want to be servants of banks. The bank card belongs to the bank, cash belongs to you,” he said.

Meanwhile, Orbán said: “I smell a fight coming over small localities’ right to self-defence, whether they have a right to protect their village, rural lives and image and what tools they can be given to curb people moving there.”

On another subject, he said the EU “only wants a compliant government in Hungary that doesn’t build fences, doesn’t tax multinational companies and banks, doesn’t pass a child protection law, a 13th month pension or utility price caps but allows them to … plunder the country as they used to do.”

He said the EU was “always looking for someone” who would comply, and now “there’s a new show, new stage, new puppet, but it’s the same old puppet master”.

Real opponent not the Hungarian opposition

“Let us not forget that our real opponent is not the Hungarian opposition but their paymaster. The Hungarian opposition is only following the orders of the imperial will that funds it…” Orbán said.

In future, members of the European Parliament will have to submit the same asset declarations as members of the Hungarian parliament, Orbán said.

“Until 1990 it was Moscow that ensured impunity for the communists, and now it’s Brussels that ensures impunity for the liberals,” he said. “How fortunate that Brussels isn’t Moscow.”

Orbán said that while Hungary was being fined a daily 1 million euros for “keeping migrants out”, its opponents were allowed to commit criminal offences with impunity and were rewarded with immunity for their loyalty.

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