PM Orbán: tariff war will soon become a “tariff peace” benefiting Hungary

The current tariff war is a “tactical matter” and will end within months, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public radio on Friday.

Orbán talks about tariff peace

Orbán noted that US President Donald Trump had pledged before the election to reshape global trade and better position America in relation to its trading partners. He said the US would reach agreements with everyone on an individual basis, resulting in a new balance, adding that the process would take “1-2 months”. He said the tariff war would soon become a “tariff peace” that would benefit Hungary.

Orbán said the tariff war was “well below” the significance of the war in Ukraine and its potential EU membership, which would be on the agenda “for many years” and could “ruin” Hungary. The tariff war should be “left to the experts”, he said, “while our attention and energy ought to be directed to Ukraine’s EU membership.”

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High inflation due to war

“We are in a period of high inflation”, mostly due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, Orbán said. Peace, he added, was the best way to ensure that the inflation rate became sustainable in the long term. “The only task” of the European Union, he said, was to support the US president’s peace efforts, adding that prices skyrocketed when war preparations started and the war broke out.

“We must take steps against inflation while we’re waiting for peace,” Orbán said. The government introduced price caps at the start of the war, “which were successful”, and they are regulating price gaps at present, he said. The government is also looking at ways to “use the same method” in respect of other retail products, he added.

Success with telcos

Orbán said successful talks had been conducted with telecommunications companies who have agreed to hold off from fee increases until next July and restore them to the level at the start of this year.

He added that an agreement with banks was also nearing completion. Banking fees will not be allowed to increase even if they cite inflation in the upcoming period, he said, noting a similar agreement recently sought with food retailers had not concluded successfully.

Orbán said these efforts had made it clear for everyone that “the era when Hungarians can be fleeced with the excuse of inflation is over”. He added that the state would intervene in setting prices “when abnormal situations develop”.

The prime minister said the government was determined to protect families and individuals, and make it clear that “it is best to come to an agreement with the government”. “We are doing on a small scale what Donald Trump is doing in a big way,” he added.

Tisza MEPs working against their own country

In connection with recent remarks made by a Tisza Party MEP in a European Parliament committee meeting, Orbán said Hungarian voters had elected MEPs “to represent Hungary’s interests in Brussels and, if necessary, to fight for Hungary”. He said that as prime minister he fought for the interests of the Hungarians and had succeeded in securing half of the EU funds due to Hungary.

Members of the Tisza Party “are not ashamed to be working against their own country but are proud of it,” Orbán said. Tisza members were “happy if things go badly in Hungary” because they saw this as beneficial to the opposition, he added. He said that during the past thirty years all opposition parties would have objected to being accused of benefiting from the deterioration of Hungary’s situation. “Yet, they now simply say it straight in your face” that the worse the situation is in Hungary, the better it will be for them, because they can enter power the sooner “and what’s more, they do so in conspiration with foreign powers, the Brussels bureaucrat,” he added.

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Politics about country

Referring to Ferenc Gyurcsány’s infamous “lies” speech the former prime minister made in Őszöd, Orbán insisted that Tisza was trying to explain that “it’s the right thing … to work against their own country”. Politics, he added, “is not about power but about the country” and serving the people. “Anyone capable of doing anything for power and money can’t ever be trusted,” Orban added.

He said it is important that everyone in Hungary should be able to express their opinion regarding matters that determined the future of the country. “These aren’t just empty words; they will have due weight,” he added. Orbán said the same had happened when it came to the issue of migration. “We are the only country to have held a referendum on migration,” he noted.

Child protection, “a big challenge in all of Europe: how we picture our future and the life of our society, families and communities”, was another on which Hungarians were the only ones to be given an opportunity to voice their opinion, he said.

Ukraine’s EU accession would damage Hungary

Orbán said the question of whether Ukraine was allowed into the EU or not would have a major impact on Hungary’s destiny in the coming decades. “There will be certain consequences if it is allowed to join, and also if this is successfully prevented,” he said. Orbán said the matter was “decisive”, adding that he was convinced Ukraine’s accession would damage Hungary, Hungarian families, and drain away the economic achievements of the past 15 years.

While Hungarians may have their own opinions on the matter, “it is important that there is a shared view, that the view of Hungarians which will have to be represented in Brussels is clear on this important issue that will remain a focus of European debates for years to come.” At the same time, Orbán said not all Hungarian parties were fighting for Hungarians’ interests in Brussels. “They have their handlers in Brussels.” Certain parties were envisioning a “large European state that would dissolve Hungary”, where Hungary would follow the decisions of “the imperial centre in Brussels”. “They are supporting Ukraine’s membership because that’s what Brussels wants.”

Public safety and order

“We must turn against that, we must fight for the opportunity to keep what we have been working for, and to keep the economic opportunities open for Hungary. We must fight so that our economic achievements are not put at risk, that we do not face risks to our agriculture as well as public safety and order, which would come about with Ukraine’s EU membership,” he said.

“That is the highest-stakes fight of the coming few years,” he said. Orbán said the issue of the war was still on the agenda because even though the US had “turned into the street signed with peace, where Hungary is also waiting, those in Brussels have not yet turned and they are still following the sign that says war.”

He added that Europe was clearly preparing for the continuation of war, saying that Ukraine could win this war and EU membership could help Ukraine to win the war.

Ukraine unable to win the war

“This is the worst idea: Ukraine is unable to win this war,” Orbán said, adding that the idea was that once Ukraine was allowed in the EU, the war could be continued. European Union membership must not be made an instrument of war, Orbán said. The EU was established for peace, he said, adding that enlargement must serve peace rather than the continuation of war.

Government support programs for villages

Meanwhile, Orbán said the government was “putting much energy” into ensuring that village dwellers were equal to other citizens in Hungary. “Living in villages is good, it is probably the way to a truly quality lifestyle,” Orbán said.

“Liberal economists regularly write about how living in a village and organising village-size services is unreasonable, and that everything would be much more practical and cheaper if everyone moved into the city. That is far from our approach,” he said. Orbán said the communist era had fostered a view that villages were less developed than cities, that city-dwellers were educated and villagers weren’t. “I come from a village of 1,800 inhabitants. I hope I am a living rebuttal of that.”

Shops, pubs, ATMs, and motorways and highways

Villages should have shops, pubs, ATMs, and motorways and highways within 20-30 minutes from every locality, he said. Good schools should also be at hand, in the village or in school centres within an easy distance, and access facilitated by school busses, he said. Health-care services must also be present, “and a district commissioner in every village who is available 24 hours a day,” he said.

He said Hungary was close to having all “city services” available in villages. The Hungarian Village programme has been successful on that count, he added. “Whether we can take all services [to villages] is not something I can answer now. We have taken many [to villages] but we still have much to do,” he added.

Raising children should not result in a harder life

On another topic, Orbán said that starting a family was not just about personal happiness but also about the future of the community. Orbán said mothers deserved respect, not only because they undertook a difficult task, but also because they did something vital for the whole community.

He said it was unfair if people raising children had a harder life than those who did not. Starting a family is not just about personal happiness but also about the future of the community, Orbán said, adding that mothers deserved respect, not only because they undertook a difficult task, but also because they did something vital for the whole community.

“This is also a personal issue for me,” he said, adding that when he returned to power in 2010, he vowed to eliminate the difference and ensure that families raising children were not put at a disadvantage. “And I’m making big strides.” On top of the tax credit for children, now there is also a lifelong tax exemption for mothers, he said.

In October mothers with three children will also receive the credit, and from Jan 1 those with two children under 40 will also receive it, then from 2026 mothers under the age of 50 with two children will benefit from it. Orbán said a family-centric economic system which placed the family and children first and foremost was being established. He said it was unfair if people raising children had a harder life than those who did not, and the it was therefore up to the government to restore fairness.

Orbán mentioned the government scheme to exempt women giving birth from paying personal income tax for the rest of their lives. This, he added, was tied to work, “another matter of justice”.

“If we do not tie family support to work, then fewer people will work in Hungary than necessary. So it is best for the country, and even for families, to have a policy that enables families — especially mothers — to decide whether they wish to stay at home or not,” he added.

“It’s good for the country if mothers decide to work,” he said. Hence, much family support from the state is linked to work, he added.