Opposition politician demands transparency concerning Paks NPP upgrade
The opposition Párbeszéd-Greens party demands the disclosure of all contracts related to the upgrade of the Paks nuclear plant, including the insurance contracts, since the existence of these is a basic condition of the implementation of the project, Benedek Jávor, a former MEP of Párbeszéd, said at an online press conference on Sunday.
“Information related to Paks cannot be kept secret all the time! The Hungarian public has the right to know what is happening with the Paks project, which will be built with their money,” Jávor said. Therefore, he said, Párbeszéd-Greens have submitted a written question to parliament to find out whether Hungarikum Biztosítási Alkusz, which won the public procurement tender for the insurance brokerage service called in 2020, has fulfilled its task undertaken in the procedure.
Jávor said the conclusion of the insurance contracts for the Paks II project is far behind schedule. He noted that Hungarikum Biztosítási, owned by [businessman] Lőrinc Mészáros, received 450 million forints (EUR 1.2m) to seek out the best insurance options available on the market for the project. This was originally supposed to happen by September 27, 2021, but the deadline was extended twice, most recently until January 27, 2023.
Several months have passed since then, Jávor said, and there is still no information on whether the insurance broker has completed its task, whether the project has valid insurance, who insures the upgrade of the power plant and under what conditions, and at what cost, he said. Jávor pointed out that nuclear energy production is a highly risky industry, which is why all nuclear power plants have extensive insurance systems. One of the basic conditions of the construction of the two new blocks of the Paks nuclear power plant is that the project has general liability insurance, construction-installation insurance and transport insurance, he said.
Budapest downtown properties are still popular among Chinese buyers
Chinese are the largest nationality among the non-EEA real estate buyers in Budapest. They prefer to buy property in the 13th, 7th and 10th districts.
However, according to the latest data, their rate fell a bit. In 2021, it was 36.3 percent, while in 2022, that decreased to 31.5 percent among non-EEA citizens. Meanwhile, the rate of Ukrainians grew by 2.5 percent and, interestingly, there were a lot of UK citizens buying property in Hungary (5 percent), haszon.hu wrote. Out of the 125,000 transactions, only 3,000 concerned non-EEA citizens.
Parbeszed-Greens: Government preferring ‘Chinese investors to Hungarians’
The government “prefers Chinese investors to the Hungarian people”, Richárd Barabás, spokesman for the opposition Párbeszéd-Greens party, told an online press conference on Saturday, in reference to planned battery plant projects in eastern Hungary. Barabás said it was “incomprehensible, how a battery plant, built as a Chinese investment, using foreign materials and employing very few Hungarians, in low positions and for meagre wages could contribute to Hungary’s development”.
The government’s argument that it is aimed at protecting Hungarian jobs is false, Barabás insisted, and mentioned a Samsung project at God, north of Budapest, in which “only half of the employees are Hungarian, including a negligible portion of locals”. Referring to the government’s proposal to introduce less stringent regulations for foreigners taking up employment in Hungary, Barabás said “the government has admitted that there is no labour supply to support the battery plant projects”. Barabás said his party would turn to the European Commission over the battery plant projects. He insisted that the plants would be constructed too close to residential areas and their water consumption would exceed EU-set limits.
Opposition party wants to protect Hungarian national parks
The opposition Párbeszéd party is turning to the ombudsman over reports of plans to layoffs at national parks, which would harm the acquired level of protection, the party said on Sunday.
During immediate questions and answers in parliament last week, party co-leader Rebeka Szabó asked the government to comment on reports of plans to lay off 135 employees of Hungarian national parks. She told a press conference on Sunday that the state secretary of the agriculture ministry “did not give an unequivocal answer… whether a non-public government decree had instructed” national park directorates to lay off employees, she said. Szabó said she was going to request data of public interest on the issue from the ministry, MTI wrote.
VIDEO: Hungarian police used tear gas against students protesting for their teachers
Student organisations held a demonstration in Budapest on Wednesday evening, in protest against planned legislation changing teachers’ employment status.
Participants of the protest organised by the United Students Front gathered at St. Stephen’s Basilica and marched down Alkotmany Street to the square in front of Parliament with Hungarian flags and posters depicting chequered shirts, a symbol of teachers’ demonstrations. They also carried banners reading “Change!”, “General strike!”, “Tear gas does not teach”, “Down with the status law!”, and banners of teachers’ union PDSZ.
The crowd chanted slogans such as “No teachers, no future!”, “Free country, free education!” and “Strike is a fundamental right!”.
At the square, speakers noted an earlier protest when demonstrators were dispersed with tear gas when they tried to dismantly a cordon near the prime minister’s office. They announced a “seven point referendum” with questions on “shall there be democracy in Hungary” and “should Interior Minister Sándor Pintér resign”.
After the speeches, organisers told demonstrators that the event ended, but announced another immediately after, a march to Clark Adam Square across Margaret Bridge.
Here, Tímea Szabó, a lawmaker of the opposition Párbeszéd party, thanked the participants for their endurance of protesting for the cause of education for 400 days.
“With the new law on the status of teachers, [ruling] Fidesz has destroyed the future of young Hungarians,” she said, urging the demonstrators “to keep fighting”.
Leaving the square, the demonstrators marched to the Buda Castle to the offices of the prime minister. Párbeszéd lawmaker Bence Tordai, independent lawmaker Ákos Hadházy and Momentum leader Ferenc Gelencsér were in the crowd.
Police called on the demonstrators to take one step back while demonstrators responded by chanting “You are protecting criminals!” and began to dismantle the metal barriers at a nearby construction site. Some of the demonstrators climbed up on the scaffolding and threw objects at the police. Police officers attacked protesters by firing tear-gas.
Budapest police said on its website that five protesters had been taken into custody against whom legal proceedings had been initiated.
A bejegyzés megtekintése az Instagramon
The 16-year-old student in the picture, who was defending himself, was also attacked by the police, who sprayed tear gas at his face from 25 centimetres away. According to witnesses, the officers shouted “beat him, beat him” at each other. The police did not notify the parents even at 22.45.
In the Telex video, a 15-year-old boy tells that he was wearing a mask because of the tear gas, as many of them did. However, he was brought before the police because he cannot use it under the law on assembly and is facing criminal charges. Also in this video, a mother is seen trying to wash her son’s eyes clean.
Hungarian opposition queries government on Paks expansion
The opposition Párbeszéd party on Thursday said it has submitted a series of questions to the government in connection with the upgrade of Hungary’s nuclear power plant in Paks.
Addressing an online press conference, Benedek Jávor, an advisor to the party, noted that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced last week that Hungary and Russia had agreed to modify the contract on the plant’s expansion.
Jávor said Párbeszéd’s questions aimed to clarify the changes and which contracts they applied to.
He said Párbeszéd wanted to know whether it was possible that Paks 2, the project company in charge of the upgrade, would take over contractor duties and the related financial and legal responsibilities.
The party also seeks information on whether the issue of the project’s increased costs, “for which Russia’s Rosatom is to blame”, would be settled if a new contractor was appointed, he said.
Another question Párbeszéd wants answered is whether a potential new financing contract would be submitted to parliament for approval, Jávor added.
Hungarian opposition wants to stop Paks nuclear expansion
The opposition Párbeszéd party on Wednesday called for the project to expand Paks nuclear power station to be abandoned.
Párbeszéd’s Benedek Jávor noted at an online press briefing that an amendment of earlier agreements on the project was announced after Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s visit to Moscow on Tuesday. While Szijjártó has not made the details public, based on interviews and press reports in recent days, the new construction project may involve Rosatom abandoning its role as the main contractor, he added.
The Paks 2 project in its current form “is clearly a failure” and the government “admitted this by reviewing the contract”, he said.
Jávor said a loan agreement was linked to a 2014 Russian-Hungarian nuclear cooperation deal, and parliament must approve any amendment of it.
Read also:
- Hungary reaches new agreements with Russia on energy supply
- Major changes around Paks II – what happens to Russian and French assistance?
If the amendment involves changing the main contractor, then its effects could be “catastrophic”, he said. It would mean the government taking all of the project’s financial and legal liabilities from Rosatom and burdening Hungarian taxpayers with it, he added.
Consequently, the Russians, as suppliers, would not bear any responsibility for cost increase in the project, and the cost could grow from the original 12.5 billion euros to “unforeseeable heights”, he said.
The French coming to finish Paks nuclear power plant extension instead of the Russians?
The opposition Párbeszéd party on Thursday said it has submitted a series of questions to the government in connection with the upgrade of Hungary’s nuclear power plant in Paks.
Benedek Jávor, an advisor to the party, told an online press conference that the public had a right to know what the government was planning that had recently “seriously endangered the security of Hungary’s energy supply”. Jávor said Párbeszéd wanted to know whether the government had plans to replace the nuclear fuel for the Paks plant with fuel supplied by US-based Westinghouse or another manufacturer, MTI wrote.
The party also seeks information on whether the government had contacted Westinghouse or any other supplier, and if any sort of agreement had been reached on the matter, he said. Another quesiton Párbeszéd wants answered is whether the government discussed involving a broader circle of French companies in the upgrade project, and was this discussed by French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at their most recent meeting, Jávor said.
Read also:
Hungarian opposition proposes measures to tackle energy shortage
The opposition Párbeszéd party is proposing a series of measures to save Hungary from “serious energy shortages in the next 10 years,” Benedek Jávor, an advisor to the party, said on Tuesday.
Jávor said the Paks nuclear plant upgrade project should be terminated, “with regard to the war-related vis major and the Russian partner’s non-compliance”. “Hungary must become independent of Russian gas and nuclear fuel,” he said.
Second, the government should meet the European Commission’s preconditions “in full” to ensure Hungary’s access to EU funding, he told an online press briefing, adding that the funds could cover an upgrade of the country’s electric grid and increase its capacity to handle inputs of 6,000 MW of solar and 3,500 MW of wind energy. Párbeszéd would also lift restrictions on the generation of this kind of energy, he said.
Read also:
- Hungary pays much more for Russian gas than for gas from elsewhere
- Green opposition: Govt has failed to meet pledges on wind turbines
Párbeszéd would also spend an annual 300 billion forints (EUR 796m) to help up to 150,000 families insulate their homes, Jávor said.
Jávor strongly advised against the “mass construction” of battery plants, and suggested that the country’s competitiveness could be improved through training and support for research and development.
Orbán to face prison for scare-mongering?
Opposition Párbeszéd on Friday said it is filing a complaint against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “and his Fidesz associates” for “scare-mongering”.
Addressing a press conference, Tímea Szabó, the party’s group leader, noted that in an interview with public radio earlier in the day, the prime minister had said that “the left wing remains pro-war”.
Szabó called Orbán’s remark a “blatant lie”, pointing out that under Hungary’s penal code, those who “spread false information that causes anxiety or confusion among the public during a state of emergency” faced a penalty of up to three years in prison.
She said Orbán’s and ruling Fidesz’s insistence that the opposition, including Párbeszéd, was pro-war constituted scare-mongering, leaving the party with no choice but to file a complaint.
“A prime minister cannot act so irresponsibly with such nefarious political goals in such a tense situation when there is actually a war going on in a neighbouring country,” Szabó said, calling on Orbán to “stop spreading fake news”.
Read also:
Fidesz would win by an even greater percentage now than a year ago
Fidesz would win an even bigger victory than it did a year ago with the same support (52 percent) if parliamentary elections were held on Sunday, as the combined opposition (30 percent) would perform even worse, according to the results of a survey by think tank Társadalomkutató, sent to MTI on Thursday.
The survey, conducted between March 27 and 29 by interviewing 1,000 people by phone, shows that, one year on, the governing parties still enjoy the support of every other voter and would be able to repeat their victory in the 2022 election.
Support for the opposition parties of the former left-wing alliance, which won 36 percent of domestic votes in 2022, has dwindled further, to 30 percent in the survey, the analysts added.
Read also:
- Government: Europe should not be an empire
The parties of the alliance show a mixed picture: strongest among them is the Democratic Coalition, with 12 percent of voter support, followed by Momentum with 6 percent and Jobbik with 4 percent. They are followed by LMP with 3 percent, the Socialist Party with 2 percent and Párbeszéd with 1 percent, all falling short of the support necessary for entering parliament. Péter Márky-Zay’s Everybody’s Hungary People’s Party, which has officially become a political party since the 2022 election, only enjoyed the support of 2 percent of those interviewed in the survey.
Voters who left the former left-wing alliance presumably back other parties now: the Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party, with its current support of 10 percent, would clearly cross the threshold for parliamentary entry.
The radical right-wing Mi Hazánk party has further improved its 6 percent election result; if elections were held on Sunday, 8 percent of voters would back them, according to the survey.
Read also:
- PM Orbán held extraordinary cabinet meeting
- LIST: Here’s why Hungary has not received the EU funds yet
New poll shows how the Hungarian governing party and the opposition stand
Public support for ruling Fidesz among voting age adults has not changed and stands at 29 percent, according to a survey conducted by the IDEA institute in early March, the weekly 168 ora reported on Monday.
Support for Fidesz among people with clear-cut party preferences was gauged at 48 percent, the report said, adding that
“Fidesz’s dominant position is not endangered by any of the opposition parties”.
Concerning the opposition, the pollster said that if the general elections were held now, the Democratic Coalition (DK) would garner 12 percent of the votes, Mi Hazánk 6 percent, and Momentum 5 percent, clearing the parliamentary threshold.
All other parliamentary parties — LMP, Jobbik, the Socialist Party, and Párbeszád — would garner one percent each, and the satyrical non-parliamentary Two-tailed Dog four percent, and would not make it to parliament.
The ratio of voters without a party preference was gauged at 38 percent, 2 percentage points higher than earlier.
The survey was conducted on Facebook between March 25 and February 16 on a representative sample.
PHOTOS: Another Hungarian opposition party changes name
The opposition Párbeszéd will change its name to Párbeszéd-Greens and Benedek Jávor will head the party’s list at the European Parliamentary elections, its co-leaders said on Sunday announcing decisions made at a party congress on the previous day.
Bence Tordai said at an event dubbed “Go for 2024! – With Párbeszéd (Dialogue) for a Green Hungary” that green politics required the understanding of what sustainability meant and a realisation that there were problems with the basic logic, approach and operation of the current system.
Rebeka Szabó said green politics went beyond trying to improve environmental protection in the current regime but involved a critique of the regime. She said the party was not only critical of the “hybrid local regime built on stealing public monies” but it was also critical of a global capitalist regime that put profit above the people’s security and children’ future.
Tordai said a green Europe and green Hungary had to be built where green solutions are promoted and green principles are enforced on all levels of decision making, including locally, on national level and throughout the EU. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, addressing the event’s local municipality section, said that cities must play a leading role in slowing down climate change.
Párbeszéd is the third Hungarian opposition party that changed its name after the lost 2022 April general elections. LMP was the first one changing its name to LMP- Hungarian Green Party, Jobbik followed as Jobbik-Conservatives.
Read alsoA Hungarian party changed its name – here is the new
Sensitive data leak from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office: no investigation to be launched
Parliament’s judicial committee has voted down a proposal to launch an investigation into how sensitive data “was leaked” from the Central Statistical Office in February, Tamás Mellár, a deputy of the opposition Párbeszéd party, told a press conference on Tuesday.
Mellár said the embargoed statistics had been obtained by a government commissioner, whereas such data could only be sent legally to the prime minister, the ministers, and the governor of the central bank before publication.
On another subject, Mellár voiced incomprehension that parliament’s economic committee had discussed a draft statement marking the first anniversary of the Ukraine war. “This is not an economic issue but a political memorandum,” he said.
Concerning the proposed document, Mellár said “it is a shameful memorandum, unacceptable for any good-intentioned Hungarian,” adding that “interrupting the Russia-Ukraine war now unconditionally with a ceasefire … is distinctly a Russian scenario.” Peace talks could only be possible if Russia withdrew from the occupied territories, he insisted.
Read alsoPolitico: Viktor Orbán likes to talk big
Hungarian opposition party demands Russian withdrawal – what will the Fidesz say?
Hungary’s opposition Párbeszéd party on Sunday said it will submit to parliament a draft resolution declaring that only a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine can bring about peace.
Addressing an online press conference, Parbeszed MP Tímea Szabó criticised a draft resolution submitted by the ruling parties this week to mark the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, saying it was missing “basic facts” such as “Russian President [Vladimir] Putin being the one to blame for the outbreak of the war” and that “the Russian army has committed crimes against humanity”. The draft resolution, she added, also failed to mention that the key to peace was a withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.
Parbeszed’s document, however, “makes it clear that the blame for the war lies with Putin and Russia” and “calls for an immediate withdrawal” by Russia, Szabó said. It also calls on international organisations to hold the perpetrators of war crimes to account before an international court, she said. The draft resolution also backs the sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union and calls on the government to continue backing the sanctions packages.
It says the sanctions are not to blame for Hungary’s “record 26 percent inflation rate”, arguing that average inflation in the EU is 10.5 percent. The document underscores Hungary’s interest in weaning itself off Russian gas and calls on the government to do everything in its power to support refugees from Ukraine and the civil groups aiding them.
It adds that as a committed member of the EU and NATO, Hungary should assist the peace efforts of international organisations, and calls on public media and “the government propaganda press” to “end their pro-Russia disinformation campaign”, Szabó said.
Read alsoUkraine says Hungary supports the break-up of the Ukrainian nation
Hungarian opposition turns to EC over battery plant in Hungary
The opposition Párbeszéd party has lodged a complaint with the European Commission over the planned construction of a battery plant in Debrecen, in eastern Hungary, saying that the plant was approved without adequate environmental impact studies.
Benedek Jávor, the party’s advisor on European Union affairs, told a press conference on Tuesday that the environmental impact and potential risks were not assessed adequately, and a long-term impact study was missing completely.
The plan was green-lighted without consideration of its impact on underground water reserves and the connected ecosystems, Jávor said. The water reserves around Debrecen are already overused, and would warrant a review of already existing permits, he said. Approving access for a plant with a daily demand of at least 20,000-25,000 cubic metres of water runs afoul of the European Union’s Water Framework Directive, he said.
The plant will also impact protected areas by further depleting underground water reserves, he said.
Parliament holds general debate on Sweden, Finland NATO membership
A general debate was held in parliament on Wednesday on the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland.
In his introduction to the debate, Péter Sztáray, the foreign ministry’s state secretary for national security, told lawmakers that the Hungarian government’s position is that the enlargement of NATO will be a significant step towards enhancing the security of the Euro-Atlantic region. Finland and Sweden are countries that meet all NATO requirements, he said, adding that they had armed forces that are compatible with the armed forces of NATO member states and shared democratic values of those member states. Sztáray noted that both countries have participated as NATO partners in several joint programmes since 1995, adding that “their accession will serve Hungary’s foreign policy, security policy and foreign economic interests”.
The state secretary however noted criticism directed at Hungary by the two countries which he called “unfounded” and “unjust”. For this reason the government supported the house speaker’s initiative to send a parliamentary delegation to each of the two countries for consultations in the coming days. “The security of the Euro-Atlantic region including Hungary, and restoring and maintaining peace must however come before any accusation or offenses,” Sztáray said, and asked MPs to vote in favour of ratifying Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership.
Zsolt Németh, of ruling Fidesz, said Hungary supports the enlargement of NATO, adding that the alliance would become stronger with the accession of Sweden and Finland. But, he added, Hungary did not conflate NATO enlargement with bilateral relations. Hungary is not supporting the two countries’ bids “out of mercy”, but out of its obligation to the alliance, Németh said. He said the ratification was “an excellent opportunity” for Hungary to speak with its partners and clarify “misunderstandings, allegations and lies”. The purpose of the parliamentary delegation’s visit is to aim for a relationship of a new quality, Németh said.
- Sweden and Finland NATO accession: whose interests does Orbán represent?
Lőrinc Nacsa, a lawmaker for the allied ruling Christian Democrats, said NATO was an alliance for defence and not for war. Hungary has an interest in strengthening and enlarging that alliance, he said. Nacsa said that the Christian Democratic party supports the ratification.
The leftist Democratic Coalition said Sweden and Finland would strengthen NATO’s eastern flank and boost Hungary’s security. Lawmaker Agnes Vadai said Hungary’s ratification of the two countries’ membership “could have been quick and simple”, but “the ruling parties always had some kind of excuse or a stalling tactic”. Vadai said Sweden and Finland were not asking for a favour but were giving up their decades-long neutrality “as a result of Russian aggression”. She said the decision to send parliamentary delegations to the two countries was “another attempt at stalling”, arguing that the ruling parties could speak with Swedish and Finnish politicians anywhere, including Hungary. Vadai expressed hope that parliament would ratify Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession.
The opposition Socialist Party slammed the “shameful stalling” by the ruling parties in the matter, arguing that the bill on Sweden and Finland’s NATO accessions had been before parliament since July. Tamás Harangozó said his party had proposed each week that the matter be put on the agenda, but the ruling parties had prevented a debate in the plenary sessions. In times of peace, this sort of behaviour would be “shameful”, Harangozó said, adding that Russia was “committing crimes against humanity” while tens of millions of Ukrainians had fled their country and hundreds of thousands of troops had died. The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO is also in Hungary’s interest, he said.
Koloman Brenner of conservative Jobbik said his parliamentary group supported the accession bids. Given the situation in Ukraine, Hungary has an interest in standing up for European values, he said. Brenner said the foreign policy the government had been pursuing since the start of the war hurt Hungary’s national interests and its ability to enforce them.
The radical Mi Hazánk party said peace, neutrality and independence should be among the most important values. Előd Novák said his party was the only one urging Hungary to veto the enlargement of NATO, arguing that it was seen as “another step towards a world war” and a “provocation”. Novak said Mi Hazank did not have any problem with either Finland or Sweden, adding, however, that peace in Europe was only guaranteed if NATO and Russia barely shared a border or did not at all.
Timea Szabó, of opposition Párbeszéd, said she agreed with Németh that Hungary had an obligation to ratify the two countries’ NATO memberships, but added that she did not understand why it had taken seven months for parliament to hold a debate about the matter. Twenty-eight of NATO’s thirty member states ratified Sweden and Finland’s accession by the end of September, “but once again, Hungary . failed its western allies”, Szabo said. She said Párbeszéd’s group fully supported the ratification of Sweden and Finland’s NATO entry, arguing that it also served Hungary’s security interests.
Read alsoHungarian President: Now Sweden and Finland joining NATO is justified
Hungarian opposition says government’s budget plan is wrong
Opposition Párbeszéd will not attend the parliamentary debate scheduled for Wednesday about amendment proposals submitted to Hungary’s 2023 central budget, the party’s co-leader said.
Bence Tordai told an online press conference on Tuesday that the assembly “will approve a budget which has already been published in the official Government Gazette which makes the presence of opposition, and even of government lawmakers, absolutely unnecessary”.
He noted that the 2023 budget cut allocations “for almost all highly important sectors and areas including health care, welfare, education, law enforcement and green development”. The wages of civil servants have also been reduced, he added.
Tamás Mellár, a party lawmaker, said that in the current economic situation the government’s objectives of an economic growth and a fiscal balance would not be possible to maintain.
Opposition parties: Orbán is liar, Putinist hangman, traitor, etc
Hungarian opposition parties on Saturday reacted to a keynote speech by Viktor Orbán, saying the prime minister had failed to address Hungary’s “real problems”.
Commenting on Orbán’s speech today assessing the state of the nation over the past year, the Democratic Coalition said in a statement that Orban had “made a desperate attempt” to explain away “his government’s failings” over the past 12 years. The leftist party said Orban had become isolated in Europe and had lost Hungary’s EU funding as well as his European allies.
The right-wing Jobbik party’s leader Mátron Gyöngyösi said Orban was “a danger to Hungary”, and called the prime minister “Putin’s last ally in Europe” who wanted “Hungary out of the European Union”. “Orbán preaches peace, but he’s at war with his European allies…” he said. Under Orbán’s watch, Hungarians were witnessing the highest food-price inflation in Europe, he said, and he accused the prime minister of waging “a war against teachers” and “cheating nurses” out of a promised pay increase.
LMP lawmaker Máté Kanász-Nagy said in a video on Facebook that Orbán in his speech had shirked responsibility, while failing to explain how the government intended to handle the country’s “suffocating” energy dependence.
- Read also: Orbán’s State of the Nation speech: the NATO should have accepted Russia’s territorial gains
The radical Mi Hazánk party said Orbán in his speech should have unveiled a plan to create a national economy based on the food industry with a view to halting “brutal” inflation. He said the population was dwindling, Hungarians were getting poorer, and people found it hard to afford basic foods.
The liberal Momentum party’s leader Ferenc Gelencsér said in a statement that politics in Hungary was “a nightmare” of “lies played on a loop by blind populists”. He said price caps were “not working” and that Orban’s work-based society did not provide the security of a livelihood. Furthermore, he said that under the Fidesz government, “Russia is our friend and the EU is our enemy”.
Ágnes Kunhalmi, the co-leader of the Socialist Party, said in a statement that Orbán had shifted the blame for the country’s woes to factors such as the war and the EU from his own policymaking, and the prime minister “repeated his lie that the opposition is pro-war”. Also, Orbán’s charge that the opposition demanded the abolition of price caps was “untrue”, she said.
The liberal Párbeszéd party said in statement that Orbán should have admitted in his speech that “Hungarian food inflation in 2022 was top of the European scoreboard” and that families were overwhelmed by utility bills they are unable to pay”. Orbán, it added, had also failed to take the blame for Hungary being the “shame of Europe” and admit that he was alone in supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Read alsoHungarians get rid of the forint, use foreign currencies