Budapest, March 15 (MTI) – Freedom without equality remains but a compromise between elites, a co-leader of the opposition Dialogue party told a commemoration of the 1848-49 revolution and freedom fight on Wednesday. Gabor Fodor, the leader of the Hungarian Liberal Party, said the hope of a modern liberal Hungary is still alive, that is the hope that the Hungarian people will again be able to attain its freedom and win against an oppressive power.
Dialogue calls for equality
Referring to the ideas of revolutionary 19th-century writer Mihály Táncsics, Gergely Karácsony said that “tyranny can only be overcome if people are freed from the yokes of poverty and ignorance.”
It is poverty and ignorance, a kind of 21st-century serfdom depriving the poor of access to schooling, that keeps Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s regime in power, he said.
Karácsony stressed the need to establish a fourth republic in which “freedom and equality go hand in hand and strengthen one another.”
Fodor: Hope of liberal Hungary still alive
Speaking at his party’s March 15 commemoration near the Pilvax Cafe, a historic scene of the revolution, on Wednesday, Fodor said “those who gathered here in 1848 had far less chance of winning against the Habsburg empire than us,” adding that the “democratic parties” have a chance to win if their desire to regain freedom is greater than their will to exclude each other from the political scene.
Budapest, March 15 (MTI) – Hungarians still have to fight hard for their goals and dreams, Budapest Mayor István Tarlós said at the state celebration in the garden of the National Museum in Budapest on Wednesday.
Speaking of the message of the 1848-49 revolution and war of independence, Tarlós said
“we, Hungarians still have to stand up for ourselves rather than letting others express our nation’s interests for us”.
“In these historic times, we must find Hungary’s due place amid perhaps the biggest transformation of the world order since World War Two, amid the storms of the modern migration, its place as a committed protector of European and Christian values,” Tarlós said.
Budapest, March 15 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called March 15 an “indisputable proof” of the Hungarian nation’s past, present and future, at a commemoration of the 1848-49 revolution and freedom fight on Wednesday.
Speaking in front of the National Museum, the prime minister said that European nations are in a “state of revolt”, with the “winds of 48 blowing again on the continent”.
Over the past years European nations once again revolted against “the hypocritical alliance of the Brussels bureaucrats, the liberal international media and the insatiable global capital,” Orbán said. First the British, then the Americans rebelled, to be followed by others this year, he added.
Orbán stressed the need for Brussels to take off the “masks of hypocrisy”, and opt for straight speech and an open discussion of the future.
Orbán emphasised that the resettlement of illegal migrants must be prevented, the network financed from foreign funds made transparent, and the right to regulate taxes, wages and utility prices kept in national competence.
Orbán called March 15 an “indisputable proof” of the Hungarian nation’s past, present and future.
“We, living in the Carpathian Basin, at the buffer zone of cultures, empires and civilisations, can be proud of the greatest triumph of all, winning all wars for the survival of our homeland, our nation,” he said.
He said 1848 had become a “moral compass” for the nation, one that shows who is “loyal, patriotic, dedicated and brave” on the one hand, and exposes “pettiness, perfidy and efforts to kill dreams and destroy the nation” on the other.
The prime minister insisted that national unity should be retained and cemented day by day.
“But what should we do with those who want unrest and division rather than peace and unity . whose only pleasure lies in spoiling the holiday of others,” he asked, referring to a group whistling during his speech.
“It would be easy to mock them but we should not do that,” he said adding that Hungarians should “stand their ground on the horizon of building the nation rather than in the skirmishes of petty parties.”
“From the horizon of the Hungarian nation, one can choose the road that leads us to the wide gate of greatness or the one that leads to the swamp of hatred,” he said.
UPDATE
The opposition Együtt party earlier distributed whistles at Astoria and Kálvin Square, along the way to the National Museum. During the prime minister’s speech, opposition demonstrators blew their whistles in protest and shouted “Viktator” and “Orbán, get out!”. Many from the crowd attending the state celebration shouted back “Traitors!”.
There was also some pushing and shoving between people supporting the government and opposition protesters. An elderly lady tried to grab the mobile phone from the hand of a journalist recording the events.
Budapest, March 15 (MTI) – The idea of independence, self-determination and sovereignty is what links the revolutionary events of 169 years ago with our time, co-leader of the opposition LMP party Bernadett Szél said at her party’s March 15 commemoration in Budapest on Wednesday.
Speaking at the former Pilvax Cafe, a hub for the revolutionary youth in 1848, Szél said “our endeavours are still rooted in the idea that we wish to determine the fate of our own political community ourselves. From this point of view, we must raise the question whether the heroes of the 1848 revolution or Hungary’s first answerable government would have supported the plan to expand the Paks nuclear power plant, through which we sell out our freedom of action and our freedom of choice?”
Ákos Hadházy, the party’s other co-leader, spoke about a forthcoming “change in regime” that he said would necessarily be combine with the replacement of the current government. He raised the question of whether the cabinet can be dismissed by election, saying that there is no need to be afraid of the word “revolution”. “Small revolutions” are already under way, he said, citing the examples of the former employees of the left-wing daily Népszabadsag, closed down in October.
The commemoration was attended by about 100 people.
Budapest, March 15 (MTI) – The deputy leader of the opposition Együtt party called for joint efforts to protect freedom and stand up against a “narrow and evil circle” at the party’s commemoration of the 1848-49 revolution and freedom fight on Wednesday.
Speaking by the statue of revolutionary poet Sándor Petőfi on Budapest’s central March 15 Square, Balázs Berkecz said the revolution was a brave decision by a brave people, which opposed everything that the world order and the arrogant power-holders of the time considered as acceptable.
The brave heroes of the 1848 revolution have taught us that freedom cannot be ours free of charge, without having to fight for it, he said.
Today, “a narrow and evil circle has taken away our freedom and put our future in danger with its uncontrolled greed, demoralising our country to the level of dictatorships”, Berkecz said. “We have to fight this mafia state that tramples on truth day by day,” he added.
Budapest, March 15 (MTI) – The national flag was hoisted in front of Parliament on Wednesday morning, marking the start of state celebrations of the anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Habsburg revolution that started on March 15, 1848.
The ceremony was attended by President János Áder, Speaker of Parliament László Kövér, representatives of state organisations, diplomats, and several hundred others.
Commemorations of the revolution are also being held by ethnic Hungarian communities around the world.
The revolution and freedom fight was part of a series of uprisings in Europe in 1848. On March 15, citizens of Pest gathered in front of the National Museum and demanded independence from Habsburg rule.
Hungary’s first independent government with Count Lajos Batthyány as prime minister approved a reform package called the April laws. Later, the uprising grew into a war of independence, stifled by Austria in late 1849.
Budapest, March 14 (MTI) – Hungary’s political parties and leaders will organise and attend commemorative events marking the anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Habsburg revolution of 1848-49 on Wednesday.
Commemorations will begin with the hoisting of the national flag in front of Parliament with military honours at 9am.
Following the ceremony, a state celebration will begin at 10.30am in the garden of the National Museum where Prime Minister Viktor Orban will deliver a speech.
Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén will attend commemorations organised by the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians in Vojvodina, northern Serbia.
The opposition Socialist Party is set to begin their commemorations on Tuesday in Miskolc, in northern Hungary. The party’s national board will hold a meeting, which will be followed by a commemorative gathering. The event will close with a torch-lit march. On Wednesday, the party’s Free Press Foundation award will be presented.
The opposition Jobbik will hold its commemoration event at the statue of Sándor Petőfi, the 1848-49 revolutionary poet, on Budapest’s central March 15 Square. Party leader Gábor Vona, deputy leaders Dániel Z Kárpát and Erik Fülöp along with lawyer Andrea Varga-Damm are all scheduled to address the event.
Members of opposition LMP will gather at Budapest’s Pilvax Cafe, a historic scene during the revolution. Their event will be addressed by the party’s two co-leaders, Bernadett Szél and Ákos Hadházy.
The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition will hold its commemoration in front of the Pilvax Cafe where party leader Ferenc Gyurcsány will give a speech.
The Hungarian Liberal Party, the Dialogue Party and Együtt will also hold their own separate commemorations.
Budapest, March 7 (MTI) – Parliament on Tuesday approved measures tightening existing asylum regulations.
With 138 votes in favour from the ruling coalition and opposition Jobbik, 6 against from opposition LMP and independent lawmakers and 22 abstentions, mainly from Socialists, parliament approved a package of amendments submitted by interior minister Sándor Pintér which tighten existing asylum regulations and procedural rules concerning the state of emergency due to mass migration.
The new legislation also makes it easier to declare such a state of emergency and “ensures no one can enter Hungary and the European Union without permission”, Pintér said.
Among the measures, police will send back illegal migrants to the other side of the fence along Hungary’s border. This applies to migrants picked up by police at any location in Hungary.
The law also requires asylum seekers to be held in transit zones set up at the border. They will only be allowed to leave these zones in the direction of Serbia or Croatia.
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Fidesz deputy group leader Gergely Gulyás noted before the vote that the government measures prohibited asylum seekers from leaving the transit zones set up on the border until their cases are ruled on.
Rights groups said on Monday that the measures would prevent refugees from getting international protection and would apply blanket rules without heed to the situation of children, families and the elderly.
The law exempts lone minors below the age of 14, who will be under the care of the country’s child-protection services.
Among the measures, the authorities have the right to break off the asylum procedure should the asylum seeker refuse to have their fingerprints or photographs taken.
The law will come into force 8 days after its announcement.
UPDATE
The Hungarian legislation tramples on European Union laws and an international law barring authorities from mass detention of asylum seekers, Cecile Pouilly, speaker of the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told a press conference on Tuesday. The measures put already severely traumatized people at risk of further physical and psychological harm, she added.
The opposition Együtt party voiced protest against the new legislation, and said that the new rules had been encoded with “Draconian rigour”. Keeping asylum seekers in detention while their applications are being processed is unacceptable, they said. MP Zsuzsanna Szelényi, speaking on behalf of Együtt, called on the government to launch an investigation into alleged police violence against illegal entrants in southern Hungary. Együtt also demands that entrants should be granted “decent accommodation”, she added. Amnesty International said the new Hungarian law violated international regulations. In a statement, the organisation protested against “confining perhaps the most vulnerable people into containers behind barbed wire for as long as months”. The new rules are among “examples of an aggressive tendency” of Hungary ignoring the rights of asylum seekers and migrants, AI said in its statement. AI has also called on the European Union to “show Hungary” that inhumane and illegitimate measures “will have consequences”.
Amnesty International said the new Hungarian law violated international regulations. In a statement, the organisation protested against “confining perhaps the most vulnerable people into containers behind barbed wire for as long as months”. The new rules are among “examples of an aggressive tendency” of Hungary ignoring the rights of asylum seekers and migrants, AI said in its statement. AI has also called on the European Union to “show Hungary” that inhumane and illegitimate measures “will have consequences”.
Budapest, March 5 (MTI) – Lawmakers will meet next week on three days and are scheduled to vote on tightening border controls in the south in connection with illegal migration and declaring Good Friday a public holiday.
They will meet on Monday in a plenary session starting at 1pm with addresses followed by interpellations and questions from the floor.
The plenary’s Tuesday agenda includes a final vote on tightening border control regulations in response to illegal migration and declaring Good Friday a public holiday.
Wednesday’s plenary session is dedicated overall to a general debate on proposed amendments to the code on criminal procedure submitted by the justice minister.
On the following Monday, March 13, the assembly is scheduled to elect Hungary’s next president as the mandate of the incumbent president expires this spring.
Budapest, January 23 (MTI) – Hungary’s national flag was hoisted and lowered to half-mast on Monday morning, to pay tribute to the 16 Hungarians who died in a bus crash in Italy.
The ceremony was attended by President János Áder, House Speaker László Kövér, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The bus, which was transporting students and teachers of the Szinyei Merse Pál Secondary School in Budapest, as well as family members, crashed and caught fire on the Venice-Verona motorway just before midnight on Friday. The group was returning home from a ski trip. Eleven students and five adults died in the accident.
Kossuth Square – Hungary observes day of mourning for Italy bus crash victims, photo: MTI
Kossuth Square, photo: MTI
Victims’ parents and President János Áder, photo: MTI
Victims’ parents and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
UPDATE
By early afternoon on Monday, four of the most seriously injured survivors of the crash had been brought back to Budapest and were taken to military Honvéd hospital, the national ambulance service said on its website. Two other survivors, in critical condition, are being treated in hospitals in Verona, while people with light injuries are on their way back to Hungary.
Budapest (MTI) – Ruling party lawmakers on Friday submitted a bill to parliament to make Good Friday a public holiday in Hungary.
Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén of the co-ruling Christian Democrats, Human Resources Minister Zoltán Balog and Economy Minister Mihály Varga, both of ruling Fidesz, filed a proposal to amend five laws and add Good Friday to the list of no-work days.
After the law enters force, Hungary will have the following work-free days: January 1, March 15, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May 1, Whit Monday, August 20, October 23, November 1 and December 25-26.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced at the 1956 memorial meeting of the synod of Hungarian Reformed Churches on October 14 that Good Friday is to be declared a public holiday in Hungary. Orbán said next year’s 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation in Europe would be the right time to help believers celebrate Good Friday by declaring it a work-free day.
Budapest, November 4 (MTI) – The Hungarian flag was raised and then lowered to half-mast with military honours in front of Parliament on Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of the crushing of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising.
The flag will remain at half-mast throughout the day.
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The ceremony was attended by President János Áder, House Speaker László Kövér, Chief of Staff Tibor Benkő, representatives of political parties as well as state and military organisations and members of the diplomatic corps.
In the afternoon, defence ministry state secretary Tamás Vargha will pay tribute to the victims of the revolution at Budapest’s Rákoskeresztúr public cemetery.
In the evening, candle lighting ceremonies will be held nationwide in tribute to the martyrs.
The Hungarian government in 2013 declared November 4 to be a national day of mourning.
At a press conference, MoD Parliamentary State Secretary Tamás Vargha stated that heroism, tribute and freedom will be the central ideas of the commemoration organized for the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and Freedom Fight.
The state secretary remarked that the struggles of the Hungarian nation were not over at the end of the Second World War, as “one occupation was followed by another”. October 1956 called for heroism and self-sacrifice. He added that those average young people who went to the streets in 1956 wrote history and sacrificed their lives without hesitation for Hungary’s freedom and independence.
In 1956, the Hungarians stood up for the nation, independence and freedom with “an elementary force”, the state secretary said. Speaking of the central programs, he emphasized that on Sunday, 23 October, the National Day of Hungarian Freedom, all Hungarians are expected to gather at 15:00 in the afternoon outside the House of Parliament in Kossuth Square, where speeches will be delivered by Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán and President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda.
In answer to a question, Tamás Vargha said that the most important thing is to guarantee the safety of participants, foreign guests and celebrators. The terror threat of the country has not changed, so the level of security measures for 23 October will be similar to that of the 20 August celebrations.
MoD Program Manager László Szabó told the press that the programs will be coordinated by the 1956 Memorial Committee. As usual, the Operations Unit will be responsible for the security of the events, in cooperation with representatives of the police, the disaster management, the ambulance service, the meteorological service and the Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK).
Saturday, 22 October
The central events already start on Saturday, 22 October. On that day, from 10:00 to 18:00, visitors can see the Holy Crown inside the House of Parliament. In the afternoon, former Prime Minister Péter Boross, President of the Public Foundation for Freedom Fighters delivers a speech at the 1956 memorial of the Budapest University of Technology (BME). At 15:00 in the afternoon, the traditional commemoration ceremony “The people made history” begins at BME, with speakers including Mária Schmidt, Government Commissioner in charge of the 1956 Memorial Year.
Following the BME commemoration ceremony, a torchlight procession sets off from BME to Józef Bem’s statue. At 17:30, the Flame of Revolution rises in Nagy Imre Square, where Mayor of Budapest István Tarlós delivers a speech. At 18:00 in the evening, a wreath-laying ceremony takes place at the Bem statue, where President of the Rákóczi Association József Halzl gives a speech.
Sunday, 23 Ocober
On Sunday, 23 October the central programs start in Kossuth Square, where, in the presence of President of Hungary János Áder, the flag of Hungary is raised with military honors at 09:00 in the morning. At 15:00, a ceremony entitled “For a Free Hungary” starts in Kossuth Square, after which, at 19:00 in the evening, the Freedom Concert begins in the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena.
László Szabó also noted that on 4 November there will be a period tram service on the tramlines 4 and 6, and newsboys will hand out 1956 news digests at the stops of trams 6 and 49.
Due to the weekend events, tram 2 will be running on a shortened route. On Saturday evening at 10:00, Vértanúk tere will be closed down, just like the lower quay on the Pest side on Sunday.
A detailed description of the central events organized for the 60th anniversary of the Revolution can be found on the website oktober23.kormany.hu.
The new, democratically elected National Assembly declared 23 October an official national holiday in 1991, which was later confirmed by the Fundamental Law of Hungary in 2012.
Budapest, October 14 (MTI) – Good Friday is to be declared a non-working holiday in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced at the 1956 memorial meeting of the synod of Hungarian Reformed Churches on Friday.
Orbán said next year’s 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation in Europe would be the right time to help believers celebrate Good Friday by declaring it a non-working holiday.
On the subject of the 60th anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising of 1956, the prime minister said, “the cold reality of dictatorship grinds up human dignity, usually leaving emptiness and decreased vigour in its wake.” But in 1956 “our heroes won because… they made us proud”, Orbán said.
Concerning Protestantism, the prime minister said it was a “crucial component of modern European democracy and culture”. He added that “once again it takes courage to tell the simple truth that modern European culture and today’s civic way of life owe their existence to Christianity”.
Today “they not only want to cut our roots in the European political arena, they also seek to change the soil which has nurtured Europe and often we do not have the courage to say so,” Orbán said.
In his address, the prime minister paid tribute to the Protestants who had participated in the revolution, and highlighted pastor Lajos Gulyás, who risked his own life to prevent chaos and more killing after the Mosonmagyarovar volley on October 26, when an enraged crowd of locals was about to lynch members of the militia.
“The example of Protestant martyrs of 1956 is the past that lives with us – a part of the history of the nation and of the Church,” Orbán said.
Budapest’s festive fireworks were at the Danube banks on both Buda and Pest side between Chain Bridge and Erzsébet Bridge where tens of thousands of people participated in these events, watch here the photos and videos:
Ministry of defence: Security arrangements went according to plan
Hundreds of thousands attended Hungary’s St Stephen’s Day celebrations on Saturday, crowned by the traditional fireworks spectacle along the banks of the Danube, the ministry of defence said in a statement after the event. Security arrangements went according to plan and Saturday’s events around the city passed off smoothly, the ministry said.
Budapest, August 20 (MTI) – The earlier policies of the radical nationalist Jobbik party are acceptable both morally and professionally but it is important to present them to society in an appropriate and comprehendible form, János Volner, Jobbik’s deputy leader, said at a party event marking Hungary’s August 20 national holiday.
Speaking about Jobbik’s prospects of gaining power at the next general election in 2018, Volner said it was important for the party to strengthen by making use of hitherto “taboo” topics such as “the question of Hungarian-Gypsy coexistence”.
He cited with approval a so-called law-and-order model introduced by the mayor of Erpatak, in north-eastern Hungary, which includes strict sanctions for people on benefits who, for example, fail to ensure their child attends school. Volner said the model was a means to change bad ways and would provide a basis for Jobbik’s governing programme.
Volner singled out Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as Jobbik’s main target, saying it was important to defeat him personally because of his strong personality and huge base.
He also said Jobbik did not have a television station aligned with it because it had not accepted the approaches of any millionaires who would have asked for favours. He added that he was not referring to Lajos Simicska, a one-time ally of Orbán’s who is now his foe.
Budapest, August 20 (MTI) – Hungary’s opposition parties marked the August 20 national holiday on Saturday, saying that the country had strayed from the path laid out by St Stephen, the founder and first king of the Hungarian state.
Jobbik
Jobbik party hold event in City Park (Városliget), where the Jobbik sympathizers could enjoy concerts and other performances.
Socialists
Gyula Molnár, the head of the Socialist Party, said in a statement that St Stephen founded a unified state based on European and Christian values, but Hungary’s current government questions these foundations. The government has turned against “our most important historical traditions”, Molnár said. He said the government causes damage when it “riles the people against the European Union” and ignores the most important Christian values. It does not represent the whole of the Hungarian nation and only favours its own politicians and “buddies”, Molnár insisted. Hungary deserves security and predictable development as well “normality” in public life. It also deserves a future within the EU, he said.
Democratic Coalition
The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) said there was little in common between today’s Hungary and the Christian country that St Stephen founded. “There is no trace of the teachings of Christianity on the streets flooded with anti-refugee hate billboards,” DK spokesman Zsolt Gréczy said in a statement. As the Oct. 2 migrant quota referendum approaches, Hungary “is drifting further and further away from Europe”, he said. The government “wants to stray from the path of our state’s founder,” he added. But Gréczy said DK has faith that Hungary can find its way back to the path of St Stephen and Europe and that “the politics of hate” will fail.
LMP
Green LMP said the Hungarian state can only be strengthened by its people. “The state without the people who form its community is but a skeleton” that is incapable of guaranteeing a future with security, prosperity, sustainability and unity, the party’s leaders said in a statement. They said the state had to be given back to the people. Hungarian statehood is an asset “that can only be looked after responsibly” if its values are preserved and strengthened, they added.
Budapest, August 20 (MTI) – Speaking at a state celebration marking Hungary’s St Stephen’s Day national holiday, President János Áder said that Hungarians should be proud of their nation and celebrate their achievements, inventions and resourcefulness.
At the inauguration of military officers held in front of Parliament in Kossuth Square, the president told soldiers and celebrants gathered there:
“Today, too, we are the people of St Stephen; a diverse people which has often used its own strength to turn the wheels of history.”
“It is a people of revolutionary heroes, both famous and anonymous, the persecuted, the outcast, and the obstinate re-inventors, as well as those who insist on freedom at any price,” he said.
“We did not bury patriotism alongside the great of our past under heavy marble tombs. Neither is heroism cast numb in sculptures; because heroism does not only take place through historical actions but through worthy work, persistent diligence and honourable achievements,” the president said.
Ader said that during the ongoing Olympic games, it was palpable many times over that “national feeling is not only uplifting but propels people forward and sweeps them along with it.” He appealed to Hungarians to be proud of their sportspeople and to feel a sense of belonging together when Hungarians stand atop the podiums.
Defence Minister Istvan Simicsko said at the event that Hungary is a “point of stability in a changing world”. Military service is the one profession that throughout history has always been about protecting Hungary and its people, he said. He thanked the new officers for choosing military careers and for their contributions to Hungary’s border protection efforts over the past year.
He gave warning that the military faces a variety of new challenges such as mass migration and the rise of terrorism. Furthermore, the arrival of the age of information warfare means that it is now enough to simply turn on a computer or a smartphone to mount an attack, the minister added.
Later in the day in Sándor Palace, the president handed over the most prestigious state award, the Hungarian Order of St Stephen, to opera singer Éva Marton and poet, linguist and literary translator Ádám Makkai. Marton also received the title of Artist of the Nation. Among dignitaries present at the ceremony were Head of the Hungarian Catholic Church, Cardinal Péter Erdő and Archbishop Alberto Bottari de Castello, Apostolic Nuncio of Hungary.
Head of the government office: Hungary never gave up sovereignty
MTI – Hungary has never given up its sovereignty, Christianity or its heritage as an independent state of St Stephen, János Lázár, head of the government office, said at an event in his home town of Hodmezovasarhely, marking Hungary’s national St Stephen’s Day holiday on Saturday.
Lázár said the European Union is not a political alliance of several hundred years but “an initiative operating in test mode”.
“Brussels is by now a bigger border violator than the migrants” since its leaders, “who have zero legitimacy and are unelected”, are trying to create a membership contract on a whim. “But not a single member state has given up its sovereignty,” he said.
Until the ruling Fidesz party won the 2010 election, Hungary was a passive, silently nodding participant of the EU. Since then, however, it has become an active player in cooperation, Lázár said.
“Hungary has made a comeback … there is no reason to stay silent and quake at the threat of sanctions or possible excommunication,” he said.
The EU is plagued by internal financial crises, the exit of Great Britain and the migration crisis, he said. Mandatory migrant quotas are a way of sweeping the main problem under the carpet, “namely that Europe’s international standing has weakened dramatically and millions of people are knocking at its doors unchecked.”
“If need be, we’ll protect Europe from itself,” he said, adding that Hungary will not leave Europe’s citizens who are dissatisfied with Brussels on their own.