Viktor Orbán’s speech at the commemoration ceremony of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary held his speech at Erzsébet Square and commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet terror in 1956, as well as the 15th anniversary of the 2006 events under the government of the opposition politician, Ferenc Gyurcsány.
Events of 2006
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, alluding to clashes between Fidesz supporters and riot police in 2006 on the anniversary of the 1956 revolution on the spot in Budapest where he delivered his speech, said that 15 years ago “tear gas grenades” had been on one side and “a cheated and humiliated nation” on the other.
Speaking at a ceremony held at the intersection of Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street and Andrássy Street, the prime minister said: “Fifteen years ago, at this very time, here on the corner of Andrássy and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky streets, the past and the present confronted one another.”
“On one side were tear gas grenades, rubber bullets, plain-clothed unidentified police and water cannons,” Orbán said. “On the other side stood a cheated and humiliated nation which … was yet again forced to listen to the fact that they had been lied to morning and night.”
“On one side was a power that had cheated with hundreds of tricks … and on the other were desperate people lined up behind the giant letters of Freedom.”
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
“Today we remember that moment when the Hungarian nation in a matter of moments found itself,” Orbán said. In that moment, “the name Hungarian became worthy of its great old fame,” he said. “The new generation of communists in 2006 wrangled with this Hungary again,” Orbán said.
He said the Socialist-led government had entered into power by telling lies. They deceived people by promising tax cuts before hiking taxes and introduced a fee for hospital visits and made utility prices skyrocket, he added.
The previous government scrapped the 13th-month pensions and family benefit schemes, and “pushed hundreds of thousands of families into the trap of currency loans in cahoots with the international banks”, Orbán said. “They sold off the entire country — everything, including its international airport and national utility and public service providers — to foreigners,” he said, adding that the next step “after bankrupting the country” was “to put the IMF’s leash around our neck”.
“And when we raised our voice against it all, they responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and an attack by police mounted on horses. They shot people’s eyes out and beat unprotected women and elderly people with rubber batons,” Orbán said.
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The Government’s work
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, addressing a crowd commemorating the 1956 revolution in Budapest said that it had taken “years to clear up the havoc the left-wing government left behind, but we have succeeded in putting Hungary back on its feet”.
“Mercifully, in the meantime, national unity has endured and workers, engineers, farmers, small and medium-sized firms, scientists, teachers, nurses and doctors have cleared the ruins,” Orbán said in his speech.
“We have created a million new jobs, got rid of foreign currency loans, cut taxes, and next year the minimum wage will be higher than the average wage during the time of the [former governing] Socialists.”
The national wealth, he added, had grown one and a half times since Fidesz’s time in power. “We taxed multinationals, protected families, and now utility bills are the lowest in Europe,” he said.
The prime minister said Hungary was now giving both the elderly and young people their due, with the phasing in of the 13-month pension and the tax break for young workers being introduced next year. Further, families raising children are getting this year’s taxes returned to them, he noted.
Hungarian identity
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in a speech commemorating the 65th anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising in Budapest, said Hungarians “on this day are saluting the wonderful day when we showed the world who we really are”.
“There are moments in the life of nations when everybody suddenly feels that enough is enough; things can’t go on the way they have done,” Orbán said at a junction of Andrássy Avenue and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street.
“We have to decide, and that decision will show who we really are. It will transpire for a whole nation what that nation is worth. Whether a nation remains silent or goes out to protest, whether it reconciles itself with the situation or rises up against it, whether it looks to one side or stands up straight, or whether it retreats or takes up the fight,” Orbán said.
Referring to 1956, Orbán said: “We Hungarians took the right decision: we protested; we stood up straight and rose up and fought [against Soviet rule]”.
That meant taking a stand for freedom against captivity, independence against occupation, and Hungarian patriots standing against Communists, Orbán said.
LGBTQ issue
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in his speech said: “We’re stopping overbearing LGBTQ propaganda at the school gate”.
Orbán said it was high time for Brussels to understand that in the end “not even the communists got far with us.”
“We’re the sand in the machinery, the spanner in the works …” “We’re David who Goliath is best off steering clear of,” he said.
“We’re the ones who in ’56 poked global communism in the eye and the ones who knocked the first brick out of the Berlin Wall,” Orbán added.
The prime minister said Hungarians were still confronting those who insisted that Hungarians had been wrong, only to be proven right in the end. He said Hungarians would be proven right “a third time” following their stance on the issues of public utility bills and migration.
“There will be a referendum and we will protect our children,” Orbán declared. “Hungary will be the first country in Europe to stop overbearing LGBTQ propaganda at the school gate.”
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Political opposition
Hungary’s PM added, that: “The left wing, however they disguise themselves, are still the same left wing”.
Quoting from the Gospel of Matthew, Orbán said: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing … by their fruit ye shall know them. The good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the bad tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”
He said the left wing “starts off by telling lies, carries on with violence and then leaves everyone bankrupt.”
Orbán insisted that Hungary’s left wing was backed by international forces so massive that “only millions of Hungarians joining together can defeat it”.
“The real challenge, and even a threat, is the international forces — the money, media and the network behind them,” Orbán added.
The prime minister urged the crowd to count on each other. “This is our strength … no amount of dollars or euros in the world can take this away from us,” he said.
The prime minister concluded: “We have come, we have seen and we will win again. The Lord looks upon us and Hungary above all! Go Hungary! Go Hungarians!”
Read alsoHuge masses attend the commemoration of the 65th anniv. of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
Source: MTI
After his speach, Orbán freely mixed with the people at the event.
Not many leader dare to do that -:)
Orbán is correct! Long live a free and Christian Hungary, Death to socialism at all times and places. The sickness and sin that has murdered and harmed hundreds of millions.
DITTO John Maynard!
István, I am curious. You’ve said in other comments that you’ve not voted for Fidesz before but this time you will. Your views support Fidesz very strongly and the opposition gets slated. Can I ask, what has changed your mind in these four years, who did you vote for before, or were you unable to vote, I don’t know perhaps if you were out of the country and maybe couldn’t vote? I’m not being facetious, just curious. I’m quite new to reading this paper.
Amy, I take your letter at face value and try to answer some of your questions.
I’m a former Hungarian freedom fighter who found a very good home in America when America was still America. After 50 years in America that included service in the US Army, and four engineering/science degrees, I returned to Hungary during October 2006, a retired American research engineer.
It was horrible. Shortly after we arrived, we witnessed Gyurcsány and his goons brutalizing Hungarian patriots on the streets of Budapest. It reminded me of 1956. At the time, Jobbik and the “Magyar Gárda” were in front of the struggle against these communist monsters. I supported both with my vote and my money. I turned against Jobbik after it turned against Hungarian national interests and joined DK against the Hungarian people.
I never before voted for Fidesz but I will surely vote for Fidesz this time. I hope this answers your questions.
Thank you for your answer István, and for taking my letter at face value. It does answer my questions, I was just curious, but thank you.
Amy and Istvan – as a daily reader and commentator to DNH – Thank-You for the honesty you both have displayed in this forum.
Respect of peoples opinions is not a difficult exercise if a need is decided to exchange a difference of position or opinion.
Istvan – has had need to “educate” me in the past, with his knowledge of the Political Make-up and Structure – the process undertaken in electing the Prime Minister of Hungary, and did this respectfully, without a tone of malice nor anger/frustration.
Thank-You – appreciated this Respect.
Norbert, thank you for your kind words.
I can be polite and I can hit back if and only when attacked.
You and Amy have a very nice day!