“While retaining the same goals, but in response to changing conditions, the Government is planning to make the Stop Soros legislative package stricter, which also requires the establishment of the necessary constitutional foundations”, Antal Rogán said before Parliament’s Justice Committee on Monday prior to his appointment as head of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister.
The new legislation must prevent all activities aimed at bringing illegal immigrants into Hungary’s territory with the circumvention of Hungarian law and in violation of national sovereignty, Mr. Rogán stated, adding that foreign-funded organisations are currently assisting these activities.
The constitutional amendment will also be aiming to achieve more than the 2016 bill, which the opposition did not support, in view of the fact that the Government requires a wide-reaching mandate to respond to new challenges, he added. He also reported on the fact that the Cabinet is expected to discuss the proposals put forward by the Ministry of Justice at its inaugural session on 23 May, meaning they will likely be put before Parliament in early June.
Mr. Rogán said he believes the dispute with regard to migration will also continue on an international front in view of the fact that EU citizens will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on the issue for the first time at the European Parliament elections next year, while the Brussels decision-makers will be trying to make their proposals irrevocable before citizens have a chance to do so. We will not allow this, and both the Hungarian Government and Parliament will have tasks to perform with relation to the issue, he underlined.
The candidate for Minister called the National Consultation a unique and exemplary institution which has already facilitated the establishment of the points of agreement that represent the foundations of governance, including the principle of work instead of benefits, the priority importance of promoting families and childbearing, and stopping illegal immigration. If necessary, further Consultations will be held with relation to the latter, he added.
Twice as many people took part in the last National Consultation on the issue as supported the largest opposition party at the elections, he noted, adding that in his opinion the fact that the Government is prepared to ask people their opinion also influenced the result of the 8 April elections.
The Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister is also planning to hold a National Consultation on the demographic upturn in future, he told the Committee, adding that one of the Government’s goals was to assure that Hungary was one of the top five countries in Europe by 2025 with relation to digital advancement. State-guaranteed trust services are required, meaning the state must take the initiative to ensure the launching of business development projects. Among the portfolio’s new tasks, he mentioned supervising the reorganisation of electronic public administration and making the system user-friendly. The required infrastructure is already in place, thanks to the persistent efforts of (Minister of Interior) Sándor Pintér, he pointed out.
With relation to Jobbik’s criticism of the system of National Consultation, Mr. Rogán said Jobbik had also consulted with the electorate on two separate occasions, but without success. Their “true” national consultation questionnaires were hardly returned to them, while their wage union initiative had been a “total failure”, despite the fact that they spent a significant amount of money on it thanks to funding from billionaire Lajos Simicska. ”This is also a competition between goals”, he continued, stressing: the Government asked the people about things they care about.
Mr. Rogán promised a high level of independence for the National Tourism Office, which has moved from the Ministry of National Economy to fall under the supervision of the Cabinet Office, adding that he regards the Tourism Office as an expert team and is counting on its director, Zoltán Guller.
Government decisions will be prepared by four expert Cabinets, he told the Committee. The Strategic Cabinet will be headed by Gergely Gulyás in the post of Minister, while the others will be headed by Deputy Prime Ministers: the Economic Cabinet will be headed by Mihály Varga, the National Strategy Cabinet by Zsolt Semjén, and the new National Security Cabinet will be headed by Sándor Pintér as a permanent Cabinet.
The candidate, who was supported by seven Committee members with five against, said the Ministry will continue to have the lowest budget, with the number of Ministers of State being reduced from four to three. Csaba Dömötör will continue to be his deputy, while Árpád Vidoven will be appointed as Minister of State for Public Administration.