At a conference in Budapest on Friday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that over the past five years the keyword for governance has been “strength”, but from now on it will be “attentiveness”. The conference, organized by the Alliance for a Civic Hungary Foundation, was entitled “Five Years in Governance”. The Prime Minister also said that a new chapter must be opened and emphasis must be placed on creating a civic quality of life.
In his forty-five-minute speech at the Budapest History Museum, the Prime Minister said that over the past five years it has been necessary to strengthen a dangerously weakened country; this has been successful, he said, and although strong leadership must not now be weakened, strength is no longer the most important quality: from now on the key to governance is attentiveness, "listening to people, and to everyday life" – though this task may be even more difficult.
The Prime Minister said that a new chapter must be opened, and emphasis placed on creation of a civic quality of life, which is what the 2016 budget has focused on: "We want to furnish the country to make it attractive for those who seek to work and to live from their work ".
The essence of civic consolidation, he continued, is that politics is close to people, human in scale, and not "arranged above", in the world of macro indicators, but " knocks on people’s doors and looks for answers to their problems". He reiterated that while the big policy goals are important, the main task is management of people's everyday problems. Governance must not let its attention stray from the people, he warned.
The Prime Minister continued by saying that civic consolidation also means that Hungary will be a Hungarian country (written in lower case and in two words): the Hungarian people's security, prosperity and well-being will come first. He described working for the success of Hungarians as a moral issue. He listed the characteristics of civic consolidation as more jobs, less tax, support for families, more order but less regulation, a better life, pride and steadfastness.
In his appraisal, Mr. Orbán said that Hungary is now a stronger country, standing more firmly and performing well in comparison with the rest of the EU. He said that in 2010, in the wake of eight years of socialist government and the 2008 crisis, Hungary was in ruins, but now "the Hungarian frigate is stable", "we are handling the waves with confidence", although "there is still work to do above decks", and " the sea is still stormy ". Hungary has undergone an uplifting transformation since 2010, the Prime Minister said, adding that those who questioned the Government’s unorthodox methods are now interested in finding out about the Hungarian recipe for success.
In his speech he listed the "towering columns" of recent years, which are proof of Hungarians’ courage and vision for the country. He mentioned the following: economic growth; rising employment; near-zero inflation; the increased value of pensions; reduced taxes and utility bills; free meals for the vast majority of kindergarten children; the involvement of multinationals and banks in sharing the burden for public expenditure; the state’s provision of justice for borrowers in distress as a result of banks’ actions; the new Fundamental Law; renewing Budapest’s bus fleet; halving the number of political representatives; and increasing police numbers. In relation to foreign currency-denominated loans he referred to the words of central bank governor György Matolcsy (who also spoke at the conference), by saying that conversion to forint-denomination could not have been "kicked down the road", because if action had not been taken in time, repayment instalments would now be seventy per cent higher, and nobody would be talking about how much they had fallen.
This notwithstanding, he admitted that sometimes there had also been made mistakes, for example the plan to extend the telecommunications tax – which lodged in the public consciousness as “the internet tax”; the Government, however, had not insisted on continuing when it could see it was mistaken, he said.
The Prime Minister also said that now “the party of the far-right seems to be the main opposition force" in Hungary, and in this context he saw it as important to make clear his position on relations with the European Union and NATO. He said that although he is ready to negotiate with the European Union, he is firmly opposed to anyone steering the country in the direction of an exit from the EU or NATO, because "for us Hungarians this is our family", and "we will not break with them".
He also spoke of new EU plans on immigration, saying that whoever seeks to take away the fundamental right "that I should choose who I let into my house, my family and my country, does not wish me well, but wishes me harm".
In his speech Mr. Orbán also expressed his surprise that, after last year's three election victories for Fidesz-KDNP, Hungary was subjected to more ferocious attacks than ever. He had thought that strengthening the Government's position in three elections would "soothe spirits for a while", but this had not happened.
He said that in twenty-five years much has changed, but there has been no change in the sense that "we were and we are believers in the freedom and independence of Hungary […] we are the ones for whom Hungary's sovereignty shall not be negotiable".
At the same time he also drew attention to the fact that hard work had been needed to win trust, but beyond this action is needed in order to maintain trust. He said that no one is above the law and no one can be allowed to abuse their position, but it is not acceptable for pure envy to lead to attacks on people who are brave and successful. Mr. Orbán called for zero tolerance against both abuse and baseless slanders.
In summary, he said that the Government seeks to be the best ever for every Hungarian person, "for our government Hungary will continue to come first", Hungary is "our shared passion". He ended his speech with a familiar phrase: "Go for it Hungary, go for it Hungarians!"