Handelsblatt, one of Germany’s leading business newspapers, interviewed Viktor Orbán during his visit to Baden-Baden on Friday.
The Prime Minister pointed out in relation to recent anti-government demonstrations that his party has a two-thirds parliamentary majority, and achieved even better results at the European Parliament and local government elections.
However, “it is our responsibility to talk to each other”, he said, adding that the people are trying to express their dissatisfaction with the elite of the past 25 years on the streets because of the weakness of the opposition, and expressing his hope that the movement would find a form of self-expression that enables rational dialogue.
With relation to the planned taxation of internet traffic, the Prime Minister said that the proposed legislation had been revoked as a result of public opinion, but added that we are not talking about a “new internet tax”, but about the extension of the telecommunications tax to cover internet-based phone calls.
In reply to a question regarding what he meant when he said the financial crisis has shown that liberal democracies are no longer globally competitive, Prime Minister Orbán explained that Europe’s economic significance is decreasing, but the people of Europe believe that the greatest freedom and prosperity exists on their continent, and so they find it difficult to accept that “we are losing ground in the international competition”.
In reply to a question on why he had expressed sympathy with the Russian and Chinese systems of government, he declared that he had been stating fact: even more difficult than facing decreasing competitiveness is acknowledging the fact that “non-democracies” are more successful than Europe. China’s success is a “psychological trauma in Europe”, he noted.
The Prime Minister stressed that he had not suggested these systems should be copied. “The Chinese model needs Chinese people; the Russian model needs Russians”; these solutions are useless in Hungary and in Europe, Mr. Orbán underlined.
With relation to the country’s relationship with Russia, the Prime Minister stated that Hungary is not moving closer to Russia, but is not distancing itself either. “I protected Hungary’s sovereignty from Russia” when, for instance, “I prevented a quarter of an oil and gas company’s shares from falling into Russian hands”, after which “I fought to ensure that the contract on Hungary’s gas supply should again be in Hungarian hands”, Mr. Orbán declared. “I can tell you that from Hungary’s perspective Russia’s influence in Central Europe is weaker than it was in 2010”, he added.
On the subject of the planned expansion of the Paks Nuclear Power Station, he explained that “we offered the opportunity to all countries” on the condition that the power station must be safe and remain under state ownership, and the investing partner has the required financial resources available. Only the Russians were able to satisfy these requirements.
With regard to Ukraine’s perspectives for EU integration, the Prime Minister explained that it must be determined who will be providing the 25 million euros-a-year required for the upkeep of the current “non-EU member state” Ukraine, and until this is settled the question of accession will not be raised. From Hungary’s perspective, Ukraine’s EU membership is “desirable”, but the country must be politically and economically stable to achieve this and it must be capable of policing its borders, he said.
Prime Minister Orbán said that peace, energy and trade were the three most important geopolitical objectives from Hungary’s perspective, in addition to a sovereign Ukraine existing between Hungary and Russia.
On the subject of the US entry ban issue, the Prime Minister stressed that Hungary is a state governed by the rule of law and no explanation has been given for the decision to impose entry bans on the six Hungarian citizens in question, with no opportunity for legal redress. Hungary has a policy of zero tolerance with regard to corruption, and accordingly Hungary is waiting for the American party to provide the Hungarian Government with the information on which the entry bans are based to enable due investigation.