15 May 2015, Budapest
Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. President, Mr. Marculescu and Mr. Barelli, Mayor of Budapest, District Mayor, President Gyárfás, Athletes and Sports Managers,
There are fewer than eight hundred days before we open the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, which will be the biggest sporting event Hungary has ever hosted. We must both thank and greet our guests – we are happy to have them here with us, and to be able to express our gratitude. Despite claims to the contrary, the most important thing in the modern world is not money – it is trust. One can always make money somehow, there is always a way. Yet one cannot come by trust so easily, and we are therefore grateful to the leaders of the International Swimming Federation for the trust – for which there is no substitute – that they have placed in Hungary, in Hungary’s swimmers, and in Budapest; and we are also grateful for the opportunity the Hungarian people have been given to show the entire world their true worth. Thank you very much.
Naturally, we have thanked a great many people for this opportunity, and those who spoke before me have also expressed this thanks. Mention has been made of the Mayor of this district of Angyalföld, the Mayor of Budapest, and even the Government – the latter in suspiciously positive terms. But the truth is, Ladies and Gentlemen, that above all we should thank Hungarian swimmers for this opportunity. The quality of the Government, the brilliance of the City Mayor, the ingenuity of the District Mayor – or even of the Swimming Association’s President – would count for little if we did not have behind us all the great achievements and hard work of Hungarian swimmers and water polo players, and the international recognition that have earned for our country. This is and has always been our decisive argument, and now this is also what has led us to undertake the organisation of the World Championships. I would like to thank them for this, and in particular I would like to greet Krisztina Egerszegi – whom I cannot see in the audience just now, but someone else seems to have greeted her before me. For all of us Krisztina Egerszegi is famous for two things: she is the only Hungarian athlete to have been awarded the St. Stephen Medal; and she is the Hungarian woman who has brought the largest number of Hungarian men to tears without causing them embarrassment.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We wish to thank the prominent representatives of Hungarian swimming for having made possible this meeting here today. When we speak of the Hungarian government’s commitment to sport, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are not simply speaking about sport itself, but about the future of Hungary: about our children and grandchildren, and about Hungarians who will live here long after we are gone. Nowadays we live in a crazy world. It is not easy to raise the younger generations well, and I am convinced that the only sure way to help raise the members of new generations to become successful and to compete in the world is through sport. In this way, sport equals the future of Hungary and the children of Hungary. When it comes to them there is no sacrifice within the bounds of reason that we are not prepared to make, and this is why it was an easy decision for the Government of Hungary to support the organisation of the event.
Honourable Guests,
What I can already promise now is that Hungary will not merely be an organiser of the world championships, but a genuine host. In less than two years, here, on the site of the Dagály Lido, we will see an aquatic something – the name of which we have yet to think up. The word “palace” is too pretentious, and conveys an impression of luxury, while “complex” is not a Hungarian word. So at this point in time, we do not yet quite know what it is we are building, but we know that it will be much too impressive to simply be called a swimming pool. Anyway, this is where we shall build the aquatics centre – let us call it that for now – which will host the final of the 2017 Water Polo Champions League, and which will also serve as the principal venue for the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. This foundation stone is also a starting block from which we must dive into preparations with the same amount of effort, courage and enthusiasm shown by world-renowned Hungarian swimmers when they dive into the pool. As Hungary has committed to staging the world championships after Mexico’s withdrawal as host, we must also prove that we are able to achieve in two years something which others had been given four years to accomplish. There are some who quake at the prospect of such an undertaking, who seek excuses, and claim that it is impossible; the times we live in today are not for such people. The world has changed. In earlier times it was the big fish that ate the small fish; these days the fast fish eat the slow fish, and the brave devour the cowardly. Those who are afraid, and, doubting their own strength, retreat to the sides will drift with the current to the end of the line; this is not only the case in business and the economy, but also at the level of countries, and on the international stage. The Hungarian people have always been a brave nation. If we had not been brave, we would not have been able to overcome the world economic crisis, we would not have succeeded in standing on our own two feet, and a great joint enterprise such as the World Aquatics Championships would be out of the question.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Hungary is now making headway and is proving its worth. It does not matter that there are pressing deadlines. It does not matter that there are obstacles. Our answer to the obstacles lies in unity. At this point, I must express my gratitude to the Mayor of this district, Angyalföld. We are grateful for your generous cooperation. I must also thank Mr. Tarlós, Mayor of Budapest, without whom this event could not be organised, and equally I must thank members of the opposition parties, who set aside their own considerations and almost unanimously supported the organisation of this international event. They know – as everyone does – that the entire country will gain through these world championships and the related projects; jobs will be created, thousands of Hungarians will work here, and for us it is especially gratifying that this building will be erected by a Hungarian company.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This venue will be worthy of Hungary’s swimming accomplishments: worthy of the achievements of Krisztina Egerszegi, Tamás Darnyi, Katinka Hosszú, Dániel Gyurta, Dénes Kemény and Tamás Kásás. We shall renovate the Hajós Alfréd swimming complex on Margaret Island, we shall modernise the Császár–Komjádi swimming complex, and we shall erect a diving platform by the Danube. Budapest is a clean, orderly, safe, beautiful, rapidly developing city – a historic city which is now also preparing to write its name in the book of sporting history. Success to Budapest! Bring it on, let the whole world come to see us! Mr. President, we look forward to having you here.
Thank you for your attention.