PM Orbán started the interview by sending his sympathies to the families of the victims of the tragic boat accident that took place on the Danube in Budapest on Wednesday evening. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims,” he said.
Regarding the EP election results, the PM emphasized the importance of remaining humble and not taking the success for granted. He thanked every person who showed up to the polls and supported Fidesz-KDNP with a vote. “Every bit counts,” the PM said.
The elections were truly groundbreaking. In Hungary’s history, rarely has the population come together like that in support of a common goal. This time, the topics of tackling migration and emancipating the nation state from the Brussels-centered technocracy were most salient to voters.
“You’d have to search on the European map for quite some time to find a population as united as us, Hungarians,” Prime Minister Orbán said. Given that it was a list-based election, the outcome highlights the extent of popular support the governing alliance currently enjoys. This type of election is harder to win, and as a party, we’re very proud of this success, the PM added.
“Every second person in the country put their trust in us, and we’d like to promise that we will use this trust carefully and for the right purposes,” the prime minister said.
We were more fortunate than our European neighbors, PM Orbán said. “Just look at the British, the Austrian, or the Greek government, they were destroyed by the outcome of the election,” he stated.
Despite the widespread criticism they received, it was the leading parties of the nation states demanding more independence that performed best in the elections. Despite the frequent attacks from Soros-funded foundations and so-called civic groups, or the vitriol from the liberal, mainstream media, patriotic parties performed very well.
On the economy, PM Orbán said that “to battle the negative effects of the lagging European economy, we must boost the national market. We are doing exceptionally. Just take a look at the latest reports showing unmatched GDP growth. We have the potential to develop exponentially - to realize this, we must introduce a few changes,” emphasized the PM. “We must counter those, explicitly backward-looking decisions Brussels has proven time and time again to enforce,” he added.
“We require investments in state-of-the-art technology,” Prime Minister Orbán said, adding that Hungary must be a contender in the global competition - instead of allowing the lagging European trends to weigh us down. To support small and medium-sized Hungarian companies, those that allow the average citizen to make a living, we must introduce significant tax reductions and financial support that allows our economy to flourish.
“It’s the Hungarian people who have to enjoy the fruits of a fast-growing economy, and we must advocate the work of Hungary-based businesses that possess the capacity to become international leaders, the exceptional organizations that make us competitive with a whole host of other countries,” the PM stated.