“What’s most important is that we secure the necessary number of hospital beds,” Prime Minister Orbán said this evening in a live interview with Hungarian news channel HírTV. He added that according to expert calculations, in the worst-case scenario, the number of people infected with COVID-19 may reach 200,000. To treat this number of patients, our healthcare system will need 16,000 hospital beds and 800-1,000 ventilators. According to the prime minister, Hungary is now prepared to handle a situation with as many as 400,000 confirmed cases.
“The public opinion that was demonstrated in the national consultation [on the coronavirus] serves as a good basis for future decisions,” PM Orbán said, adding that according to the feedback received, “Hungary must continue to function while we defend ourselves against the virus.”
Responding to a question on the topic of the major wage hike for doctors, just approved by the Hungarian Parliament, the prime minister asked, “When would be a better time if not now?” He said that one of the main reasons behind Hungary finishing in the top 20-25 countries worldwide in terms of its defense against the first wave of the coronavirus is the “world-class expertise of Hungarian doctors.”
As to the European Court of Justice’s ruling yesterday regarding the 2017 amendment of Hungary’s higher education bill (read my blog post here), known to many as “Lex CEU,” Prime Minister Orbán said that “regardless of what we think of the decision, we will execute the ECJ ruling as we always do.” In the PM’s view, however, these attacks against Hungary are, in fact, the attacks of Europe’s left-wing alliance. “They only attack countries that don’t have left-wing governments,” the prime minister rightly pointed out.
“Frankly, this is called internationalist assistance,” PM Orbán said, recalling memories of when the Soviet Union “assisted” their local lieutenants in 1956. “What’s happening right now is that Brussels is trying to raise Hungary’s left-wing parties to power,” the PM observed.
Speaking about the recent conflict with Věra Jourová, the EU Commission VP who referred to Hungary’s democracy as “sick” and claimed that “Hungarian people are not in a place to make their own decisions,” the prime minister said that “this is no longer politics; this goes deeper, and it has to end.” “Věra Jourová does not represent the Czech Republic, she does not represent the European Commission. We all know that she is one of George Soros’ people; she represents George Soros.
Concluding his interview with the topic of the Next Generation EU fund, the prime minister said that “there is nothing more important right now than kicking off the emergency fund at the EU level.” Meanwhile, he said, left-wing parties are playing an “ill-timed match of rule of law.”