This decade will be an era of danger, uncertainty and war, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in parliament on Monday after his re-election as prime minister. In his speech, PM Orbán recalled that the decade began with the coronavirus epidemic and continued with war. The Russia-Ukraine war and Europe's sanctions policy in response to it then created an energy crisis, while the energy crisis and U.S. interest rate hikes together brought an era of high inflation. And all of this will bring a period of recession, a period of economic decline, with alternating years of decline, stagnation and weak economic growth in Europe, he said.
PM Orbán said that threatening epidemics could recur, the economic downturn could deepen, and migration to rich countries could intensify with "tectonic force." On top of all this, a prolonged and real war on a global scale is threatening to break out on our Eastern borders. And yet, even in such difficult circumstances, I am committed to bringing Hungary forward and not backward," the prime minister said.
Viktor Orbán was elected to be prime minister of Hungary by 133 votes to 27, with no abstentions, announced Speaker László Kövér after the secret ballot on Monday afternoon.
In his swearing-in speech, the prime minister first thanked the members of the National Assembly for electing him and said that he had not forgotten that his mandate comes from the voters.
According to PM Orbán, the high turnout on election day showed the strength of democracy. He stressed that never in the history of Hungarian democracy since 1990 had so many people voted for a party or party alliance as for Fidesz-KDNP in 2022.
"It is thought-provoking that we have won our greatest victory at the very moment when, by all accounts, we had to face our greatest obstacles,” PM Orbán said. He added that alongside the united Hungarian Left, Brussels and George Soros had also worked for their downfall.
"We have won four times in a row, despite the financial crises and the flood of migrants threatening our country. I am convinced that Hungarians have a refined historical instinct and the ability to sense danger," the prime minister said.
"The Hungarians also know that unity and consensus do not come about by themselves. Consensus must not be sought, it must be created,” the prime minister underlined. In politics, he said, this requires patriotism and goodwill. "Those who have this can gain the trust of the people," PM Orbán observed.
According to PM Orbán, the beauty of the prime minister's job is that he is responsible for all decisions.
"It is a great burden that can weigh some down, and yet lift others up," he said.
"As a task, understanding the future teaches people that you can never be smart enough on your own. You also need expertise, advisers and dozens of intellectuals," PM Orbán said, adding that he is counting on these people in his work.
Everything that has happened since 2020 points in one direction: Europe, and the Hungarian people in it, have entered an era of danger, the prime minister said. The decade began with the coronavirus epidemic and continued with war. And the sanctions in reply to this war brought about an economic downturn.
"The war and sanctions policies have created an energy crisis, and U.S. interest rate hikes have brought an era of inflation. All of this will bring an era of economic recession, with the threat of renewed epidemics, deepening recession and increased migration," he said.
The prime minister reiterated that this decade would be an era of danger, uncertainty and war.
PM Orbán stressed that the picture of an unfolding decade of war also includes waves of suicide in the Western world.
"Such is the case with the great replacement of European population, the essence of which is to replace the missing Christian children with migrants. Such is the experiment of gender madness, and the program of liberal Europe, which transcends nation states and Christianity and puts nothing in their place. It forgets that a man alone can never be free, only lonely," PM Orbán said.
In PM Orbán’s view, we are beset by economic woes, war, Europe's intellectual weakness and Brussels' political aberrations.
"Today, Europe has no means of dealing with this conflict. On paper, it is possible that sanctions could bring Russia to its knees," he said. PM Orbán said, however, that Hungary would not support any sanctions that would undermine the state's energy security.
On NATO, PM Orbán said that "it is a defense alliance; it should not be turned into a military alliance of war.”
“I want to make it clear that Hungary is a member of the European Union, and it is in our interest that it remains a member in the decade ahead. It is true that they want to build a new empire, the United States of Europe, instead of a Europe of nations. It is also true that the cultural distance between the Western half of Europe and Hungary is growing,” PM Orbán said.
"We believe in nation states, which Brussels has already abandoned. It is important for us to have a homeland that we can love and to maintain the continuity of 1,000 years of Hungarian life,” the prime minister said.
"Every day Brussels abuses its power and tries to impose things on us that we do not want," the prime minister said. We will not accept measures that would destroy Hungarian families.
"We will protect our families. A father is a man, a mother is a woman, and our children should be left in peace," Prime Minister Viktor Orbán concluded.