Kicking off his speech honoring St. Stephen’s Day, Hungary’s National Day honoring the foundation of the Hungarian State over 1,000 years ago, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that on August 20, we must remind ourselves that a statehood that provides a home and land to a nation is an exceptional situation, rather than a natural state of existence. This is why, the PM said, “people who wish for their own homeland and want to live their lives in their own way must fight for freedom every minute, even if it’s not always that obvious.”
Speaking to the freshly graduated military officers, the prime minister stressed that it is not only due to Hungary’s military might that these officers will play an important role in Hungary’s future. “Life is an obligation, and contrary to the zeitgeist, Hungary’s future depends on it,” he said, adding that military officers embody this obligation.
“Selfishness has taken over in Europe, but those who plan to fulfill their obligations will not be lost, they will not be tempted by meaningless desires, they will not be taken in by hollow selfishness.”
“Today we inaugurate and anoint the Memorial of National Unity. We have fulfilled our obligations regarding the 100th anniversary of the Trianon peace dictate,” Prime Minister Orbán said, adding that while we cannot avoid the lessons learned over the last 100 years, Hungary’s 100 years of solitude has come to an end.
On the future of European civilization, PM Orbán voiced his doubts due to the diverging paths being taken by countries on the continent. “The West has given up on the power of the nation, the happiness derived from marriage and children; they have given up on a Christian Europe,” the prime minister said. “Instead, they are toying with migration, open societies and rainbow families.”
Meanwhile, according to PM Orbán, the people of Central Europe honor work, national pride and Christian values. “We, therefore, protect our borders and leave our homeland to our children and not to migrants,” the PM stressed, adding that “the West has lost its appeal in our eyes.”
Addressing the role of Central Europe, the prime minister proposed that the countries of Central Europe, states that imagine their future in a renewed Christian world, must find a way to cooperate that guarantees their independence while also contributing to the unity of Europe. “This is only possible if we understand that it is us Central Europeans who have to organize Central Europe,” Orbán said, noting that if outsiders get their hands on the region, it will only lead to division and subjection.
“The people of Central Europe haven’t had a chance like this for centuries: With Polish leadership, they could now be the masters of their fate, from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans,” PM Orbán said.
At the end of his speech, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán presented the seven tenets of Hungary’s survival:
Homeland only exists as long as there is someone left to love it.
Every Hungarian child is a new lookout.
Truth is worth little without power.
Only what we can defend is truly ours.
All matches last until we win.
Only countries have borders, not nations.
No Hungarians are left to fend for themselves.