In his regular radio interview on Good morning, Hungary!, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that “funds allocated by the government to domestic drug research due to the coronavirus epidemic appear to have paid off.” Noting that there is, however, still no vaccine, he added, “I asked the President of the European Commission about this, but she also could not answer my question.”
The PM pointed out that the European Union has reached an agreement with six pharmaceutical companies, and a seventh is in the works. This means that European citizens will have access to a vaccine when it becomes available. “I reckon we have to hang on until next June or July for a vaccine to finally arrive,” PM Orbán said.
Touching upon the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the prime minister said that “we are constantly looking at how other governments are responding to the epidemic. We were already preparing in the spring; so, over the summer, we were able to prepare politically and economically for the second wave.”
He noted that “propeller money” has been handed out in other countries to stimulate household consumption; but the PM underlined that Hungary has “taken a different path; ours is a work-based society, and we will create as many jobs as the virus kills.”
In connection to this, the prime minister emphasized that investments made by companies and families are paramount, with the latter being supported via a 5 percent VAT for home construction. “We are now giving families a new opportunity via additional incentives for investments,” he said adding that “the biggest danger for us is waiting, because if families and businesses wait, the economy will stop.”
In the world, there are pessimists and there are optimists, Prime Minister Vitkor Orbán said, adding, “I am one of the latter. [...] If we were able to win in the first wave, we will succeed in the second.” He continued, “All of this means that the healthcare system will withstand the burden until the end of the epidemic.”
Turning to the opposition’s accusations of corruption, Viktor Orbán pointed out that accusations of corruption are “always effective because it is assumed that this can happen with those in power; this is a well-established system.” He then noted, “Incidentally, there is more corruption in the German-speaking world than in our country, while in Scandinavia, two larger banks could now go bankrupt due to money laundering.”
Not surprisingly, the PM said, the common denominator of the international attacks against Hungary is George Soros. “He wants to make money and gain influence, and that is why he is buying people in the EU institutions; this is corruption. As long as George Soros has such an influence in the European Union, it must be said that the Union is corrupt,” PM Orbán concluded.
Photo credit: Portfolio