In a recent BBC interview with Nick Thorpe, Katalin Novák, Minister of State for Family, Youth and International Affairs, spoke about the fact that Hungary, like other European countries, faces demographic challenges and emphasized that the government is focusing on family interests in several policy areas.
Phillip Blond, an advisor to former British Prime Minister David Cameron, was also vocal in the debate which has gained traction globally over the past few weeks. According to the family expert, in the past decades, instead of large-scale plans, only "micro-solutions" have been created to deal with "out of place inequalities", which are otherwise the result of the liberal consensus of the last forty years.
Blond emphasized that women "pay a high price for childbearing", which, by the way, puts future parents into uncertainty in societies where having children is not rewarded. He called the Hungarian action plan "an extremely progressive, forward-thinking program" that "stabilizes families when they are most vulnerable".
Blond added that it’s understandable that the Hungarian government is trying to prevent the most skilled workforce from migrating to Western Europe, and this should "create opportunities for people to feel safe and to establish a family".
Regarding the Hungarian government’s stance on migration, Blond said that the concern about immigration goes beyond Hungary; for example the main problem that led to Brexit, besides the economy, was migration itself. He also emphasized that rejecting migration is not just a Hungarian phenomenon; in this respect, the entire Central and Eastern European region faces a "cosmopolitan Europe".