Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, said at a weekly press briefing on Thursday that the 2026 budget is based on peace and can rightly be called a "peace budget".
According to MTI, Gulyás said the draft budget was the result of "cautious planning", assuming that global economic and political changes, primarily the establishment of peace, would produce economic growth. He added that the budget would offer everybody the chance to "take a step forward".
Gulyás said the system of regulated household utility prices and the annual pensioners' bonus will be maintained in the 2026 budget, while salaries would continue to rise, the minimum wage would go up by 13 percent, and Hungarians in uniform would get a premium for armed service equal to six months of pay.
He said budget deficit and public debt levels would decline, while inflation would also fall. He added that changes to tax laws would be made to streamline the tax system.
Funding for announced family support measures has been factored into the budget, he added.
Meanwhile, Gulyás noted that the referendum on Ukraine's accession to the European Union started earlier this week. All Hungarian citizens with a permanent address in Hungary will be mailed a voting slip on the question, he said.
He insisted that the European Union wanted to prevent the people from deciding on Ukraine's EU accession.
Gulyás said that in Hungary, the people's opinion would determine the country's position on the matter.
"We can't take responsibility for the other countries."
He called on everyone to vote, saying the outcome would be key to the future of the EU and Hungary. A large turnout, he added, was of critical importance.
Gulyás said he had already voted "no" to Ukraine's accession, "but those wanting to vote 'yes' will have the chance to do so."
Answering questions, Gulyás said the government's stance was clear on Ukraine's EU accession. "It's good if people can voice their opinions and the government sees that opinion as binding."
The government's stance is that "Ukraine's accession in its current form would be harmful for the EU and tragic for Hungary," he said.
Gulyás insisted that the Tisza party had manipulated a recording from nine years ago by editing out Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's statement that Ukraine's EU membership was not on the agenda. "Despite the fact that Ukraine is not at fault in becoming a victim of a Russian attack, a fast-tracked [EU accession] procedure is unacceptable…" he said.
He said it was out of the question that Ukraine could comply with the requirements of EU membership "by any objective measure".
Regarding EU funding, Gulyás said that the years since 2010 had been the busiest since the fall of communism when it came to the modernisation, development of hospitals, as well as equipment procurement. "But the government wants to revamp even more hospitals. And we will because Hungary is entitled to the EU monies, but they could be coming faster."
Gulyás noted that the state secretary for health care last week "presented" hospitals where development plans are ready but reconstruction cannot start "because Hungarian MEPs, who earn some 2 million forints a month in Brussels, are working to prevent the renovation of those hospitals."
Government Spokeswoman Eszter Vitályos said that the last stretch of the M44 motorway was inaugurated on Tuesday, completing a 127km network of four-lane roads linking the southeastern town of Békéscsaba to the M5 highway. The length of motorways in Hungary has grown 1.5-fold since 2010, she added.
Gulyás said the election law could not be amended in the year before an election, so this would not happen. At the same time, he added that this rule did not apply to procedural rules.