In an interview with atv.hu on Saturday, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the prime minister’s office, said he agreed with President Katalin Novák that the financial recognition of teachers could not be dependent on the receipt of EU funds or the state of the Hungarian economy.
“We will act accordingly, because right now teachers’ wages can only be raised using the resources of the budget,” Gulyás said. “We agree with teachers that they are making too little, and it is only the pace of the wage increases that is dependent on EU funds.” Gulyás said Hungary needed the monies it was entitled to from the EU in order to implement bigger and immediate pay hikes. Teachers’ wages will be nearly doubled by Jan. 1, 2025, but this requires that Hungary receive the EU funds it is entitled to, Gulyás said. The government has the political will to raise teachers’ wages, “but the left does not”, Gulyás said. He said that if Hungary’s left-wing MEPs “quit lobbying” against the monies Hungary is entitled to “it will be better for everyone.”