At an event celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Swiss weekly Weltwoche in Zurich on Wednesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Hungary is building a labor-based society that leads to prosperity, not one rooted in welfare.
PM Orbán said the family was at the heart of Hungarian policymaking, which in turn was based on low taxes and attracting investments from both East and West, as well as suppressing migration. Demographic challenges must be handled with family policy in place of open immigration, he said, adding that instead of supporting gender policy, the Hungarian government-backed family values. “Hungary is not the black sheep in the EU, but the first swallow,” he said. Responding to questions, Orbán said Hungary’s standpoint had always been that the risks associated with illegal migration were “too high”, and action must be taken to combat it. He said that since 2015 Hungary had consistently rejected the “Western argument” that migration helped alleviate labor problems and led to a more liberal society. Hungary has always argued that accepting migrants would create parallel societies in Europe, as it would mean integrating non-Christians into a Christian community, he added. Meanwhile, Christian culture must also be promoted, “as the one allowing for the most humane and freest world,” he said. Orbán said Hungary had been forced to take it upon itself to protect the entire Schengen zone from illegal migration, and the EU had not supported its efforts. Thanks to their determination, Hungarian border officers stopped 270,000 illegal migrants at the borders last year, he said. The Hungarian system is also effective because it has “zero appeal” for migrants, he said. He added he was in favour of the strictly regulated employment of guest workers.
The prime minister added that Hungary held the “record in the EU” regarding investments, employment and exports last year. Relative to its population, Hungary has a “prominent position” among exporters, he added. Meanwhile, Hungary is also suffering under “EU sanctions, as financial resources, some 3-4 billion euros annually, are withheld unlawfully,” he said. He also mentioned Hungary’s low flat-rate personal income tax, the absence of an inheritance tax, the corporate tax rate being less than 10% and the government’s preferential support for foreign investment. Hungary, he added, aimed to be a meeting point for the Eastern and Western businesses with the best strategies. Orbán said that instead of progressive liberal hegemony, there was pluralism in Hungary, adding that “the representation of a sovereignist stance is working”. Noting that he has been active in politics for 33 years, Orbán said he had been in government for 17 of those, making him the most experienced leader in the EU.