This has been Hungary’s most difficult year since the regime change, the Prime Minister declared at an international press conference held in Budapest on Wednesday in the framework of Government Information.
Viktor Orbán emphasized: Hungary still delivered an extraordinary performance.
We managed to preserve the work-based society, there have never been as many people working in Hungary as this year, he pointed out. Viktor Orbán said that employment is at a thirty-year high, with 74.6 percent of people working.
Although 2022 was an election year, it was still possible to reduce the budget deficit, which is very rare in European politics, but not unprecedented in Hungary, and the same happened in 2018. In the meantime, the elderly got their 13th monthly pension back, family members got a significant part of their tax back, and the tax exemption for those under 25 was introduced, recalled the prime minister.
The prime minister also considers it an extraordinary achievement that he managed to come to an agreement with the EU by overcoming the “hungarophobia” prevailing in the liberal world. Viktor Orbán said that he hopes that the relevant agreements will be signed in the next day or two.
About three billion HUF dollars were up against three million voters, and the latter won the April election.
Among this year’s extraordinary achievements, Viktor Orbán mentioned the spring parliamentary election, which he assessed as the Hungarians “did not ask for foreign intervention, they did not ask for the dollar left, and I don’t think this will change anytime soon in Hungary”.
He added that the election was a real fight for freedom, and the country’s independence and sovereignty had to be protected because international actors participated in the election with such importance as never before.
Viktor Orbán also highlighted the continuation of the tradition since 1990, which distinguishes Hungary from other European states: apart from Hungary, there is no other country where early elections have not been held since 1990.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mentioned the arrest of migration and the maintenance of overhead protection among this year’s successes at his international press conference held in the framework of Kormányinfo.
As he said, we are the only European country that is under migratory pressure from two directions at the same time, since in addition to the southern direction, an influx of millions of refugees has appeared from Ukraine.
Viktor Orbán called it a fantastic result that more than a quarter of a million illegal border crossing attempts were prevented this year.
He also spoke of Hungary’s ability to finance the increased energy prices as a success, pointing out that it had to pay 17 billion euros instead of 7 billion last year for the same amount. He emphasized: the country created this amount in such a way that it was able to preserve the essence of the overhead protection system, and this was also resolved by 2023.
Hungary must definitely stay out of the war, emphasized Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Viktor Orbán emphasized: so far, the war taking place in our neighborhood only has losers. The two opposing parties and the European economy also lose. We are suffering a serious economic loss, we are paying penalty surcharges, he said.
The Prime Minister added: the year 2023 will bring the challenge for almost every European country to avoid the economic downturn or recession, which stems directly from the war and European participation in the war, which is called sanctions.
We will defend ourselves, but we will not give up on our big goals – stated the Prime Minister, speaking about the goals for the year 2023.
Viktor Orbán emphasized that the most important thing for Hungary in 2023 will be to stay out of the war. Another important goal is to stay out of the European recession, so the economic growth in Hungary should not be negative, but positive, added the Prime Minister.
He said that the government would also like to see inflation shrink to single digits by the end of next year. At Wednesday’s government meeting, the cabinet is expected to decide on raising the tax exemption for young people up to the age of 25 to 30 years for women who have children, he said.
“Sovereignty, freedom, full employment, and support for families. We do not want to give up these big goals in 2023, even in the midst of the expected difficult conditions”
– said Viktor Orbán.
MTI
Photo: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán holds a year-end international press conference as part of Kormányinfo at the Karmelita Monastery on December 21, 2022. MTI/Koszticsák SolidPhoto: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán holds a year-end international press conference as part of Kormányinfo at the Karmelita Monastery on December 21, 2022. MTI/Koszticsák Solid
