“When you are in crisis, just following standard, generalized economic policies doesn’t work. You need to take targeted action” – Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary said in an interview published on 19 July in a WSJ article which has been summarized by the MTI.
According to Mr Orban, people say that these policies are unorthodox, but if you have a more positive view, they are innovative and targeted. Major companies want more generalized, more predictable economic policies. However during a crisis you can’t do that.
In 2002, Hungary was in the vanguard of Central Europe. In 2010, it became the weakest. When Fidesz won the elections, they had a clear-cut vision of how to get out of the crisis, how to make Hungary competitive. In 2010, debt was rising, but now it is falling and the country is now out of the EU’s excessive deficit procedure. Foreign trade is dramatically increasing, so the external account is in surplus which is „very valuable in times of crisis”.
In 2010, Hungary wasn’t able to stand on its own feet, it needed other people’s money that damages national pride and self-esteem. Now it is able to finance itself from the market. The PM declared that Hungarians are buying bonds, unemployment is falling and employment is rising. The country had 1.8 million taxpayers when he took office and now this number is close to 4 million. Income is rising, in real terms and pensions are increasing, too. The economy is growing again. “If you say that something is a success story, no one believes you, because that’s what the communists used to say. So we say we are doing better, we are improving, not that we are successful” – Mr Orban said. Hungary is closer now to catch up with Central Europe again and this is important. The future of Europe is Central Europe since without this region, there would be no growth at all in the European Union.
To the question why he thinks the two-third majority is important, he answered that it matters a lot whether people believe in national institutions. In Hungary, trust in national institutions is increasing. This is especially important when trust in European institutions is decreasing everywhere. Without trust, it’s a leadership problem and, ultimately, a democracy problem. He mentioned that people criticize the government but no one is saying Hungary has no leadership. In crisis times, that is important. The two-thirds majority is the precondition for leadership in this crisis. It was crucial and Fidesz used it well.
“The economic policy need to strengthen and defend the middle class, if you don’t want an economic crisis to become a political crisis” – the Prime Minister said. Expenses on culture, sport and science are higher than ever before in the past 20 years and still the country managed to exit the excessive deficit procedure. There have been extraordinary efforts to get out of the crisis. Despite the difficult times, the support of Fidesz has held up surprisingly well so the party has a chance in the next elections. Mr Oban thinks that leadership counts. Three years ago the impression was that the leftist, liberal government fell apart because of a lack of leadership. People must feel leaders care about them and are focused on their problems. Therefore this government tries to help families who struggle with high foreign-currency debts and high overheads.
He drew attention that the first democratic constitution for Hungary has been accepted under his government. This constitution says the economy is based on labor and freedom of entrepreneurship and it requires a balanced, transparent and sustainable budget and places limits on public debt. Not too many people talk about that. International criticism has focused on soft issues, such as the definition of family, the human rights and the media. Social life is very difficult here. Unemployment insurance only lasts for three months and after that there is nothing. If someone rejects public work, he doesn’t get any social aid. According to the PM, they are making an attempt to turn an entitlement-based society into a merit-based one. They are very close, but that kind of transformation is very complicated. What remains to be seen is if by doing that, they can win an election.
Orban Viktor described himself as a leader who considers that saving and renew the country is an attractive job. “This is a real challenge, not just like reorganizing a bureaucracy. People like me, we like to do something significant, something extraordinary. History has provided me that chance. Actually, it provided it three times. I’ve always gotten historic challenges as a leader. When things are going well, I seem to lose the elections, because the people don’t need me anymore” – Mr Orban reported.
