Hungary's Orbán talks war, inflation, Erdoğan, overheads

Brussels and budget

Orbán said that the European Union is asking Hungary to end the system of reduced utility bills, and that Brussels expects the country to "ruin families and pensioners", but he added that there are proposals which must be accepted, "because there are smart people there too". He stressed that there are legitimate expectations on the budget deficit and the public debt, because Hungary accepted them when it joined the EU, but that the budget is a national competence.

He said that in 2024, public debt will fall below 70% and the budget deficit will also be lowered. The Prime Minister said that the "defence budget" should protect jobs during the war, protect the value of pensions and protect families. He stressed that if there were no war, it would be a "more cheerful budget".

But even so, we cannot be dissatisfied with it, because everything that is important to us we can defend in the year 2024, despite the war,

he concluded.

In fact, the European Union did not target its recommendations on residential energy prices at Hungary, but at all member states.

"All Member States should wind down the energy support measures in force by the end of 2023. Should renewed energy price increases necessitate support measures, these should be targeted at protecting vulnerable households and firms, fiscally affordable, and preserve incentives for energy savings." (Q&A on the 2023 European Semester Spring Package (europa.eu)

War and energy

The war is not only on the front line, but also on the energy markets,

said Viktor Orbán.

Since Hungary is the fastest developing country, which needs the most energy, because investments are coming in at a huge pace, and we have to import energy from abroad, because there is not enough at home [...], so the increase in energy prices has had very serious financial consequences. If we don't bring inflation down, we will unfortunately not be able to help the Hungarian economy grow.

Inflation

IN RESPONSE TO THE SUGGESTION THAT hungary's inflation is still 24%, ORBÁN SAID: HE HOPES WE it is NOW rather BELOW 22%, AWAITING FRESH DATA.

By the end of the year, come hell or high water, we still need to get inflation down to single digits,

the PM reiterated the target he had set earlier.

He added that for 2024 they would take inflation down to 6.0% (on annual average). Without the war inflation would return to the usual 1-3% range more rapidly, he said.

Erdoğan's election victory

Viktor Orbán said that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's victory means that Turkey will remain on the "side of peace", alongside the Vatican and Hungary.

He said he was not only rooting for but also praying for Erdoğan's victory. Orbán said that if he had not won it would have been a "disaster", and three to four million refugees would have started towards Hungary and they would have been at the Hungarian border by the summer.

He also reiterated that the Turkish president was "pro-peace", while his opponent was "pro-war", and noted that Erdoğan is able to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, as he did in the case of the grain crisis. The Prime Minister stressed that Hungary must always look in three directions: Berlin, Moscow, Istanbul or Ankara.

Our lives are in this triangle, and it is in this triangle that the lives of Hungarians must be well managed,

he said.

He added that the situation is not as favourable in all three cases, but all three relations are stable, balanced and developing well for Hungary.

The most critical relationship, interestingly enough, is the German one at the moment.

Situation in Ukraine

The PM explained that even without military academic knowledge, he knows that "if I attack, I will have three times the losses of someone who defends". He related that he did not know how many people currently live in Ukraine, "but somewhere between 20-30 million", compared to Russia's population of 130-140 million, so "to launch a major military offensive in such circumstances is a bloodbath".

he STATED that BEFORE COUNTER-ATTACKING, THE PARTIES MUST BE CONVINCED OF THE NEED FOR A CEASEFIRE AND NEGOTIATIONS.

The Prime Minister expects that the moment will soon come when they will admit that "the Hungarians" were right (which he later amended to mean that the "pro-peace", especially the Vatican, will be right). Orbán said that it seems that even in the best case scenario, it is not possible to achieve a better result on the front line than could have been achieved from the Ukrainian perspective through negotiations before the war.