In his pre-agenda speech in Parliament, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared that the biggest flood Hungary had ever experienced has left the country without causing any casualties or major damage, adding that through recent protection efforts along the flooding river Danube, the country has proved that it stands united and strong when people are needed on the dykes.

According to the Prime Minister, Hungary’s successful flood defence activities demonstrated the achievements of a confident and able country. All differences and conflicts disappeared on the dykes and everyone could see that we, Hungarians stand firm to protect our homeland in case of trouble, Viktor Orbán said.

He added the record flood on the Danube had directly jeopardised 206,000 people, of whom only 1,570 had to eventually be evacuated, thanks in large part to well-organised protection efforts.

A total of 36,780 volunteers registered with the national disaster management authority to join defence operations, but their actual number is estimated to have been a lot more. Nearly 10,200,000 sandbags were used during the operations.

Since the state of emergency had been declared, the Prime Minister turned up at several locations to direct defence work personally. In his interview for public Kossuth Radio on Friday, he called cooperation in flood protection unprecedented, whereas on Saturday, at a press briefing in Mohács, South Hungary, he expressed his gratitude to everyone who participated in the work.

The emergency situation caused by the flood also gained wide attention at international level. During the weekend, at a summit of Visegrad countries and Japan in Warsaw, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed praise for the “fantastic joining of forces” which enabled Hungary to avert the threat of the flood.

(Prime Minister’s Office, International Communications Office)