If Europe betrays its Christian roots and gives up its traditions it will have no strength left for renewal after the crisis, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the Cistercian Abbey of Zirc on Wednesday.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the refurbished abbey, the Prime Minister said that "Europe is sometimes unfair”, adding that Hungary, however, must not turn its back on its own traditions because "we can only become a strong country if we walk our own way, and build on the values of our Hungarian and Christian culture”.

He announced that the Government will return the local botanical gardens -- nationalised after WWII -- to the Cistercian order.

Prime Minister Orbán spoke highly of the order's efforts and said that "as teachers they have earned a high reputation all over the country".

On the subject of outstanding GDP figures published earlier in the day, he emphasised that 2013 will be "a year of harvest" after three years of efforts. He said that Hungary's GDP growing by 0.7% on the previous quarter was one of the signs indicating that the economy was back on a growth path.

The Prime Minister pointed out that "though not all problems have been solved", 160,000 more people had a job than in 2010, and pensions and minimum wages had been increased above inflation.

"There is a fair chance that the country will get higher and higher as a result of efforts during the past three years," he added.

The abbey, founded in 1182, and the main square in Zirc have been renewed out of a budget of 700 million forints (EUR 2.4m), including a European Union subsidy of 600 million forints.

(Prime Minister's Office)