Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is on a one-day official visit to Finland. The Prime Minister gave a lecture entitled The future of Europe at the Aleksanteri Institute at the University of Helsinki, and will later meet with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and President Sauli Niinistö.

The Prime Minister declared in his lecture before university professors, students, politicians and diplomats, that it was a historic mistake that the post-communist countries did not join the European Union immediately after the collapse of dictatorship, because had it happened, the EU would be in a stronger position today.

The Prime Minister pointed out that a strong Europe needs strong nations and the community must respect the will of its nations. Among the challenges facing Europe, he mentioned the reduction of state debt, as well as creating harmony between personal and institutional leadership, without which it will be impossible to exit the crisis, he stated.

Regarding the Hungarian situation, the Prime Minister said that the Government’s goal is to create a society based on work instead of welfare, and that is underpinned by a flexible tax system and Labour Code. Hungary needs at least 5 million taxpayers, and this required the reconstruction of the country. The Government wants more and more people to work and look for work, because unemployment levels are unacceptable, he said.

In relation to economic data, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pointed out that in 2012 the budget deficit was only 1.9 %, equal to that of Finland. The Prime Minister spoke at length about values, also touching upon the new constitution, while he emphasized that Hungary was the only post-communist country not to have developed and adopted a new constitution after the collapse of communism.

The Prime Minister expressed that Christianity does not belong to the past but to the future and that nations and families are important. In his view, efforts to exit the crisis may be only successful if the continent returns to its values, because they will not work on a purely rational basis.     
Replying to a question in connection with right-wing party Jobbik, the Prime Minister stated that in historical terms an extremist party has never gained more than approximately 17% of votes in elections and while Hungary is independent, with good leaders and a relatively good economic situation, it is impossible for extremists cannot gain political headway, because 83% moderate people stand against 17% radicals.

(Prime Minister’s Office)