Budapest, 10 May 2014

Honorary Presidents of the Republic, Distinguished Prime Ministers, Distinguished Assembly, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As an old teaching goes: what is the first thing you need to do when you start to govern? Answer: restore the correct use of words. If words are not used correctly, the meaning of ideas seems confusing. If ideas are confusing, it is not possible to act with precision. This is why the first thing for anyone venturing to govern is to put ideas into words and words into action. They should not let words be a mess. This is what everything depends on.

Distinguished Assembly,

I endeavour to follow this age-old wisdom now as I am making my first prime minister’s speech in the new cycle. The Hungarian people decided on 6 April. They decided worthy of a one thousand year old European state based on rules accepted in the world today, i.e., decided democratically about their future. Gratitude is my first thought. I thank everyone that participated in the election whichever political party they happened to have voted for. I thank them for strengthening the independence of the nation and the ideal of liberty through their participation, for which so many of us have taken up the sword over the past centuries. Whoever participated in the election and especially those that took part in the election campaign truly pass on our nation’s tradition of independence and freedom fighting, since even in peaceful times the meaning of holding an election is none other than finding an answer to the question how can be we preserve our national independence and how best can we run the country in the spirit of liberty. 

I naturally also especially thank those citizens that supported us, the civil, Christian and national side and me personally. I am aware that I am particularly indebted to them, since they placed their trust in us and it is our duty to use this trust in their benefit. I will not forget what I owe them, not even if I know that the government and the prime minister must serve the whole country, the entire nation, every single citizen of the nation, regardless of who they voted for on 6 April. Not even provocations will derail me from this conviction. This is why my cabinet that is about to be formed after winning a two-third majority in parliament will nevertheless always represent the three thirds, in other words, every single Hungarian, and will strive to serve every Hungarian. Today, these words have an even stronger meaning than usual. This was the first time in decades that the entire Hungarian nation, the mother-country, Hungarians living outside the Carpathian Basin had the opportunity to take part in the nation’s joint decision. This is why this parliament may rightfully feel that it is the parliament of the Hungarian nation and the government will rightfully consider itself as the government of the nation. In my view, this is not an exaggeration, nor a form of excessive influence. Rather, this is a commitment, a weight bearing down on my shoulders and above-all responsibility. I am grateful for the Hungarians living outside the boundaries of the mother-country for their explicit support of our policies endeavouring to unite the Hungarian nation beyond its borders.

Distinguished Fellow MPs,

I have accepted the request of the President of the Republic to form a government. I have sworn an oath. I am starting the seventh four-year cycle as a Member of Parliament. I have been in parliament for 24 years, 16 in opposition and 8 as a government MP. I understand what Churchill was thinking of when he said that “politics is more dangerous than war, for in war you are only killed once”. If I also count the years I spent in the anti-communist movement, I have been treading down the path of Hungarian politics, which is by no means smooth or an easy feat, for almost 30 years. It is this 30 years of experience that led me to immediately say yes to the President of the Republic and take my oath. 

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have learnt that winning is great, but have also learnt that losing is not pointless either. On the contrary, anyone that is bold, is not scared of hard work and does not give up will also be put on course by their enemies, as well as defeats. The only question is whether we make sense and gain a deeper understanding of our failures and disappointments. A scientist says the following when inspecting the dirty remains of his experimental laboratory that was burnt to the ground: there is definitely one good thing about a fire, and that is it also destroyed my blunders along with my house. However, now, for the second time in a row, instead of defeat and failure, it is the consequences of success and victory that I have to face. The point of departure of the four years ahead and the bottom line of my work as prime minister is that an accurate and deep understanding of how after such difficult years, during which we completely renewed and restructured Hungary, voters nevertheless opted to give us a mandate to continue our work. The path we have proceeded along has by no means been smooth and easy. On the contrary, we managed to get through serious difficulties despite the odds along an obstacle course burdened by sovereign debt, a budget in tatters, financial diktats, the banks, enterprises in a monopoly position, cartels and international bureaucrats, not the government, but the country. Voters nevertheless decided to continue along this path, which I primarily interpret as their desire to put an end to pointless arguments.

Distinguished Assembly,

It is a part of human nature that if someone is banned from something for a long time, they may be inclined to throw the baby out with the bath water after the ban is lifted. Debates were banned for 40 years, and now that they have been permitted for the past 25 years this is all Hungarian public life is about. One step here and one step there and we end up in the same spot we started from. Hungarian politics has not found the right combination of accord, agreement and action. This is why, in spite of freedom, democracy, the market economy and explicit signs of development, we are at a standstill and are unable to make any progress. According to the most recent expression of the will of the public, sticking to the explicit and distinct path along which we have departed is better for the country than returning to the era of pointless debate. We have had enough debate about the main direction, fundamental concepts to follow. In the popular, meaningful, yet somewhat inaccurate words of the voters: it is time to continue the era of acts and action.

After being reinforced for a second time, the Fundamental Law, social structure building on human dignity, politics bridging liberty and responsibility is not a subject of debate, nor are policies espousing a work-based economy and the unification of the nation. Debates need to be conducted in respect of the how and the details; however, the key issues have been decided, with the voters ending the debates. Therefore, in my view, this election reinforced the second era of political changes implemented in 2010. It reinforced that instead of speculation, the Hungarian economy needs to build on labour, and, instead of the doctrines of liberalism we need to follow the ideal of mutual responsibility. Instead of giving in to global forces, we need to fight for our national independence, raise our children to love the nation instead of internationalism and make order replace the permissive mess that tolerates everything, which is concurrently fair and consistent.       .

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

The April election results also mean a commitment to unity. It’s not worth waging a war over how the ratio of ballots cast in favour of the governing parties relates to the total number of ballots cast by voters. The election was won by a convincing margin. The only thing we can add is that we will consider the position of the leaders of the opposition, who, during the campaign, explicitly said that whoever stays at home votes for the government. Silence gives consent the saying goes, even though I have some doubts about this. In any case, a new cycle is beginning, so let’s trust what the opposition says and accept what they say.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the modern era, which builds on argumentation, comparing the relevance of viewpoints and propositions, as well as the representation of interests, neither cooperation nor unity can be fully achieved, no matter how much we want this. We, the promoters of cooperation and unity, are aware of the law deeply rooted in the human soul. Coming to terms with this makes it possible for us to reconcile national unity and democracy. However, the crux of the matter is that the forces driving unity won a landslide election victory, in other words, the centrists triumphed. I consider this huge mass of people European centrists, European centrists that reject radical politics. Radicals appear in Hungarian public life as a cheap bludgeon of political stigmatisation and more often than they should. This is why I need to make it clear what we consider radical in the upcoming four years, against which – and I would like to make it very clear – we will firmly, consistently and persistently oppose.

In my view, every policy that threatens Hungarians is dangerous and radical. Prioritising the rights of criminals over those of the victims is dangerous and radical in my view. Any economic policy proposal that disregards the fundamental rules of rationale and common sense is dangerous and radical in my view. Even politics, whether it be left or right-wing, that wants to take money away from working people to give this money to people that are very much capable of working, but do not want to is in my view dangerous and radical, in other words in my view financing unemployment instead of labour is a radical policy. Politics that wants to sacrifice a thousand year-old Hungary on the altar of some sort of United States of Europe is, in my view, dangerous to the Hungarian people and radical. I oppose this and find it necessary to contain, together with the sneaky approach of foreign policy. Any programme aimed at exiting the European Union is, in my view, an equally dangerous and radical approach. We Hungarians, with a stormy history behind us, have to understand that whoever does not sit down to the dinner table should not be surprised to find themselves on the menu. This is why the government will focus on strengthening national cooperation, unity and the European centre. As regards the upcoming four years, I am neither worried about the radical right nor the radical left. Tides often change, which is only natural. This is why the question is not about how high the tide is, but how high the dikes are. Hungarians built high dikes during the election, which guarantee the stability of the government and therefore Hungary in the coming years.  

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

During the election campaign, we left no doubt whatsoever about our plans and intentions – we will continue, support us to continue, this was what we asked. But in actual fact we asked for more: to continue together. Just like we have done in the past four years, we will also be intending to continue the politics of national consultation. I will be searching for opportunities for Hungarians to be able to participate in a variety of forms of public life. I have never shifted responsibility for any of the final political decisions we made, nor will I in the future. People placed the burden on our shoulders so we would carry it, which does not rule out, but rather makes it necessary that we listen to what people have to say. We need to hear their voice and opinion. One and half decades ago I was Hungary’s youngest elected prime minister. Believe me. I’m not so young anymore to know the answer to everything.

Distinguished Assembly,

In 2010 we decided to break with the liberal social approach, principles and methods of how to organise society that dominated for 20 years between 1990 and 2010. Instead, just like how this is explicitly incorporated in the Fundamental Law to which we have all sworn an oath, we have opted to forge a link between liberty and responsibility, i.e., follow the politics and ideal of mutual responsibility. The approach according to which everything is permitted that doesn’t harm the rights of others was dominant for 20 years. Seeing there is no answer to who decides what harms the rights of others, in real life power, the more powerful individual resolved this. In spite of all its eloquence and attractiveness, this is why this approach proved false and hypocritical in real life. This is precisely why we had to reject it and replace it with a new ideal. More specifically, we had to reinstate the old golden rule: do to no-one what you yourself dislike. Moreover, in the spirit of politics inspired by Christianity we would also like to add the golden rule: do to others what you would want them to do to you.

Distinguished Assembly,

I am aware that, in the end, human nature should not be conditioned by external commands of behaviour, especially not decisions made by the government and least all to something prompted by the prime minister, but be inclined to follow a intrinsic drive coming from deep down, the depths of the soul. Inner convictions should regulate the way we relate to life, old people, children, others, the other gender, justice and the community itself. We could simply call this self-conscience. This is why politics, the government and the prime minister must be duly diligent, bearing in mind that they are treading on thin ice and that good intention and good will, more specifically, their good intention and their good will may easily backfire and be viewed as unauthorised intervention and aggression. At the same, Distinguished Assembly, we cannot accept a state of affairs in which those that act with conscience, people that abide by the law are always the losers, while those lacking self-conscience, the hypocrites that tend to forever be bending the rules are always the winners and are at an advantage. If this is where the country gets to, public players cannot remain silent or passive. We need to play a role in restoring the right order in the country with due circumspection, moderation and by respecting personal dignity. This is what I expect from myself, as well as from public servants and this is what I ask from you as well, Members of Parliament.

Distinguished Assembly,

New rules have also come to constitute the relationship between the individual and the community in the new era that has been in the course of being established since 2010. The liberal constitution did not force governments to serve national interests; did not make them acknowledge and strengthen the feeling of Hungarians living around the world belonging to the nation; did not protect community assets or the people from the country’s indebtedness and ransacking. Hundreds and thousands of families ended up in debt slavery in the name of freedom. I will also be committed to preserve and even strengthen the link between people’s work, performance and interests and the life of the community and the nation in the future as well. For me, society is not simply a mass of individuals, but a community, an organic structure. This definition of society inspired by the nation and Christianity is what will form the ideological basis and also the objective of my work.   

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Based on my experiences, well-being and the psychological state of the country go hand in hand. Well-being can only prosper in countries that have a good understanding of themselves, self-esteem and a feeling of pride, i.e., are aware of their opportunities, do not feel inferior to others and whose feeling of grandness is based on serious performance. These countries are capable of achieving great economic results, continuously prospering, which their citizens also give them the opportunity to. In other words, they are capable of prospering peacefully. Distinguished Assembly, ability is needed to achieve this; only the strong are capable of establishing peace. However, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, peace does mean the absence of war. Peace is much rather the fruit of truth. Fairness means that everyone gets what they deserve to and has to do what they are expected to in their given state and age, while in the meantime, fairness or the lack of it cannot be used as an excuse for being exempted from obligations ensuing from their state or age. Based on 30 years of experience in politics, I have become convinced that this sort of balanced and modulated understanding of fairness drawing on optimism and which is capable of offering an economy that is competitive with other countries around the world creates a country in which peace rules. 

Distinguished Fellow MPs,

We live in an open global economy. This is why fair, however, economically uncompetitive countries will sooner or later begin to decline and sink into poverty. Poverty in turn breeds jealousy, which puts an end to peace and simultaneously opens up space to the most futile and serious acts of war. Similarly, the stronger will overwhelm the weak in economically competitive countries in which life is unfair, without any respect for human dignity, as an outcome of which the sources fuelling discontent, grievances and hatred pile up and devour peace. I am consequently striving to form a government that is simultaneously capable of creating a fair and competitive Hungary.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my duty to say a few words about the Europe policy of the future government. Hungary is a member of the Western alliance, of NATO and the European Union. There is no doubt about this, nor will there be while our administration is in office. However, we are members in these alliances and not hostages. Commitment to these alliances has nothing to do with the way we see things; no-one should expect us to pretend to be blind, to turn a blind eye to the world. Neither does commitment to these alliances affect the way we think; no-one should expect us to pretend that we are blockheads that have absolutely no idea about what to do, what should be done. Our Europe policy will be characterised by discernment, open discourse and bold thinking. Ever since the financial crisis that hit in 2008, Central Europe cannot simply suffice to copy Western policies. Europe is gradually losing its significance in the world economy, in the context of global trade and world politics day after day. Europe is our homeland and also that of the peoples of Central Europe, which is why, as a good ally, it is our personal interest and personal cause to change this situation. 

Distinguished Assembly, Central Europe and Hungary has come up with its own proposals, which were developed by the hard work put in over the past few years and underlie the economic and political success we have achieved. We want a Europe that respect its own roots, respects Christianity and respects nations the way they deserve to be. We want a Europe that recognises that any community that is incapable of biologically preserving itself is doomed to disappear. We do not want any policies that back immigration, nor do we want migrating masses that cause tension that is impossible to contain; however, want policies aimed at encouraging childbirth and the reversal of natural decline of the population. We want families to be acknowledged and respected; reject the relativisation, expansion, diminishing of the concept of marriage and the family. We demand the support, protection and physical and psychological safety of children. We want a Europe that supports entrepreneurship; is capable of creating full employment and eliminating Europe’s competitive disadvantage caused by high energy prices. We want a radical and expedient reduction of energy prices across Europe, interconnected energy networks and safe supply of energy for the whole continent.  

Distinguished Presidents, Fellow MPs, Distinguished Assembly,

Our economic ties are the focus of foreign policy. We will continue our policy of opening towards the East, strengthen our economic presence and increase our economic importance in the Carpathian Basin. This is what Hungary’s interest is, similarly to the neighbouring countries, as well as the European Union. The fact that we are determined to strengthen regional economic ties is not in conflict with the marked direction of national policy. The Hungarian issue has been unresolved ever since World War II. We consider the Hungarian issue to be a European issue as well. Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin are entitled to dual citizenship, community rights, as well as autonomy. This is the position we will represent in the international political arena. The situation of the Hungarian minority of 200,000 in Ukraine puts this high on the agenda, which community must be given dual citizenship, every community right, as well as the opportunity for self-governance. This is a clear expectation in respect of the new Ukraine that is currently in the process of formation and that in any case enjoys our support and cooperation in the work done to establish a democratic Ukraine.

Distinguished Assembly, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We all know that numerous Hungarians managed to become the most outstanding individuals in the world – Nobel laureates, artists, Olympic champions. We still feel that there is something missing. If so many people managed to succeed individually, then why shouldn’t a nation manage to through joint efforts? This is exactly what we want; to build a prospering national community living in safety where success is not the exception, but something the majority experiences, where joint success is uplifting for everyone, to which everyone contributes to through their own achievements. We have nevertheless put in a great deal of effort, but still have a long way to go to be able to live in a Hungary of this kind. However, in order to achieve this, we have to above-all prevent people from prospering at the expense of the nation. We have to search for, and I will indeed be searching for the paths and means that enable Hungarians to promote their personal cause, build personal wealth in a way that this simultaneously benefits the entire community. This is the first time in decades that we have managed to achieve that the economy is not growing from loans, there is equilibrium in the financial world, concurrently to which enterprises, production and the world of labour are expanding. This fills us with hope.

Distinguished Assembly,

The prime minister is expected to tell the country which way it is headed. Although the prime minister is by no means almighty, nor is he a fortune teller, the prime minister nevertheless needs to provide a sensible response. We are heading toward the centre. We are building a new Central Europe that will catch up to the Western part of Europe. We are heading toward the middle range of European living standards and quality of life over the next four years. We will not catch up to the top, leading nations, but are working our way up. We are strengthening the middle class, i.e., the majority of Hungarians, hence heading toward the creation of a healthy economy that builds on work, knowledge, property and free enterprises, finding a balancing in the domain of our common and private financial affairs. Earning an everyday living creates financial dependence and debts to a lesser extent, which is now less focused on inactivity and benefits. Jobs, knowledge, property and business generate income and money. But it also offers something much more important than money, which is none other than security. If I need to use my head, brains, arm and muscles, if I have paid back the debt I owed, have savings, live in my own home and there is even a stable government leading the country, I feel safe. Hungary will be headed in this direction over the course of the next four years.

Distinguished Assembly,

Where can Hungary get to in four years time? Far and high. Now is the chance to leave everything behind us that dragged us down – the huge pile of common and private debt, as well as useless or only in part useful knowledge, vocational qualifications only certified on paper, unbearable utility costs, being at the mercy of routine, day-to-day things. Security, having a place to work and a home and obtaining good-level training and quality expertise will all be a reality. 

Distinguished Fellow MPs,

To conclude, there is only one more question that needs to be answered, and that is: what is a good prime minister like? Jószef Eötvös has a good example of a steam-engine, more specifically, an expert that knows everything about the engine, every one of its wheels, screws and axis. The only thing he doesn’t know is how it all works, because he hasn’t a clue about steam, in other words, the force that puts and keeps everything in motion. He knows every how and why.

Distinguished Assembly,

The same applies in the case of the mechanism of the state. We may be familiar with its structure; however, do not understand the all-embracing soul and character of the nation. If we fail to understand this, the constitution will get rusty, textbooks will creak and institutions will crumble, causing the system to dysfunction. If the government, with the prime minister at its helm, members of parliament and individuals affiliated with the world of politics understand the spirit, soul and will of the nation they will be able to serve those that elected them well. I would like to serve well, be a good prime minister to this courageous, resourceful, gallant and industrious nation. I would like to not have to make anymore sacrifices, since the nation has suffered a great deal over the centuries. But I do know that we will be put to the test again and have to confront further challenges in the future, seeing this is the nature of the future, the European horizon of which is more overcast than need be. This way or that, you can be certain that even the sacrifices that we were forced to make will eventually benefit the community that integrates every single Hungarian.

Distinguished Assembly,

We have to serve in a manner that the soul, goals and rationale always transcend the structure of the state and the government providing a framework for the common life of the nation, which is always determined by the awareness of a shared destiny and responsibility. This is the command I want to obey to the best of my knowledge and with all my might. I ask the Lord, that if he has allowed me to reach this point by letting me ride on the back of an eagle, I now ask him to give me more strength so that I can live up to the responsibility that bears down on me and awaits me in the future. I ask for my acts to always be guided by loyalty and reason.  

Soli Deo gloria! Glory to God alone!

(Prime Minister's Office)