23 January 2014

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen; Dear Audience, Curators, Members of the Jury and nominated Journalists,

I have never particularly liked those of my profession who say that there is their work as writers, and then there is what they do officially. Despite this, I would ask that you regard everything that I say here today as being part of my work as a writer, in view of the fact that I am not standing here in my own right this afternoon. It has often happened that I have had to stand in for someone else, be they another European head of state, and in fact on one occasion instead of the professional director of the Puskás Academy, but this is the first ever time that I have had to stand in for my wife to say a speech, and this seems to be the case today. Please allow me to pass on her apologies. She has been out of the country with the children and the weather situation has made it inadvisable for her to fly home, and so as part of my work as a writer, and having taken an oath to keep to the given instructions about what I can and cannot say, I have undertaken to be here in her place this afternoon. And so I will be the one to greet you during the next few minutes.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, my wife said that I should say a few words about substantive issues. And this reminds me of the story of a British Member of Parliament, who said: before my speech, I would like to tell you something. This is also the situation I am in. And here I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we owe the editors and colleagues of Képmás [family magazine] a special debt of gratitude not only in recognition of the work they have done so far and for their role in founding this Award, but also for deciding on this name for the magazine. We have known each other for quite a while, and I could perhaps give you a few short accounts about how the magazine was founded, but for the moment let it be enough to mention that the word Képmás [image] points after all to one of the most important teachings of the Bible, because as we can read in the story of the creation, God created man in his image and entrusted him with the task of being the guardian of creation. And it is this fact that serves as the basis of human dignity, and it is why we have no qualms about participating in international human rights movements and why we believe that the basis for human rights is provided by the rights that are related to man, who was created by God in his image.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is also our source of knowledge with regard to the fact that the Creator was aware of the fact that it was not good for man on his own, and so he created man and woman, and as such practically speaking he created the family. And we also all know that Hungarian legal tradition and Hungarian constitutional regulation clearly sets down this law of God when it defines marriage and the family in suitable legal documents such as the Constitution and the Civil Code.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Part of my mandate is also to point out that in his letter to the cardinals, Pope Francis also entrusted them, and through them all of us, I believe, with a task when he writes: "The bond, which binds public good with the furthering of the family based on marriage, must be reinforced." And continues: "The family is more than a topic; it represents life and the story of generations."

Ladies and Gentlemen,

From this, we may perhaps also reach the conclusion, although it is worth heeding the earlier words of Madam Professor [Dr. Petra Aczél, chair of the award jury] in that we should not think about the family as a category of social sciences, but nevertheless, the first sentence would seem to suggest that only a country that is built on morally sound families can be strong.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

And so it is perhaps also not uncalled for that I also salute You here in my role as stand-in. You, Képmás magazine, which to quote word-for-word the instructions I was given is "a refreshing splash of colour in the paper sea of the Hungarian press". So, I must say thank you to Képmás magazine for, as a refreshing splash of colour in the paper sea of the Hungarian press, sticking to the time-honoured but never unfashionable principle that solidarity and joint effort can solve the problems that arise within a family, and if they succeed, it is a huge source of joy to everyone. There are quite a few of us here who have large families, and we know very well that marriage isn't easy, and life with a large family isn't easy either, and in fact is sometimes extremely difficult. But we all believe, and life often provides proof of the fact, that the reward received for overcoming the difficulties makes it worth bearing all of those difficulties.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is important to Hungary that awards of this kind are established; an award that rewards interviews, studies and writings that reinforce our positive communication regarding our roots and families.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Sometimes I too, not in a planned way, but sometimes, usually while listening to the radio in the kitchen, encounter programmes through which, now that the journalists' names have been read out many of them are familiar and I have heard some of their work, we can come to know some fantastic families as a result of, or rather thanks to the work of the journalists who have been nominated to receive an award today. I will not begin listing these families now, but this is how I once had the opportunity to meet a farmer with twenty children, whose story I had heard about on the radio, and when I was in the area during the course of an election campaign, I popped in to see if the story was true. And it was: the house was there and so were the children; and so were the calves, which had enabled the otherwise quite well off family to raise their children. And the list goes on, Ladies and Gentlemen. The instructions I have been given are that under no circumstances should I degrade this occasion to the level of a pre-election volunteers meeting by listing all that the Hungarian Government has done to help families. I have been banned from doing this, so please allow me to refrain from doing so. I would like to mention just a single thing, and that is the fact that we have here with us Bence Rétvári. We have much to thank him for in this respect in his role as Minister of State for Justice, because it is thanks to his recommendations that we have succeeded in greatly simplifying the regulations regarding adoption, and the number of adoptions has risen by 15 percent since 2010, which I think is a good and significant result. So thanks also to Bence for his work in this field.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My only remaining task is to thank the editors and writers of Képmás magazine for their work, and to thank and express my special gratitude to the people who stood up in support of this award, be they men of culture or men of business, who also provided financial support. It is very important that we all see and feel that there are many more of us than people would otherwise think listening to or watching the media. There are many more family-friendly journalists, readers who think along the same lines and entrepreneurs who are ready to provide support. I am grateful to these supporters and, in closing, I would like to congratulate the nominees, because if anyone, it is perhaps my job, in the name of the mothers and fathers who read and listen to them, to express my gratitude for the work they have performed and for the pleasure that they have given to all of us through their writings and interviews. Thank you so much for your work!

Thank you for your kind attention.

(Prime Minister's Office)