Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Speech at the Inauguration of Margaret Island Fountain. (1 July 2013, Budapest)

Mr. Lord Mayor, Dear István, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Three weeks ago we came here to Margaret Island to defend against the flood, and today we are celebrating the inauguration of a mechanism that sends water devilishly high. I need hardly tell you that we would have been surprised if a few weeks ago someone had told us that we would soon be celebrating the fact that water is ten metres above our heads on Margaret Island. But if we read the figures correctly, Hungary's largest fountain sends water gushing precisely this high. The flood did not reach such heights, but it still needed superhuman effort to protect one of Budapest's most prized treasures. 10 million sandbags and 242,500 cubic metres of sand were used for protection around the country. Only here, on Margaret Island, we placed 600 thousand sandbags and succeeded in protecting the heart of Budapest with the help of thousands of volunteers. I would like to take this opportunity to again thank everyone who helped the flood defence activities with their physical strength, donations or by whatever other means.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I once read somewhere that without enjoyment, people have no strength. The primary reason we gave the Municipality of Budapest financial support for the restoration of the fountain is that it is our firm belief that the people of the capital deserve those moments of enjoyment that this fountain will provide to them. It is a brave endeavour indeed to begin developing [the city], Ladies and Gentlemen, when Lord Mayor István Tarlós and his colleagues have not only to struggle with the problems surrounding the everyday operation of the city, but also with the inheritance they have been left with. What we expect from ourselves and the Municipality of Budapest is that in addition to solving the problems of the past, the city leaders work together with the Government so that we may create the conditions for further advancement. The reason being that we know full well, without a successful capital, there can be no successful Hungary. This is why we concluded the "Budapest 21" agreement, in which we undertook to raise Budapest to its rightful place as one of the great capital cities of the 21st century. I would like to report to the watching Budapest public: we are making progress. New construction cranes are dotting the Budapest skyline today. FTC's former and new home is under construction, the ruined Várbazár [Castle Bazaar] is being renovated, the Erkel Theatre has reopened, in March we opened the capital's new centre for classical music, the Budapest Music Centre, and a few weeks ago we also inaugurated the Academy of Sciences' Wigner Physics Research Centre. The construction of the National Olympic Centre is under development. Plans for the aquatic facilities needed to host the 2021 FINA World Championships have been completed. Plans for the Normafa and Népliget areas, i.e. the FTC City and the City Park museum quarters, are in preparation, and we are also close to the construction of a new convention centre. It is my hope that we shall soon conclude agreements with the Municipality of Budapest in relation to these concrete plans. Meanwhile, within the framework of plans to modernise public transport in Budapest, we have presented the travelling public with one-hundred-and-fifty new, modern buses.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Life in Budapest is no longer about survival; European-sized development projects are also underway. And all this is thanks to the fact that after twenty years, the alignment of the stars is finally such that Budapest and the country's administration are able and willing to cooperate. You may remember that during the past two decades the Municipality of Budapest was in continuous argument with the respective governments. The capital was engaged in never ending trench warfare, irrespective of who happened to be in government. And so you might say we have been graced with an exceptional political moment in which we are finally pulling in the same direction.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today also marks the end of another argument. If you look around on the Island you can see that we are standing in a historic public park that has seen better days and in which for the past twenty years, only preservation of the current status has occurred, if at all. Margaret Island has been in a state of suspended animation for twenty years. The legal relationship [between Municipality and government] made the development of large-scale plans impossible. Today, this era is symbolically at an end. Our goal is for one of the capital's most beautiful cultural and natural treasures to be transformed from the island of the careless into the island of the carefree. And so, when in a few minutes' time we start up the country's largest fountain, it will also mark the beginning of a new era in the development of Margaret Island. My congratulations to the Lord Mayor, my congratulations to the city leaders, I congratulate the architects, the construction contractors, the workers involved; thank you to all of you for your efforts.

Thank you for your attention.

(Prime Minister's Office)