Viktor Orbán’s Speech at the 12th Meeting of the Hungarian Standing Conference - Budapest, 7 November 2013

Allow me to warmly welcome you all. Good Morning!

My secondary school head teacher used to say, you are sure to succeed if you set the bar right. By presenting my address as a lecture, Zsuzsanna set the bar a little too high, and if I were to accept her invitation, I would perhaps knock the bar off; so I would just like to make an introductory speech. The criteria set with respect to a speech are obviously somewhat less stringent than those that apply to a lecture. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I reviewed our previous meetings, and based on their schedule, I believe that there will be no more HSC meeting before the Hungarian parliamentary elections due next spring, unless some special event emerges that warrants another meeting. I sincerely hope, in the interest of us all, that no such event will emerge. Therefore, the essence of my message this morning is to say thanks and express my gratitude, given that we have a difficult three and a half years behind us, and I would not have the chance before the elections to say thanks to such a wide range of Hungarian organisations beyond the borders, the delegates of HSC on the Hungarian side and the honourable representatives of the opposition for the support which the Government has received in the past three and a half years in the interest of the implementation of its own policy regarding Hungarian communities beyond the borders. Naturally, in the case of Hungarians beyond the borders, there is more to it than this because there were some difficult moments in the past three and a half years when the political strategy or economic policy strategy opted for by Hungary came up against fierce international opposition, and support and solidarity were of the utmost significance in those instances. It always made me feel happy and gave me as well as the entire Government or the political community responsible for governing the country strength that when support was required for one cause or another, we could always rely on the organisations of Hungarians beyond the borders and the Hungarian people beyond the borders. I might even venture to say – and I believe it is no exaggeration – that had this support and solidarity, that was also manifested by Hungarian communities in the West, not been quite as wide and extensive, perhaps, we would not have been able to attain the goals that we defined three and a half years ago. I would therefore like to say thanks to the representatives of Hungarian organisations beyond the borders. I would also like to say thanks to the representatives of the opposition, the Hungarian opposition, because some major changes have taken place in Hungary in the past three to three and a half years as, while historical, ideological, intellectual and theoretical differences have survived as regards the notions Hungarian political parties developed with respect to Hungarian history, Europe, nation and the future, these differences – in contrast to the fifteen to twenty years before – did not prevent Hungarian political parties from reaching a consensus on certain issues of significance for Hungarian communities beyond the borders. The brightest example of this consensus was the law on dual citizenship which also enjoyed the endorsement of the opposition, and there were quite a few other instances regarding Hungarian communities beyond the borders when, while intelligently emphasising the difference, we were, on the whole, able to come to an agreement because we are, after all, all Hungarians. The latest example was when politically innocent Hungarian television viewers may have had the happy impression in connection with the Szeklers’ march that the Members of Parliament they elected share the same view on this matter, regardless of the Hungarian political party they belong to, that they effectively see eye to eye on this issue and stand up for the autonomy of the people of Transylvania and Szeklerland. I believe that this also makes it easier for the organisations of Hungarians beyond the borders as you obviously have to maintain relations with all Hungarian political forces, and life is simpler if you are able to maintain relations with all Hungarian political forces with a clear conscience, with regard to the fact that there is agreement in Hungary on important issues concerning Hungarian communities abroad. Life is easier for us all and our efforts are more fruitful if there are such shared points of agreement in the motherland.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After saying thanks, I would like to say a few words about how we see the situation of Hungary and what the most important questions are yet to be resolved which also concern Hungarians beyond the borders, swiftly adding that the very term itself is dated. It goes to show that the change of paradigm is not so very easy even for those that devise the change of paradigm. For instance, the term „beyond the borders” is not used in the Fundamental Law, and it perhaps does not make sense at all in the new context that we are now trying to create. Should I nonetheless give in to the temptation of the past and make this mistake, please forgive me. The first and most important thing I would like to point out is that, of course, no one knows the outcome of the next parliamentary elections – this follows from the nature of democracy. No matter how much we would like to know what the future will bring, this is not possible. One thing appears to be highly likely, however; namely that the constitutional foundations that we have laid down in the past four years cannot be removed. In simple terms, the realm of politics is such in Hungary that the organisations of the Hungarians living beyond the borders in the Carpathian Basin may prepare for the continuation of life in Hungary within the same constitutional boundaries that we created through the new constitution, the Fundamental Law.

Therefore, the theses laid down in the Fundamental Law will constitute firm theoretical and historical foundations for the work to be done in the years ahead. Secondly, if we attempt to understand the future, we may claim, in particular in the light of the documents issued by the European Union the day before yesterday, that the Hungarian community living in the Carpathian Basin may rely on the support of a successful motherland in the years to come. It is no longer disputed in Hungary, and the dispute in Europe is no longer about whether what we have done in Hungary in the past three and a half years is successful but how successful what we have done in the past three and a half years is. International comparisons offer some guidance; but we may find criteria of comparison which indicate that although we are successful, we are not as successful as we could be, not as successful as we should be, and so on. It is a fact, however, that the economic policy and social organisation measures that we started three and a half years ago have earned us international recognition not only in Europe but also beyond Europe: reduction of sovereign debt, budget, unemployment, economic growth; I could go on listing the indicators which you yourselves are no doubt aware of. This is not a question any more. We are, of course, familiar with politics in Hungary. We usually say in the governing political family that we would like to see a government that we are satisfied with; even if it is our own. There is no doubt that a situation will not emerge in Hungary in the next few decades when the word „satisfaction” may be mentioned in the same sentence as the word „government”. But it is true that the turn of phrase „Hungary is doing better”, that we most frequently use in evaluation of the past three and a half years, is in harmony with the Hungarian people’s frame of mind because it does not merely state the fact that Hungary is doing better but also implies that it is not doing well enough. There is, no doubt, scope for doing better; however, there is also no doubt that events and actions have directions, international correlations and sufficient depth.

I would like to draw your attention to one thing; this is the change of mentality that has occurred in the whole of Central Europe in the last four to five years, and most rapidly out of all in Hungary. I had the opportunity yesterday to tell the members of the Diaspora Council that, for thirty years, whenever the issue emerged that something did not work in Hungary – and we are not talking about mere details but, say, the entire economy, or, in the mid-eighties, our political system – and that it needed to be mended, and the question arose as to how we should go about it, everyone came up with the same answer: that we should check out how they do it in the West, and we should then, mutatis mutandis, use the same solutions in Hungary as well; if they are successful, we, too, will be successful. I am now presenting to you this pattern of thinking in simplified terms; but this was the governing mentality, and its remnants continue to survive in Hungarian politics to this day. I often hear arguments that are based on this simple correlation. At the same time, it has been quite clear since 2008-2009 that things are not going well west of us, and if we do the same as they do, things will not be going well here either. Therefore, a change has taken place in the past five years, and if someone were to say now, in search of a solution to a problem, that we should do what the west does – and I am not going to mention specific countries, although I could mention quite a few –, everyone would start scratching their heads, convinced that the Honourable Member of Parliament has lost his or her mind, as many of the countries of Western Europe are observing far worse trends in their day-to-day lives than we are. Sovereign debts are on the rise, they have difficulty in keeping their budget deficits below the desired level and unemployment is rising continuously in most Western-European countries. There is hardly any successful Western-European country. But the very idea that everything in general that takes place west of us would also be desirable in Hungary is no longer a valid and accepted argument. I pointed this out yesterday as well. People as well as politicians – citizens in general – respond to this situation in one of two ways. One is that they become alarmed. If you lose a key or code that is capable of resolving any issue in such a simple manner, the danger may arise that you will not understand what is going on around you and will therefore become scared and continue to stubbornly insist on believing in the constructions that ruled the world for 25-30 years. Another possible human reaction, as opposed to fear and alarm, is courage, when you do not perceive the removal of these „crutches” as a loss but as encouragement to walk on your own two feet as of now; that is, to resolve each and every issue on your own in order to determine what the best solution would be to a given problem for you as a Hungarian and for Hungary. I believe that the world, the world of Europe, is going through this phase at present, and every country itself must find its own response to the current crisis phenomena.

We may all see that the great debate of the years ahead that will determine our common lives may be best described as to how this phenomenon will manifest itself in Western Europe. Not here, as I believe that in Central Europe we are now past this milestone issue. However, Western Europe is yet to tackle this issue, and using the ornate language of politics, we could say that the main question is what stance the countries not forming part of the euro zone should take in relation to the core countries of the euro zone against the background of the necessarily intensified cooperation of those latter countries. Should they pursue the same path, should they opt for the same solutions, should they proximate to the core in their adopted solutions, or is it possible to envisage a future for the non-euro countries in which they only use the euro zone as a point of reference, rather than as a recipe for the building of their societies and economies? This will be the most important debate of the next few years. And we can already see signs of this. These sometimes emerge in boring issues – boring from the viewpoint of the public interest – such as the debate on the banking union at present; but I can see this structure in every issue. Therefore, the most important question of the next few years is that, while an increasingly cooperating euro zone is unfolding with a common budget and, in my opinion, eventually a common fiscal system and common social policies at the end of the process – this is what many refer to as a two-speed Europe, a phrase that I would rather not use now –, what relationship Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and the others that are not members of the euro zone today will have with this euro zone. It is an important development that even Poland, the country that is closest to the euro zone and is most desirous to join the zone, publicly concluded a month or two ago that Poland’s accession to the euro zone is not topical in the next ten years. This is a new situation which may have serious consequences for us all and invites the organisations of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin to embark on some serious common thinking. I do not wish to answer these questions now because, at this point in time, Hungarian or Central European politics is only at the stage of defining these questions. I merely wish to point out that, in highly simplified terms, the most significant political, economic theory and economic debates of the next five to ten years in Hungary will be conducted in the context of European Union versus national sovereignty.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Hungary’s position in this debate is highly specific; the past three and a half years have already advanced this debate. This is because while we speak of the successful reduction of sovereign debt, fiscal achievements and results in the field of employment, we must not forget that we are speaking of a very poor country. If you look at the budget for next year, you will see that, as every year, there will be wage increases also next year, we decided yesterday on the introduction of extra child care benefits, a new tax relief will be introduced as of next year for those in the low income bracket, there will be cuts in household expenditures and the situation will no doubt improve somewhat. This cannot, however, diminish the fact that the average net earnings are and will continue to remain around EUR 600 in Hungary. This is extremely low by European standards, and pensions, too, only amount to EUR 300-320-330 monthly. This draws the attention of Hungary’s political leadership as at any time to the fact that, in addition to the macro-economic figures, we must also keep track of the development of day-to-day living conditions. In a case to the contrary, while we perceive a macro-economic improvement, we may fall into the trap of believing that the day-to-day living conditions, too, improve proportionately. This is not so. We shall need ongoing governmental measures in order to convert the improvement in the macro-economic situation into our daily lives. At this point, all Hungarian politicians quote the poet Attila József, who wrote in one of his poems „a thousand diseases, high infant mortality rate … it would be time to free ourselves at last!”.

Freedom and free life are two different things. In the decade or two that we have left behind, we had the notion in Hungary, that seemed correct at the time, that the totality of freedom rights is the same as freedom. The last few years, in particular, the recent recession-stricken years have shown that this is not so. The totality of freedom rights and freedom are not one and the same thing because you need many other things to lead a free life, such as a job, a living, the security of raising your children, and I could go on. In my view, Hungary has set out on a path in the past three and a half years towards creating the conditions for a free life, in addition to freedom. We have not yet reached our goal; I cited these figures in order to make you appreciate what a formidable task we have ahead of us in the next few years. And I also cited these figures because, while we naturally think in terms of the entire Hungarian community and attempt to make available or to open up all tangible opportunities that arise from the improvement of the macro-economic situation to the Hungarian communities living beyond the borders in the Carpathian Basin, amidst all these macro-economic results, we have extreme burdens to carry here in the homeland and must fulfil some extremely serious tasks in the years to come.

You may have perceived the Hungarian Government’s aspiration of thinking in terms of a nation, not only on the front pages of the newspapers but also in its actual economic policy decisions. We seek to ensure that the economic situation that has set in in the motherland, the improvement of the macro-economic situation, should also manifest itself in territories beyond the borders. There are some very modest signs of this aspiration; however, we are very far from claiming that the economic development of territories inhabited by Hungarians but situated outside the state borders is in harmony with the dynamism, content and quality of the economic growth of the motherland. We have to work hard to achieve this. This will probably be one of the most important questions of the next governmental cycle, in order to convert the economic strategy devised for the Carpathian Basin in theory into reality – a functional and operational economic strategy. In order to have a policy that promotes small and medium-sized businesses, but not only within the Hungarian state borders but wherever Hungarian communities live in the entire Carpathian Basin. And I could go on listing the questions that you, too, regularly raise whenever we succeed in establishing a genuine exchange.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On the whole, in addition to its many deficiencies, European politics has an important advantage and virtue; namely, that the facts count sooner or later. I therefore sincerely hope that, in the next few years, the Hungarian community in the Carpathian Basin will have the support of a motherland increasingly appreciated and acknowledged on account of Hungary’s macro-economic, economic and social achievements. I believe that, in the light of the recently published international analyses, we may venture to say that Hungary will have to be reckoned with as a continuously strengthening and consolidating country with an economic growth rate in excess of the European average that, in contrast to the European trends, reduces unemployment, increases employment and opens new opportunities also in the department of every-day living. In consequence, the headwind against which we have been compelled to work in the past three and a half years will abate significantly. This will not yet manifest itself before the parliamentary elections because of the nature of parliamentary elections. European politics is an internationally organised political scheme; there are sister organisations, international associations and international party alliances. Everyone will support their own. The involvement of foreign elements in Hungarian life will increase. Therefore, the perception will not yet evolve in the next four to five months that Hungary is now a country past and beyond disputes on the international scene. Furthermore, a contrary perception will be promoted. I am convinced, however, that after the parliamentary elections, in particular, if, once again, a stable government is allowed to be formed, which is today a most coveted „merchandise” in politics throughout Europe, international appreciation will come about and the current headwind will be replaced by a tailwind in the relationship between Hungary and the countries of the European Union, the alliance that we all belong to. I believe that the work done in the past three years may yield Hungary not only results expressed in specific figures but also a significantly enhanced prestige. After all, we were able to develop our very own economic and social policy – often in opposition to the entire European Union, often in infringement of the interests of larger Member States and often in dispute with them – which has since proved to be viable and sustainable. I believe that this gives us grounds for hope for the years that will follow the elections. At the same time, if the motherland is strong, recognised and its prestige is on the rise, it is able to provide much more support and far more opportunities for the Hungarian communities beyond the borders in the Carpathian Basin than a weak and debilitated motherland without self-esteem.

On the whole, I believe that even the measures which did not directly target the Hungarian communities living in the Carpathian Basin outside the Hungarian state borders but have led to the strengthening of the motherland, such as the repayment of the IMF loan and other economic measures, have, in actual fact, created scope for a stronger policy in relation to Hungarian communities beyond the borders for the years ahead. This, in combination with what I started my speech with – namely that a near-pan-national consensus has been reached in the Hungarian Parliament, if not on all issues, but on a few important policy issues concerning Hungarian communities beyond the borders, such as dual citizenship and autonomy –, gives us reasonable grounds for planning the next four years of the Hungarian community in the Carpathian Basin optimistically and with high hopes.

Thank you for your attention.

(Prime Minister’s Office)