Viktor Orbán's Speech at the event organised to celebrate the appointment of the Directors of the District Administrative Offices

December 19, 2012 3:19 PM

17 December 2012, Budapest

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen!

Let me start by saluting former Prime Minister Péter Boross, who has honoured us with his presence and to whom we owe a special debt of gratitude because when we began to reorganise public administration, he took on the responsibilities of the opposition in place of the opposition who were tattered and disorganised in the summer of 2010, and after examining every single one of our recommendations in detail made comments and supplemented the new government's public administration concepts with his own suggestions and recommendations. We succeeded in incorporating many of these, and some remain open, which reminds us that there may be one or two professional debates in the future for which we will be requesting the Prime Minister's professional advice. Thank you very much for your efforts!

Secondly, let me welcome our honourable friend Tibor Navracsics. Perhaps some of you still remember that when the Government was formed in 2010 and I introduced the members of the cabinet to the public, then I introduced the future Minister of Public Administration and Justice, and future Deputy Prime Minister, as a brave man who has taken on a task that in all probability no other would be prepared to undertake in all of Hungary: he will be attempting to modernise the Hungarian public administration system – as we heard him state – while placing the workings of Hungarian public administration on the foundations of tradition and modernity. Minister Navracsics has overseen two years of hard work and I must say that it is to a great extent his achievement that we have arrived at this moment and you, as the future directors of District Offices, may swear your oaths. Thank you very much for your work, Tibor!

I have already referred to the fact, and although this is not a professional debate let me include it here, that there remain one or two issues that must be solved. True, this does not involve the operation of District Offices, but is rather an issue related to county public administration and ministerial administration. Not all of the preciously de-concentrated public administration bodies overseen by ministries have been included within the new public administration system. We shall continue to examine which public administration tasks would be worth directing from county offices instead of keeping them under direct ministerial control. However, this is a debate that must be conducted with suitable caution and in extreme professional detail, and which requires continuous and progressive decision-making on our part.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

And now let me also welcome you, as the directors of our new District Offices. Mikszáth wrote somewhere that, and I quote, the Hungarian people have a much better heart than to ever have good public administration. These are mysterious words. Perhaps the writer left the precise meaning of his thought intentionally vague. If we imagine him sitting here, we might perhaps see that cynical wink or the signature pipe smoke, but I think that this is a sentence that includes much wisdom. "The Hungarian people have a much better heart than to ever have good public administration." The wisdom infused within this statement is that the state is not a faceless, soulless mechanism, and not just a collection of rules and regulations. The state cannot be described as simply a machine, even if its precise operation and accountability also requires a – sometimes monotonous – daily routine. The state must on the one hand represent those principles and traditions which make it what it is, while at the same time operating with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine when it comes to processing issues of public administration. However, the idea of the state in people's minds is always linked to the willingness to help of those who work in public offices, and the human of inhuman nature of daily administration.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

When citizens think about what the Hungarian State means to them, then in future they will be thinking increasingly of District Administration Offices. It will be in the District Offices, and in the capital the individual Budapest district offices, that people will most often come face-to-face with the state. For this reason, a heavy responsibility will weigh down on the District Offices, and especially on the shoulders of their Directors, because they will be representing the state; in the words of Tibor Navracsics, they will be: the state's people. It will depend on you if people really feel that there has been a qualitative change and that the reorganised Hungarian State is capable of fulfilling all the functions that can be rightly expected of it in the 21st century. You must also show this qualitative change by always keeping in mind that it is not the people who serve public offices, but instead it is the public offices that are there to serve the people. The term citizen of the state could easily be reversed, we are a civil government after all; you must embody the state of the citizens. You therefore have a great responsibility, because it will be the experiences gained in the District Offices that will determine the image that Hungarian citizens create of their own state. The employees of District Offices must not discriminate, but must always be friendly and welcome those who turn to them for help and advice with a level of respect that goes beyond the minimum level required by the official order of business.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Districts and District Offices were once a inseparable parts of the Hungarian public administration system. This system was scrapped in 1983 with the stroke of a pen. Several wills and powers formed the development of the Hungarian State during the period of transition and regime change, but despite the best of intentions the operation of the state was characterised by continuous functional disturbances. The image that had been built up during socialism, according to which the state is a foreign, impersonal thing that works much more to our detriment than to our advantage, did not change. We, however, are now laying the foundations of the new and well-thought-out system within the framework of which a public administration can finally be established in which the client and those who turn to us for help are the centre of attention. The reform of the public administration system was in all our interests: citizens, public administration employees and state leaders alike.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

It was the legacy of socialism that private interests were quick to overshadow the public interest. In many cases, divergence, greed, fear and speculative wheeler-dealing could even be experienced within the workings of the state, especially within the field of finances. This is also one of the reasons why Hungary was much less prepared for the crisis than many other countries. The crisis that is affecting the western world, and especially Europe, has encouraged us to fortify the Hungarian state. I'm sure you are also aware of the many and varied debates that are ongoing as to what the world will be like after the end of the crisis. What will power, trade and economic conditions be like? What shifts in economic power might come about? There are differing theories, but one thing that everyone agrees on is that not only in Hungary, but throughout the world, the state will play a larger and different role than it has in recent decades. Accordingly, the Hungarian state must be reinforced. A transparent structure must be created in place of the previous uncertain public administration system, in which the tasks and responsibilities of local governments and the District Offices are clearly defined. Public administration responsibilities will be passed on top the District Offices from 1 January 2013, but local issues shall remain with local governments. It is hoped that the state will reclaim its responsibilities while fully respecting the autonomy of local governments and guaranteeing the supply and salaries of former local government employees who will now be employed by District Offices.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

More than two years ago we began governing with the ambition of building a strong Hungary. It was not according to some ideology or under the spell of some ethereal ideal that we wished to achieve this goal, but rather so that the Hungarian state could provide security even in critical times, and would be able to provide a solid background for work, for sorting out everyday issues, for the growth and evolution of national creative power, and ultimately for the renewal and ascension of Hungary. One of the important elements of the reorganisation of the state is what in business language is referred to as profile cleaning. The establishment of District Offices is also part of this idea. Local governments were not only incapacitated and made vulnerable within the filed of finances in the years preceding 2010, but also because they were burdened with many tasks and responsibilities that it should not have been their duty to perform. Today, the state is reclaiming everything that is his, and which it is its responsibility to perform, together with the responsibility involved. Taking over these responsibilities will improve the efficiency, and I sincerely hope the cost-efficiency of the administration of public issues and issues that concern the state and the public sector in general. The objective of establishing districts is precisely that citizens and enterprises be able to perform their administrative requirements more quickly and easily. This will save everyone time, legwork, stress and lots of money. The simplification of official administration is especially important for small and medium-sized businesses. The reorganising Hungarian state will also contribute to joint success within the field of the economy. A non-transparent, slow-moving state is incapable of serving a well-oiled economy, and of course our objective is to develop from the current situation to a level where we once again play a decisive role in the economic development of Central Europe. To achieve this, we must create one of Europe's most competitive economic environments here in Hungary. Let us never forge that only in possession of an efficiently operating public administration system will we be capable of increasing the country's economic competitiveness. However, we can only realise these joint objectives with a strong state that is capable of meeting the challenges it faces in the world following the crisis. The achievement of our objectives will be assured by the fact that the state will finally be fulfilling the required tasks and responsibilities well, and creates a solid foundation for its citizens for enterprise and a better future according to their merits. And so the reinforcement of the state does not stem from some statist ideal, but is based on our own, clear interests and realistic experience. The vision of the state we have before us is one that is strong, fair and worthy of respect.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

You have undertaken an office of great responsibility, and though it may sometimes be to a greater or lesser extent your decisions will have a serious effect on human lives and futures. You must act according to this when dealing with citizens' issues, and you should always keep in mind the traditions of more than a millennium old the Hungarian State. Please, always keep in mind that your represent a state that is at once strong and worthy of respect, and for precisely these reasons is always willing to provide every help possible to its citizens. I encourage you to truly be in the service of the public when practising your profession! I wish you much strength, health and both professional and human success!

Thank you for your attention!