Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Speech at the Fidesz Election Rally

Greetings to István Pásztor, the leader of the Vojvodina Hungarians, greetings to Mr. Joseph Daul, President of the European People's Party, who has honoured us with his presence and his support, and greetings to you, the participants of the Peace March. Welcome to all of you.

And so we have gathered here once again from every corner of the country from Debrecen to Sopron, from Kézdivásárhely to Szabadka, and from Beregszász to Komárom. The good Lord has aided us, and so we have also arrived at this day. In eight days' time, next Sunday, the people of Hungary will have the opportunity to decide on our future in free and democratic elections. Our four years of government have been completed. It is our hope that it is only the first four years of our administration that have come to an end. We have come here today to tell each other, to tell the country and to tell the world: we ask for four more years. Four more years!

It would seem that this is the suitable place, moment and occasion to tell you straight out, from my heart, that I am grateful to you. I am grateful because you have given me the opportunity, and you have given me the honour and dignity, of having been able to serve as Prime Minister for four years. For having had the opportunity to serve you and my homeland. There is no more uplifting calling or greater honour. We have worked in cooperation with you to form Hungary. We have formed it and renewed it, modernised it and streamlined it. From a broken down, shambling wreck with a flat tyre we have constructed a safe, fast and bold racing car. From a Hungary that was in recession, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and had lost its self-confidence and self-esteem we have risen to become a nation that is gaining strength with each new day and that has regained its self-esteem and its self-confidence. A nation that is again worthy of its former reputation and can look forward to a wonderful future.

Next Sunday, we will be submitting our votes in a free country. We still remember well that this was not always the case. The Hungarians have made huge sacrifices and given their blood and their sweat so that they might decide freely on their future in a free country. Twenty-five years ago, we also met here on this Square. This is where everything began. It was here on this Square that the liberation of Hungary began. It was here that we that we declared to the world, square in the eyes, that we condemn those who betray their homeland and we despise those who become the mercenaries of foreign invaders. It was then that we declared to the world that we shall never again let our future be taken away and buried. It was no accident that we gathered here on this Square. The spirit of this location, of Heroes' Square, gives us strength and obligation. Here rule the spirits of our heroes who did not give in to their own fears or to superior numbers and who always stood their ground and were eventually victorious. This is also what we want. We want this Square to be a reminder to us. A reminder of the time when we were young, brave and determined. Let it be a reminder of the fact that for twenty years we struggled through blood sweat and tears, and that we struggled with dignity. Let it be a reminder of the fact that when we did finally manage to move forward, the old comrades always appeared and pushed the wheel of life, and with it our own lives, back and rolled us back towards the past. Let us remember that this was how things went for twenty years. But let us also remember that we, who are here today, never gave up. We have won great victories and suffered heavy, tragic defeats. When we suffered defeat, we did not run away, we did not scatter and we did not search for individual routes of escape, but we stayed here, stood our ground and stood together. We stood our ground and waited for our moment. And after twenty years, when everyone had had enough of discord and had had enough of the old comrades, we became united and in April of 2010 we won a revolution, a constitutional revolution. We declared, loud enough for the whole of Europe to hear us, that the Hungarians want nothing to do with communism or socialism anymore, and want nothing more of the masquerading of the left with which the Béla Kun's had been entertaining Europe for a hundred years. We had had enough of the hypocritical charade, of the bureaucrats and tycoons claiming to represent the country's workers, and we had had enough of the falsehoods, the trickery and the lies. You remember, we rolled up our sleeves and we got to work. In just four years, we performed everything that we hadn't had the strength to perform over the previous twenty years. We achieved everything we could, and I sometimes feel we achieved even more.

When the historians record the unique history of these past four years, what they will write is that in 2010 the Hungarians established an unparalleled unity within Europe. They will record that the Hungarians introduced a fair system of shouldering public burdens and expanded it to include the banks and the multinationals. They will record that it was regarded as practically a miracle when they pulled their country back from the edge of bankruptcy and turned it into a growing economy during just four years. And, Ladies and Gentlemen, they will record that the Hungarians embarked on seemingly impossible tasks, but eventually battled successfully against the goliath's of the financial world, the army of imperial bureaucrats and the biggest Danube flood in history. And they will record that the Hungarians not only protected their workplaces but created hundreds of thousands of new jobs. They will state that Hungary freed itself from the helping embrace of the International Monetary Fund, freed its towns and cities from billions of forints in debt and broke out of the debt trap. And they will write that while facing the whole world they created a national constitution, returned to their Christian roots and unified their nation, which had been dislocated within the Carpathian nation and dispersed throughout the world. We showed the world that history can also be written like this. Not just with weapons, violence and blood, as is otherwise usually the case in this corner of the world. It can also be achieved through solidarity and through unity, through sacrifice and effort, and it can be achieved according to the Hungarian mind-set.

My Dear Friends,

Now is the time for the second chapter in this wonderful story. Now is the time when we must show the world that what we have achieved was not just a brief flash of light, but a realisation, an enlightenment and a resurrection from our ruins. That it was not just a trick of the eye but the bright sunshine of a new era. That it wasn't simple bravado or a flash in the pan, but our very character, freed from its chains, restraints and rust, that this is our real self. This is the time to show them that this is what we Hungarians are really like. Unified and strong. Free and dutiful. Brave and sober. Humane and patriotic.

My Dear Friends,

Many of us have gathered here today, and there are many who are with us in spirit watching from home. Many hundreds and thousand and millions of Hungarians. All sorts of people, all kinds of different, unique lives. But despite these colourful differences and unique attributes, there is something that links us, draws us in a single direction and sets us side-by-side. We, all of us, have a common passion. Our common passion is called Hungary. We, who are gathered here in such numbers as perhaps never before in the history of Hungary, have not become slaves to any political doctrine of ideology; only our homeland was capable of enslaving our hearts.

My Dear Friends,

We know what it means to be Hungarian. On the banks of the Danube and Ipoly rivers, all along the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, down among the wine hills of Bácska, at the foot of the Hargita, everywhere in this corner of the world, to be Hungarian means to have courage. To be Hungarian means being a part of a huge and open conspiracy in which we will not allow the Hungarian language to be pushed out of Hungarian-inhabited towns and cities or from schools and churches. You are part of a huge and open conspiracy according to which we want to keep Hungary a country of Hungarians. Being Hungarian means being both a rebel freedom fighter and the devoted guardian of observed order. Being Hungarian means that you are never satisfied with your government, but if you need to, then you will stand up for it because you know that your homeland can be occupied, spoiled and pillaged in the twinkle of an eye, and even you will be made a pauper in your own homeland if there isn't a strong, national leadership at the country's helm. Being Hungarian also means that we have the blessing of God. This is why we are able to still stand here as a solitary people without relatives even after a thousand years. If we keep to the supreme laws, if we remain the bastion of Christianity, if instead of cursing we lift up our hearts, then we will receive what we deserve: we can keep the most beautiful country in the world together with the hope of a better life that goes with it. We can build a future for ourselves in which all Hungarians are given the opportunity to create a useful, meaningful and full life for themselves. And, My Friends, being Hungarian also means that one's homeland is always capable of more than it happens to be achieving. Being Hungarian also means never ending opportunity and inexhaustible talent; that there is more within us than we have unearthed so far.

My Dear Friends,

The long and the short of it is that be there rain or snow or sleet, we like being Hungarian. And over the course of the past four years we have shown that we not only like being Hungarian, but that we also know how to be Hungarian. We have achieved great things, but you will see, this is only the beginning. The really great acts are just around the corner. This is when we can and must construct a new Hungarian economy that provides work for everyone. This is when we can and must stop the reduction of our population and turn it around into growth. This is when we can and must ensure the permanent security of Hungarian farmland. This is when we can and must provide people with a safe and dignified old age. And this is when we can and must create schools that provide an opportunity, a way forward and a brighter future for upcoming generations. This is when we can and must create a Hungary that makes our children more noble, more intelligent and stronger, that makes them better than we are. Don't listen to people who tell you that this is impossible. Those who have worked through these four years with us know full well that we can erase the word impossible from our dictionaries.

My Dear Friends,

And in closing, some thoughts about our chances. Let's not beat around the bush, let us speak plainly: the stars are well aligned and are positioned nicely. We are the front-runners in these elections. But beware! Having a good chance of victory is not equal to winning. Remember 2002! A good chance does not in itself produce results; it doesn't bring victory of its own accord; that requires effort. It is we who must make the effort and work hard to achieve it. Never forget that chances must be made good. We must make them good together through our efforts during the next eight days. There is no chance that cannot be missed. Those who split their votes, splinter our unity. Those who splinter our unity are taking a risk. Don't forget the first rule of an election battle: strength lies in unity. We are in the same camp; we have the same flag, vote only for Fidesz! Yes, we must value each and every vote and we need everyone and everybody's vote. Things could depend on just a single vote. As we learnt in school: For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, For the want of a horse the rider was lost, For the want of a rider the battle was lost, For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost, And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail! And do not relent; do not relent until Sunday night! The only certain result is the one that has already been announced. If on Sunday night you feel that you have given it your all, that you have not an ounce of strength left and that you can hardly remain standing, then victory will be ours. Then, and only then, we will be victorious. We will achieve a great and glorious victory.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am proud to have fought at your side for the past twenty years. I am proud of our second regime change and of the four years we have spent working in cooperation, and together, we can all be proud of our homeland and of the people of Hungary who have carried all this through. I am proud and I can hardly wait to work with you during the next four years. Raise your flags high! On, to victory!

Go, Hungary! Go, Hungarians!

(Prime Minister’s Office)