Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s replies to Members of Parliament responding to his address in Parliament

Thank you for the floor, Mr. Speaker.

Just a few brief comments, as I agree with everything that our parliamentary group leader - my parliamentary group leader - has said. Thank you very much.

Denying reality doesn't help, my fellow representative Toroczkai. It seems rather funny to present Budapest as a failure, when Budapest is at 160 per cent of the European Union's level of development. When talking about the number of children, I think it's unreasonable for a national party to ignore the fact that if there hadn't been a family-friendly shift in Hungary, 180,000 Hungarian children wouldn't have been born. Please respect this and acknowledge it! This is a serious matter! The reason 180,000 children have been born since 2010 is because there's been a family-friendly shift. It isn't enough - it would be better if there were twice as many, or ten times as many. But if everything had remained as it was, as the DK [Democratic Coalition] left it to us, today there would be 180,000 fewer Hungarian children. I'm not saying that a right-wing opposition should support a right-wing party, but in these matters of national importance I don't think one should try to trip each other up. There are others here with whom this battle must be fought.

Several commenters mentioned the number of crimes being committed. I think it's foolish to attack the police. I'm not saying that it's unfair, we've moved beyond that, but it's not sensible. Our police officers are good, the police force is organised, the police do their job well, they're dedicated and effective. The statistics you've presented conceal the fact that the increase in crime is mainly due to crimes committed online, from abroad, by foreigners - and yet you're scapegoating the police. Why are you doing this to the police? The police are doing their job, they're doing it properly, they're protecting us, and yet you're using the lowest tricks in order to attack them; I don't think that's right. The situation is similar with doctors and healthcare providers. I know that in this house the denial of reality is common practice, but I'd like to draw your attention to the following two facts. In 2010 there were 34 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants in Hungary, and now there are 44; that's not fewer, it's more. I'm telling you, Representative Lukács: 44 is more than 34, not fewer. The situation is similar with regard to healthcare staff. Listen! There were 96,000 skilled workers in 2010, and this number rose from 96,000 to 104,000. I say to Representative Lukács: 104,000 is more than 96,000, so the number of people working in health care has not decreased, but increased.

My fellow representative Mr. Toroczkai mentioned Dóra Dúró's motion, which I support; but I disagree with his assessment. In my opinion there was no intention - nor is there any intention - for anyone here to humiliate any female Member of Parliament, including Dóra Dúró. I understand that the issue is that her motion was submitted with a minor amendment under the name of a pro-government representative. I'm not saying that this is elegant, but the point is that we accepted the representative's motion. I was in the opposition for sixteen years, and I have a nice collection of examples of how this works. I suggest that the representative doesn't see this as some kind of indignity or insult, but rather as recognition. I'd like to say that we recognise the work she's done, we thank her for her proposal, we'll support its substance, and I hope that the majority in Parliament will do the same.

Honourable Members,

Representative Lukács also says that we've been releasing people smugglers. He's said this several times, and I've been compelled to respond to it several times: we're not releasing a single people smuggler, but rather expelling them from the country. Do you understand the difference between releasing someone and expelling them from the country? The fact is that we're expelling human traffickers from the country, because we don't want Hungarian taxpayers to fund them; and we're expelling them in such a way that, according to the law, if they return and commit any crime, they'll receive double the punishment. This is why none of them are coming back. So this is a success, Mr. Lukács!

Representative Arató spoke at length about pensioners. I don't want to offend my fellow representative Arató, but it's hard not to. Still, it takes something - perhaps it could be called immoral recklessness, political courage or pride, but I don't know how it works over on the other side - to take away the thirteenth month's pension from pensioners, we give it back, and then you attack us on the issue of pensions. What should we call this? You take away the thirteenth month's salary from most public servants, and then you attack us, who did this and gave it back. So I'm happy to listen to the opposition representatives' comments about the Government, but if we want to have a meaningful discussion with each other I still suggest that we give some consideration to the facts and events that have happened in the past. You took away the thirteenth month's pension from pensioners, and we gave it back to them - I can report that this is the score in the DK-Fidesz match.

I'd also like to say a few words about how you're trying to describe the state of the Hungarian economy using all kinds of macroeconomic figures. I think these are important and meaningful discussions, but the true performance of an economy is revealed by what happens in real life. In real life, what's happening is that today every young person can take out a loan in their own name at 3 per cent, and have their own home - going from being a tenant to a homeowner. What's happening in reality is that if someone has two or three children, their tax credit - which was previously 40,000 to 100,000 forints - will double. This is the reality! You can tell me about macroeconomic indicators, but this is the reality. The reality is that if someone receives childcare allowance or infant support benefit, they don't pay tax, and therefore their income increases by between forty and sixty thousand forints per month. This is the reality! You can tell me about macroeconomic data, but this is what matters, this is what's happening. And the same is true for pensions: pensioners will receive everything they're entitled to. Tax exemption for mothers: one million Hungarian mothers will not pay income tax.

This, my dear friends, is the reality - not the fairy tales you tell about macroeconomic indicators. This is the reality! Reality is on our side, reality is on the Government's side, reality is on Hungary's side, and this is why we'll win the next election - no matter what you do, Ladies and Gentlemen! Reality is our friend.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Finally, several people have mentioned the Szőlő utca case. There's a specific aspect about which I can provide you with the following information: [DK Member of the European Parliament] Klára Dobrev's statement to the press lacks any factual basis that would justify legal proceedings. The fact is that this is a sneaky smear campaign against targeted members of the Government that's reminiscent of communist times. The fact is that every member of the Government is subject to national security checks - I can guarantee you that. And I can also guarantee that everyone who has slandered, everyone who has made false accusations, and everyone who has attacked members of the Government will face appropriate legal proceedings.

Thank you very much.