The country needs a patriotic government, one that is committed to the countryside

The future of agriculture is one of the most important questions of the nation's independence and sovereignty; therefore, the development of the countryside is one of the most important tasks of the next four years, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday in Mezőfalva.

At the opening of the Sowing Day event organised by the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture as part of a series of events leading up to the Chamber's Ploughland Days and Agricultural Machinery Show, the Prime Minister highlighted that regarding the development of the countryside, there were two directions: one of them is the re-industrialisation of the countryside, while the other one is the reinforcement of the processing and food industries.

He said the re-industrialisation of the countryside is spectacular, "Kecskemét has been turned into Mercedes City, Nyíregyháza into Lego City, Debrecen is slowing becoming BMW City, Szeged is turning into BYD City." The re-industrialisation of the countryside is making good progress; therefore, the reinforcement of the processing and food industries will be the most important task of the next four years, he argued.

According to Mr Orbán, in order for the food and processing industries to gain in strength, "we must prevent others from forcing on us rules that are contrary to our best interests," we must strive "to keep both arable land and the processing industry in Hungarian hands," while it is equally important that profits are not taken out of the country, meaning that "from sowing seeds all the way to retail, we must keep everything under Hungarian control."

He also said if we put agriculture into the context of the national economy, the development of the economy will have four priority areas in the next four years. The first one is the electric vehicle industry, the second one is the pharmaceutical industry, the third one is the defence industry, while the fourth one is the rebuilding of the food industry, the Hungarian processing industry, he pointed out.

The Prime Minister said at present, water appears to be the most important issue of agriculture as "in theory, Hungary is a fresh water great power, except we're not utilising this treasure well enough." He recalled that at the time of water regulation in the 19^th century, the underlying concept was that we must defend ourselves against water in order to avoid floods. Now, however, we must retain, rather than drain water away. It will be the job of the next government to keep as much water in the country as possible and to make it available to farmers, he stated, adding that reservoirs and canals must be built.

He promised that in the next government programme, a separate chapter will be dedicated to the Great Plain Programme which focuses primarily on this issue.

The Prime Minister highlighted: the Mercosur Agreement concluded by the European Union is a threat to domestic agriculture as in consequence of this agreement, Latin American products could appear on the market which could push the products of Hungarian farmers off the market. Therefore, a parliamentary majority must be achieved in the elections which will prevent the entry into force of the agreement in Hungary.

We must not let the Ukrainians into the European Union, Mr Orbán added, mentioning that the admission of the neighbouring country would not only bring the war into the community, but cheaper production made possible in Ukraine by less stringent regulations would kill the European agricultural system as we know it today. In order to prevent this, Hungary needs a patriotic government, one that is committed to the countryside, he stated, stressing that he is ready to form such a government in the future as well.

In the context of Ukraine's EU membership, Mr Orbán highlighted: the Ukrainians are "tough guys," "real men," "they're fighting heroically in a rather hopeless war," but people are also working hard in the economy. He recalled: at the time of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Hungary helped refugees. "We did everything in the interest of the Ukrainians that could be expected of a Christian person, we don't owe them anything." Neither do we owe them EU membership; it is about whether the enlargement of the EU serves our best interests, the Prime Minister stated.

Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that recently we have been compelled to ward off crises "which we are not responsible for." These include the war which is blocking the economy, he recalled.

He said four years ago, he made two pledges. The first one was that "we will keep Hungary out of the war," and they have honoured that pledge, he pointed out. The other one was that the war is blocking the economy in vain, "we will not give up our goals, we will work hard, and despite all the circumstances slowing us down and making things more difficult, we have made progress."

They restored the thirteenth monthly pension, started introducing the fourteenth monthly pension, against the background of a 1 per cent growth, the minimum wage has been increased by 11 per cent, they have raised agricultural subsidies and have doubled family support, and the country's foreign currency and gold reserves have never been higher than today, he listed.

The Prime Minister stressed "we are a government of the countryside." They often say that city air makes you free, "the equivalent of this is that countryside air makes you Hungarian," he said, adding that "for us, Hungary's freedom and independence are the most important."

At the end of his speech, asking for the support of members of his audience, he stressed: the same as they have and he personally has served the interests of the Hungarian countryside in the past four years, the same as they have and he has kept Hungary out of the war in the past four years, he is ready to do just that in the future as well if they win the elections.