4th Lámfalussy Lectures conference held in Budapest

Budapest, January 23 (MTI) – Hungary’s economy has developed spectacularly since the central bank “is not in opposition”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the Lámfalussy Lectures conference under way in Budapest on Monday.

Orbán praises economic development

Earlier, when the National Bank of Hungary was “in opposition”, politics and business were “going in different directions” and “Hungary suffered greatly and unnecessarily,” Orbán said.

On the subject of the European Union, Orbán said the community must “let go of the illusion of federalism” and allow the continent to have “several poles”. He argued that Europe was weakening and could not meet its primary goals concerning the euro, the community’s security policy or the Eurasian economic area. He insisted that “Brussels has become obsessed by the Utopian idea of a Europe above all nations”. But, he said, “there is no European nation; there are the nations of Europe”.

Concerning the United States, Orbán said that the EU should seek a new agreement because the EU-US free trade deal was “dead”. He added that a deal should be negotiated with China, and “the Russia issue should also be revisited”, arguing that there were plenty of opportunities in a “multipolar world”. The prime minister said China would remain a key player in the world economy for many decades to come. He said Russia had survived “the West’s attempts” to “isolate” and “dismantle the regime” there. He said it had also survived low oil prices and the sanctions.

Orbán said it did not make sense for Europe to ignore the strength and opportunities presented by Russia.

He said Europe should have more self-confidence, adding that the continent should be able to protect itself without any outside assistance. Right now it is incapable of doing so, he said. Orban welcomed French conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon’s visit on Monday to Berlin, where the matter of a joint European military alliance is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion.

Orbán said one of the biggest questions regarding the future of Europe was whether it could defend itself without the help of the US. “The key to solving this [problem] seems straightforward, and it is a German-French defence and military alliance, joint military and common security system,” the prime minister said.

Outlining Europe’s problems, he said that the parts of the continent where many migrants had settled had also seen an immediate increase in crime. He said migration and the settlement of migrants was not the way to solve Europe’s demographic challenges, arguing that nations that are incapable of sustaining their birthrates “don’t even deserve to survive”.

Assessing the state of Hungary’s economy, Orban said the country had become a “success story”. He said the four elements of “the Hungarian model” were political stability, a disciplined fiscal policy, a society based on labour instead of welfare and the policy of opening up to the East. Regarding the latter, Orbán said Europeans must understand that “we can’t aspire to open up to other countries in the East, say, China, and then proceed to lecture them every morning about human rights.” Respect is the foundation of the policy of opening to the East, and this precedes ideology, he insisted. Hungarians are “in a better position” because “we are an eastern people who has taken up Christianity. This allows us to have a unique perspective and we understand everything that is happening in China.”