Orbán: No one can be allowed to engage in violence – Interview

No one can be allowed to engage in violence, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Friday, referring to the recent anti-government demonstrations. The prime minister said a clear line must be drawn between the expression of one’s political views and vandalism.

The most aggressive and most active of those protesting the recent amendment to the labour code are on the payroll of US financier George Soros, Orbán said. He added that the demonstrations were also in part linked to international networks.

The prime minister said he also saw traces of this internationally, arguing that “right-wing governments have come under fire everywhere”.

Parliament last Wednesday voted to raise the upper threshold for annual overtime from 250 to 400 hours. The opposition blocked the house speaker’s dais and obstructed proceedings with loud whistling and jeering in an attempt to thwart the vote and later demonstrated in the streets. The legislation was signed by President János Áder yesterday.

Orbán criticised the damage caused by protesters last week on Kossuth Square, saying that it was “a serious thing in legal terms” to throw smoke bombs at police.

“It’s never well-intentioned people throwing smoke bombs,” he said, noting that the point of smoke bombs was to obscure vision.

Commenting on injuries sustained by police at the demonstrations, Orbán noted that in the 2006 clashes between protesters and police, peaceful demonstrators were charged by mounted police.

Orbán said he had asked the interior minister to make sure that police respond “firmly but patiently” to protesters’ actions. “And they managed to do just that,” he said, reaffirming the government’s support for the police force.

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The prime minister said he believed it has become clear that the amendment to the labour code was “merely an excuse”, arguing that this was not the first time that the opposition was “screaming ‘end of the world'”.

Concerning parliament’s approval of the amendment amid the opposition’s attempts to obstruct proceedings, Orbán said the ruling parties could not afford to stand down during the session.

Orbán said the opposition’s acts of sitting in his chair and trying to block his vote button even had legal implications.

“But lawmaking cannot be obstructed with scandal when you have committed people like us on the other side, and we weren’t engaging in violence,” he said.

Addressing listeners, Orbán said Hungarians should not worry, because whatever they may see the opposition do, the government will still carry out its duties.

Concerning the legislation itself, Orbán said the amendment clearly prohibits forcing anybody to work overtime. “Anyone who says otherwise is lying,” he said.

He said it was the economic policies demonstrating a need for workers that protected working people rather than the labour code. Orbán said wages have been rising for 4-5 years now.