Hungarian President’s New Year Speech: “strengthen our will to act”

President János Áder, in his New Year’s address, urged Hungarians to strengthen their will to act in 2022.

“Let’s not only reaffirm, but also strengthen, our will to act in the new year, and let’s not allow apathy and resignation to get the better of us,” Áder said in his speech televised at midnight.

Quoting Hungarian-American psychologist Mihály Csikszentmihályi, Áder said:

“We can live our lives as chess pieces, controlled by outside forces, or we can take the reins … We can see ourselves constantly as victims but there is also the option of gaining satisfaction from immersing ourselves in work.”

The president said many had succeeded in overcoming feelings of helplessness and despair this past year.

Many see the new year as a clean slate, the president said, warning however that when “we look to mark holidays, family events and important deadlines … our plans are often altered by reality.”

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The president also referred to the times of war experienced by past generations “whose lives diverged from their natural course”.

“In the most difficult months of the second world war, people no longer made plans or thought in the long term,” Áder said. “The situation today is similar in the second year of the pandemic.”

He said 2021 had been similar to 2020 in many ways, with fluctuations between better and worse periods depending on the status of the pandemic. He said the main difference between the two years had been that there had been means at people’s disposal to defend against the pandemic this past year.