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Orbán’s chief of staff: European unity only achievable along national interests
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European identity only exists through national identities and therefore European unity can only be achieved along national interests, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, said in an interview with commercial news site atv.hu on Saturday.
Hungary’s government represents the rule of law and the preservation of national diversity in Brussels and believes in the need to accept differences of opinion, Gulyás said. Western European governments disagree with Hungary on “countless” ideological, political and cultural issues, “but Hungary isn’t alone on these issues even if it goes against the European mainstream,” Gulyás added, stressing the importance of compromise.
Hungary always strives to reach an agreement and puts forward proposals before exercising its veto power, Gulyás said, noting that the country had backed the 18 billion euro aid package for Ukraine and the global minimum tax after being guaranteed that it would not have to raise taxes or approve taking out another joint European Union loan.
The EU will also lose out if it withholds funds from its own member states in the absence of agreements, he said. Gulyás said the European Commission had been pressured by the European Parliament to withhold funds from Hungary, adding that MEPs had painted a false picture of the country. Hungary has already received from the EU an advance payment HUF 130 billion (EUR 324.8 million), he said, noting that this accounted for 1.5 percent of the funds the country was entitled to.
Hungary has agreed with the EC on the details of the amendments to the law on the judiciary, which will be passed by parliament in March, Gulyás said. This, he added, was the only “super milestone” Hungary needed to fulfil in order to receive the remainder of the recovery and cohesion funds. Gulyás said he agreed with President Katalin Novák that the financial recognition of teachers could not be dependent on the receipt of EU funds or the state of the Hungarian economy.
“We will act accordingly, because right now teachers’ wages can only be raised using the resources of the budget,” Gulyás said. “We agree with teachers that they are making too little, and it is only the pace of the wage increases that is dependent on EU funds.” Gulyás said Hungary needed the monies it was entitled to from the EU in order to implement bigger and immediate pay hikes.
Meanwhile, he said the government next year would have to spend more than HUF 2,600 billion (EUR 6.5 billion) on preserving the caps on household utility bills and paying public-sector energy bills. This will leave a monthly HUF 181,000 (EUR 450) with families, he added.
Teachers’ wages will be nearly doubled by Jan. 1, 2025, but this requires that Hungary receive the EU funds it is entitled to, Gulyás said. The government has the political will to raise teachers’ wages, “but the left does not”, Gulyás said. He said that if Hungary’s left-wing MEPs “quit lobbying” against the monies Hungary is entitled to “it will be better for everyone.”
On another subject, Gulyás said he saw no need to amend Hungary’s child protection law. “The red line is the aim of the law, which is that children’s sex education is the responsibility of parents and not NGOs, aging Hungarian-American billionaires, or women with man-like characteristics,” he said. “We’d be happy to draft even better regulations, but the aim is unquestionable.”