State of the Nation: PM Orbán talks about bad year-start, NATO, Trump victory, President’s resignation

“There must be no pardon for paedophile crimes,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his state of the nation speech on Saturday, adding that President Katalin Novák’s and former Justice Minister Judit Varga’s resignations had been the “correct step” and would “strengthen us”.

Children must not be violated

The prime minister said the government would reinforce Hungary’s child protection system. He also addressed the green transition and said parliament could ratify Sweden’s NATO accession at the start of its spring season.

“Children must not be violated and any abuse should entail the strictest punishment,” Orbán said.

He said the resignations were “a bad start” for the year, adding that it was up to the government “to restore moral order and offer legal remedy for the current situation.”

“A political mistake is annoying, even if there is an explanation, but even more so when there is none,” he added.

According to the prime minister, an uproar in the wake of the president’s pardon in right-wing circles arose because it was not a decision made in a difficult situation but an “unforced error”. “For right wingers the rule is simple: there must be no pardon for paedophile crimes,” he added.

He said that the resignation should be “sufficient compensation and an example for the country, a chance for Hungary to come out stronger from a difficult situation . and we will do so,”.

President’s resignation great loss for Hungary

He said the president’s resignation was “a great loss for Hungary” and thanked both Novák and Varga for their work. He added that the two had “more dignity in their little finger than in all of the leaders of the leftist parties put together.”

He praised Novák as a “greatly respected, appreciated president working, moreover, fighting for her homeland, the Hungarian people and their families . seen by all as a person fit for her presidential position.” He referred to Novák as an “embodiment of the good characteristics of Hungarians, a kind and prepared mother, who sought not to prove her abilities against men and according to men’s measures.” Novák “demonstrated in her natural way that women’s way of thinking and feeling are indispensable in all walks of life including politics,” he added.

Novák resigned because she had pardoned a man sentenced for covering up a crime against children, and “the vast majority of Hungarians rejected that pardon”, Orbán said. “The president’s pardon impacted national unity and she could no longer restore that unity,” he added.

“A toppled equilibrium can be restored, the high waves of indignation tamed, the nation reunited over issues around family and child protection only through the president’s resignation and electing a new president,” Orbán said.

Concerning the former justice minister, Orbán said Varga had countersigned the president’s pardon “following the constitutional custom and an unbroken practice of the past 25 years.” “Her departure is an unavoidable and, I think, unfair, consequence of the laws of the state,” he said.

Political mistake with no explanation

“Sometimes good people, even the best, will make bad decisions, and . if they could fly back in time they would certainly correct the mistake. But it is not possible and now it is up to the government . to restore moral order and offer legal remedy for the situation,” Orbán said.

“Serving the nation also requires personal humility . you need to know that no matter how high you are you can never be clever enough by yourself and there are no protected positions, even in the highest office one can make a mistake,” he said.

“A political mistake is annoying, even if there is an explanation, but even more so when there is none,” he added.

Hungary’s child protection system must be strengthened, from the constitution to the level of ministerial decree, Orbán said.

“The tribulations of the victims compel us”, Orbán said, adding that the leadership and oversight of children’s protection institutions as well as regulations and restrictions for the staff who work there would be strengthened.

He said a new package of child protection legislation would be submitted to parliament.

Orbán said electing a new president was an “urgent task” and asked the parliamentary group of governing Fidesz-KDNP to start the process of electing a replacement for Katalin Novák on the day she left office.

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UPDATE

Hungary has emerged from a very difficult 2023 “by the skin of our teeth” but “can’t be dissatisfied” with the results, Orbán said

He said Hungarians had been living and working under “extreme pressure” for the fifth year in a row, trying to “protect that which we’ve achieved”. Workplaces have been successfully preserved, he said, noting that never before had so many people been in jobs in Hungary.

Labour reserve in Hungary above 300,000

Hungary’s employment rates stands at 75 percent today, but the government “wants and will” raise that to 85 percent, he said.

He put the number of Hungarians who could be brought into the workforce at “at least 300,000” and added that more Hungarians were returning home each year than were leaving to work abroad.

He said the annual pensioners’ bonus, equivalent to a full month’s pension, which the “left wing had snatched from people”, had also been preserved.

He said Hungarians living beyond the borders had been “brought closer”, noting the construction of three new bridges over the River Ipoly, on the border between Hungary and Slovakia, ten daily trains between Szeged, in the southeast of the country, and Subotica (Szabadka) in neighbouring Serbia, and three flights a week connecting Budapest with Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvar) in Romania.

Inflation has been reduced from a record 25 percent to below 4 percent, the budget deficit has been kept on a downward path, and the minimum wage for unskilled labourers has been raised by 15 percent, he added.

Addressing the green transition, Orbán said the era of green energy had “not come knocking, but kicked the door in”. The future belongs to green energy and to those who can make the transition “quickly and sensibly”, he added.

He said the stability of Hungarian politics, the two-thirds majority in parliament of the governing alliance, was accommodating to “rapid adaptation”, adding that Hungary could make the green transition faster than anywhere in Europe.