Orbán: Hungary secured EUR 3 bn in additional funding at Brussels summit

The outcome of the recent European Union summit on the bloc’s 2021-2027 budget and its pandemic recovery package in Brussels can be interpreted as the Hungarian and Polish forces having “repelled the international attack of the liberal brigades”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday.

Hungary and Poland thwarted the attempt to have others decide on the funds they are entitled to, the prime minister said in a regular interview to public broadcaster Kossuth Radio.

There were some, Orbán said, that had pushed for an arrangement where Hungary and Poland would receive the monies they are entitled to but their spending would have been tied to political conditions. “These are typically countries that are pro-immigration and hate us because we don’t allow them to enforce their migration policy and because Hungary stops migrants”, he said, adding that they were backed by US financier George Soros.

The prime minister said these countries had wanted to introduce a financial mechanism with which they could “blackmail Hungary and Poland”.

Orbán added, however, that Hungary had “only won an important battle, not a war”. He said debates on the future of Europe involved the clash of two conflicting visions. One, he said, was “past Christianity and the era of national cultures and would admit many people of foreign cultures so that they could mix with those living here to create a unique culture”.

But Hungary does not want this, Orbán said. “We like it if there’s security, order if there’s no terrorism and we don’t want to have to be the ones to conform those who come here,” he said. “We don’t want to go down that path.” But those who hold the opposing view “don’t want us to be the ones to decide on this because they say that Europe should be the same everywhere”, Orbán added.

This debate has not been settled, he said, adding that Hungary should be prepared to continue to fight this battle “for decades to come”.

This was why, Orbán said, Hungary had to be governed by a nationally-minded government and prime minister “who understands this connection and is capable of standing up for Hungary”.

The prime minister said the EU summit was a key moment in the history of Hungary and the other 26 member states because they had tried something that had never been done before. Because several member states have hit trouble, EU leaders had to deal not just with the bloc’s next seven-year budget but also put together an economic recovery package, he noted.

Orbán said there were member states whose public debt-to-GDP ratio was expected to reach 150-160 percent. By comparison, Hungary’s debt-to-GDP ratio was 83-85 percent in 2010, he said, adding that this, too, had been “depressing”.

Given that there were a variety of interests clashing at the summit, it was “very hard” to reach a deal that everyone felt was good, he said.