Subscribe to our social channels to get the latest news about Hungary!
Orbán: Tax cuts may form basis for protecting economy
Change language:
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview on Friday that protecting Hungarian economic achievements would be the topmost task in 2020, adding that it would be an uphill struggle to sustain economic growth with the euro zone in turmoil. The government’s economic action plan for the first quarter of 2020 “hopefully will be based on tax cuts”, he added.
Whether Hungary and central Europe are able to stand on their own feet and outperform richer countries will transpire next year, he said in the interview to public Kossuth Radio, adding that Hungary’s economic successes of recent years had been thanks to tax cuts, helping the country boost production and its competitiveness while wages also grew exponentially.
Orbán said Hungary’s economic achievements belonged to the entire region’s Hungarian community too, he said.
Orbán accused some opposition parties of standing against cross-border Hungarian communities. He added that it was good that Hungarians in neighbouring countries have their own political representation.
Commenting on remarks of Donald Tusk, former EU president and newly elected head of the European People’s Party, who said that the right to freedom cannot be sacrificed for security, Orbán said his Fidesz party was “waiting for the EPP to clarify its views and plans”. Orbán said that until that point, Fidesz would “keep its membership” in the party family “suspended”.
Orbán said a Hungarian ruling party could not belong to a pro-migration political community that failed to support border protection, the border fence, or denied respect to Hungarians and appreciation for the country’s efforts in protecting Europe. The EPP has “drifted to the left”, Orbán said, adding that there was a question mark over whether the new leader would restore the original state of affairs.
“If he doesn’t, we will have to build a new community,” he said.