Ukraine will not become a member of the EU, inflation will be fought again with a price freeze, big family tax cuts are coming, and Pride should not be organised this year – these were among the issues raised in the PM’s annual assessment speech.
2025 should be the year of breakthroughs, the Prime Minister said in his speech at the annual review of the year in Budapest’s Várkert Bazaar on Saturday. Orbán said that this year the struggle will continue, we have rebelled so far, and now we want to win.
He said that after Hungary, the United States has also rebelled, but warned that we should not believe that America’s successful rebellion will bring victory to Hungary. “They can’t win for us, they can only improve our chances,” he added, indicating that US President Donald Trump “is not our saviour, but our comrade-in-arms (…) so much so that during David’s battle with Goliath, David’s brother, who seems to be a rather sturdy fellow, has arrived”.
He declared that we have been given a chance to “break out of the besieged fortress, and not just break out, but break through the empire’s battlements”, and that is why, in his view, “we must think boldly and big now.”
Orbán said that there are five battles being fought with Brussels, one of which is the issue of migration, but Hungary will not give in. Turning to the “culture war”, he suggested writing into the constitution that a person is either a man or a woman, and advised the organisers of this year’s Pride “not to bother” with preparations for the parade.
He also expressed his gratitude to all “rebellious Hungarians” who, in his opinion, defended their homeland against the “empire” with their diligence, work and stubbornness. “I am grateful that I can serve such a people, and all the politicians of the world can be envious of them,” he said.
The prime minister called high inflation unaffordable. He said the supermarket chains had raised the price of milk by 39 percent and eggs by 35 percent, and ordered Martyn Nagy to reach an agreement with the chains. If no agreement is reached, they will limit the level of commercial profits. The 100 new factories programme will also be announced, because the aim is not to close factories but to develop them.
The government wants to come up with Europe’s biggest tax reduction programme, hvg.hu reports. According to Orbán’s idea, 20,000 forints can be deducted from income tax for one child, 80,000 for two children and 200,000 for three children. Mothers with two and three children would be exempt from income tax for the rest of their lives.
The speech also touched on Ukraine, with Orbán saying that our eastern neighbour “will once again become a buffer zone, it will not be a member of NATO”. “But will it become a member of the EU?”, he asked, answering his own question by stating that Ukraine would never become a member of the European Union against Hungary and the Hungarians, because that would ruin Hungarian farmers.
