Orbán says he feels ‘at ease' heading into next year's election
Talking with publicist Zsolt Bayer and pestisracok.hu's Aron Ambrozy, PM Orbán said the government was fulfilling its commitment to keep Hungary out of the war in Ukraine and to keep migrants out of the country, as well as banning so-called 'gender' issues from schools, doubling tax relief for employees with children, and the biggest tax reduction programme in Europe.
'I don't think any kind of online movement can trump a track record,' PM Orbán said.
He said that in Western politics, liberals were 'interested in intentions', but intentions alone were only good for a single election 'because afterwards the only thing anyone cares about is results'.
'We have always had an organised political community that is called a party,' he said, adding that this is accompanied by the 'Fight Club' online political movement. The opposition Tisza Party, he argued, only had an online movement.
'We have a successful and large political community on an unprecedented scale … even by European standards,' he said.
He said forces generally teamed up to thwart those in politics who tried to achieve 'something good' and merely spoil 'the game'. So his job, he added, was to double down and beat such forces.
He added that it would eventually become clear whether 'what we have today is the end of politics' or whether politicians who worked with 'facts', achieved 'results' and took 'responsibility' would win the day.
PM Orbán said 'a way must be found to talk to people seriously', otherwise 'the facts will just disappear', and the strongest argument for a ruling party was its performance, which he called 'invincible' and 'unbeatable'.
The prime minister listed results such as one million more jobs than in 2010 and people owning 1.1-1.2 million more vehicles, the average intake of meat rising from 54kg to 68kg, with poorer people benefiting the most. He added that calm talk about the results would mean 'this election cannot be lost'.
PM Orbán said 'you don't get anywhere in a democracy' if complex topics are not explained 'in a way that people understand', but 'frivolity and common sense are not synonymous'.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said the European Union must take action in cases where the victim of a fatal beating is a citizen of an EU member state, and he urged Brussels to take action against forced conscription in Ukraine.
'You can't make speeches about Ukraine's suitability for European Union membership' just after someone was 'buried after being beaten to death during forced conscription', PM Orbán said in the discussion programme.
The Hungarian government is helping the families of Hungarians who were regular conscripts or forced into military service, he added.
'We're also knocking on the door in Brussels,' he said, noting the government's demand that it take action against the practice of forced conscription in Ukraine.
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