By: V4 Agency
We will have some big changes after the pandemic; the European economy will look different and we must also brace ourselves for another pandemic, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban told public radio. We “live in a time of epidemics and mass migrations, so we must prepare for these challenges,” he added.
Hordes of migrants are banging on all the gates of Europe, PM Viktor Orban told Hungary’s public service radio. Migration pressure has increased both on land and at sea, he explained, noting that whereas last year 10 thousand people tried to reach the EU illegally via Hungary’s southern borders, this figure rose to 38 thousand this year.
In its next national consultation survey, designed to gauge people’s opinion on some key issues affecting their lives, the government will also ask Hungarians about the topic of migration. Mr Orban said his proposal to Europe would be not to allow any kind of migration in the next two years.
Although migration is not the hottest topic in today’s Europe, it is constantly on the agenda, Mr Orban added. The question of immigration tends to be linked to basic humanism: are we really heartless if we do not take them in, he asked.
In the Hungarian government’s view, there is no such thing as good migration, Hungary’s premier explained. People are born somewhere and if they are unable to prosper, they will set off to go elsewhere, or are perhaps forced to flee for various reasons. Hungary’s position is to help everyone in making a living at their place of birth, instead of supporting immigration, PM Orban said.
Of course, people may be forced to leave their homes because of war or some other crisis and in these cases the aim is to provide temporary assistance, he added.
Migration policy shouldn’t be focused on taking migrants in, but on providing temporary help to those in need. This is why the Hungarian government says that
instead of bringing trouble here, we must provide help locally,
PM Orban said, adding that the EU is doing rather poorly in this regard.
Families bore the brunt of the crisis
Speaking about restarting the economy, PM Orban said Hungary’s return after the pandemic can be successful. The question is how to utilise this success and what the additional funds can be used for.
The correct answer, according to Hungary’s premier, is to channel the money back to those who have worked for it, especially to those who bore the brunt of the crisis: the families. If economic growth reaches 5.5 per cent in 2022, families with children will be refunded their 2021 personal income tax, PM Orban said.
…”> The Hungarian prime minister addressed a high-level conference on economic policy in Hungary on Wednesday….
The Hungarian government wants a significant increase in the minimum wage, Viktor Orban said, adding however that it was hard to strike the right balance between safeguarding a high minimum wage wihout bankrupting SMEs. Good intentions may easily yield opposite results: employees at small and medium-sized businesses may easily lose their jobs after a significant raise, so the government must first reach an agreement with the organisations representing Hungarian SMEs, he underlined.