By: V4 Agency
We can adopt the next EU budget and post-pandemic recovery package rather swiftly, but let’s set aside the rule of law debate and discuss it later, because we won’t be able to reach an agreement as quickly as countries in trouble need financial assistance, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told public radio on Friday morning.
Most EU countries believe that negotiations on the budget and the recovery fund to tackle the post-pandemic crisis, as well as the rule of law debate, should be conducted in one take.
“We can adopt the budget and the economic recovery fund swiftly, without any difficulty, and the regulation – called rule of law regulation, which has led to political dispute – should be set aside and discussed at a later stage, because we won’t be able to reach an agreement on that as quickly as countries in trouble – with Hungary not among them – need financial assistance. This is our proposal, this what we agreed on with Poland, and we will take the same position,” Hungary’s prime minister said in his regular Friday morning radio interview.
We need to separate two things, Viktor Orban stressed. One is the budget, which cannot be taken away from Hungary, even if it cannot enter into force in January. The recovery fund, which is a loan taken out by member states jointly, is another thing.
“We will take out the loan jointly and we will pay it back jointly. We agree to take part in the move because otherwise the some countries’ economies could collapse,” the premier pointed out. Hungary does not need this loan, he stressed, adding that this is a gesture of solidarity on the part of Hungary. It does not reflect the country’s interests, but Hungary takes the risk anyway, to prevent some economies from collapsing.
The prime minister also pointed out that under the current rules no EU member state can be forced by a majority decision to do what it does not want to.
“And now, amidst the pandemic, the Commission has come up with an immigration proposal, which clearly unveils what the European Union intends to do,” Viktor Orban said. The immigration proposal wants to provide housing, residence permit and citizenship to 34 million migrants.
“We can find a connection between this proposal – which deals with general principles and deprives us of our right to resist – and the other proposal they had tabled, which we have always opposed,” Viktor Orban added.
He added that it’s not because of Hungary that there is no agreement, but because of those countries that want to force Hungary to change its migration policy and admit migrants.
We should not be surprised by the EU wanting to grant migrants voting rights and apartments. This is the Soros plan itself, and that’s also why Hungary continues to resist, he emphasized.
If the left gives 35 million migrants the right to vote, they can certainly count on these votes for a long time. It is also clear that this is precisely what the Hungarian left wants to achieve in Hungary. With the migrants, the left will win, but the country will lose, because migrants would fundamentally transform the entire culture of Europe and Hungary, Viktor Orban said.
Regarding the coronavirus vaccine, Mr Orban said we have just received a big slap. Not we, as Hungary, but we as the European Union.
The prime minister recalled that after Britain had left the EU, Brussels said they were over. However, starting this morning, the UK began mass vaccinations using a drug that we had also ordered in Brussels. This whole case carries a message that transcends the pandemic, and raises the question of who is doing better: those who have left and are treading their own paths, looking for their own solutions, or those who have stayed? – PM Orban asked. While the EU is locked in political debates, mass vaccinations in the UK is already under way, Viktor Orban remarked.
Pandemic control and the vaccine are not political issues, the most important thing is to be able to get the vaccine to the citizens as swiftly as possible, he said. The government will do everything in its power to ensure that the vaccine arrives in Hungary as quickly and in as large numbers as possible, he said.