The crises of the Eurozone has pushed Hungary into a very dangerous situation in the past three months therefore the autumn will be a tough period, a time of battle for sovereignty, said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Monday. On the first day of meetings with the heads of Hungary’s foreign missions Orbán addressed the future of the euro, the importance of reducing the country’s state debt and the need to reject a uniform European tax.
Orbán said Hungary has drifted into a highly dangerous situation in the past three months due to the euro crisis and so the autumn will be a tough period as the country fights to hold on to its sovereignty. Hungary will need to continue what it had started more than a year ago, otherwise it will drift back onto the Greek path and lose its sovereignty because of financial speculators, the PM said. The decisions determining the future of Greece are not taken by Greece anymore. Hungary must avoid this fate at all cost, he added. Orbán emphasised that in order to achieve this Hungary will need to implement more economic measures and the government is yet to pass cardinal laws in the autumn. If this job is not taken care of now, the efficiency of these measures will be a lot smaller later, he added. "This means the Hungarian society and public life has not had a period as tough for a long time as it will be this autumn."
Orbán told Hungarian diplomats working abroad that a good foreign policy is what does not question the country’s trans-Atlantic commitment, but what also strives for the most intensive possible co-operation with China, Russia, the Arab world and the emerging Central-Asian region. The PM said there is a race going on for new alliances and those who do not want to take part will cause damage for their country. Orbán confirmed that a Hungarian delegation will soon visit Saudi-Arabia. Orbán said Hungary must try to repel all efforts that strive to implement uniform taxation in Europe. Such endeavors are against the country’s interest, he added. The PM stressed the government will continue to pursue its policy to lower state debt. "Until the country fails to lower it to 70% of GDP and then to below 60% it will not be out of the centre of the danger zone," he said. "The government will attain the 3% (of GDP) budget deficit (target) by all means, just like its policy to create one million jobs in ten years," Orbán said, adding that in the following year some 200,000-300,000 people will get a job via the public work programmes. "In Europe, the unorthodox economic measures for which the Hungarian government has been put under fire in the past year have become mainstream by today," Orbán said. He added that "we have nearly been crucified" for implementing the bank tax, while today 12 European Union member states have put in place such levies. Also, while Hungary is in a lawsuit over the special taxes an increasing number of member states are imposing extra levies on certain sectors and "every second prime minister is talking about a work-based economy", Orbán said. Orbán suggested being prepared that the crises of the Eurozone and the related real economy crisis will not pass in the next few months or years. He said the euro and the European economy will not get out of the focus of attacks for another 8-10 years. "Hungary needs to be prepared to operate in a space, sentiment and political power field that are determined by constant offensives against the euro," he said. The PM added that the euro crisis and financial crisis have consequences for the real economy as well, primarily on the rate and quality of growth.
Source: MTI, Portfolio.hu