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Submitted by Marcin Bąk on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 11:19
This is the Future of Hungary

12.02.2019 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Instead of migration, the Hungarian government intends to resolve the problem of population decrease and labour shortage by encouraging Hungarian families to have children through the provision of support – this was the main message of Viktor Orbán’s State of the Nation address this Sunday. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the future of Central Europe – including Poland – cannot equal mixed population and migration, as that would mean surrender.

In his State of the Nation address, Viktor Orbán took a stand on and emphasised his belief in family-centred policy and harshly criticised the Hungarian opposition along with their pro-immigration European allies. In his speech made at Várkert Bazár (Castle Garden Bazaar) in Budapest, he was also extremely critical of Frans Timmermans, the lead candidate (Spitzenkandidat) of the European socialists. Orbán believes that the Dutch politician, who is considered to be the forerunner of the rule of law procedure against Poland, in fact, serves the interests of the millionaire George Soros, one of the worlds most successful speculators in the global financial markets.

The highlight of the speech was the seven-point family support action plan, which is the Hungarian government’s cutting retort to the Brussels plan on legalising migration. The action plan consists of the following elements:

  • Child and family support will be introduced for young married couples. Every woman under the age of 40, getting married for the first time, will be entitled to receive a subsidised loan of 10 million forints. When the first child is born, the repayment will be suspended for three years, and when the second child arrives, it will be suspended for another three-year period. If a third child is born, the remaining part of the loan will be waived fully.
  • “CSOK”, the Family Housing Support Program providing subsidised home financing loans for young families, will be extended. Besides new houses, families with two or more children will be able to use the loan to also purchase owner-occupied dwellings.
  • Taking over of interest on mortgages will be expanded. So far, the government has taken over 1 million forints from the mortgages of large families upon the birth of the third and each additional child. In the future, however, it is going to take over 1 million after the second child, 4 million after the third child and 1 million after each additional child.
  • Women with at least four children will be exempt from paying personal income tax for the rest of their lives.
  • The government will provide large families (with at least three children) with a non-refundable aid of 2.5 million forints to purchase a seven-seater vehicle.
  • In order to fully cover the needs of the childcare system, the government will establish 21,000 new nursery places.
  • In the future, besides parents, grandparents will also be able to take childcare leave, and they will be entitled to receive child care benefit.

 

Viktor Orbán’s message to the Western European countries, whose populations are becoming mixed due to mass migration, was the following: “Those who have already got on this express train will travel until they reach the final destination. And there are no return tickets available. However, we, Central Europeans, still have a future. Our own future, which is the continuation of the lives of our parents and grandparents, the preservation of our thousand-year-old traditions, the protection of our economy, families and our Christian culture. The future can also be like this. More precisely, our future can still be like this.”

The action plan announced by the head of the government was welcomed by the governing Fidesz-KDNP alliance, and criticised by the opposition, although based on their reactions, they found opposing the proposals difficult.

According to the surveys, the action plan was well received by the Hungarian population. Following the State of the Nation address, Nézőpont Intézet asked the opinion of 541 people in a telephone survey. The results published the following day showed that 63 per cent of the respondents were pleased with the announcements. The action plan was also not received negatively by the opponents, in fact, 40 per cent of them welcomed it. The think tank pointed out that social consensus on Hungarian government’s anti-immigration stance is as broad as the consensus on the family-friendly measures, since 64 per cent of the respondents would not like to see the European Union reinstate the compulsory settlement quota system, which is similarly rejected by the Visegrád Four, including the governments of Hungary and Poland.

Századvég Foundation has reached similar conclusions. According to their survey, also published on Monday, 73 per cent of those who followed the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation address had a favourable opinion about the speech. The most popular measures proved to be the expansion of the number of nursery places (94 per cent), and the young families’ loan of 10 million (84 per cent).

In the 2019 State of the Nation address, Viktor Orbán announced specific measures of great importance while outlining a vision of the regions future, which can be shared by conservative Polish politicians.

 

 

https://nezopontintezet.hu/analysis/tarsadalmi-konszenzus-van-csaladpolitikai-akcioterv-mellett/

 

https://szazadveg.hu/hu/kutatasok/az-alapitvany-kutatasai/piackutatas-kozvelemeny-kutatas/a-tobbseg-pozitivan-ertekeli-orban-viktor-evertekelojet-es-a-bejelentett-intezkedeseket

 

Mariann Őry, Head of Foreign Desk at Magyar Hírlap