Orbán: The Hungarian government is proud of its pioneering role in this great civilizational battle

The spring session of the Hungarian Parliament kicked off on Monday afternoon with a speech by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. As expected, in his short speech, the Prime Minister spoke about most of his current favourite topics. He did so in a rather curious setting, given that since last spring, we have been witnessing an unusual situation in Hungarian domestic politics. Namely, that the majority of the opposition parties that won seats in the 2022 elections have almost completely lost public support, and Tisza, which was only founded in March 2024 and which has since then become the main opposition force, is not represented in Parliament.

There is now virtually no political stake to what happens in Parliament: the Prime Minister debates with representatives of parties which currently pose no threat whatsoever to Fidesz and are unlikely to even make it to parliament in the next elections, set to be held in the spring of 2026.

For Fidesz, however, it is of strategic importance that there not be two large blocks competing in the 2026 elections. Instead, it would be beneficial for them if opposition votes were split between several small parties, thus allowing the governing parties to maintain a concentrated power base. If, however, opposition voters see that their parties have no chance of getting into parliament, they will likely be quick to move to the Tisza party. This is precisely why it is in Fidesz's interest to somehow keep the smaller parties alive so they can still run in next year's elections.

The legislative amendment adopted in December, which was only supported by Fidesz, and which pumped cash into the current parliamentary parties in preparation for the 2026 election campaign can thus be seen as a means of "revitalising" these parties that only have a negligible voter base. Meanwhile, the Tisza Party still doesn't receive any state funding at all, its only income coming from the two places where they have elected representatives: the European Parliament and the Budapest Municipal Assembly.

The path to economic breakthrough

As the Prime Minister was about to begin his speech, independent MP Ákos Hadházy replayed an excerpt from Viktor Orbán's speech given in parliament 20 years ago: "We did not get rid of certain things only to have them crawl back through the window. We opened the door to the West, and we showed the Russians, the Soviet Union and communism to the door. And our message to those in the future is that they should not allow these things to return", Viktor Orbán said in 2007.

In February 2025, however, the Hungarian Prime Minister began his speech in parliament by listing some of his government's recently introduced measures: he spoke about the labourers' loan, subsidies for housing renovation in rural areas, the construction of a new student dormitory in Budapest and some economic measures.

He said that teachers' salaries would also be increased this year – by 21 percent – and said that teachers’ earnings are now more than six times higher than they were in 2010. He also said that the government will allocate HUF 500 billion more for education than in 2024.

The average salary of doctors now exceeds HUF 2.1 million forints and that of health care professionals is higher than HUF 680,000. He also added that the government will provide HUF 330 billion more for healthcare than it did last year.

The PM then mentioned that if food prices continue to be high, they will intervene with Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy at the helm, by reintroducing price freezes and, if necessary, limiting commercial profits.

He explained that following the years of war (in Ukraine – TN), the decisions of the government he had just presented would make it possible to achieve a breakthrough in the country's economy in 2025.

Europeans are itching to rebel against Brussels

He said the government is currently in litigation with Brussels on several major issues. The government will defend the child protection law, according to Orbán, who also promised to take further steps on the subject. As he explained, it will be enshrined in the constitution that there are only men and women living in Hungary, and a law will guarantee that no one can endanger the healthy development of children.

Orbán then went on to state that his government does not accept the "Brussels migration pact", and that even the fines imposed by the European Commission are causing less damage than if we were to allow migrants in. This is outright rebellion on Hungary's part, but there are now other countries following our lead, he said. Europeans are fed up with the Brussels bureaucrats and are itching to rebel.

He then said that the Hungarian opposition parties – except for Mi Hazánk – are also engaged in a fight against Hungary in Brussels, to which an MP shouted "Love is in the air".

The Prime Minister claimed that the funds that Hungary was owed and it had been fighting for were steadily coming in, while the opposition parties DK, Tisza and Momentum are all trying to take it away.

Orbán then reiterated a previous statement: namely, that Hungary does not support Ukraine's EU membership because its accession would ruin Hungarian farmers.

Ready to go all the way to dismantle “the network of corruption”

The government's goal for 2025 is not only an economic breakthrough, but also a political one. The PM explained that the Hungarian government has been in the minority on key issues for the past fifteen years. But he believes that the US election has brought a breakthrough, and that pro-family, anti-migration, patriotic forces are now in the majority in Europe as well. "The Hungarian government is proud of its pioneering role in this great civilizational battle," the Prime Minister said.

Orbán said that, just as they are doing in America, "we too must dismantle the network of corruption which dominates the entire Western political and media landscape". According to the Prime Minister it is "inadmissible, unacceptable and disgraceful" that "hundreds of millions of forints had been distributed to Hungarian media outlets and organisations".

He then said that "the government is ready to go all the way", noting that more "laws protecting sovereignty, which are still missing today," should be expected. As a result, he said, 2025 will also be a "year of political breakthrough".