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Autumn legislative session opens

September 20th, 2017

At the opening session of the autumn parliamentary season, the governing party and the opposition exchanged blows over immigration and corruption – and so have the dailies.

In his opening speech, PM Orbán focused on the state of the economy and migration. He said that economic output as well as employment are rising steadily, while the deficit is under control. Concerning migration, he reiterated that his government wants to “keep Hungary Hungarian and Europe European”, and accused the EU of trying to impose on Hungary migrant redistribution quotas which he labelled “part of the Soros plan”. The opposition parties accused the government of trying to divert attention from widespread corruption.

In Magyar Idők, Ottó Gajdics writes that the opposition parties have no real agenda or story to tell. The pro-government commentator thinks that the opposition is trying to mobilize support by accusing the government of corruption, and is even trying to incite the public to take part in violent protests in the absence of a credible vision. In an aside, Gajdics claims that by now, none of the opposition parties want to tear down the border wall erected by the Orbán government, although they vehemently opposed it two years ago.

Népszava’s Róbert Friss comments on the Prime Minister’s speech to the meeting of Christian intellectuals last Saturday. He fears that PM Orbán is preparing Hungary’s exit from the EU. The left-wing columnist thinks that Viktor Orbán demonises liberals and creates a fog of conspiracy theories around George Soros because he has lost any ideological stamina he once had, and has no real positive message to voters. Friss thinks that the Prime Minister’s harsh criticism of Brussels and EU migration policy indicate his intention to lead Hungary out of the European Union.

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