PM Orbán’s state of the nation speech
February 20th, 2018A left-wing and a pro-government pundit offer diametrically opposed interpretations of the Prime Minister’s annual state of the nation address.
In his annual state of the nation address on Sunday, PM Orbán praised the government’s performance in shoring up Hungary’s economy over the past eight years. He said that the government has strengthened Hungary’s sovereignty. As for the challenges facing the government, PM Orbán named migration as the main issue. He underscored the importance of protecting Hungary’s borders and resisting efforts to make Hungary more diverse and immigration-friendly.
In Népszava, Tamás Bihari dismisses the Prime Minister’s speech as full of hot air and conspiracy theory nonsense. The left-wing commentator finds absurd PM Orbán’s suggestion that Hungary has become an independent and sovereign country. On the contrary, Hungary has become much more dependent on Russia through the Paks nuclear power station project, and on China, which invests billions of Forints in the country, Bihari suggests. The only things Hungary has become independent from are the rule of law, democratic values and transparency, he concludes.
Magyar Idők’s Zsolt Bayer welcomes PM Orbán’s rejection of ‘political correctness’ and ideologies that consider European civilization, nation states and Christianity as relics of the past. The pro-government columnist also shares the Prime Minister’s view that although the government has successfully stabilized Hungary’s economy, there is still plenty of work ahead. He is confident that it will all be done, as the governing parties are poised to achieve a sweeping victory at the elections in 49 days time.