Viktor Orban has decided to remain Prime Minister of Hungary until 2034. He announced this at a traditional picnic in the village of Ketche, writes the local newspaper Telex, citing guests present at the event.
After the 2018 elections, Orban spoke of his intention to remain prime minister only until 2030. He explained the change in plans by saying that the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic took four years from the government. He added that he wants to see a “big, strong and rich” Hungary, intends to achieve respect for the country in the world, and proposed his 15-point plan for achieving these goals, the publication reports.
Among these points, Orbán listed the demographic turn, the creation of a labor-based economy, the transition from borrower to lender, the development of the army, the introduction of a digital passport, and so on.
The prime minister acknowledged that the government’s popularity has declined recently, but stressed that his Fidesz party’s ratings have declined less than elsewhere in Europe because their voters consider political and ideological aspects as well as economics.
According to Orban, in Germany the popularity of opposition parties already exceeds the ratings of the ruling coalition – and the drop in support is due to economic difficulties, with real wages falling for the first time in a decade. “Society is not accustomed to this, but to constant growth,” he explained, promising to correct the situation.
Orbán served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1998 to 2002 and from 2010 to the present. He has been criticized for the close ties between Budapest and Moscow in recent years and his refusal to provide military assistance to Ukraine to counter a full-scale Russian invasion. In particular, on March 26, 2022, the Hungarian Prime Minister said that he would not support the embargo on Russian oil and gas, and Zelensky’s demands for military assistance and sanctions against Russia, according to him, contradict the interests of Hungary and will negatively affect the economy.
