Fidesz and its Christian Democrat ally started a three-day group meeting in north Hungary on Wednesday evening addressed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The government-mandated reductions to utility bills are being challenged by the European Union and so the scheme must be defended, he said. Further, the government must consider how to guarantee the inflow of cheap gas into the country in the following period, he added.

Rogán said efforts to protect people against debt servitude had been successful but this work must be completed and banks held to account. He noted that Orbán had stressed the importance of keeping prices in check.

Rogán said that the issue of immigration was also a priority. Orbán said economic migration must be “reduced to zero” and “Hungary’s doors must be locked”. Economic migrants will not be tolerated, he said, adding that current Hungarian laws do not deal with this issue adequately and so creating new legislation was a must. “We must not wait for the European Union,” he said, noting that it was certain that the EU would change its immigration policy; but it was possible that this would come too late for Hungary.

In connection with foreign policy, the Fidesz group leader said the prime minister had said that Hungary can afford to have an independent foreign policy because the country has become strong, and only strong countries can run their own, independent foreign policy. “We must always be clear about our own interests,” he said.

This is why the government considers it especially important to maintain good relations with Germany, since it is in Hungary’s interest that economic ties between the two countries should continue to strengthen, he said. Russia needs attention because this is the source of Hungary’s gas supply, and the defence of cuts to utility bills hinges on retaining a cheap supply of gas, he added.

Orbán also told the meeting that there are strengthening nations in Europe with which it was necessary to nurture good economic ties, Turkey among them, Rogán noted, adding that it was no accident that the German chancellor and the Russian president were paying visits to Turkey in February in addition to their visits to Hungary.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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MTI photo: Szigetváry Zsolt