Looking back on 2022 at a press conference on Wednesday, Prime Minister Orbán said that the past year was the most difficult since the 1989/1990 transition, but despite all the challenges, a successful one.

He added that Hungary’s key challenges for 2023 will be to stay out of the war in Ukraine and to avoid recession. After his address, PM Orbán took questions from journalists for nearly two hours.

Magyar Nemzet’s Ottó Gajdics agrees with the Prime Minister that Hungary did well despite the difficulties caused by Covid, the war in Ukraine and the global economic slowdown.

The pro-government columnist finds it a great achievement that the employment rate has hit record highs and household energy is still affordable – thanks to government subsidies. Gajdics accuses the opposition of serving the interests of “the international Left” by trying to block EU funding for Hungary, and blaming all problems on the government.

Népszava’s Gábor Czene finds it sad that it makes headlines when the Prime Minister takes questions from journalists including those who do not work for pro-government media outlets.

Otherwise, the left-wing commentator writes that the Prime Minister confined himself to predictably praising his government’s achievements, promising an even greater future and laying the blame for all ills at the doorstep of the opposition and foreign actors.

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 MTI Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák