Commenting on the latest Eurostat report on the development of EU member states, Gergely Gulyás said Hungary had grown despite “two years of Covid and one of war”.

Hungary’s economy had grown by over 10% since Fidesz came to power in 2010, closing the gap with the EU average by over 10%, he said.

The trend continued last year, showing the resilience of Hungarian economy in times of crisis, he said. Hungary is keeping up with the development of central Europe and whittling away at its disadvantage against long-standing EU member states, he said.

The goal is that the country should be among the five most developed countries of the EU, he added. Hungary is now level pegging with Portugal, which has been a member state since 1986, and ahead of Greece — also in the EU since the 80s — by 8-9 percentage points, Gulyás said.

Hungary’s development within central Europe is second only to Poland’s, which has a two-point advantage, he said. Hungary also has 4,691,000 jobholders, 26,000 more than last year, after a year that tested the resilience of companies with soaring energy prices, he said.

The country is working to swiftly catch up with the EU average, and as soon as the Russia-Ukraine war is concluded and energy prices are curbed it will advance even further, he said.

Asked to comment on “leftist voices” reporting that Hungary’s economy lagged in EU comparison, Gulyás said that in the past weeks, mostly left-liberal economic institutions, “which unfortunately include the central bank”, have warned of a growing gap between the EU average and Hungary.

“In fact the truth is that while energy prices have soared and the world and Europe are facing serious inflation, the Hungarian economy has grown considerably, narrowing the gap with EU average,” he said.