If the agreement with the European Commission is reached, teachers will receive an unprecedented salary increase, said Gergely Gulyás, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, at a press conference on Thursday in Budapest.
Gergely Gulyás, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, said: At Wednesday's meeting, the government reviewed the state of the EU negotiations. The government believes that the negotiations can be concluded successfully. The government agreed on a total of 17 commitments with the committee.
These include:
- Creation of the integrity authority,
- Setting up and strengthening the anti-corruption working group,
- Guaranteeing the transparent use of EU support in the case of public interest trust foundations performing a public task,
- In the case of crimes related to the exercise of public authority or the management of public assets, the introduction of a special procedure and the strengthening of audit and control mechanisms during the use of EU funds.
The government also undertook:
- It means reducing the proportion of single-tender public procurement procedures financed from EU funds, even if domestic funds are used.
- A reporting tool has been developed that excludes an increase in the proportion of single-bid public procurements, the electronic public procurement system will be transparent and traceable, and a performance evaluation framework will ensure the efficient use of resources.
- They adopt an action plan to increase competition and introduce training for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises on the public procurement procedure, and support their participation with a support system.
The government agreed on these with the European Commission, and the Parliament adopted the necessary laws. The implementation of the laws, among them the establishment of the integrity authority, is key - concluded Gergely Gulyás.
In a letter, Viktor Orbán thanked the leaders of each EU country for the unanimous decision to extend the deadline.
The government is committed to the commitments.
Already on January 1, teachers can receive an increase of almost 21 percent
Gergely Gulyás also spoke about the need to raise teachers' salaries, and the committee acted constructively in this regard. With the conclusion of the agreement, it is possible that by 2025 teacher salaries will reach 80 percent of the average graduate salary.
This means that next year teacher salaries will have to be increased by 21 percent, then by 25 percent, and in 2025 by 30 percent compared to the current base.
According to Gergely Gulyás, if an agreement can be reached, an increase of nearly 21 percent can be realized on January 1 instead of the 10 percent planned so far.
He noted: since the regime change, teachers have received significant salary increases three times, two of which were during the Orbán government.
Hungary's energy supply is ensured
Hungary's energy supply is secured, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office announced on Thursday at Government Information. He also reported that the rules for feeding will be changed in solar applications to be submitted in the future.
Energy was also discussed at yesterday's government meeting, the most important thing being that the country's energy supply is secured. In the current situation in Europe, there are two questions: is there energy at all and what does it cost. The price is very high everywhere, but there are also places where there is not enough quantity.
Hungary's gas supply would be guaranteed for half a year even if not a single molecule arrived in our country from now on. Regardless, many changes are needed in the energy infrastructure, so the recovery fund would finance the transition to green energy and the development of the electricity network.
In order to speed up solar investments, the rules will be changed in the future, which will affect not only the population, but also businesses.
The government believes that the negotiations with the European Union can be concluded in the next month, so this process will also speed up.
In response to M1's question, the minister said that at the end of this year, at the beginning of next year, Hungary may receive the first payment, if an agreement is reached with the European Commission on recovery funds.
The national consultation begins
In response to a question, Gergely Gulyás said that the mailing of the national consultation questionnaires will begin tomorrow and the exact content of the questionnaires will be made public.
The most important thing is to preserve the unity of Europe in such a way that it can represent both European and Hungarian interests - underlined the minister, who said that if Europe introduces sanctions, it will have such an effect on energy prices that everyone will suffer and suffocate. "We will see what can be done, the sanctions will expire in December, then we will have to decide whether we will extend them, and which of them we will extend," he explained, adding that during the negotiations, the Hungarian government tried to act in such a way as to strengthen the unified European action.
According to him, the national consultation launched here is a good example of how voters can express their opinion on sanctions and their necessity.
The capital could not fulfill this task
Gergely Gulyás said that there are public services that the municipalities are responsible for providing. Garbage collection in Budapest is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Municipality. "We regret that the capital was not able to fulfill this task, but we are glad that we have succeeded now," he noted.
"The Tocsik case was minor in comparison"
Regarding the campaign financing scandal, the left said that the left must answer the question of how it could happen that foreign funds were used in the campaign in a way that violated the law. "It is a serious case, perhaps the most serious political scandal since the regime change. The Tocsik case was a minor one in comparison," the minister described the scandal, then noted: the importance of the case is clearly shown by the fact that even the left in the National Security Committee voted to launch the secret service investigation.
A wage increase can be realistic
In response to a question from ATV journalist Gergely Gulyás, clarifying the situation of teacher salaries, the minister explained that the government starts from EU forecasts. In 2025, the average teacher salary is expected to be HUF 777,673. The government undertakes this. He added: if we survive the sanctions, then this wage increase can be realistic. Salaries may differ for instructors in certain fields.
After questions about the teachers' strike, Gergely Gulyás repeatedly said that the teachers' higher wage demands are legitimate and justified. He added: In Hungary, no one can get in trouble for legally participating in strikes and demonstrations, adding that this was only the case during the civilian government, it was not the case during Gyurcsány's time. The government sees these as attention-grabbing demonstrations, which are not directed against it, but draw attention to a problem.
They cannot be abstracted from the effect of sanctions
Regarding the euro/forint exchange rate, he explained that the government is maintaining the budget deficit and is trying to reduce the foreign trade deficit. These processes cannot be separated from the impact of sanctions, said the minister. He added: the Hungarian economy is achieving export records, despite this, the sanctions raise energy prices so much that they weaken the forint.
To the left, it is more important to cause political damage than to raise wages
Regarding the increase in teachers' wages, the minister said that it is more important for the left to cause political damage to the country than for teachers to receive more wages.
The government would give the teachers a salary increase of at least 10 percent even if we didn't get the EU funds, stated Gergely Gulyás. From 2024, however, there may be completely different perspectives.
Gergely Gulyás explained: it is expected that there will not be a recession in Hungary, but economic growth. On the other hand, in several EU countries, experts are not predicting economic growth, but recession.
The gas price cap is not a price-reducing measure, but a sanction
About the idea of the gas price cap, Gergely Gulyás said that the government supports any price cap that makes sense. In the case of the gas price cap, this is not possible, because if it were to be introduced, we would not get gas, in Hungarian we would impose a sanction on natural gas. Accordingly, this is not a price reduction measure, but a sanction.
If there were no sanctions, the forint would strengthen significantly
Hungary's energy exposure is significantly greater than that of the Czech Republic or Poland, and because of this our foreign trade balance is negative, which is the reason for the weakening of the forint exchange rate, explained Gergely Gulyás. If there were no sanctions, the forint would strengthen significantly, he underlined. He added that the most important thing is for the government to ensure the stability of the budget and to reduce the foreign trade deficit.
Inflation is highest in countries that are close to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
Regarding inflation, he explained that inflation is high everywhere, but it is the highest in countries that are close to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The minister underlined in this topic as well: the solution is the elimination of harmful sanctions.
Gergely Gulyás reminded that the government has appointed a ministerial commissioner, in the person of György Balla, who will negotiate with the management of all major cities regarding the overhead costs of local governments.
The energy crisis will impose 1,500 billion in additional expenses on the budget this year. The head of the department stated that the amount will be used to cover extraordinary expenses. For example, to maintain the largest overhead reduction program in Europe. He added: for this purpose, the government imposed special taxes on companies collecting extra profits in a crisis situation.
In Germany, public employees are not allowed to strike at all
Gergely Gulyás emphasized again that no one can be fired in Hungary for going on strike legally. In response to a journalist's suggestion, the minister stated that teachers also have the opportunity to legally strike. In Germany, on the other hand, public employees cannot strike at all.
MTI
Photo: MTI/Zoltán Balogh
