"Sovereignty, freedom, full employment and support for families. We do not want to give up on these big goals in 2023, even in the midst of the expected difficult circumstances", stated Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the Government Information held jointly with the Minister in charge of the Prime Ministership Gergely Gulyás and the State Secretary responsible for international relations Zoltán Kovács.

This was the most difficult year since the regime change, yet Hungary delivered an extraordinary performance

Viktor Orbán emphasized: We managed to preserve the work-based society, never before have so many people worked in Hungary as this year, he pointed out. Viktor Orbán said that employment is at a thirty-year high, with 74.6 percent of people working.

Although 2022 was an election year, it was still possible to reduce the budget deficit, which is very rare in European politics, but not unprecedented in Hungary, and the same happened in 2018. In the meantime, the elderly got their 13th monthly pension back, family members got a significant part of their tax back, and the tax exemption for those under 25 was introduced, recalled the prime minister.

The prime minister also considers it an extraordinary achievement that he managed to come to an agreement with the EU by overcoming the "hungarophobia" prevailing in the liberal world. Viktor Orbán said that he hopes that the relevant agreements will be signed in the next day or two.

Three billion HUF dollars were up against three million voters, and the latter won

About three billion HUF dollars were up against three million voters, and the latter won the April election, the Prime Minister declared. Among this year's extraordinary achievements, Viktor Orbán mentioned the spring parliamentary election, which he assessed as the Hungarians "didn't ask for foreign intervention, they didn't ask for the dollar left, and I don't think that will change anytime soon in Hungary."

He added: the election was a real fight for freedom, the country's independence and sovereignty had to be protected, because international actors participated in the election with such importance as never before.

Viktor Orbán also highlighted the continuation of the tradition since 1990, which distinguishes Hungary from other European states: apart from Hungary, there is no other country where early elections have not been held since 1990.

We have protected the border and overhead reduction

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mentioned the arrest of migration and the maintenance of overhead protection among this year's successes. As he said, we are the only European country that is under migratory pressure from two directions at the same time, since in addition to the southern direction, an influx of millions of refugees has appeared from Ukraine.

Viktor Orbán called it a fantastic result that more than a quarter of a million illegal border crossing attempts were prevented this year.

He also spoke of Hungary's ability to finance the increased energy prices as a success, pointing out that it had to pay 17 billion euros instead of 7 billion last year for the same amount. He emphasized: the country created this amount in such a way that it was able to preserve the essence of the overhead protection system, and this was also resolved by 2023.

Hungary must definitely stay out of the war

Hungary must definitely stay out of the war, emphasized Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Viktor Orbán emphasized: so far, the war taking place in our neighborhood only has losers. The two opposing parties and the European economy also lose. We are suffering a serious economic loss, we are paying penalty surcharges, he said.

The Prime Minister added: the year 2023 will bring the challenge for almost every European country to avoid the economic downturn or recession, which stems directly from the war and European participation in the war, which is called sanctions.

We will defend ourselves in 2023, but we will not give up on our big goals

We will defend ourselves, but we will not give up on our big goals - the Prime Minister stated at the international press conference held in Budapest on Wednesday, speaking about the goals for the year 2023.

Viktor Orbán emphasized that the most important thing for Hungary in 2023 will be to stay out of the war. Another important goal is to stay out of the European recession, so the economic growth in Hungary should not be negative, but positive, added the Prime Minister.

He said that the government would also like to see inflation shrink to single digits by the end of next year. At Wednesday's government meeting, the cabinet is expected to decide on increasing the tax exemption for young people up to the age of 25 to 30 years for women who have children, he said.

"Sovereignty, freedom, full employment and support for families. We do not want to give up on these big goals in 2023, even in the midst of the expected difficult circumstances," said Viktor Orbán.

MTI

Front page image: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will hold a year-end international press conference in the Karmányfó context at the Karmelita Monastery on December 21, 2022. MTI/Koszticsák Solid