The minister who heads the Prime Minister's Office said this in the Government Information in connection with the pardon granted to the convicts of the Budaházy trial.

"I welcome the decision if only because more than 14 years after the act was committed, there is no justice"

he said.

The first-rate defendant has already served two-thirds of the imposed sentence in prison, and his living conditions have also radically changed.

What happened earlier in the Budaházy case is a shame for the administration of justice

- stated the minister, along with the fact that this is not the case in general, the time of the procedures has already decreased. However, this cannot be said in this case, which is why the decision of the President of the Republic is justified.

At the same time, Gulyás emphasized that the situation would be different in the case of homicide or a crime against humanity, but this was not the case here.

The minister also said that the government discussed the draft of next year's budget on Wednesday. He added that there are many circumstances that make planning difficult, but the government nevertheless wants the Parliament to be able to accept the draft budget for 2024 during the spring session. The budget will be submitted to the parliament on May 30, and the final vote is planned for June 7.

We need a budget that protects families, pensions, jobs and utility cuts

Gergely Gulyás underlined. The government wants to reduce the budget deficit, which will be 2.9% according to the plans. A draft corresponding to the wartime scenario will be created, when the war ends and the sanctions are imposed, the room for maneuver will increase significantly, emphasized the minister who heads the Prime Minister's Office.

More money for national defense

Next year, the amount spent on the armed forces will reach or even exceed 2 percent of GDP. Gergely Gulyás once again indicated: the cabinet's position regarding the war remains unchanged, an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations are necessary, and the Pope's statements in Budapest have also confirmed this to the government. With this, the strongest possible moral resolution strengthened the opinion of the Hungarian government, he said.

The government extends the interest rate freeze

The government decided to extend the interest rate caps. The wartime inflation was followed by a rapid increase in interest rates, which significantly increased the costs of businesses, pointed out Gergely Gulyás, who announced that they have again decided to extend the interest rate cap, which protects 350,000 families against high interest rates. The protected loan stock exceeds HUF 1,360 billion, and families have taken HUF 140 billion in inflationary interest off their shoulders. The loan portfolio of nearly 30,000 SMEs of nearly HUF 1,000 billion still falls under the scope of the provision, the minister listed.

When inflation and the central bank base rate decrease significantly (the latter below 10%), then you will only introduce the interest stop

the government, this requires a single-digit inflation rate.

The Parliament accepted the amendment of the Justice Act, after which the Hungarian government will comply with all the requests from Brussels, which are necessary for the disbursement of cohesion funds, within a few weeks, underlined Gergely Gulyás. We will be able to send invoices to Brussels in about a month, said the minister.

Today, the Hungarian left is doing everything to ensure that the country does not get the subsidies, reminded Gulyás, who asked the opposition politicians to stand by the Hungarian teachers and the Hungarian healthcare system.

They entrust the inspection to a thief

In response to a journalist's question, the minister spoke about the fact that a final decision has not yet been reached in the case of the southern circular railway, whose environmental permit was annulled by the court at the capital's initiative. Without the investment, the railway traffic in Budapest cannot be further developed, emphasized Gulyás.

It is not true that the government does not negotiate with the teachers' unions, they sat down to negotiate more than ten times, said the head of the ministry.

The leaders of the trade unions have a personal responsibility if they are open or barely concealed supporters of the political forces that are obstructing the necessary steps for wage settlement in Brussels, he said.

In response to a question, he said: it is possible to raise teachers' salaries at the moment when they receive a guarantee from the European Commission for the payment of EU subsidies. We stand by the teachers, and the Brussels bureaucracy and Hungarian left-wing representatives are on the other side, he added.

It is a peculiar situation when financial control is entrusted to a thief

Gergely Gulyás said that he will visit Hungary on May 15-17. among them the delegation of the budget control committee of the European Parliament (EP), with Daniel Freund and Katalin Cseh. We cannot expect a correct procedure, as this has never happened before, said the minister.

Gergely Gulyás called the police's actions in connection with the incidents at Karmelita professional and impeccable. The professional police practice of the past 13 years has proven that everyone can freely express their position and protest against the government within legal limits. We have one request that you do this legally - emphasized the minister, adding that breaking into a construction site is not.

The extra profit tax remains

In response to a question about the amendment of the election law concerning foreign campaign financing, he said: they still want to submit it during the spring session, if everything goes according to plan, the amendment, which will be submitted by the Fidesz faction, can be adopted at the end of May, beginning of June.

When asked by a journalist, the minister also said that

In 2024, the government also plans to impose an extra profit tax, but to a reduced extent.

This measure does not affect everyone in the same way, but according to the plans, the same people will still have to pay this tax. The details will be included in next year's budget law.

Fundamental changes are needed in the army today, which is why they supported the appointment of Gábor Böröndi, the new Chief of Staff

the minister answered a journalist's question.

Featured image: MTI / Noémi Bruzák