The government discussed the current situation in Brussels in several 12-hour meetings, as the most important news comes from there every day, and there will also be an EU summit in December, Gergely Gulyás said at Thursday's government briefing. The minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office said that there are two disputes, the amendment of the EU budget and Ukraine's accession to the EU.
- Both cases are not unprepared, there is no justification for why the EU budget needs to be amended, and the current EU budget would be amended in such a way that it would not be implemented. In the case of Ukraine, there is a preparatory package, but the country does not meet the criteria. The timing of this is difficult to understand, and we do not see what all this would mean for the Union if it were to join. Thus, Hungary cannot contribute to the joint decision in any case, he said. He noted that in the case of the Balkan countries that are more prepared than Ukraine, there is no question of admission, even though we should talk about their accession.
– If a member state does not support something, it will not be created. Today, the most democratic decision is to ask the citizens through the national consultation, we recommend this to the other member states as well - stated the head of the ministry, who says that it is no longer enough that Brussels makes promises, the government no longer believes in them.
Gergely Gulyás also announced that at yesterday's marathon session, the government also decided on the interest rate caps: the interest rate cap for small and medium-sized enterprises will remain until April 1, which affects 30,000 entrepreneurs. The residential interest rate cap and student loan interest subsidy will remain until July 1.
Regarding the interest rate freeze, he also said that the information sent by the banks, according to which they have to pay the original interest rate again from January, should be torn up and thrown away, they are not valid.
He also indicated that various social benefits will increase from the first of January, while the agreement regarding the minimum wage will apply from December.
He also said that in the field of green energy, the government has decided to launch a tender for energy storage worth HUF 70 billion. You can apply for this until February 25, and positively evaluated investments must be implemented by April 2026.
Gergely Gulyás also said that he considers Csaba Tordai to be an excellent lawyer, and that he was surprised by the suspicion against him in connection with the campaign financing scandal of the left. He added that it is dangerous even for excellent lawyers to get close to Gergely Karácsony and Ferenc Gyurcsány.
- The mayor is primarily the one who owes an answer, and so far he has not given it, and no part of the press is interested in the scandal. During a fundraiser, it cannot happen that the numbers of the money are consecutive, the chance of this is as high as if someone wins the five in the lottery ten times in a row, this cannot be a coincidence. The mayor lied about who they accepted money from, who they promised favors in return, and who can buy the left, said Csaba Tordai, the mayor's chief legal adviser, in connection with the house search in the office of the 99 Movement case.
Regarding the attack on the Sovereignty Protection Act, he said that the left serves foreign interests. Since 1990, the laws prohibit accepting money from abroad, and the left broke this.
Regarding the left-wing attack on the national consultation, he stated: the left-wingers should also send back the consultation, the government will also take their opinion into account.
"Illegal migration should not be managed and legalized, but kept and the corridors closed to migrants," he stated in response to our newspaper's question about the relationship between Brussels and migration, and then stated in connection with the EU's recommendation to end the utility bill: they will not accept Brussels' order.
According to Gergely Gulyás, there can be a turnaround in the matter of migration in Brussels if there is a turnaround during the EU parliamentary elections. He does not see the reality of the European left taking a different position, despite all the failures of the past seven years, they represent the same opinion on the issue of migration.
To a question about Anna Donáth's anti-Gyurcsány statement, he answered: Gyurcsány is the boss on the left, Donáth has no weight. The representatives of Momentum sign up for the DK list, what the Gyurcsánys say is valid.
In relation to the discounted tickets of the Katona József Színház for DK residents, he stated: the director would no longer be in his place if it were up to the government.
The minister said that the Fidesz faction will decide on the proposal to amend the election law of Mi házánk, the debate is about which electoral system is democratic, according to him both are. The peculiarity of the current situation is that those who changed the electoral law 2 months before the election are now raising their voices because it would be changed 7 months before the election. "It is an opposition proposal, we put it on the agenda because we consider it worthy of discussion," he said.
Regarding Sweden's NATO accession, he said that the government supports Sweden's accession, but there are also many concerns, which must be clarified.
Regarding the free rail transport for children under 14 years of age, he said that the government will gladly accept all family-friendly proposals, but no decision has been made about it, the proposal has not yet been submitted to the government.
Regarding the debts of the hospitals, Gergely Gulyás said that the government made two decisions.
On the one hand, it is necessary to reveal why the hospitals have accumulated more debt than in previous years, and on the other hand, the hospital debts will be paid, which is true for the debts to be paid by the end of the year, i.e. also for the months of November and December. Regarding the school districts' debt stock, he stated that the reason for the formation of the debt must be revealed here as well, which the Ministry of the Interior will do and report on. The government will receive information about this from the Ministry of the Interior within a month.
Regarding the gasoline price, he said that the government has not yet decided on this, they are still investigating whether the resources of the overhead protection funds are sufficient. in this regard, he noted: this year, the government paid out around HUF 1,000 billion in order to maintain utility protection.
Regarding the International Investment Bank, he informed me that there is a debt to the Hungarian state and there is a procedure against the bank. According to the rules, the state asserts its claim against the debtor. If a company cannot pay, either liquidation or liquidation proceedings will begin.
Regarding the budget of the planned Sovereignty Authority, he said that it will be significantly less than the budget of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Everyone will be able to see exactly how much this will be before the office starts operating.
Paper-based letters can be answered for the time being, as mentioned in connection with the national consultation, but later it will be possible to fill them out online.
Alexandra Szentkirályi indicated that the Economic Competition Office is working to increase the number of products included in the price monitor before Christmas. They are currently discussing this with the stores.
Regarding the rights of the national minorities living in Ukraine, Gergely Gulyás said that Hungary is only asking for the situation before 2017 to be restored for the Hungarians living there, but he sees little chance of that at the moment.
Regarding the migration situation, he said that although the wave of immigration tends to ease in the winter, this is not visible now, and the EU's border protection should be strengthened for this.
He said that Minister János Lázár will provide information about the illegal waste dump in Károszrández, which disfigures the cityscape and is exposed to those arriving by train.
Cover photo: Gergely Gulyás, Minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office at the Government Info press conference in the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office
MTI/Zoltán Máthé
