At the event, the Prime Minister will give a complex assessment of the foreign policy situation, and he will also give his opinion on the current state of the war, but an overview of domestic politics is also expected from him.
On Saturday, September 7, Fidesz's private traditional picnic in Kötcs will be held for the twenty-third time, which receives a lot of attention from the press every year. The main patron and keynote speaker of the event is Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who gives his evaluation speech excluding the public to prominent members of the government: government members, politicians, journalists, institutional leaders and public figures.
This year's motto of the event is telling and refers to the war in Ukraine: "Let there be peace."
An answer must be given to the Péter Magyar phenomenon
"The meeting in Kötcs is always aimed at the right-wing intellectual elite, that is, the dominant intellectuals who speak out for the right in public. Viktor Orbán outlines the current political and economic situation for them every year. He tells how he sees the state of Hungary, the global processes, and what needs to be prepared for in the coming months, and sets the horizon for governance," XXI. Dániel Deák, senior analyst of Század Institute and activist of Megafon, will also participate in the private event this year.
As he said: from the address of the Kötcs picnic, it can already be concluded that the prime minister will give a complex foreign policy situation assessment as usual, and will also give his opinion on the current state of the war, but an overview of domestic politics is also expected from him. Certain elements of Viktor Orbán's speech in Kötcse used to echo in his speech on the first day of the fall parliamentary session, but the most important statements usually leaked out. According to press information, the Parliament will hold its opening session on September 30, and the Prime Minister will provide information to the Parliament before the agenda.
After the June 9 European Parliament and municipal elections, the structure of Hungarian domestic politics changed. The old left-wing parties practically disappeared or ceased to exist. A completely new situation has emerged, and many people from the right-wing political milieu expect Viktor Orbán to give an answer to how Fidesz's policy will adapt, in which direction it will go, what new tools it will deploy, and what new opportunities it sees. The prime minister will probably take these aspects and expectations into account when preparing his speech
Dániel Deák explained, then added:
Fidesz must be able to give some kind of answer to the Péter Magyar phenomenon.
At the same time, the analyst, who also works as a political activist, drew attention to the fact that "Fidesz is an innovative political force", able to renew itself from election to election and to use completely different techniques in a campaign.
It can already be seen that the political situation will be different in the 2026 campaign, and accordingly, politics will have to be done differently in the next year and a half. There is also the question of Fidesz's response to political issues that are now resurfacing, such as hospital conditions or traffic problems. A more controversial political period is likely to follow. We can already see signs of this: for example, János Lázár invited Péter Magyar to a meeting. In the past, such political moves did not really characterize the relationship between the government side and the opposition
Dániel Deák pointed out.
The role of Fidesz needs to be explained
The topics of Viktor Orbán's speech in Kötcs are always born from the current political situation, the analyst-activist reminded him that before 2010, Viktor Orbán first outlined the idea of a central force at a meeting in Kötcs: that is, Fidesz is in the middle, and to the right and left of it is a larger opposition bloc, this line-up defined Hungarian politics until 2018.
Now, a 30 percent formation has been created opposite Fidesz, which belongs to the globalist political side. Apart from it, there are one or two smaller blocs that have substantial support, I am thinking of DK and Mi Hazánk. This line-up is, by definition, a different political structure, and it needs to be interpreted as to where it belongs and what is the role of Fidesz. What goals can you formulate until 2026, and what are the points where you can prove that you can be a winning political force in 2026 as well
Dániel Deák explained.
The question is where the prime minister is
Public pro-government speeches, for example Péter Kovács XVI. based on the statements of the district mayor ( he told Telex "the Prime Minister is currently busy with European politics, but maybe he should come back to Hungarian politics and put things in order within Fidesz" ), Dániel Deák sees that Fidesz key actors within the country expect the prime minister to place greater emphasis on domestic political and economic issues in addition to foreign policy in his speeches.
Until now, these were not emphasized because it was a more boring domestic political situation, but now that domestic politics has changed, many believe that Viktor Orbán should put more emphasis on the assessment of this situation as well.
- stated the analyst-activist.
He also added: since the changed political situation requires a well-thought-out, well-considered strategy - and its development does not happen overnight, but rather a job requiring long-term political planning - the question is whether the Prime Minister will have a ready answer to this in Kötcs now .
"The question is whether Viktor Orbán has reached the end of this or is only in the middle of it. We don't know what phase this is in, but the assessment of the domestic political and economic situation is expected to play an important role at the meeting."
Dániel Deák thought.
Regarding the picnic in Kötcs, he also said that the meeting has an informal, friendly atmosphere, the Prime Minister can be asked questions after his presentation, and he mingles with the guests before it. Ministers and experts usually give presentations before Viktor Orbán's speech.
"The event typically has the atmosphere of a picnic, which is why it is called the Kötcsei picnic, and since it is private, it is much more free and open to talk and discuss controversial topics."
Dániel Deák remarked.
The XXI. The leading analyst of the Század Institute published his book A Fidesz recipe in April of last year, in which he stated, among other things, that Fidesz has learned well that its opponents must never be allowed to grow, they must be kept under constant pressure.
Featured image: MTI/Zoltán Máthé/archive
