In his Friday morning radio interview, Viktor Orbán announced that Finance Minister Mihály Varga will take over the baton at the head of the central bank from György Matolcsy, who will step down in March.
Without György Matolcsy, hundreds of families would have been ruined - said Viktor Orbán in his Friday morning radio interview, and then he said that the central bank is one of the most important points of the Hungarian economy. "It is a pledge of stability," he said. Announced:
He nominates Mihály Varga to head the central bank.
The mandate of the Governor of the Central Bank, György Matolcsy, expires on March 3, 2025, and the government is sitting on pins and needles waiting for this date to arrive - "until then, we can endure squatting" according to Balázs Orbán - since the Minister of National Economy, Márton Nagy, has a different opinion on a number of economic policy issues, as György Matolcsy.
The expectations were confirmed
The government is under enormous pressure, as the forint has already crept above the level of 415 forints against the euro. According to analysts, the currency is weakening so much because Viktor Orbán has not yet named Matolcsy's successor at the head of the central bank, and this uncertainty pushes up the exchange rate against the euro.
Two names have been in the hat for a very long time as possible choices:
Minister of Finance Mihály Varga and Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy. The prime minister finally nominated Mihály Varga, who has been a member of Fidesz since 1988 and the founder of the Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county organization.
Varga has been a Fidesz parliamentary representative since 1990 (with a short interruption). Between 1994 and 2003, and from 2005 to 2013, he was one of the vice-presidents of Fidesz. Between 1998 and 2001, he was the political state secretary of the Ministry of Finance, then the minister of finance until 2002. In the second Orbán government between 2010 and 2012, he was the state secretary in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, then the minister without portfolio responsible for relations with individual international financial organizations. Minister of National Economy from March 2013 to 2018, Minister of Finance from 2018, Deputy Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022. Member of the National Competitiveness Council since March 2017. According to the 2020 Influence barometer, he is the 6th most influential person in Hungary.
I gratefully accept the Prime Minister's honorable invitation. With my future work, I will also serve the stability and growth of Hungary
- wrote Mihály Varga on his Facebook page, who noted that he also feels honored that he was able to serve his country for 4,800 days as Minister of National Economy and then Minister of Finance.
Hungarians in Romania need parliamentary representation
The prime minister spoke about last week's surprise presidential election in Romania and the parliamentary elections this weekend. As he said, exciting, unexpected and at the same time instructive events are taking place in Romania.
In connection with the presidential election, the head of government praised Kelemen Hunor, the candidate of the RMDSZ, who, according to him, did well in the competition in all respects and of whom we can be proud. However, there is little chance that he will be the runner-up in the end. According to Orbán, the current task is to have the Hungarians in Romania represented in parliament. Without it, it is impossible to protect and represent the Hungarians there.
The Hungarians are therefore facing a decisive election in Romania
said the Prime Minister.
In connection with the presidential election, he touched on the interesting fact that the Constitutional Court is now dealing with the matter. This is the meeting of modern technology with voters: what tools can be used, whether it can be used, for example, how much TikTok influences people.
As he said:
we are grateful to the Romanians for experimenting with this for us, and we will be able to learn from it in Hungary.
Everyone needs to think
He said about the development of the Russian-Ukrainian war: we are in a strange situation because
while we have never been so close to peace, never has the situation of war been so dangerous.
According to Orbán, two shocking news have arrived in recent days, which draw attention to the responsibility of European politicians:
One is that the Russians launched their intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. "If the Russians deploy this, it will be a world war with nuclear content. It got us all thinking,” he said. The other important news is that, according to Russian reports, Westerners have already died on the front, and according to the Prime Minister, this is an extremely dangerous moment.
We are in opposition in Brussels
Regarding the situation in the European Union, he explained: difficult years are behind us, with war, sanctions, inflation, and people expect it to end. It is the government's job to close this period, and since the USA has become a pro-peace government, Hungary must take advantage of these opportunities.
And we take advantage of it, we presented such a budget, giving us the opportunity for a new economic policy
he said
"However, for the time being, these measures must be implemented against the European Union, because they demand something from Hungary that we cannot implement," he added. The government is trying to raise the funds and deliver them to the Hungarians, the union is blocking and attacking our economic policy.
According to Orbán, wishes are coming from Brussels specifically contrary to the interests of the Hungarian people. As he said, we are in opposition in Brussels, and we are fighting on two more fronts: we are also fighting them on migration and gender issues.
The prime minister believes that the migration pact would be fatal for Hungary, and in the gender issue they want to make the child protection law impossible.
"They want to give children to homosexual couples forever, which is completely against our child protection law"
- he drew attention, also emphasizing that the purpose of the national consultation is precisely to strengthen Hungary's position and to be able to fight these battles.
You can watch the Prime Minister's interview here:
Featured image source: Mandiner
