Hungarian opposition parties slammed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over his speech at the 31st summer university in Băile Tușnad (Tusnádfürdő), in central Romania.
In a statement, the leftist Democratic Coalition said: “It is not advice that an ill person needs, but medicine.” Liberal Momentum accused Orbán of “pitting people against each other” when he “should be concerned with the livelihoods of the Hungarian people and the social crisis plaguing our country”. Last week it “became clear to everyone that the prime minister has long built his policies on lies while staying silent on the true economic situation in Hungary”, Momentum said in a statement. “His ‘Tusványos’ speech today was no different as he … incited against our allies but made no mention of those affected by the changes to the small business tax rules or rising utility costs,” the party added. The Socialists said that after 12 years in power, “Orbán’s only vision for the country” was that “we are waiting for 2030 not because Hungary will catch up with the West by then, but … because the West will fall apart in exactly eight years”. In a statement, they said that in his speech, Orbán had made sure “not to admit that his government’s flawed policies are the reason why Hungary is severely affected by the economic and cost-of-living crisis”. The Orbán government has made Hungary “the second most corrupt country in the European Union”, the party said, adding that inflation was “brutal” and that the government was to blame for the delay in the payouts of EU funds to Hungary. Péter Ungár, group leader of green LMP, said he was “surprised to hear” the prime minister criticise multinational companies over their excessive profits resulting from the war. “This begs the question: If he has a problem with this, then why is he defending with all his might the international corporations that pay no taxes in Hungary?” Ungár said on Facebook. He said LMP welcomed Orbán’s stance that Hungary must end its dependence on gas. “Better late than never, but if the prime minister hadn’t been doing the exact opposite of this over the last ten years, we’d be in less trouble right now,” he added.
hungarymatters.hu
MTI – Nándor Veres
