Speeches

What Viktor Orbán and his government, as well as you as his representative, are doing, is treason itself, Congressman. It is your fault, because you have been stealing money from European and Hungarian taxpayers for 14 years, that billions of euros do not arrive in Hungary. This is a betrayal of the Hungarian people. This is a betrayal of Hungary. This is where you, Viktor Orbán and every Fidesz-KDNP politician are actively involved. This is what I am fighting against, and this is what all my fellow Members working for Europe are fighting against.

Dear Mr President, My fellow Members! In front of me, Viktor Orbán, the most corrupt politician in the European Union, was told by his party soldier, who cannot account for why the money of the European Union, the European taxpayers, has been stolen every day for 14 years. The European Union can only be strong if the policies agreed upon are implemented by all Member States. I am sad to say to you that there is a Member State, namely Hungary, whose main objective is to eliminate transparency and controllability. This has already been done in Hungary. This is one of the reasons why Hungary is doing so badly. This is deteriorating the strength of the European Union, but I don't think I have to tell you that the main victims are the Hungarian people after all. If transparency and verifiability are regulated in a uniform, strict and binding manner for all Member States, all European citizens, including the Hungarian people, will benefit from it, as the conditions of their daily lives will improve, be it in the areas of health, education, the environment, transport and everyday livelihoods in general. This is the goal of the European Union, and this is also the goal of us Social Democrats. (The speaker is willing to answer a blue card question)

Madam President, I'm sorry. For years, the Hungarian government has been amending Hungarian laws in a way that puts workers in a worse and more vulnerable position, especially vis-à-vis multinational companies. Who knows why, the Hungarian government believes that the lower the salaries, the harder it is to act together to defend their interests, the higher the profits of the multinationals, the better for Hungary. Who understands this strange and deliberately damaging governance for Hungarian workers? Fortunately, workers are protected here in the heart of the European Union. It is a huge step forward that from now on only those who respect the social rights of workers can receive EU grants. The European Union refuses to support companies that deliberately eviscerate workers. I support this decision with all my strength, because it is a real protection for the workers. Many more of these measures are needed. And as a Social Democrat, I will work to make hard-working people feel and enjoy the protection and support of the European Union in their daily lives.

Dear Mr President, No one in this room disputes that all beneficiaries, including civil society organisations receiving financial support from the European Union, must meet the highest standards of transparency. It's natural. But perhaps even more importantly, we also require governments to use subsidies properly. I am thinking first of all of the fact that there is a government, and unfortunately the Orbán government is at the forefront of this, which deliberately and systematically breaks the rules and dismantles the institutions of the rule of law in order to enrich its favorite oligarchs primarily from European Union subsidies. And speaking of civilians, let us mention those pseudo-civilians, which in Hungary only serve the government's own party-political goals, and therefore receive billions of dollars in support, in which the Hungarian people are mainly annoyed against the European Union. Let us be consistent, if we want to bring order, then we begin to bring order to the governments and the pseudo-civil organizations that faithfully serve them. This is how we can make things right, so we can pay attention to transparency.

You fired the leaders of the HCSO, among other things, because they measured it, and since then they cannot even measure that nearly half of Hungary lives in extreme poverty. You have renounced the Roma society, you have renounced the Hungarian poor people. A Social Democrat government will change that. Klára Dobrev will change that, Congresswoman! And speaking of CSOK. CSOK, in Hungary, is only for kissers. Your Minister, Judit Varga, who hired the CSOK without having the right to do so. Although he is the one who listened to the Hungarian people and is blackmailing the Hungarian people today, so he should be ashamed of himself before asking such questions.

Viktor Orbán and his government are pushing Roma children and poor children out of public education by excluding them from ecclesiastical schools, for example. Viktor Orbán personally humiliated the Gypsies of Gyöngyöspata, the Roma of Gyöngyöspata, when he said that as long as he ‘gives’, inter alia, as long as he steals, these Gypsies, these people, do not work. Viktor Orbán and his government are making the poor, including our Roma compatriots, impossible. Viktor Orbán is the one who practically humiliates them every day.

Dear Madam President, Dear fellow Members, It is very easy to summarize what has changed in Hungary since the publication of the Commission's terms and conditions. Compared to 2019, the actors of the inciting billboard only changed. Juncker was replaced by Ursula von der Leyen by Orbán's propaganda machine. Today's posters tell us not to dance the way they whistle. This means only one thing: Orbán does not want to comply with the Commission's requests. Orban just dances like Putin doesn't care. Nothing has changed in Hungary. Four years passed, he replaced two actors on the inciting posters, while Orbán's oligarchs stole the country. The Juncker Commission believed Orbán. It is hard to imagine von der Leyen's Commission falling for Viktor Orbán's lies. The president of the Integrity Authority created by the Orbán family, before even taking a look, stated that there is no institutional corruption in Hungary. Make it clear. Orbán cannot and does not want to change, because he knows that change would lead to the loss of his power. This is why Viktor Orbán does not change. (The speaker agreed to answer a "blue card" question)

Dear Mr President, Dear fellow Members, I would like to thank the European Court of Auditors for its annual report. With their annual report and numerous special reports, they have made an important contribution to the protection of the financial interests of EU citizens. The citizens of the Union have entrusted you with the task of independently and professionally assessing the implementation, legality and regularity of the budget of the European Union. How happy would we Hungarians be if the Hungarian Court of Auditors assessed the implementation of the Hungarian budget so independently and objectively? Unfortunately, the Hungarian Court of Auditors does not fulfil this task, but rather helps to cover up illegalities. The time has come for the European institutions, in alliance with the inhabitants of Hungary, to ensure that public funds are used in Hungary as regularly and in the interests of citizens as they are in the European Union.

Dear Madam President, Dear fellow Members, When Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, Putin's goal was to conquer Ukraine in a few months. It is now clear that Putin has failed, that Russia cannot win this war. To do this, it was necessary for Europe and the Western world to stand as one man on the side of the attacked country, Ukraine. But above all, we need those brave Ukrainians who cannot be deterred from their patriotism. Thanks to the European Union's decision, it prevented the aggressor, offensive Putin's army from replacing its lost weapons and getting new, modern weapons. Unfortunately, Hungary has a great deal of experience with the Russian occupation. It seems, however, that the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has forgotten about this, which is why he is uninterrupted in his search for the favor of the war criminal, Vladimir Putin. This is an unforgivable sin. It is our duty, as MEPs, to preserve Europe's freedom, peace and security. Let's continue this work, let's work together.

Mr. President, please. The Orbán government has once again issued a devastating certificate about itself. Orban's government is all about how they can steal billions. In this case, Pegasus, they also demonstrated their inability to work in accordance with the rule of law, their inability to comply with these rules. As a result, Orbán did not receive support from Europe. Instead of European funds, Orbán's inflation gets a European record for Hungarians. They cannot govern, so it is no wonder that the rise in food prices in Hungary is four times the European average, and the Hungarian people are suffering from the unprecedented cost of living crisis. Even in this situation, Orbán is only focusing on ensuring that Hungarians listen to propaganda instead of credible information, so that they do not receive real information about their real situation. It targets the remaining independent press and uses spyware to intercept and intimidate Hungarian journalists and Hungarian businessmen. Honourable Parliament, honourable Members, honourable Commission, this is a sad lesson for Hungary in the Pegasus case.

Mr President, under Rule 137 of our procedures, I inform you that Commissioner Várhelyi has labelled Members of the European Parliament ‘idiots’. After answering a question from a Member, when he took his seat, you can clearly hear him saying, ‘How many other idiots are still left?’ This is an unprecedented and brutal insult to the Parliament representing 450 million European citizens. It is particularly unacceptable for the integrity of the Parliament to be violated by a high—ranking leader of another EU institution, the European Commission. It’s no surprise that Várhelyi was nominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. They both despise the Parliament and democracy. Now it’s up to us to decide whether Orbán is and will be allowed into this Chamber. We call on the President to take strong action to have Commissioner Várhelyi removed, especially because his fake apology turned the blame back onto our Parliament.

Mr. President, please. Only one EU government is slowing down the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, and that is the Orbán government. However, the accession of Sweden and Finland would greatly strengthen Europe's security. But then why does Viktor Orbán do this, why does he slow down this process? Because since Orbán can't steal, he's been hounded by another passion, blackmail. He wants concessions, he wants you to turn a blind eye to theft and abuse in exchange for ratification. Don't do it! Don't give in to theft and don't give in to blackmail. Viktor Orbán will give in, precisely because he knows that without Europe he will not be able to solve the crisis into which he led Hungary. Hungary will ratify NATO enlargement because we European Hungarian Democrats will enforce it, we will enforce it day by day, week by week, until it happens. Because this is Hungary's interest, and this is also in Europe's interest.

Mr. President, please. Viktor Orbán is trying to feed you by establishing an independent body that would expose the corruption cases of his government. We are talking about Orbán, who for the past 12 years has stolen as if there were no tomorrow, every single piece of EU funding, every penny of it in the pockets of his family and friends, the average Hungarian people did not receive EU funding. Viktor Orbán wants to fool you! He just wants the billions of euros to start again and he can steal again because he wants to steal, which he has done for the last 12 years. He keeps his grip while blaming Brussels for everything, he says that because of you the goods in the stores are expensive, he says that because of you there is record inflation, and he says that because of you the Hungarian teachers do not get a salary increase. But we know that this is a lie, and the only person responsible for it is Viktor Orbán himself. If Viktor Orbán is serious about fighting corruption, there is only one thing he can do: it does not set up a bogus body, but enters the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Dear Mr President, While we in this House are working to ensure democratic rights for all citizens of Europe, we had no idea that some governments, quoting the darkest times, would resort to illegal surveillance of their own citizens. Therefore, as Vice-President of the Pegasus Committee, I proposed that the Committee should hear, among others, Hungarian Minister of Justice Judit Varga and her colleague, former State Secretary Pál Völner. Those responsible for this scandal must be brought before the Pegasus Committee. Answers must be given to us, to all innocent European citizens and to the victims concerned. This will be particularly the case with governments which, in their own parliaments, are unprincipledly defended by their cowardly party soldiers, even from being questioned. Because, unlike some Member States, such as Hungary, Europe and the European Parliament are the home of democracy. Here we represent the interests of all European citizens, of all European people, if need be in the face of power. We will find out exactly what happened and we will do everything we can to ensure that this villain does not happen again in the history of Europe.

Dear Mr President, In World War II, Winston Churchill was advised to suspend support for the arts in order to finance the war. Churchill said, "Why are we really fighting?" The deepest truth in this answer should be a compass for all of us. Because it is true that the murderous, devastating war in our neighbourhood must rewrite many plans, but at the same time we must also ask ourselves what the European Union is really about. The European Union is about democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. On this basis, even in view of the war, the European Union cannot eliminate the values, aspirations and efforts that it has been established to enforce. On the contrary. The European Parliament’s greatest success was the introduction of the rule of law criteria. We must work hard to stop government corruption, the raiding of oligarchs and, above all, the subversives of Europe, Putin's servants. That is our task, fellow Members. Let's work for this.

Madam President, I'm sorry. I come from a country where cancer mortality statistics are deteriorating every year. In Hungary, more people die from cancer than in any other European country. We can say that this terrible statistic is only country-specific, but the situation is more tragic. If we leave countries alone, if we leave patients alone, the number of cancers in Europe will increase by 24 percent over the next ten years, making cancer Europe's most devastating disease. We all know that early detection of cancer can save lives. We need more courageous plans and solutions. It is not enough to deal with such a serious health crisis at Member State level, we need common solutions, we need to create a strong European Health Union. Let us do this in memory of our loved ones, in defence of our families and our fellow citizens.