Last Thursday Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was sworn in for his third consecutive turn. Below is a video of the full speech he gave in parliament for the occasion. Vlad has made a shorter version containing just the second half of the speech, which holds the greatest interest for an international audience; I’ll be posting that later on.

Viktor Orbán is a titan among Western political leaders — if the leader of a country of just fifteen million people can be called that. Those who have seen the photos of him with Horst Seehofer or Geert Wilders know that he’s not a tall man, but he still stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Many thanks to CrossWare for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript (without times and edited into paragraphs):

Respected President of the Republic, Mr. President of the House, respected representative colleagues: My first word is one of thanks. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the parliamentary election, no matter which candidate they voted for. Separately, for their participation I would like to thank those who chose us, the civic, nationalist and Christian forces.

Beyond thanks, I am grateful to those who supported me personally. I know that for them I owe a special obligation. I maintain my special duty towards them, and will bring it into sync with my other responsibility, which is to serve the whole country, the entire homeland, every single citizen of the nation. My government will stand on the constitutional two-thirds super-majority, but will always serve all three thirds.

Respected House [of Representatives]! I accepted the request [to form a government] of the President of the Republic. The fourth time I have taken my oath as Prime Minister in front of you. This is my eighth parliamentary cycle. I have served my country for 28 years as a parliamentary representative. I ask my representative colleagues to look at me as one of you while I serve as Prime Minister.

I continue to have the same conviction: The homeland CANNOT BE in opposition, because it is far above all parties, and its service cannot depend on whether we are in opposition or in the government. The debate, the fight, is a natural part of politics. Perhaps this is not a problem. If we bang a nail into the wall, and there is no resistance, what could we hang on that nail?

I have learned enough about human nature to know that no matter how much we long to win ever so gently, like the wind, no matter how much we would all like to be pious, accepting facts peacefully and creating agreements based on them, such a thing in the world of politics is scarcely given to us. Or if it is, perhaps only in rare moments. But I can promise, and will promise that in this house we should feel more like an angel flew over us. I will also promise my opponents that if and when a party fight cannot be avoided, I will fight by the rules of chivalry. And for the representatives on the government’s side, I will promise that in the debates, I will not remain a debtor of anybody. If they attack us, you can be sure: what goes around, comes around!

Respected House, respected representatives! Standing before you I asserted that politics is more dangerous than war, because in war one can only be killed once. This might sound frightening, but it is also an optimistic thought, because it alludes that those who are in politics may be resurrected sooner.

As for myself, I spent sixteen years in opposition, and twelve years in government. I learned: victory is never final, and defeat is never fatal. The only thing that matters is whether you are ready to continue to fight. If God permits it, and we live, at the end of this cycle we will reach the balance between my years in opposition and those in government. If at that time I still only have a draw — let’s make it clear, this is an appropriate time and place, that we are sportsmen — we will not be satisfied with only a draw.

Respected House, optimistically, with hope, and ready for action, I am standing here before you. Our completed work can give us plenty of self-confidence. If we look behind us, we can say, even including all the errata, Hungary should never be allowed to have it worse than the past eight years. The electorate must have thought the same thing; this could be behind the prosaic fact and mathematical result that the Fidesz-KDNP party alliance got more votes than all the remaining parties here put together.

And with this, my dear friends, let’s draw a crisp cut-off line. Let’s draw a border that in Hungarian politics one so rarely finds. And because one could not find it, one successively falls to one, then the other side of the horse, from the depressing Hungarian pan-pessimism, to the silly treasury optimism and back. So now let’s draw a clear line of separation between self-confidence and self-complacency. Let’s make it clear: one cannot live in the past. Let’s quote here King Stephen I. [first Christian king of Hungary]. His admonition: “Nothing can elevate you but humility; nothing can cast you down but arrogance and hatred.” Let us confess that behind the success always hides the good grace of God. That is why it is not mere speechifying rhetoric, not only tradition, but a deep belief in Soli Deo Gloria, which means: Glory to God alone.

Respected House, respected representatives. If we were to prepare ourselves in such a way, and set our thoughts in the right direction — let’s state it bravely — in the next four years we will take on grand things. We know the vegetable garden cannot be left unweeded; we must hoe it; that’s why the daily work will continue operationally at its own speed and routine. But we long for something bigger than this. We will start something really great, or more than one great thing. We also know that from a specific point of view: better a live dog than a dead lion. But now we really want to go for something big.

Respected House! When I talk about the future of Hungary, I can speak with certainty only about the next four years, because my authorization extends only that far. But you may rest assured that I never think in terms of just four years. The opposition frequently criticize me for this. Friends from the government side have also warned me multiple times that I should be careful with larger perspectives, because someone who does not look at his feet can easily fall. There were cases when exactly that happened to us, so there is some truth in it.

Still, my conviction is that we have the opportunity to initiate some great things. It has been a very long time since the stars were aligned as fortunately for us as they are now; the Hungarian cause is won. Everything has come together for what big plans demand. We have experience and we have comrades who stood with us during the battles; we have bravery, international prestige, a country set on a rising course, serious plans, vim and self-confidence.

To Hungary and its citizens the life force has not simply returned. From Hungarian history, if ever so rarely, a well-known thing is happening to us. Creative forces are breaking the surface. Hungarians not only believe that if they do their jobs properly, tomorrow will not be worse than today — however, in this corner of the world, this is not a small achievement, either — but they also believe that tomorrow can be better. The election results show they think it is not just possible it could be better, but that it WILL be better. They [the electorate] want a government which is worthy of the possible future ahead of us. They expect us to mature to the level of the tasks ahead of us. And the government has to have just as much optimism, eagerness and creative force as the electorate.

Everywhere we go in the country we see the signs of work, striving and building. Tower cranes, construction workers and cultivated fields everywhere. Everybody has some kind of plan. Build and expand, amend and beautify something. I feel now, as we set ourselves these grand goals, we go hand-in-hand with the people; we are on the same frequency with them. This encourages and empowers us, so we make plans not in terms of four years, but prepare them with a ten-year interval. Moreover, we must think ahead to a twelve-year interval. Especially at this time, responsible governance demands as much: the term of the European Union’s next budget will extend until 2030.

Respected House, in politics, time is the most important thing. Governing a country requires proficiency and self-confidence. Furthermore, it demands knowledge of the terrain, an international horizon, a long-term outlook, and if all of these can be paired with the bravery of an innovator, and we receive the grace of shrewdness, then we will have a winning cause.

To tell you the truth, I always thought of the period between 2010 and 2030 as a unified era. In my view, in democracy, free elections and the political rotation should not be contradictory. And it should not exclude thinking ahead for longer periods, and long-term planning. If that were to become possible, then those who live in a democracy would be impossible to catch, compared to those not living in democracies. But common sense pushes us in this direction, too. Anybody who ever built a house knows it’s not worth digging the foundation without the ready blueprints in hand.

Respected House! I know many will think it’s unbelievable, but I think it’s achievable that by 2030 we will become one of the top five countries in the European Union where it is best to live and work. Similarly, I also think it’s possible that our homeland, in the new type of competitiveness rankings — which do not measure quantity, but quality — will be in the top five European Union countries. It is well-known that there are more sizable, more populated and wealthier countries than ours. But rarely have there been any more beautiful, more safe, more ancient and more protected than our Carpathian valley, and in it Hungary. Whoever has a good pair of eyes for history can see our chances in it.

For the skeptics, I can only say: after three times with a two-thirds super-majority behind us, we must strive for the impossible, because the possible can be done by anybody. That is why we embark on a course to halt the demographic decline and succeed in moving Hungary onto an ascending track. High-speed highways will connect Budapest with county towns; all our highways will reach our borders, and on the high-speed highways we can go anywhere in around 30 minutes. The new solar panel parks and Paks II [nuclear power plant], with their clean and sustainable energy generation, will put Hungary on the leading edge. 80% of the world’s exports are provided by 600 multinational companies. We have to bring high added value, higher income-providing Investments to Hungary, and in this category we want make it into the world’s ten best countries. All of that in such a way that Hungarian-owned companies’ share will remain at least 50% in exports.

We will fight to eliminate endemic diseases [heart disease, cancer, obesity], and for that matter, we will not shy away from the rationalization of our health care system and the introduction of various incentives. We will finally rebuild the new Hungarian army. Our neighbors are continuously arming themselves too, but it is generally also true that a nation which cannot guarantee its own defense is irresponsible and, in a historical perspective, is making a fatal mistake. I am especially counting on our young and talented military officers. In spirit and culture, and a common faith, the Central European community must be economically built up; our capital cities will be connected by road, by railway and also by air. We support Poland’s determinative role and, joining forces with them, we will lay the foundation of a strong Central European region.

In the list of major goals, we also find Budapest, whose past grandeur and light we want to restore, as it plays an important role in the unification of the nation. That city is the home of the local population, but also the capital of the nation. For the Hungarians, Budapest is the eternal city which belong to all Hungarians, no matter what part of the world they live in. The city that awaits them. Hungary and the Hungarian language and culture — I am convinced — with the power of a huge magnet will pull those Hungarians here who were blown away by the [historical] wind from the Carpathian valley.

Ferenc Molnár [author], who lived in New York and was rich and successful, was once asked why he was so depressed. He answered: “Every well-wisher of mine and all my enemies are in Budapest. I long for my jealous [people] there; the local ones here I do not care about.”

Respected House! I never hid my opinion that the 2008 Western financial crisis — which in addition to Greece almost buried us, too — in reality was the end of an era. In the depth of it a new world order that had been a long time formulating popped up to the surface. That is when it became clear that we were not simply seeing new and unusual phenomena, but the world stepped into a new era with its own internal logic and its own power lines.

Even before 2010 I made it my task to bring attention to this. To make it understood that we had entered a new era, and this demands changes from everybody. I believed the mission is to convince Hungarians that it is not enough to do the very same as yesterday; we must undertake new enterprises. And that was true for everybody, all of Hungary, including the government; all of us must be renewed. Finally Hungarians were successfully persuaded that this is not only unavoidable, but we are capable of doing it together, and individually as well. That why the 2010 election crisis management solution’s goal was not to return to the better times before the crisis, but lay down new foundations, introduce new elements: a new tax system [single key flat rate tax], new monetary policies, a new Constitution [Basic Law], new laws, new family support, new work ethic.

Respected representative colleagues: A nation that steps onto a new path, as we did, cannot be spared debates of an intellectual nature. The spiritual devotees of the old world order, its material beneficiaries, the complacent and the flighty, the lazy ones — all congregate into a single camp to attack the innovators. The more successful we are, the more berserk our critics become. Such intellectual debates can’t be avoided, nor can they be avoided in the future. Not even when someone feels it’s a ballast, an obstacle, that makes it harder to accept practical successes.

Respected House! One can’t reform an entire nation in secret. Under my approach, which contributed to our previous successes, we are stating: THE ERA OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY HAS ENDED! It has become unsuitable for defending human dignity. It has become unfit for providing freedom. It can no longer guarantee physical safety, nor can it maintain Christian culture. There are some in Europe who still tinker with it because they think they can fix it. They do not understand that is not that the mechanism broke down, but the world changed.

Our answer, the Hungarians’ response to the changed world, was that instead of the shipwrecked liberal democracy, we built up the 21st-century Christian democracy, which guarantees human dignity, freedom, and safety. It defends the equality of man and woman, the traditional family model. It restrains anti-Semitism, defends our Christian culture, and gives our nation a chance for survival and growth. We are Christian Democrats and we want a Christian democracy.

Respected House! One can’t see the wood for the trees. If you live in the world in the drifting of everyday life, you cannot be expected to be able to realize that we are entering the era of the birth of a new order in the world, when new systems of values, new actors, new cooperations are forming. Nations keep pundits for that purpose, and among them politicians. So it is the duty of the government — among others — to bring attention to new technologies, new principles to organize the economy, new consumption patterns. New economic battlefields have emerged. New generations and new dynamics appeared. The task of the government is still to prepare Hungary, prepare the members of the Hungarian nation, for the new technological era.

In this new era, everybody must work, and today 800,000 more people work than did so eight years ago. In the new era a high level of public debt is life-threatening. Our public debt rate is 17% lower than the average in the Eurozone, while the income that required us to work for 12 months in 2010 we can now earn in eight months. In the new era, the infrastructure servicing our national ventures will be openly present on the market and it will be the deciding factor. For that reason we took the banking system, the energy and media sectors, into national hands. In the new era knowledge really will be power, so we have taken the first — but really just the first — steps towards raising the sort of young people who can always get the job done. You can see that preparation has started, but there is still a long road ahead of us.

Respected Mr. President, respected House! Its a beautiful thing, this innovation, confidence in the future, and the big plans, but besides that we must keep in mind that we are a more than thousand-year-old country. In the politics of such an ancient country there are things which are eternal. Such as the nation’s size, location, and its spirit. This must be taken into account by the prime minister stepping into office and the members of the government, but the parliamentary representatives also ought to know.

If we want to decide what the Hungarians want in the world, we must be clear about our size. Our size in the last thousand years continuously changed, but we never belonged among the large nations of the world. The situation today is that Hungarians are 0.2% of the world’s population. From this it directly follows that the survival and continuation of Hungarians is not automatic. For nations with a large populations and widespread relatives, a world where they do not exist, where their own kind simply do not exist, is unimaginable. But Hungarian politics must begin with the assumption that it is possible for us vanish, it is possible that we may scatter, it is possible to run out [of Hungarians], and the world can be imagined without the Hungarian version of Homo sapiens.

There were some who thought it was already so. Thanks to the good Lord, we are standing here today, and they are not. That is why Hungarian politics has a task, which from this view point must constantly examine Hungary and events happening in the region around Hungary. Persistence is the question of a life force. That is why the Hungarian state and the ruling Hungarian government must be stable, strong and ready for action. This [issue] is above everything else, has a higher priority.

Respected House! We are a unique kind. There is a language that only we speak. There is a world that through Hungarian language and culture only we can see and only we can describe the way it is. Without us human civilization would be short one language, bereft of one worldview, and poorer by one less description of the world. This fact should give backbone to Hungarian governments at all times. The government that knows this shall represent a Hungary to the outside world that already has a serious performance standing behind it, because we have already contributed to science, culture, sport and the arts to the overall betterment of humankind. We must live with such a country’s self-confidence and dignity, which knows that the Hungarians gave more to the world than they received. Our performance entitles us to the continuation of our history. This claim — the contribution of Hungarians — the government must continuously augment.

Respected representatives! The territory of the Carpathian valley is shared by multiple states. In addition to that historical fact, for us the Carpathian valley is an organic cultural and multilingual unity. I would like to convince our neighbors that together we could make the Carpathian valley the most secure, fastest developing, unified, commercial and economic and transportation region in Europe. In past years we gave numerous proofs that those who cooperate with us do not have to be afraid of Hungarians and will do well out of it.

Respected House! Hungarians are like a human heart. Sometimes they contract, sometimes they expand, but essentially for 1,100 years they have lived where our great state founders set their place. Because of the special location of our accommodations, Hungary’s geopolitical place forced us to take a geographical approach instead of an ideological one. Hungary is a committed member and will remain such a member of the Western alliance system. But that does not change Hungarian statehood or the determination of the geographical focus of Hungarian politics. In the West there is the land of German iron chancellors. In the East is the world of Slav soldier-nations. Down in the South the Muslim masses can be found. Berlin, Moscow Istanbul. This is the space where Hungary lives.

With this we will have to calculate in the future as well. That is why Hungarian politics cannot sympathize with the “export democracy” theories. Cannot partner up with those who lecture other nations, who insult the German, Russian and Turkish nations and their leaders. This is not only dictated by elemental courtesy, but by our interests, too. For us this is the system of relationships we must map down into Hungarian politics.

Respected Mr. President, respected House! The literature of the spirit of the nation is library-sized. My government follows the school that we Hungarians never wanted to be a servant nation.

By all the gods of Hungary,
We hereby swear
That we the yoke of slavery
No more shall wear.

— Sándor Petőfi, National Song

This oath is taken by every single Hungarian child.

According to my government’s understanding, for freedom it is not enough the keep the three big armies — the German, the Russian and the Turkish ones — outside of the Carpathian valley, but to create relationships so that we shall be free inside our own country, and we can exercise our own will individually. That is why my government will be the government of free Hungarians and a sovereign Hungary.

My commitment to freedom comes not only from my fight against dictatorship and the Soviet occupation, but also from economic considerations. I come from the generation that still remembers that the Communist state-building experiment was doomed, because it ignored — what’s more, turned against — one of the major laws of human nature. Communism forbade a person to independently, on his own initiative, from his own power, fix his own situation. That is why we felt that Communism was not only repressive, but unnatural, too.

In the future, I will rely on this experience to build our politics. My goal is to provide the greatest possible amount of freedom to the people, so that by their own ideas they may get ahead. We cannot undertake to solve anybody’s life for him, but we can and we want to create such circumstances that he can solve it for himself and succeed.

Respected House! I also have to talk about our place in the European Union. We would like a strong Europe, peace, and mutually beneficial agreements. We need the EU and the EU needs us. That is why we are ready to contribute to the molding of the reforms which the Union, whether it wants them or not, cannot avoid. With all our might we will represent that the Union must operate as an alliance of sovereign nations. And it must give up its pestilential nightmare of the United States of Europe.

The European Union must return to the soil of reality. As a first step they must change their thinking about migration, about mass migration. Today in Brussels they think that it is unfair if someone is not born in the place where he wants to live. They think it’s correct if people are given the right to move where they want to live. In Brussels today thousands of paid activists, bureaucrats and politicians work to qualify migration as a basic human right. That is why they want to take away our right to decide who we will accept and who we will not.

Respected representatives! My conviction is that in the end, migration will lead to the disintegration of nations and countries. The national languages will weaken, the borders will fade, the national cultures will dissolve, and there will remain one open society. And finally the unified European societies will move forward so that it will become possible to create a united European government. This is the fate that awaits those who do not defend themselves against the migration. Maybe not tomorrow, but in the foreseeable future.

That is the endgame! That is the true MASTER PLAN!

I do not sell a pig in a poke: I will make it clear in front of you. My government will oppose this plan, and in the name of Hungarian freedom it will be the opponent of the processes leading toward its execution and all of its intermediate steps.

Multiculturalism was the first step. Political correctness, which limited the freedom of speech, was the second. That is where Europe stands today. The third stepping stone would be the mandatory migrant distribution quota. In the interest of that Europe, which we love and for which we are ready to make significant sacrifices, too, we do not step up for the next level of self-elimination. We must and we will stand out on the fencing floor of European politics. We will be against the mandatory quotas, we will stand for Christian culture, and we will fight for the defense of the borders.

Respected representative colleagues! To conclude: Just a couple of minutes ago, for the fourth time I took my oath as Prime Minister. We have never clarified in this house what this oath really means. The law does not give direction in this matter; we ourselves must create order here. The oath is a promise, a pledge and an offer. I believe that the highest power through our conscience will punish us if we violate it.

That is why, after I took my oath just now for every single member of the nation, for all 15 million Hungarians, together and individually too, referring to my own conscience, I will strengthen all my activities for our nation and country, for the Hungarian people, for Hungarian interests, and serving Christian values will drive me. So help me God.

Video transcript (with times):

00:00		Respected President of the Republic, Mr. President of the House, respected representative colleagues:
00:04		My first word is one of thanks.
00:08		I would like to thank everyone who participated in the
00:12		parliamentary election, no matter which candidate they voted for.
00:16		Separately, for their participation I would like to thank
00:20		those who chose us, the civic, nationalist
00:24		and Christian forces.
00:28		Beyond thanks, I am grateful to those
00:32		who supported me personally.
00:36		I know that for them I owe a special obligation.
00:40		I maintain my special duty towards them,
00:44		and will bring it into sync with my other responsibility,
00:48		which is to serve the whole country,
00:52		the entire homeland, every single citizen of the nation.
00:56		My government will stand on the constitutional
01:00		two-thirds super-majority, but will always serve
01:04		all three thirds. Respected House [of Representatives]!
01:08		I accepted the request [to form a government]
01:12		of the President of the Republic. The fourth time
01:16		I have taken my oath as Prime Minister in front of you.
01:20		This is my eighth parliamentary cycle.
01:24		I have served my country for 28 years as a parliamentary representative.
01:28		I ask my representative colleagues
01:32		to look at me as one of you
01:36		while I serve as Prime Minister.
01:40		I continue to have the same conviction:
01:44		The homeland CANNOT BE in opposition, because it is far above all parties,
01:48		and its service cannot depend on
01:52		whether we are in opposition or in the government.
01:56		The debate, the fight, is a natural
02:00		part of politics. Perhaps this is not a problem.
02:04		If we bang a nail into the wall, and there is
02:08		no resistance, what could we hang on that nail?
02:12		I have learned enough about human nature
02:16		to know that no matter how much we long
02:20		To win ever so gently, like the wind,
02:24		No matter how much we would all like to be pious, accepting facts
02:28		peacefully and creating agreements based on them,
02:32		such a thing in the world of politics is scarcely given to us.
02:36		Or if it is, perhaps only in rare moments.
02:40		But I can promise, and will promise
02:44		that in this house we should feel more
02:48		like an angel flew over us.
02:52		I will also promise my opponents
02:56		that if and when a party fight cannot be avoided,
03:00		I will fight by the rules of chivalry.
03:04		And for the representatives on the government’s side, I will promise
03:08		that in the debates, I will not remain a debtor of anybody.
03:12		If they attack us,
03:16		you can be sure: what goes around,
03:20		comes around! Respected House, respected representatives!
03:24		Standing before you I asserted that politics
03:28		is more dangerous than war, because in war
03:32		one can only be killed once.
03:36		This might sound frightening, but it is also an optimistic thought,
03:40		because it alludes that those who are in politics
03:44		may be resurrected sooner.
03:48		As for myself, I spent sixteen years in opposition,
03:52		and twelve years in government.
03:56		I learned: victory is never final,
04:00		and defeat is never fatal.
04:04		The only thing that matters is whether you are ready to continue to fight.
04:08		If God permits it, and we live,
04:12		at the end of this cycle we will reach
04:16		the balance between my years in opposition and those in government.
04:20		If at that time I still only have a draw,
04:24		— let’s make it clear,
04:28		this is an appropriate time and place,
04:32		that we are sportsmen — we will not be satisfied with only a draw.
04:48		Respected House, optimistically, with hope,
04:52		and ready for action, I am standing here before you.
04:56		Our completed work can give us plenty of self-confidence.
05:00		If we look behind us, we can say,
05:04		even including all the errata, Hungary
05:08		should never be allowed to have it worse than the past eight years.
05:12		The electorate must have thought the same thing;
05:16		this could be behind the prosaic fact and mathematical result
05:20		that the Fidesz-KDNP party alliance got
05:24		more votes than all the remaining parties here put together.
05:28		And with this, my dear friends, let’s draw
05:32		a crisp cut-off line. Let’s draw a
05:36		border that in Hungarian politics
05:40		one so rarely finds. And because one could not find it,
05:44		one successively falls to one, then the other side of the horse,
05:48		from the depressing Hungarian pan-pessimism,
05:52		to the silly treasury optimism and back.
05:56		So now let’s draw a clear
06:00		line of separation between self-confidence and self-complacency.
06:04		Let’s make it clear: one cannot live
06:08		in the past. Let’s quote here King Stephen I. [first Christian king of Hungary].
06:12		His admonition: “Nothing can elevate you
06:16		but humility; nothing can cast you down
06:20		but arrogance and hatred.” Let us confess
06:24		that behind the success always hides
06:28		the good grace of God. That is why it is not mere speechifying rhetoric,
06:32		not only tradition, but a deep belief in
06:36		Soli Deo Gloria, which means:
06:40		Glory to God alone. Respected House!
06:48		…Respected House, respected representatives.
06:52		If we were to prepare ourselves in such a way,
06:56		and set our thoughts in the right direction,
07:00		— let’s state it bravely — in the next four years
07:04		we will take on grand things. We know
07:08		the vegetable garden cannot be left unweeded;
07:12		we must hoe it; that’s why the daily work
07:16		will continue operationally at its own speed and routine.
07:20		But we long for something bigger than this.
07:24		We will start something really great, or more
07:28		than one great thing. We also know
07:32		that from a specific point of view: better a live dog than a dead lion.
07:36		But now we really want to go for something big.
07:40		Respected House! When I
07:44		talk about the future of Hungary,
07:48		I can speak with certainty only about the next four years,
07:52		because my authorization extends only that far.
07:56		But you may rest assured that I never think in terms of just four years.
08:00		The opposition frequently criticize me for this.
08:04		Friends from the government side have also warned me multiple times
08:08		that I should be careful with larger perspectives, because
08:12		someone who does not look at his feet can easily fall.
08:16		There were cases when exactly that happened to us, so there is some truth in it.
08:20		Still, my conviction is that
08:24		we have the opportunity to initiate some great things.
08:28		It has been a very long time since the stars were aligned as fortunately for us
08:32		as they are now; the Hungarian cause is won.
08:36		Everything has come together for what big plans demand.
08:40		We have experience and we have
08:44		comrades who stood with us during the battles;
08:48		we have bravery, international prestige, a country
08:52		set on a rising course, serious plans,
08:56		vim and self-confidence.
09:00		To Hungary and its citizens the life force has not simply returned.
09:04		From Hungarian history, if ever so rarely,
09:08		a well-known thing is happening to us.
09:12		Creative forces are breaking the surface.
09:16		Hungarians not only believe that if they do their jobs properly,
09:20		tomorrow will not be worse than today — however,
09:24		in this corner of the world, this is not a small achievement, either —
09:28		but they also believe that tomorrow can be better.
09:32		The election results show they think
09:36		it is not just possible it could be better, but that it WILL be better.
09:40		They [the electorate] want a government which
09:44		is worthy of the possible future ahead of us.
09:48		They expect us to mature to the level of the tasks ahead of us.
09:52		And the government has to have just as much optimism, eagerness
09:56		and creative force as the electorate.
10:00		Everywhere we go in the country we see
10:04		the signs of work, striving and building.
10:08		Tower cranes, construction workers and cultivated fields everywhere.
10:12		Everybody has some kind of plan. Build and expand,
10:16		amend and beautify something. I feel now,
10:20		as we set ourselves these grand goals,
10:24		we go hand-in-hand with the people; we are on the same frequency with them.
10:28		This encourages and empowers us,
10:32		so we make plans not in terms of four years, but
10:36		prepare them with a ten-year interval. Moreover, we must think ahead
10:40		to a twelve-year interval.
10:44		Especially at this time, responsible governance demands as much:
10:48		the term of the European Union’s next budget
10:52		will extend until 2030.
10:56		Respected House, in politics,
11:00		time is the most important thing. Governing a country
11:04		requires proficiency and self-confidence. Furthermore, it demands
11:08		knowledge of the terrain, an international horizon,
11:12		a long-term outlook, and if all of these can be paired with the bravery of an innovator,
11:16		and we receive the grace of shrewdness,
11:20		then we will have a winning cause.
11:24		To tell you the truth, I always thought of
11:28		the period between 2010 and 2030
11:32		as a unified era. In my view,
11:36		in democracy, free elections and the political rotation
11:40		should not be contradictory.
11:44		And it should not exclude thinking ahead for longer periods,
11:48		and long-term planning. If that were to become possible,
11:52		then those who live in a democracy would be impossible to catch,
11:56		compared to those not living in democracies.
12:00		But common sense pushes us in this direction, too.
12:04		Anybody who ever built a house knows
12:08		it’s not worth digging the foundation without
12:12		the ready blueprints in hand. Respected House!
12:16		I know many will think it’s unbelievable,
12:20		but I think it’s achievable that by 2030
12:24		we will become one of the top five countries
12:28		in the European Union where it is best to live
12:32		and work. Similarly…
12:36		I also think it’s possible that our homeland,
12:40		in the new type of competitiveness rankings — which
12:44		do not measure quantity, but quality — will be in the top five
12:48		European Union countries.
12:52		It is well-known that there are more sizable, more
12:56		populated and wealthier countries than ours.
13:00		But rarely have there been any more beautiful, more safe,
13:04		more ancient and more protected than our Carpathian valley,
13:08		and in it Hungary. Whoever has a good pair of eyes…
13:20		…Whoever has a good pair of eyes for history can see our chances in it.
13:24		For the skeptics, I can only say: after three times with a two-thirds super-majority
13:28		behind us, we must strive for the impossible,
13:32		because the possible can be done by anybody.
13:36		That is why we embark on a course
13:40		to halt the demographic decline and succeed
13:44		in moving Hungary onto an ascending track.
13:48		High-speed highways will connect Budapest with county towns;
13:52		all our highways will reach our borders,
13:56		and on the high-speed highways we can go anywhere
14:00		in around 30 minutes.
14:04		The new solar panel parks and Paks II [nuclear power plant],
14:08		with their clean and sustainable energy generation, will put
14:12		Hungary on the leading edge.
14:16		80% of the world’s exports are provided by
14:20		600 multinational companies. We have to bring
14:24		high added value, higher income-providing
14:28		Investments to Hungary, and in this category
14:32		we want make it into the world’s ten best countries.
14:36		All of that in such a way that Hungarian-owned companies’
14:40		share will remain at least 50% in exports.
14:44		We will fight to eliminate endemic diseases [heart disease, cancer, obesity],
14:48		and for that matter, we will not shy away
14:52		from the rationalization of our health care system and
14:56		the introduction of various incentives.
15:00		We will finally rebuild the new Hungarian army.
15:04		Our neighbors are continuously arming themselves too, but it is generally also
15:08		true that a nation which cannot guarantee
15:12		its own defense is irresponsible and,
15:16		in a historical perspective, is making a fatal mistake.
15:20		I am especially counting on our young and talented military officers.
15:24		In spirit and culture,
15:28		and a common faith, the Central European community
15:32		must be economically built up; our capital cities
15:36		will be connected by road,
15:40		by railway and also by air. We support
15:44		Poland’s determinative role and, joining forces with them,
15:48		we will lay the foundation of a strong Central European region.
16:00		In the list of major goals, we also find Budapest,
16:04		whose past grandeur and light we want to restore,
16:08		as it plays an important role
16:12		in the unification of the nation. That city
16:16		is the home of the local population, but also the capital of the nation.
16:20		For the Hungarians, Budapest is the eternal city
16:24		which belong to all Hungarians,
16:28		no matter what part of the world they live in. The city that awaits them.
16:32		Hungary and the Hungarian language and culture
16:36		— I am convinced — with the power of a huge magnet
16:40		will pull those Hungarians here
16:44		who were blown away by the [historical] wind from the Carpathian valley.
16:48		Ferenc Molnár [author], who lived in New York
16:52		and was rich and successful, was once asked why he was so depressed.
16:56		He answered:
17:00		“Every well-wisher of mine and all my enemies are in Budapest.
17:04		I long for my jealous [people] there; the local ones here I do not care about.”
17:08		Respected House!
17:12		I never hid my opinion that
17:16		the 2008 Western financial crisis — which in addition to Greece
17:20		almost buried us, too —
17:24		in reality was the end of an era. In the depth of it
17:28		a new world order that had been a long time formulating popped up to the surface.
17:32		That is when it became clear that we were not simply seeing
17:36		new and unusual phenomena, but the world
17:40		stepped into a new era with its
17:44		own internal logic and its own power lines.
17:48		Even before 2010 I made it my task
17:52		to bring attention to this. To make it understood that we
17:56		had entered a new era, and this demands changes from everybody.
18:00		I believed the mission is to convince Hungarians
18:04		that it is not enough to do the very same as yesterday;
18:08		we must undertake new enterprises.
18:12		And that was true for everybody, all of Hungary,
18:16		including the government; all of us must be renewed.
18:20		Finally Hungarians were successfully persuaded
18:24		that this is not only unavoidable, but
18:28		we are capable of doing it together,
18:32		and individually as well. That why the 2010 election
18:36		crisis management solution’s goal was not to return to
18:40		to the better times before the crisis, but lay down new foundations,
18:44		introduce new elements: a new tax system [single key flat rate tax],
18:48		new monetary policies, a new Constitution [Basic Law],
18:52		new laws, new family support, new work ethic.
18:56		Respected representative colleagues: A nation
19:00		that steps onto a new path, as we did, cannot
19:04		be spared debates of an intellectual nature.
19:08		The spiritual devotees of the old world order,
19:12		its material beneficiaries, the complacent and the flighty,
19:16		the lazy ones — all congregate into a single camp to attack
19:20		the innovators. The more successful we are,
19:24		the more berserk our critics become.
19:28		Such intellectual debates can’t be avoided, nor
19:32		can they be avoided in the future. Not even
19:36		when someone feels it’s a ballast,
19:40		an obstacle, that makes it harder to accept practical successes.
19:44		Respected House! One can’t reform
19:48		an entire nation in secret. Under my approach,
19:52		which contributed to our previous successes, we are stating:
19:56		THE ERA OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY HAS ENDED!
20:00		It has become unsuitable…
20:08		It has become unsuitable for defending human dignity.
20:12		It has become unfit for providing freedom.
20:16		It can no longer guarantee physical safety,
20:20		nor can it maintain Christian culture.
20:24		There are some in Europe who still tinker with it
20:28		because they think they can fix it. They do not understand
20:32		that is not that the mechanism broke down, but the world changed.
20:36		Our answer, the Hungarians’ response
20:40		to the changed world, was that instead of the
20:44		shipwrecked liberal democracy, we built up the
20:48		21st-century Christian democracy,
20:52		which guarantees human dignity, freedom,
20:56		and safety. It defends the equality
21:00		of man and woman, the traditional family model.
21:04		It restrains anti-Semitism,
21:08		defends our Christian culture, and
21:12		gives our nation a chance for survival and growth.
21:16		We are Christian Democrats and we want a Christian democracy.
21:20		Respected House!
21:24		One can’t see the wood for the trees. If you live in the world
21:28		in the drifting of everyday life, you cannot be expected to be able to realize
21:32		that we are entering the era of the birth of a new order in the world,
21:36		when new systems of values, new actors,
21:40		new cooperations are forming. Nations keep pundits
21:44		for that purpose, and among them politicians.
21:48		So it is the duty of the government — among others —
21:52		to bring attention to new technologies,
21:56		new principles to organize the economy, new consumption patterns.
22:00		New economic battlefields have emerged.
22:04		New generations and new dynamics appeared.
22:08		The task of the government is still to prepare Hungary,
22:12		prepare the members of the Hungarian nation, for the
22:16		new technological era. In this new era,
22:20		everybody must work, and today 800,000 more people work than did so eight years ago.
22:24		In the new era a high level of public debt is
22:28		life-threatening. Our public debt rate
22:32		is 17% lower
22:36		than the average in the Eurozone, while
22:40		the income that required us to work for 12 months in 2010
22:44		we can now earn in eight months.
22:48		In the new era, the infrastructure servicing our national ventures
22:52		will be openly present on the market and it will be the deciding factor.
22:56		For that reason we took the banking system, the energy and media sectors,
23:00		into national hands. In the new era
23:04		knowledge really will be power, so we have taken
23:08		the first — but really just the first — steps
23:12		towards raising the sort of young people who can always get the job done.
23:16		You can see that preparation has started,
23:20		but there is still a long road ahead of us.
23:24		Respected Mr. President, respected House!
23:28		Its a beautiful thing, this innovation,
23:32		confidence in the future, and the big plans, but besides that
23:36		we must keep in mind that we are a more than thousand-year-old
23:40		country… In the
23:44		politics of such an ancient country there are things which are eternal.
23:48		Such as the nation’s size, location,
23:52		and its spirit. This must be taken into account
23:56		by the prime minister stepping into office and the members of the government, but
24:00		the parliamentary representatives also ought to know.
24:04		If we want to decide what
24:08		the Hungarians want in the world,
24:12		we must be clear about our size. Our size
24:16		in the last thousand years continuously changed,
24:20		but we never belonged among the large nations of the world.
24:24		The situation today is that Hungarians
24:28		are 0.2% of the world’s population.
24:32		From this it directly follows
24:36		that the survival and continuation of Hungarians
24:40		is not automatic. For nations with a large populations
24:44		and widespread relatives, a world
24:48		where they do not exist, where their own kind
24:52		simply do not exist, is unimaginable.
24:56		But Hungarian politics must begin with the assumption
25:00		that it is possible for us vanish, it is possible that we may scatter,
25:04		it is possible to run out [of Hungarians], and the world
25:08		can be imagined without the Hungarian version of Homo sapiens.
25:12		There were some who thought it was already so. Thanks to
25:16		the good Lord, we are standing here today, and
25:20		they are not. That is why Hungarian politics has a task,
25:24		which from this view point must constantly examine
25:28		Hungary and events happening in the region around Hungary.
25:32		Persistence is the question of a life force.
25:36		That is why the Hungarian state and the ruling Hungarian government
25:40		must be stable, strong and
25:44		ready for action. This [issue] is above everything else,
25:48		has a higher priority. Respected House!
25:52		We are a unique kind.
25:56		There is a language that only we speak.
26:00		There is a world that through Hungarian language and culture
26:04		only we can see and only we can describe
26:08		the way it is. Without us human civilization
26:12		would be short one language, bereft of one worldview,
26:16		and poorer by one less description of the world.
26:20		This fact should give backbone
26:24		to Hungarian governments at all times. The government
26:28		that knows this shall represent a Hungary to the outside world
26:32		that already has a serious performance standing behind it,
26:36		because we have already contributed to science, culture,
26:40		sport and the arts to the overall betterment of humankind.
26:44		We must live with such a country’s self-confidence
26:48		and dignity, which knows
26:52		that the Hungarians gave more to the world than they received.
26:56		Our performance entitles us
27:00		to the continuation of our history. This claim —
27:04		the contribution of Hungarians —
27:08		the government must continuously augment.
27:12		Respected representatives!
27:16		The territory of the Carpathian valley is shared by multiple states.
27:20		In addition to that historical fact,
27:24		for us the Carpathian valley is an organic
27:28		cultural and multilingual unity.
27:32		I would like to convince our neighbors that
27:36		together we could make the Carpathian valley
27:40		the most secure, fastest developing,
27:44		unified, commercial and economic
27:48		and transportation region in Europe. In past years…
27:56		…In past years we gave numerous proofs
28:00		that those who cooperate with us do not have to be afraid of Hungarians
28:04		and will do well out of it. Respected House!
28:08		Hungarians are like a human heart.
28:12		Sometimes they contract,
28:16		sometimes they expand, but essentially for 1,100 years they have lived
28:20		where our great state founders set their place.
28:24		Because of the special location of our accommodations,
28:28		Hungary’s geopolitical place
28:32		forced us to take a geographical approach
28:36		instead of an ideological one.
28:40		Hungary is a committed member and
28:44		will remain such a member of the Western alliance system.
28:48		But that does not change Hungarian statehood
28:52		or the determination of the geographical focus of Hungarian politics.
28:56		In the West there is the
29:00		land of German iron chancellors.
29:04		In the East is the world of Slav soldier-nations. Down in the South
29:08		the Muslim masses can be found. Berlin, Moscow
29:12		Istanbul. This is the space where Hungary lives.
29:16		With this we will have to calculate in the future as well.
29:20		That is why Hungarian politics cannot sympathize
29:24		with the “export democracy” theories.
29:28		Cannot partner up with those who lecture other nations,
29:32		who insult the German, Russian and Turkish nations
29:36		and their leaders. This is not only dictated by
29:40		elemental courtesy, but by our interests, too.
29:44		For us this is the system of relationships we
29:48		must map down into Hungarian politics.
29:52		Respected Mr. President, respected House!
29:56		The literature of the spirit of the nation is library-sized.
30:00		My government follows the school that
30:04		we Hungarians never wanted to be a servant nation.
30:08		“By all the gods of Hungary, We hereby swear
30:12		That we the yoke of slavery No more shall wear.” [Sándor Petőfi — National Song]
30:16		This oath is taken by every single Hungarian child.
30:20		According to my government’s understanding,
30:24		for freedom it is not enough the keep the three big armies —
30:28		the German, the Russian and the Turkish ones —
30:32		outside of the Carpathian valley, but to create relationships
30:36		so that we shall be free inside our own country,
30:40		and we can exercise our own will
30:44		individually. That is why my government
30:48		will be the government of free Hungarians and a sovereign Hungary.
31:04		My commitment to freedom comes not only from
31:08		my fight against dictatorship and the Soviet occupation,
31:12		but also from economic considerations.
31:16		I come from the generation that still remembers
31:20		that the Communist state-building experiment was doomed,
31:24		because it ignored — what’s more, turned against —
31:28		one of the major laws of human nature.
31:32		Communism forbade a person to independently,
31:36		on his own initiative, from his own power,
31:40		fix his own situation. That is why
31:44		we felt that Communism was not only repressive,
31:48		but unnatural, too. In the future, I will rely on
31:52		this experience to build our politics.
31:56		My goal is to provide the greatest
32:00		possible amount of freedom to the people, so that by their own ideas
32:04		they may get ahead. We cannot undertake
32:08		to solve anybody’s life for him, but
32:12		we can and we want to create such circumstances
32:16		that he can solve it for himself and succeed.
32:20		Respected House!
32:24		I also have to talk about our place in the European Union.
32:28		…We would like a strong
32:32		Europe…, peace,
32:36		and mutually beneficial agreements.
32:40		We need the EU and the EU
32:44		needs us. That is why we are ready
32:48		to contribute to the molding of the reforms
32:52		which the Union, whether it wants them or not,
32:56		cannot avoid. With all our might we will represent
33:00		that the Union must operate as an
33:04		alliance of sovereign nations. And it must give up
33:08		its pestilential nightmare of the United States of Europe.
33:12		The European Union must return
33:16		to the soil of reality. As a first step
33:20		they must change their thinking about
33:24		migration, about mass migration.
33:28		Today in Brussels they think
33:32		that it is unfair
33:36		if someone is not born in the place where he wants to live.
33:40		They think it’s correct if people are given the right
33:44		to move where they want to live.
33:48		In Brussels today thousands of
33:52		paid activists, bureaucrats and politicians work
33:56		to qualify migration as a basic
34:00		human right. That is why they want to take away our right
34:04		to decide who we will accept
34:08		and who we will not. Respected representatives!
34:12		My conviction is that in the end, migration
34:16		will lead to the disintegration of nations and countries.
34:20		The national languages will weaken,
34:24		the borders will fade, the national cultures
34:28		will dissolve, and there will remain one open society.
34:32		And finally the unified European societies
34:36		will move forward so that it will become possible to create
34:40		a united European government. This is the fate that awaits
34:44		those who do not defend themselves against the migration.
34:48		Maybe not tomorrow, but
34:52		in the foreseeable future. That is the endgame!
34:56		That is the true MASTER PLAN! I do not sell a pig in a poke:
35:00		I will make it clear in front of you.
35:04		My government will oppose this plan,
35:08		and in the name of Hungarian freedom it will be the opponent of the processes
35:12		leading toward its execution and all of its intermediate steps.
35:28		Multiculturalism was the first step.
35:32		Political correctness, which limited the freedom of speech,
35:36		was the second. That is where Europe stands today.
35:40		The third stepping stone would be the mandatory
35:44		migrant distribution quota. In the interest of that Europe,
35:48		which we love and for which we are ready to make significant
35:52		sacrifices, too, we do not step up for the next level of
35:56		self-elimination. We must and we will stand out
36:00		on the fencing floor of European politics.
36:04		We will be against the mandatory quotas,
36:08		we will stand for Christian culture, and we will fight
36:12		for the defense of the borders. Respected representative colleagues!
36:16		…To conclude:
36:20		Just a couple of minutes ago,
36:24		For the fourth time I took my oath as Prime Minister.
36:28		We have never clarified in this house what
36:32		this oath really means.
36:36		The law does not give direction in this matter; we ourselves must
36:40		create order here. The oath is
36:44		a promise, a pledge and an offer.
36:48		I believe that the highest power
36:52		through our conscience will punish us
36:56		if we violate it.
37:00		That is why, after I took my oath just now for every single member of the nation,
37:04		for all 15 million Hungarians,
37:08		together and individually too, referring to my own conscience,
37:12		I will strengthen all my activities
37:16		for our nation and country,
37:20		for the Hungarian people, for Hungarian interests,
37:24		and serving Christian values will
37:28		drive me. So help me God.