Hungarians must again forge common ground when they fill out the next “national consultation” survey and provide a basis for the government’s policies, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his state-of-the-nation address. Orbán said a situation has emerged in Europe where “the rights of violent criminals have become more important to decision makers than those of law-abiding citizens.” “They mock justice, the life instincts of honest people and are ready to defend perpetrators instead of victims,” he said. “This dangerous phenomenon has now reached Hungary and we are in for serious debates and international battles.”
The prime minister said foreign-funded organisations that were part of the “network” of US financier George Soros, along with their hired lawyers, were “filing a myriad of lawsuits, abusing the protection of rights so they can pay out significant sums of money to violent criminals and, of course, themselves”. He said the 12,000 lawsuits filed so far had cost Hungary billions. “We can’t continue to watch this idly.”
On the subject of school segregation of Roma children in Gyöngyöspata, Orbán said the issue had arisen just as Roma families “started down a path of changing their way of life”. But, he said “this promising process was struck by lightning” when a court ruling turned the people of Gyöngyöspata against one another. Orbán said the organisation that had initiated the lawsuit in question was also funded by Soros. “We continue to believe in a Hungary that is a safe home to all Hungarians and gives everyone a chance to live a good life,” he said. “We will not tolerate stigmatisation or discrimination against anyone over their ethnicity, but neither can it come with any advantage or privilege and everyone should earn their money irrespective of their background.”