Victor Orban’s “State of the Nation” Address to the Hungarian Parliament

Today I would first like to talk to you about the fact that some serious questions tower over European civilization, the European people and, in particular, European leaders.

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Terrorist organizations recruit fighters to join their ranks from among immigrants living in the continent’s western part, while the southern borders of the EU–including our own state’s borders–are besieged by waves of modern-day migration, in the face of which increasingly frustrated states and governments are at a loss. And this is happening in an economic environment in which millions of Western European citizens feel that they have to work ever more for less money, just to keep their jobs. Europe is facing questions which can no longer be answered within the framework of liberal multiculturalism. Can we shelter people, many of whom are unwilling to accept European culture, or who come here with the intent of destroying European culture? How did we lose and how can we regain the common European homeland to which every nation of the Union–including the Greeks and the Germans–can say “yes”?

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Europe today continues to huddle behind the moats of political correctness, and has built a wall of taboos and dogmas around itself. . . .  [W]e let go of the delusion of the multicultural society before it turned Hungary into a refugee camp, and we let go of liberal social policy which does not acknowledge the common good and denies Christian culture as the natural foundation–and perhaps the only natural foundation–for the organization of European societies. We decided to face the barrage of unfair attacks and accusations, and also let go of the dogma of political correctness.

And as far as I see it, Hungarian people are by nature politically incorrect–in other words, they have not yet lost their common sense. . . . They do not want to see their country thronging with people from different cultures, with different customs, who are unable to integrate; people who would pose a threat to public order, their jobs and livelihoods.

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The modern world sees economic facts as the ones that truly count. It may be right, but I would attach higher priority to facts related to life. Above all, the facts which determine our biological survival and continuance.

Life in Hungary presents us with facts that surprise even the most pessimistic of people. More children were born last year than at any time in the last five years. The so-called total fertility rate–that is, the number of children born into a family–was 1.41 in 2014; this is its highest value since 1997, though still not high enough. The number of marriages has increased continuously since 2010; it rose by 9% in 2014 alone. Let me remind you that between 2002 and 2010 the number of marriages in Hungary fell by 23%.

The number of divorces decreased by 15% between 2010 and 2013. The number of abortions is in continuous decline, and has fallen by 20% since 2010. While the truth is that the number is still high, it has not been this low since 1954. . . .  What matters is that we may finally hope that Hungarians have more faith in the future, and that they also seem to have attached greater value to life itself.

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We cannot be successful if we can only be servants in our own country, if we have no independence. National sovereignty is a fundamental question. National sovereignty gives us a better life, which is our core interest.

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Let us not forget that those who believe that there is ultimate victory in democracy are completely wrong. Only the communists believed that there can be a final struggle and an ultimate victory–and look where they ended up. In democracy, in the world of civic principles, we must fight for trust and recognition over and over again, day after day. If you want a civic Hungary–and that is what we want–it is once more time to fight for it. But we can only fight together, and not against one another, because strength lies in unity, and because we stand together under one flag.