Speech by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the first national meeting of the Digital Civic Circles

Good afternoon dear friends from the Digital Civic Circles - here at the Papp László Arena and online!

Can you keep going? Do you still have some energy? Then I'll begin. Thank you for being here with us today. Once again, we look pretty good. In fact, we look better and better. There are so many of us that we'll be outgrowing every conference room and sports hall. There are many who would have liked to come here but couldn't fit in, and we greet them separately. Every day there are hundreds and thousands more of us. I think that next time we'll only be able to fit under God's open sky, so our next meeting could be a new Peace March - say, on 23 October…

I see my old brothers-in-arms from the civil circles are here, from 2002. Good heavens, that was twenty-three years ago! But we're here, and we're ready. I see that we can't be beaten. I see that András Bencsik is here with us. Without him, there would be no civic circles. Dear András, thank you for everything! We've seen Júlia Kudlik, who's as incomparable as ever. Welcome, Júlia! And of course Philip. Thank you for being here. Kossuth Square and Philip are as inseparable as Rome and gondolas in [the Hungarian comedy film] "Glass Tiger". I wouldn't be surprised if Csaba Hende were hiding here somewhere - but he can't be, because he's moved up in the world and become a judge in the Constitutional Court. Congratulations, Csaba, and good luck! And I see Atilla Kiss B., now a director general, who's travelled all over Hungary with us, singing [the patriotic song] "Hazám, hazám". Welcome, Atilla! Thank you for everything! And of course, Tamás Szarka. May God grant that he continues to sing for a long time to come - while the women shed tears and we men hide our feelings and pretend we're not even here. Tamás, thank you too for everything! And the news of the day, with no deception, no trickery, the whole world could see it: Ferenc Demjén, Rózsi, is back! We prayed for his recovery, and thank God, he's here with us today. Welcome back! And I hope that President Pál Schmitt and [his wife] Katica are here with us too. Without them, nothing important can happen on the national side. Hi! And I see Zsuzsi Máthé, one of our coordinators, the founder of the "Misszió" civic circle. Without Christian Hungarians there would be no civic Hungary, and there would be no civic circles either. Thank you, Zsuzsi! And I've seen several people who stood their ground during the October 2006 mounted police charge and hail of rubber bullets. I salute them with respect! And I see many beautiful and talented young people who don't want to follow in the footsteps of their parents, who had to start all over again after the bankruptcy caused by Gyurcsány, the IMF, and foreign currency loans. Go for it, young people! Take on all comers! And I've met some people from Békés County. Yesterday we announced a huge investment in Békéscsaba, with 280 billion forints in invested capital providing 2,500 jobs. In his inimitable style, President Trump would say it's a "big and beautiful" investment. Young people in Békés can finally thrive in their home region. I promise we won't forget about you. Next week the Lőkösháza-Békéscsaba railway line will be handed over. See you there! And I've seen people who have come from eastern Hungary. There, my friends, a flood of factory openings is expected. You, my friends from eastern Hungary, have shown how it's possible to climb back up from being a depressed region to become one of the fastest growing areas. Bravo! We're building an economy in which everyone gets their fair share. And I see Alpár Gyopáros - Gyopi - and the provincial civic circles. Yes, villagers can also count on us - after all, blood is thicker than water. And I see local people from Budapest too. My friends, we shall never give up on Budapest! We shall never accept the liberals and the Tisza-ites turning the nation's capital into a migrant-friendly, drug-ridden, LGBTQ paradise. No, no, no! Right, Alexandra?

My Friends,

Those were the greetings. Now let's get down to business! One would think that one generation experiences one epochal change at most - if any at all. One would also think that this is a good thing, because stability and a stable world situation offer more opportunities for a happy life. Epochal changes and new chapters tend to bring turmoil and adversity. That's true. A new historical chapter is enough of a burden and task for one generation. What a pity that we don't get to decide on the frequency of major changes! Because we're not big and strong enough for that - and certainly not since Mohács. Whether we like it or not, for centuries the life, quality of life, and happiness of every Hungarian generation has depended on how we navigate Hungary's ship through the waves created by empires. Our grandparents weren't so lucky. They experienced not one, but two turning points: World War I and the loss of our country; World War II and communism. They were unable to keep Hungary out of either the first or second of the world wars. As a result, we emerged from both great wars as losers and with heavy losses. When I was young I thought that we Hungarians had lost the 20th century, but we would win the 21st. These are the kinds of things you think about when every night during your childhood your mother reads you stories about Toldi, Hunyadi, János vitéz ["John the Valiant"] and Hungarian legends. When I thought about my own life, I imagined that I was born in a defeated country, but that I would die in a victorious one. I thought that we would make Hungary great.

This is all well and good, indeed commendable. But what does victory mean? We know what victory means in war. But we don't want war; we don't want to lose a single Hungarian life. So how can we understand what victory means for a nation and a generation in peacetime? It took me forty years to realise that victory in peacetime means something different for every people. If you were born Hungarian, victory is when you're able to change the fate that others have imposed on you, the fate that others have intended for you. In the 20th century our enemies at the time wanted us to be small and poor. Forever. Until the end of time.

Our generation has decided that this won't be the case in the 21st century. Now things will be as we want them to be. And we want Hungary and us Hungarians to be great and rich; we simply want to make Hungary great. Therefore, my dear friends, victory is every Nobel Prize, every new world-class research centre, every new Hungarian astronaut and Oscar-winner, every Olympic gold medal, every Hungarian flag flying high, every medal won in international competitions for skilled workers, every job done with pride and honour - and therefore every Hungarian newborn is like a sentry post. Well, if you're Hungarian this is victory. Forty years ago, I also thought that for this a major change of era would be enough - a major global realignment. All we needed to do was weather a single huge storm, a giant wave. I thought that all it would take was a skilful manoeuvre by the captain and crew, and then we'd have calm waters, growth, and prosperity. Dreams, dreams, sweet dreams. Man proposes, God disposes. The reality: financial crisis, mass migration, COVID, war, and the chaos that these have caused in combination, which we now have to face.

My Friends,

The hull of the European Union ship has been unable to withstand the blows, and it has broken. Water is pouring in. The European Union has already keeled over on its side. In the shadow of the financial crisis, migration, war and enormous troubles, European leaders who have proven to be Lilliputians - Milord Weber and his associates, in unison - have turned the European Union into a bankrupt mess. Mountains of debt, masses of migrants, street violence, the ever-darkening shadows of war, mass layoffs, skyrocketing utility prices, millions of households in dire straits, and Brussels bureaucrats running around like headless chickens. Like a faulty GPS, they keep recalculating the route, but never reach their destination. This is the reality in Europe today.

My Friends,

Our generation already brought about a change of era in 1990. We ended the Cold War. We dismantled the Soviet Union without bloodshed. We drove out the communists without civil war - although they did climb back in through the window. And we rescued Hungary from the falling girders of communism without losing a single human life. I thought we'd done it, and that we could then begin with the simple and boring matter of governance. Now, thirty-five years later, it's with a heavy heart that I say that our hope that a change of era would be enough for a safe and happy life has been dashed. European leaders have squandered this opportunity, they've wasted this chance. We're faced with a continent-wide failure called the European Union, of which we are also members. Hungary is our homeland, Europe is our home. What will happen now? What will happen to us, the Hungarian people? Well, my dear friends, that's being decided right now.

My Friends,

So let's talk about what we should do. What we need in this situation is courage. First of all, we need intellectual courage. Then we need political courage. And then we need personal courage. We need intellectual and spiritual courage in order to take a deep breath and say that the Europe we've known and loved has come to an end. If we deny this, we'll lose time; if we say it, we'll gain time. We were raised to believe that everything west of the Iron Curtain was good - indeed better. They told us that if we fell in line, if we didn't question things, if we kept in step, we too would get cream cake for tea. Then peace, prosperity and freedom would await us. That hasn't happened! No one can any longer deny that the western half of Europe is floundering in a deep crisis. Recently the German chancellor announced the end of the welfare state. France's national debt is approaching 120 per cent. Energy prices are sky-high - three to four times higher than in the United States. Brussels' green policy is killing European industry. And the tariff agreement with the United States is simply tragic. If we were watching this in a movie, the script is so bad that we'd have turned it off long ago. But unfortunately this isn't a movie, and we can't turn it off.

And this isn't me saying this, my dear friends, but Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank, who belongs to the EU's inner circle. He wrote about it and said it just the other day: Europe's in trouble, stumbling towards collapse. Of course, we all love Rome, we're dazzled by Paris, drinking beer in Munich is a delight, and Vienna's fantastic. But let's have the intellectual courage to say - with due modesty - that we mustn't copy them, because then we, too, will end up on the losing side. In fact, let's understand that if earlier they'd done what they're doing now, they'd never have reached the heights they were at a few years ago. Let's have the intellectual courage to say that Hungarian migration policy is better because we've remained a migrant-free country; our family support system is better because it combines work with having children; and our tax system is better because here anyone who wants to work can find a job.

My Friends,

Let us believe our eyes, rely on facts, dare to follow our own path, and dare to build our own economy. Let us dare to make Hungary great again!

And, my dear friends, let's now talk about political courage. Because now we need political courage too. And we need a great deal of it, because in Brussels we must openly say that we reject the path that Brussels is offering us. The Brussels path will make us vulnerable, curtail our sovereignty, lead us into war, force us to do things we don't want to do, and dictate how we should live. If we take the Brussels path, Hungarian money will end up in Ukraine - because Brussels is at war, it needs money, and it doesn't have enough. The Brussels path would mean higher corporate taxes, higher income tax, and cuts to our family tax allowances. It would be worse than the Ten Plagues. And no matter what blows Brussels rains down on us, no matter what political forces are ranged against us, we must remain courageous. Brussels can grind its teeth all it wants, but here there's no war, and there will be no war. There are no migrants, and there will be no migrants. Ukraine isn't a member of the EU, and it won't become one, because it would drag Hungary into war and bankrupt it. My friends, we don't need ready-made recipes from Brussels!

But we have our own fantastic plans, we have encouraging prospects ahead of us, a broad horizon, and we have the boundless drive and ambition to accomplish great things. We're running Europe's most attractive home creation programme. You know: 3 per cent. We've launched Europe's largest tax reduction programme, the like of which the world has never seen - and now, when people see it, they can't believe their eyes. We're doubling the tax allowance for families with children, making childcare allowance and infant support benefit tax-free, and mothers with at least two children won't have to pay income tax for the rest of their lives. And, as we heard from János Lázár, Hungary's fantastic nation-building plan for the next ten years is also on the table. And in the meantime, we shall protect our borders. We aren't beating around the bush: we openly declare that we want a migrant-free Hungary. The Brussels Migration Pact: a pox on that! The Brussels path means certain failure, while the national path means a guarantee for Hungary's future. [Foreign Minister] Szijjártó will have a busy few months ahead of him. That's what I wanted to say about political courage.

My Friends,

And now let's talk about personal courage. We've seen and heard János Lázár, the bravest politician on the national side, speaking here in person. Let's learn from him. When in seven months' time Hungary chooses between the Brussels path and the Hungarian path, personal courage will also be needed. Tamás Cseh sings: "Step outside in front of your house, this is a time when you'll be tested." Well, that's why we're here now. That's why we founded the Digital Civic Circles. Because, my friends, the supporters of the Brussels path have already organised themselves - or, more precisely, Brussels has already organised them. They already have their parties, NGOs and media in Hungary. They're ready to jump in and carry out Brussels' orders. They've established themselves in the online space - they've occupied and appropriated it. They've organised themselves and they've shaped it in their own image. They intimidate those who disagree with them. They want you to retreat into your homes. That's why there's so much aggression, violence, and brutality. That's why they carry guns at gatherings.

That's why there's an ongoing smear campaign against national and Christian artists, the national media, national parties, and our leaders.

My Friends,

We can only change this if patriotic Hungarians earn their rightful place in the online world, if we show our mettle on social media. We shall not retreat, but stand up for ourselves. If we're attacked, we shall not retreat, but move forward: 72,000 people have joined the Digital Civic Circles, and 46,000 have joined the Fight Club. We've broken the monopoly of the globalist network that builds hatred. Decent, patriotic Hungarians are no longer vulnerable in the online space. The Digital Civic Circles provide reliable protection against the left-wing frenzy raging in the online space, and have also unleashed enormous constructive energy. This is the online conquest of the homeland. I can report that we have broken through the Verecke Pass. Together with our advance guard, the Fight Club, the online network of patriots numbers some 120,000 people. Today the whole world can see that we shall not surrender the online space to the Brusselites either. The online space also belongs to Hungary. There too we're defending our homeland and our freedom, and there too our national algorithm is already at work. This is Hungary's 21st-century system of frontier forts. In the coming months we must double our strength. We will cover the entire country with Digital Civic Circles. We must be everywhere. We must tell everyone that Hungary is on the threshold of a new era. We must tell everyone how to avoid the wrong path and set out on the right one.

My Friends,

What does this require? To succeed, we'll need everyone in the online space as well. We have two teams. There are the fighters. We send them forward into battle. They engage in debate, they take on hopeless situations, they expose lies and debunk propaganda. As it says in Scripture: one hand must always hold a sword. And then there are the Digital Civic Circles. Because in the other hand there must always be a trowel. You are our online hinterland, our support, our backbone, our fortress - you are the builders of our country. In our maths classes we learned that a circle is a set of points on a plane that are equidistant from a specific point on that plane - in other words, the centre. Our country is at the centre of the circle, and around it are many hundreds of thousands of us. We welcome everyone who loves their country, who cares about Hungary, and who refuses to be a submissive servant of Brussels. We welcome everyone who believes in themselves, helps their fellow human beings, is proud of their country, and is ready to serve Hungary with all their heart and soul.

And finally, as a parting message, I ask you to never forget that we continue to believe in the power of love and unity. We are serving a just cause. You know: in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things, love. We are great, we are many, we are strong, we will win, and we will make Hungary great - if that is what you also want.

God above us all, Hungary before all else! Go Hungary, go Hungarians!