A Hungarian government that does not stand on patriotic foundations will not only let Ukraine into the EU, but will surrender the veto right with which we are able to protect our own interests today; this is what the secret Munich pact that the Tisza Party, Brussels and Kiev concluded a few days ago is about, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated on Saturday at the anti-war rally of the Digital Civic Circles in Békéscsaba.

The veto right is a pre-condition of national independence and sovereignty; whoever surrenders it also surrenders their country's sovereignty, Mr Orbán said, pointing out that Ukraine has a vested interest in a change of governments, the Ukrainians only have a free path to the European Union, only have access to European funds and the money of the Hungarians if the patriotic government "is cleared out of the way."

The Prime Minister said until the incumbent government took office in Slovakia, only Hungary of the 27 Member States said no to the war and Ukraine's admission to the European Union. In Hungary, the people stated their opinion on this in the Vote2025 referendum, he recalled, adding that we had a government which was not scared and dared to say 'no' even against 26 others.

The Ukrainians only have a free path to the European Union, only have access to European funds and the money of the Hungarians if the patriotic government is cleared out of the way, he pointed out.

Answering a question related to the Druzhba crude oil pipeline, Mr Orbán stressed that the Hungarian government had reliable knowledge to the effect that the pipeline was fit to convey oil, but the Ukrainians had shut it off. He added that they had no right to do so because according to the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine, Ukraine cannot make a decision with which it would jeopardise any Member State's energy supply. Should a country sustain such an attack, it must be defended and counter-measures must be put into place, the Prime Minister laid down, stressing that Hungary has a self-defence system, oil reserves which are capable of supplying Hungary for months.

Among the counter-measures he mentioned that Ukraine will not be given access to the EU loan of EUR 90 billion - which was previously approved, subject to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic opting out - until oil deliveries from Ukraine are resumed. Additionally, Ukraine also receives a large part of its petrol supply from Hungary and "as petrol is made from oil, and the Ukrainians are not allowing oil to be transported here," "there is no petrol either, that's that."

Mr Orbán further raised the issue that Hungary also supplied Ukraine with a large amount of electricity, and if they stopped that, "tough things could happen." If necessary, "we will also adopt this third counter-measure in consultation with the Slovaks who raised this possibility already on Friday," he said.

He took the view that in the coming weeks, the Ukrainians will do everything they can to cause economic chaos in Hungary because they believe that with this they can help the opposition. "Do we have to concern ourselves with this? No. It doesn't matter what's in the Ukrainians' heads. The situation is that this is Hungary, we can't be blackmailed. Here, entire empires have disappeared, while we're still here. We're not going to be frightened by a few loud-mouth Ukrainian politicians, we're not going to be scared by any amount of blackmail," he stated.

In continuation he said "I'm sure we have a few flaws, but you can't say that we're not smart, that we're not savvy." He added: they know precisely how to handle such situations, and will do just that. "Anyone who bites into us will break their teeth. So, the Ukrainians would do well to start looking for a dentist," he said.

He also highlighted that had we not been able to ward off the Ukrainians' measure, the price of petrol would be a thousand forints tomorrow morning. He said if we also allowed them to shut Russian gas off, that would mean that while today Hungarians pay 250,000 forints a year on average for household energy, they would pay three to four times more. The Czechs pay a million forints for the same, while the Poles 850,000, he pointed out.

Meaning that this is a matter of the pocket, [Minister for Construction and Transport] János Lázár was right to say: 'Listen to Fidesz, vote for your pocket,' he laid down.

The Prime Minister said it is a lie that it would be possible to maintain the present level of household energy costs and to detach ourselves from Russian gas at the same time. We must fight for this as the Treaties of the European Union allow every nation, including Hungary, to decide on the energy system they operate: how much gas, how much oil, how much wind, how much solar and how much nuclear, he laid down. If they want to corner us and to cut us off from cheap Russian energy, in actual fact, that is an unlawful step on the part of the EU, he added.

So, if we want to protect our wallets, pockets, family finances and budget, then we must say no to "experts let loose on us by Shell" and to Tisza itself, must kick "the Munich pact concluded in secret" to pieces, must show strength against the Ukrainians and must continue the policy that we have pursued so far, the Prime Minister stressed.

Mr Orbán observed: "I'm saying with due modesty that I'm ready and able to do so."

Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that Ukraine must not be allowed into the European Union. By admitting them, we would also admit the war. The Prime Minister said the continuation of the war is a life and death issue for the Ukrainians. Not only due to winning the war, but also because of their economy. If there is no war, who will give them money? he asked, highlighting that Ukraine only receives money as long as the war is on.

He pointed out: the Ukrainians believe that with the war they can achieve goals which point beyond the goals of the war and are about the future of Ukraine. "Let's take as much money out of the Europeans as we can, now we have the chance," he observed, highlighting that today, the Ukrainian concept is fully endorsed in the European Union, with the exception of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

They are deploying all possible means in order for Hungary to have a government which guarantees three things: they agree to the admission of Ukraine to the European Union, provide weapons and if necessary, also people, and give Ukraine a considerable part of the country's money. Today, Hungary is an obstacle to this; in actual fact, a dangerous example because its example shows that you can also say no, he pointed out.

He said Hungary does not support Ukraine's EU membership; if they are already behaving like this, what would happen if they were inside? We must cooperate with the Ukrainians, we must come to an agreement with them, but must not let them in as members, he laid down.

He highlighted: war comes much faster than one would think, and it must be curbed at the very beginning because "once it's out of the bag, it can't be squeezed back in." "If you stay out and persevere, you may just get off the hook." "If you have a good government and national unity, you can definitely get off the hook. Once you enter, there is no going back," he said.

In answer to another question, he also said the Americans are beginning to get tired of the peace efforts related to the Russo-Ukrainian war. He took the view that peace is a Ukrainian interest, and if the Americans back out, they will be in grave trouble.

At the same time, he is more optimistic than ever about the issue of world peace, a US-China agreement, he said in reference to President Trump's upcoming visit to China. He stressed that we had no choice, but to reinforce national unity behind peace, and each other in that we needed a government which was able to keep us out of this war. Third time round, we must achieve what our forebears failed to achieve because we could not stay out of military operations either in World War I or World War II; we were dragged in, he explained.

Mr Orbán said there will be war, the Europeans have a written agreement that between 2026 and 2030 they will station troops in the territory of Ukraine. The upcoming elections will be the last pre-war elections; the government that will be formed as a result of the elections will decide on the issue of war and peace. We have a single task, to form a united patriotic government behind peace which is able to keep us out of the war, he stressed, laying down that the key words are 'staying out.'

The national community which we call the Hungarian nation can set the strategic goal of staying out of a Russian-European war in the making, he stated. He said we are capable of that if we are united.

In answer to another question, Mr Orbán recalled that in 2010 they had created a Hungarian model. After they realised that the growth of the Hungarian economy was unable to generate the amount of money the country needed, they had introduced a completely new system of taxation for large international companies, in particular, in three areas: the banking sector, the energy sector and retail chains. As a result of this, over a period of 16 years, they have raised HUF 15,000 billion forints for the purposes of the Hungarian economy.

As soon as these constituent parts are taken apart and are put back together differently, the economy will look different and this money will disappear. He stressed that if there was a change of governments in April, the 2,000 billion forints planned to be raised in the Hungarian economy in 2026 in the form of extra profit taxes would be immediately withdrawn from the economy, would be taken out of the Hungarian people's pockets and would go back to banks, Belgian companies and retail chains. It is for a reason, he said, that a few months before the elections, large international companies such as Shell and Erste Bank announce that they are delegating people into a prospective government.

"We can't seriously believe that a man sent here from Shell will govern in the interest of the Hungarian people instead of executing his own company's orders and furthering his own personal interests," he added. He was sent here in order to take the bank levy away from the country from which the government currently supports families, he laid down. They want to take this money back; first the 2,000 billion from the 2026 budget, and then step by step all the HUF 15,000 billion that we previously took away from them, he underlined.

That which the opposition calls a change of regime is nothing other than the dismantling of the structure of the Hungarian economy that we put together, and replacing it with another, a Brussels model where money - rather than going to families, agriculture, small and medium-sized businesses - is taken out of the country by big capital in the form of dividends.

This is one of the greatest stakes in the elections; at this time, the people's personal family budgets are at stake, he said, adding that "if there is no patriotic government, there will be poverty you can't possibly imagine."

He also said "whatever anyone says about us," the reality is that during the governance of Fidesz-KDNP [Christian Democratic People's Party], national assets have doubled, rather than having been exhausted. He recalled that arriving back from Washington, on Friday they had laid the foundation stone of the third terminal of Liszt Ferenc Airport, an investment worth EUR 1 billion. The airport was sold by previous left-wing governments, "while we bought it back" for more than three billion euros, he recalled.

The Prime Minister described Békéscsaba as a difficult place from the viewpoint of politics where "you can only win with full dedication and maximum effort." "Our opponents have always been strong here, we have only ever been able to defeat them with unity," he pointed out.

He stressed that Békés County had four Members of Parliament; there are two constituencies, Békés 4 and Békés 1, where the government party candidates are only winning by a nose, while in the other two, Békés 2 and Békés 3, "by a landslide." In order for the civic-Christian government to win, they need all four Békés constituencies, he stated.

Based on the available information, Mr Orbán said if the elections were held today, the government parties could win in 65 constituencies. This is a comfortable majority, "but we can't be content with it," he laid down, recalling that in 2022, the government parties won in 87 of the 106 constituencies. They have delivered on all their pledges, and in actual fact, they have even accomplished pledges they did not make, he said in reference to the fourteenth monthly pension and the personal income tax exemption of mothers of two.

Why should we set the bar, our election targets any lower than we did in 2022? he asked, adding that "if we have all four Members of Parliament, there will be no roads left unpaved."

He also spoke about the fact that Hungary has a government today which - if it announces a programme, discusses it and agrees on it with the parties concerned - is able to realise it because "together we're capable of anything."

In his view, real trust was built between Fidesz and the people of Békéscsaba by the construction of road 44. He recalled that when they announced its construction, everyone dismissed it as an empty promise as so many others had previously promised to connect Békéscsaba to the country's blood circulation and had then failed to do so.

Road 44 "was proof of our credibility for the people of Békéscsaba," and the people of Békéscsaba received this accordingly, he pointed out.

He also said when Fidesz-KDNP entered into government again in 2010, in Békéscsaba there were 3,693 unemployed persons, while today there are 1,418. This means that they have reduced unemployment in the town by 60 per cent. In the country, a million more people have jobs now, and the government's plan is to provide jobs for another 300,000, Mr Orbán said, adding that with this they will achieve that as many as 5 million people will have jobs in Hungary.

He added that the government had also removed a debt of HUF 10 billion from Békéscsaba because they had begun their term in 2010 by assuming the debts of settlements. They have invested HUF 500 billion in the M44 road. Among plans for the future, he mentioned the further construction of the M44 all the way to the border, and the conversion of the M47 into a four-lane road.

He observed that the investor Singaporean company had started recruiting staff for its plant - one of the most cutting-edge in the world - which was currently being built in the town. The balance is not bad, "we have mutually gained from each other's company," he stated in summary.

Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that 16 years previously, they had concluded a three-point agreement with the Roma. He summed up these three points as follows: the law must be observed; instead of benefits, they will provide jobs for the people; and they will provide a chance for people to study. They have tripled the number of people with registered employment in the Roma community, have doubled the number of Roma attending secondary school, and have also tripled the number of Roma attending university, he stated, adding that things are moving in the right direction on this matter.

He promised: the government will never focus on who graduated from what school or what anyone's position is in their place of work; the number one priority is how people do their jobs. "I'm much better off with a cleaner doing their job well than with a poorly performing surgeon," he said.

Regarding the Hungarian Villages Programme, the Prime Minister said we cannot allow the development of Hungary to lead to a point where, due to big differences between villages and cities, people, especially young people, abandon villages and move into big cities. He pointed out that urbanisation was also a threat, and therefore a healthy balance must be upheld. Cities must be developed, but the country "must be kept inhabited."

He accused the Left and liberals of constantly only looking upon villages as a burden. In his view, however, villages are an enormous value for the country which will always remain close to the patriotic government's heart.

Answering the last question from the audience of the rally held in the Békéscsaba Sports Hall, Mr Orbán also said he regards himself as a patriotic politician who agreed to serve his country. In his view, this is a fantastic job, he had never before received as much love as for the job he is now doing, and he does not regard this as a self-sacrifice. "I serve you, and you love me," he said.

He also recalled that he had first been elected as prime minister aged 35. There is no greater trust than this, and he has been in the people's debt ever since, this is what he is trying to repay. He promised to return to this constituency during the campaign because here there is a keen battle.