Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks during the year-end international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 21, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)
BUDAPEST, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The year 2023 was one of "great struggles," Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said here on Thursday, marking the close of the year and setting sights on 2024.
At an international press conference, Orban listed the complex adversities faced during the year, including the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the escalating terrorism threats, migration issues, inflation and "the influence of Brussels."
He said that his government has met its objectives: Hungary remained uninvolved in the conflicts; the country warded off potential terrorism threats; the government kept migration under control and curbed inflation; and it even established accord with Brussels despite persistent antagonism.
However, he acknowledged the significant struggle Hungarian families have had to face due to the repercussions of the armed conflicts, leading to sanctions and increased energy costs, endangering pension and wage values.
Orban noted the successful preservation of the value of pensions and the potentially better-than-anticipated real values of wages and salaries.
He pointed out various measures implemented by the government to drive progress, such as a new housing program offering advancement opportunities for tens of thousands of families and agreements between employers and employees, ensuring a 10-15 percent increase in the minimum wage.
In 2024, the focus will shift to the European Parliament elections, according to Orban.
He said there was a need to break through what he described as Brussels' perceived detachment from reality, highlighting the need for rectifying the missteps of 2023.
"The 2024 European Parliament elections will be next year's focus. Bureaucrats in Brussels live in a cocoon, that is why Brussels is blind and does not see the reality of life, the objective of the 2024 elections is to open Brussels' eyes," he told journalists.
For next year, he presented the launch of a three-year salary development program for teachers and kindergarten educators, projecting a 32.2 percent increase in the average income of educators from January.
Orban also addressed pending actions, mentioning plans for a phased increase in teachers' salaries by 2026, culminating in an average wage of 800,000 forints (2,295 U.S. dollars) at the program's conclusion.
Orban clarified the absence of a Turkish-Hungarian agreement regarding Sweden's NATO accession and said that Hungary's government could not give deadlines for the ratification, as it was in the jurisdiction of the country's Parliament. (1 Hungarian forint = 0.0029 U.S. dollar) ■
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks during the year-end international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 21, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks during the year-end international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 21, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks during the year-end international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 21, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)
