We must protect the tax system, because it guarantees that funds are available for development, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday.

In order for development to take place we need a booming economy that produces rather than swallows money, Hungary’s premier emphasized in his speech at the Active Hungary New Era Conference 2021, organised by the Active and Ecotourism Centre.

There are many reasons why the economy is booming and it is important that we do not let anyone „mess up Hungary’s functioning economic system that was hard to set up,” he said.

At the heart of this economic system lies the tax system. If it did not exist in Hungary, economic performance would be substantially lower and resources for development would also be declining, Mr Orban said.

A lot has been done in the past 12 years, and in the last two years in particular, after the Office of the Government Commissioner for active Hungary was set up, he pointed out. This area was not in focus in the post-1945 period in Hungary’s political history, because politics is in constant search for big things and neglects small things that make life really livable, he explained.

If there are civil society organisations, then they relay certain needs and aspects to political decision-makers and if there is a channel where these proposals are summarised, they could easily turn into government decisions, he said. It seems that in light of the obstacles that had to be overcome, we have achieved massive results in this area, Mr Orban said.

He emphasized that this area is no longer orphaned, there is a system of institutions in place, and it would be good if there were proposals on how to develop it further. It is also important to have concrete plans, making this area’s bargaining position strong, he added.

PM Orban pointed out that the money generated by the economy is also important, as well as the tax system, which is the heart of the economy.

Mr Orban also said that

the future of nations will be decided by which country and which community love their homeland more. Patriotism is based on two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of the country and knowledge of the nation.

Strengthening both of these will increase patriotism, and this will determine in the next 10-20 years to what extent Hungarians will be the winners in the competition of nations, the premier added. This is at least as important, or even more important, than money and economic power. “The future will depend on that,” Mr Orban added.

Emotional factors will be decisive in the competition of nations in the coming decades, and in places where commitment to the homeland and the community is stronger, more and much better things will be achieved, Mr Orban said.

The importance of this mindset cannot be underestimated because, to a large extent, it was patriotism that triggered many of the emotions needed to overthrow communism, Hungary’s prime minister said.