The success of Hungary s coronavirus defense depends on people approving and accepting the security measures taken by the government, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Hungary s public radio on Friday morning. The national consultation questionnaire - filled out and returned by some 1.8 million Hungarian citizens, a percentage unprecedented in other European countries - is an important tool in this, he said. Besides protecting people s lives and the elderly, PM Orban described maintaining the functioning of schools and revitalising the economy as the most important tasks. The premier also noted that the European economy is witnessing a transformation and the four Visegrad countries, led by Poland, could emerge as its new driving force.

At the beginning of the conversation, Viktor Orban highlighted the work of Human Resources Minister Miklos Kasler and Interior Minister Sandor Pinter, who spent the whole summer preparing Hungary for the second wave of the novel coronavirus. „We are armed to the teeth and ready for the second wave,” Viktor Orban said.

Our experts in „the government and the Operative Board are smarter now than they were in March,” because „we have several months worth of experience when it comes to defending against the virus”, the premier told the Hungarian public radio s morning news programme. 

According to Mr Orban, the success of Hungary s fight against the pandemic depends not only on whether the government can take action, but on whether people support those measures. He described the national consultation questionnaire – filled out and returned by some 1.8 million Hungarians, which is an unprecedented number in Europe – as an important tool in that, adding that this gives great strength to the country and to the government.

The prime minister emphasized that the priorities of the defence are saving people s lives and protecting the elderly, followed by the key tasks of maintaining the functioning of schools and revitalising the economy. Mr Orban underlined that these days most viral infections seem to emerge amongst young people, and he asked them to adapt to the new situation. The protection of elderly citizens is in the hands of the youth, he added.

Regarding hospital beds, Mr Orban said Hungary s healthcare system had undergone such an experience during the spring that enables us to determine what to do even in the worst-case scenario. He said Hungary had built up its own ventilator capacities and did not need to import them. When it comes to virus testing, the country follows the advice and experience of the WHO, he added.

Viktor Orban emphasized that the significance of Hungary s performance in international comparison should not be underestimated. „Our defence was the most efficient in Europe. Hungary measures the success of its defence in human lives,” he said. The virus claimed ten times as many lives in Sweden than in Hungary and, as a result, we must be extremely cautious when making decisions about changing the elements of Hungary s defense mechanism, he said.

Regarding Hungary s border closure re-introduced on 1 September, Viktor Orban said that he can understand why „bureaucrats in Brussels are raising objections”, but they should also understand that the four Visegrad countries have developed a very close co-operation in recent years. „It is easier to cooperate with them than with more distant countries that have worse figures regarding the containment of the virus,” Mr Orban said. He emphasized that the virus was already in Hungary and the task is not simply to curb the spread of the disease, but also to prevent the virus from being imported into the country. Hungary has introduced a regulated, carefully construed system, with some finetuning of details expected during Friday s government meeting. „We need the greatest possible freedom, with all the important and necessary restrictions in place,” Viktor Orban underlined.

Speaking about the start of the school year, PM Orban pointed out that the Hungarian government had introduced general rules for schools in the spring, as safety was the foremost consideration back then. The institutions have established two or three defence lines but they already know from experience that it s not the general rules that they need. If, based on individual assessments, the government believes that certain schools need to transition to online education, then it will act accordingly, the prime minister said.

Concerning Europe s ogoing political and economic processes, Viktor Orban explained that people appear less sensitive about big, strategic issues now, because their thoughts are elsewhere. He said 15 years ago 81 per cent of investment in the entire world economy came from the West, while today it is only 40 per cent. Europe is witnessing a major economic transformation and the V4 countries may become the driving forces of that. It should come as little surprise if, in a few years, Poland was to become the next Germany , PM Orban said.