The Prime Minister pointed out that if there are insufficient numbers of children, the issue of immigration emerges – at least until mass cloning becomes widespread in European civilisation, which is something that we hope “the Almighty will spare us”. He said that it is important for communities to be able to sustain themselves without resorting to external resources. Those who expect help from elsewhere, Mr. Orbán continued, will have to pay the price for it sooner or later. “This is an iron law, there is no alternative to it”, even if there are some in Brussels who take the view that the immigrants flooding into Europe should be seen as a blessing, because with them “they will be able to resolve their economic and demographic problems overnight”, he said.

The Prime Minister regards the latter line of thought as highly dangerous, because it brings to the continent an outlook on life with an approach to work, human relations and the family which is alien to the European frame of mind. “We want families to take centre stage in European politics once again”, he stated, stressing that the survival of European civilisation and culture is at stake.

The Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that Europe is the most rapidly ageing continent with the gravest demographic problem, and yet family policy and demographics are “under-represented” in European politics and public discourse, because “neither the topic, nor the use of the terms is PC”: these terms are simply not politically correct. It is of the utmost significance, however, who will live in Europe, Mr. Orbán said. “We should talk about this seriously, and yet much more time, attention, energy and money are being devoted to other things and debates which have much less to do with reality: gender debates, same-sex marriage, and we could certainly mention quite a few others. These are all important things which may be dear to our hearts, but they are nonetheless only secondary.” They will not move Europe out of the economic and social quagmire it has found itself in, he added.

At the forum held in the Millenáris Theatre, Mr. Orbán said that it seems that today there is antipathy towards those who warn, based on factual evidence, that there will be big problems if politics abandons the basic unit of European culture: the family. He thinks that it is a silly European accusation that if a government supports families it is expressing the opinion that other ways of life are inferior, and it is thus not inclusive.

He stressed that his government mobilises a great deal of energy to making clear that supporting families and recognising freedom are not mutually exclusive; “setting one against the other is just a devious trick which must be exposed, so that we can stand up for the family and our own values sincerely and with a clear conscience”.

The majority in Hungary believe that a child is both a blessing for the family and for society. “Children magnify our capacity, and enable us to achieve more”, Mr. Orbán said, pointing out that “without children, there is no continuity, and there is no security for the elderly”. In closing his speech, Mr. Orbán expressed the hope that more and more European leaders will have the courage to endorse the need for family-friendly European policy.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Speech at the Budapest Demographic Forum

MTI, Photo: Károly Árvai