This February 17, Viktor Orban delivered his annual speech on the State of the Nation, while an unprecedented crisis is shaking the country after an independent media revealed that the President of the Republic had pardoned the accomplice of a pedophile . The Hungarian Prime Minister began his speech with this embarrassing subject and then, eager to close the chapter, recounted Hungary’s successes.
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With our correspondent in Budapest, Florence La Bruyère
On a platform decorated with around twenty Hungarian flags – but without a single European flag – Viktor Orban first paid tribute to the President of the Republic, Katalin Novak, who resigned on February 10 after theoutrage provoked by its decision to pardon a convict involved in a child crime case.
“ A highly respectable woman who fought for the Hungarians and represented her country in an exemplary manner “, declared the Hungarian Prime Minister. “ His resignation is a good gesture, but it is a big loss for Hungary “, he added before praising the economic successes of his government.
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Isolationist and pro-Trump speech
Not once did he say the word “Russia”. And if Viktor Orban mentioned Ukraine, it was to accuse Brussels of encouraging war. “ We have said it in vain, it is a civil war between two Slavic countries which does not concern us. But Brussels got involved in the conflict “, he insisted.
An isolationist speech, even if Viktor Orban announced that Hungary would finally ratify Sweden’s membership in NATO. “ Hungary first »: this is the slogan of Viktor Orban, a slogan copied from that of his model, Donald Trump. “ I would very much like Donald Trump to be president again, and to bring peace to Eastern Europe! “, he chanted to the applause.
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