The suspension of EU funding for universities is anti-Hungarian, racially motivated revenge – Gulyás

On the suspension of EU funding for certain Hungarian universities

The suspension of EU funding for Hungarian universities is an anti-Hungarian, racially motivated revenge, Gulyás said in response to a question about the matter. He said that the European Commission making the EU funds conditional is simple revenge, with (the Hungarian government's stance – TN) on migration, the child protection law and the war (in Ukraine -TN) being the reason behind it.

A reporter from HVG asked whether Gulyás really considers the move of the European Commission racially motivated revenge. The minister confirmed that he believed it was an anti-Hungarian measure, and explained that he meant race in a cultural sense, meaning belonging to the culture of a nation.

On the Hungarian vote on the Swedish-Finnish NATO memberhsip

When asked about the approval of the Swedish-Finnish NATO membership, Gulyás said that a vote on the issue would be held in March – but he did not promise that a decision would be made during the week of 20 March.
At a government briefing last autumn, the minister had already said that there was a "good chance" that the proposal would be adopted during the Parliament's autumn session, but this has still not happened.

On whether Ukrainian soldiers are trained in Hungary

During a recent discussion, Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad' claimed that Hungary was also training Ukrainian soldiers. Pesti Srácok asked Gulyás to comment on the statement, and he said that it was not true. He further qualified the statement by saying:

"It's a misinformation, a fallacy."

Hungarian teachers' pay raise depends on Brussels – and an opposition politician

To a question about the teachers' pay raise, Gergely Gulyás said that the government wants to take a "big step", but they will continue to rely on EU funds. He referred to the 10 percent increase in January, and added: "We want to achieve an average teacher salary of over 800,000 forints in 22 months," he said.

“This would require Klára Dobrev (MEP of the Democratic Coalition) and the others to stop blocking the money that Hungary is entitled to.”

Gulyás said that people in Brussels think that they are stabbing the Hungarian government in the back, but they do not realise that they are actually hurting Hungarian teachers.

The Child Protection Act to be amended in the autumn

The government is not waiting until the end of the infringement proceedings against the Child Protection Act, and the new elements of the law will be presented in the autumn, Gulyás said. He added that the Child Protection Act had been confirmed by last year's referendum. "I will not give up on the idea that common sense may prevail even in Brussels," he said. Gulyás said the upcoming amendments were needed in order to protect children.