'We'll be sending the invoices to Brussels in a month' – Gulyás

The Hungarian government's regular, weekly press briefing was held on Thursday by Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, and Government Spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi. Below are the main points addressed.

Economic growth forecasts

To a question from Origo, Gergely Gulyás said that when it comes to handling inflation, the government is tied to the Central Bank and since they are forecasting a 6% inflation for next year, if inflation is higher than that, they will have to make several changes in the budget, including, for example, increasing pensions by more than that. For now, he is cautious when it comes to talking about final figures because the final figures will only be seen after the budget has been presented, which is planned for 30 May.

After this year’s difficulties, the government is optimistic that a more serious economic growth is possible, with a growth rate of around 4 percent.

Gulyás expects inflation's severe decline in the summer, and the plan to achieve a single-digit inflation rate by the end of the year is sustainable.

“The Hungarian side has fulfilled all conditions”

The Hungarian Parliament adopted the judicial package, which is the cornerstone of the agreement with the European Commission last week, the minister said.

The government expects to reach an agreement with the European Commission within a few weeks, as, according to Gulyás, the Hungarian side has fulfilled all the conditions.

"We will be able to send invoices to Brussels in a month's time, which we hope will be settled,"

the Minister at the Prime Minister's Office said.

He said Hungary had done everything to ensure that the money was transferred, while the left had only worked to obstruct the agreement.

“It is a peculiar situation when financial control is left to the thief”

An EU delegation is set to visit Hungary next week to audit the use of EU funds. The delegation will include Momentum MEP Katalin Cseh. According to Gulyás, they cannot expect fair treatment from the EU with this setup. "It is a peculiar situation when financial control is left to the thief," he said, commenting on Ms Cseh being part of the delegation.

Teachers' salaries to be raised as soon as EU funds arrive

According to Gulyás, Hungarian teachers can only be thanked for doing their best during the epidemic, in spite of their low wages, and he added that most of them aren't even taking part in the protests.

According to the minister, it is not true that the government hasn't consulted with teachers' unions (the teachers’ unions have repeatedly complained of this – TN). He admitted that there are still issues to be discussed, but added that the problems are mainly wage-related.

He also said that the unions have a serious responsibility in protesting alongside opposition MEPs who have been blocking the payment of funds for Hungary in Brussels, and have thus also prevented the teachers' salaries from being raised.

The minister reiterated that he believes that Hungarian left-wing MEPs are blocking the arrival of EU money for political reasons. He said that the government had settled the corruption cases and that even if "all the left-wing, green, semi-communist accusations were true", there would be no possibility of corruption because the EU funds would be transferred to teachers straight away.

According to Gulyás, this is a minefield situation created by the Hungarian left, and if this were to change, the situation would change.

He also said that he believes that the Hungarian left and Brussels are working hand in hand to ensure that there is no pay rise for Hungarian teachers.

On the police's handling of last week's protest for education reform

Over the past 13 years, professional police practices have shown that anyone can freely demonstrate in Hungary within the legal framework, the Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office said. According to Gulyás, there is only one rule: the law must be observed, and one cannot enter a construction site or attack a protected building.

"The police's response was professional and impeccable."

– he said of the police's handling of the situation last Wednesday.

Gulyás did see some of the footage of the demonstration held on 3 May. He said it made him feel bad to see teenagers not complying with the law.

The minister said that in his personal opinion, the street in front of the former Carmelite Monastery (currently the Prime Minister's Office complex) should not be opened to the public for safety reasons even after the nearby construction is finished. As an example, he mentioned the White House: if someone were to just touch the wall of the White House, they wouldn't be tear-gassed but shot, he said.

On the new Chief of General Staff's statement about the 2nd World War

Gábor Böröndi, the recently appointed Chief of General Staff has been in the news several times in recent days, first for saying that the Second World War started as a local German-Polish conflict and could have been prevented from escalating, and then for his sharp criticism of the current state of the Hungarian Armed Forces, according to information from Szabad Európa.

On the former, Gulyás said that Poland was a victim and a sufferer of the Second World War, which the Nazis and the Communists had divided amongst themselves. However, the minister doesn't think that Böröndi should resign because of this, because the important thing is that when he does his job, he does it well within his area of responsibility. And the interpretation of the Second World War, Gulyás added, is not part of that.

If there are EU sanctions against a third country, the government will consider the Hungarian national interest again

Gulyás said that the Hungarian government still disagrees with the policy of sanctions, and whenever it was crucial to ensure that something did not affect Hungary in the past, we received exemptions. If there are new sanction proposals in the future, the government will continue to take into consideration whether a Hungarian national interest would be harmed as a result. If it harms a Hungarian interest, they will veto it, and if they simply consider it to be the wrong direction, then the government won't break the Member States' unity.