In Budapest last Friday Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hosted the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Summit on Migration. The conference was in English, but after the speakers finished their presentations, Mr. Orbán gave his summary in Hungarian, for the sake of the representatives of Hungarian media.

If Hungary had a population of fifty or sixty million, rather than ten million, Mr. Orbán would be a renowned figure of international standing. His face would appear every night on the TV news, and his name would be in the headlines every day in the papers.

His genial, avuncular style makes his videos a pleasure to watch. I’ve never seen any other intellectual of his stature rise so high in politics. God bless him, and may Fidesz win another two-thirds majority next election.

Many thanks to CrossWare for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

00:00 If we want to punish someone in politics, we have to make it so

00:04 that he must speak after Mr. President [Nicolas] Sarkozy.

00:08 … Good day,

00:12 distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

00:16 We welcome you here with respect.

00:20 If you do not mind, I will be speaking in Hungarian,

00:24 not because of the audience, because

00:28 you all speak English, but because

00:32 of the Hungarian media.

00:36 Please accept it.

00:40 Thank you to our guests, who arrived from abroad.

00:44 …It is a big adventure,

00:48 so much so that you do not even know how big.

00:52 You are guests of an ancient country.

00:56 Of course this is not our topic;

01:00 I will not talk about it for too long.

01:04 But to sense what a deep and valuable culture

01:08 the country has — where you are guests —

01:12 Let me mention to you three simple linguistic facts

01:16 that may show the depth of the Hungarian soul and its historic

01:20 antiquity. If

01:24 I say of someone who

01:28 has the same mother and father what my relationship to him is,

01:32 which the English call simply “brother”,

01:36 the Hungarian says: “blood of my body” [body-blood “testvér”],

01:40 If I want to say, there is a woman with whom I want to spend my life,

01:44 then I do not just have a “wife”, but she is “my other half”.

01:48 Or, when I want to say

01:52 that I want to live my life happily,

01:56 in good physical condition, then I do not just say “health”,

02:00 but “whole”, wholeness [egészség],

02:04 “wholeness”, or something like this, if it is even possible to translate.

02:08 So this is a particular place in the world,

02:12 and it is always a privilege when we can host some guests,

02:16 because we think

02:20 that it is an honor for us that somebody is interested in us,

02:24 in the life of a country of ten million

02:28 and a nation of fifteen million. I have been given

02:32 the task of summing up what has happened here so far.

02:36 I can only say, in brief, that from everybody

02:40 we got what we expected.

02:44 From the Czechs we got a crystal-clear analysis.

02:48 From the Spanish we got a huge Christian soul.

02:52 From our Australian friends we got

02:56 Anglo-Saxon sanity. And from Mr. President Sarkozy

03:00 we got French elegance. Well, it was already

03:04 worth it.

03:08 Distinguished ladies and gentlemen…

03:16 Everybody mentioned, even if only briefly,

03:20 the particular role that Hungary plays in

03:24 the European migration debate.

03:28 Mostly we received eulogistic words.

03:32 First of all, we thank you for that. On the other hand,

03:36 we are standing with two feet on the ground,

03:40 and we would like to decrease our merits in the name of honesty.

03:44 What has happened?

03:48 Presently Hungary has a leading role

03:52 in the debate about migration.

03:56 Nothing justifies this.

04:00 Hungary is a country of ten million.

04:04 Its army… well, it has quality,

04:08 but looking at its size, it is not of a threatening nature.

04:12 As we speak about the Turks, as Mr. Sarkozy mentioned,

04:16 as we speak about the Turks, we have as many soldiers altogether

04:20 as they have AWOL on an average weekend.

04:28 The GDP per capita cannot be compared with that of the countries

04:32 that spoke before me… and we Hungarians,

04:36 we know that in Europe of course

04:40 “equality” exists, but really, size does matter.

04:44 And everybody has his place in the world. And in this place

04:48 that is ours, it is not preordained

04:52 in any European debate,

04:56 especially in one of pan-European scope, that we would be elevated

05:00 into a leadership role, as we have been in the migration debate.

05:04 The first thing I would like to say is that the situation is unnatural.

05:08 …The second

05:12 thing we must mention is that it is unnatural, but we did not choose this

05:16 for ourselves. This is very simply

05:20 the result of geographical and historical circumstances.

05:24 Because Hungary is a border country.

05:28 A border country on the east

05:32 and a border country on the south. And

05:36 always plays an emphasized role when either from the east or the south

05:40 some kind of danger faces our common home: Europe.

05:44 That is why we ended up on the front page in

05:48 1956, because the danger was lurking from the east

05:52 and it was our rebellion against that oppression —

05:56 we had no other choice — that catapulted us

06:00 into world fame. And now the situation is the same.

06:04 When the migrants choose dry land, instead of the sea,

06:08 then they end up on Hungary’s southern border to

06:12 get into Europe. Whether we wanted this role or not.

06:16 Whether it’s proportional or not.

06:20 Whether we are in the mood for it or not. We are where we are,

06:24 and we wanted to defend our borders, so we ended up with a European fame.

06:28 Neither Hungary, nor

06:32 Hungarian political leaders, including myself,

06:36 want to play any kind of leadership role in Europe.

06:40 We have an ancient Hungarian world to maintain,

06:44 to work on and to adjust for the future,

06:48 which gives us enough work. But there is nothing we can do,

06:52 if we do not want to again live through — I say this to our guests —

06:56 what we lived through from one day to the next.

07:00 Suddenly, because we lacked border defenses,

07:04 there were four hundred thousand (400,000) people,

07:08 mostly military-aged men.

07:12 True, they were not armed, but in military style

07:16 they marched across our borders and marched

07:20 into Hungary,

07:24 and we had no physical means to stop this,

07:28 400 thousand, not armed, but a significant

07:32 mass of strength, which we could not stop or handle.

07:36 So that feeling of being vulnerable is what we never want

07:40 to relive again. That is why

07:44 we built a fence, introduced border defenses,

07:48 and turned against the European mainstream.

07:52 And, just as the Good Lord helped us,

07:56 in 2010 and also in 2014,

08:00 allowed us a super-majority, so that without a coalition partner,

08:04 we could have an absolute majority, so He also allowed us

08:08 to have a two-thirds majority without a coalition [the constitution can be modified with 2/3 majority],

08:12 so we could apply the necessary changes to the Basic Law

08:16 required by the migration, which is a luxury

08:20 in today’s situation in Europe. So after the Good Lord gave to us

08:24 the opportunity and the tools, we must use them. This is how we ended up

08:28 in the situation where we organized a conference here today.

08:32 Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, of course I have my own things to say,

08:36 but we may not have time for that, because I would like to comment on

08:40 the thoughts which were presented before me.

08:44 Mr. Foreign Minister of Australia discouraged us

08:48 from those European gestures which sound like

08:52 we can’t do anything. And he

08:56 knows from Australia

09:00 that people do not like this, and such politicians get fired.

09:08 Such naïve innocence!

09:12 Europe does not work this way, Mr. Foreign Minister!

09:16 Europe has a mantra, a dogma, which they have built for thirty years.

09:20 Where this gesture “I can’t do anything” has a positive meaning.

09:24 And maybe the people do not like it, but the next morning the media,

09:28 “the Soft Power” will sing the praises of those

09:32 who say “I can’t do anything”. I will explain this to you now.

09:36 In Europe over the past

09:40 thirty to forty years they built

09:44 the concept that societies, and especially

09:48 the shared European world, must be led by

09:52 institutions.

09:56 Not persons. And the institutions

10:00 will be able to respond to all the crises

10:04 — maybe more slowly than is necessary, but nevertheless

10:08 the institutions will provide an answer. So in European

10:12 political concepts the institution is good — the bigger the better —

10:16 and the strong politician is a bad thing.

10:20 And that is why all strong leaders

10:24 who say: “I will solve it, I will handle the problem”

10:28 that seemed impossible will be viewed negatively.

10:32 At that moment the entire European

10:36 “Soft Power” [MSM], will attack him.

10:40 I am not the one who is the expert on this. Here is Mr. Sarkozy, who

10:44 can explain exactly how a strong leader,

10:48 instead of receiving recognition, will get mobbed by the mainstream media.

10:52 How he automatically earns the title “DANGEROUS”. There are some historical

10:56 reasons as well… The second

11:00 comment is connected to my friend Oreha’s [?] speech.

11:08 We must get rid of our fear.

11:12 “eradicate” — as he said. We must wipe out

11:16 our fear. That is very hard in Western Europe.

11:20 What I say is an estimate,

11:24 I think, of the western part of Europe,

11:28 of the world surrounding politics, which can influence politics,

11:32 Which let’s call for simplicity “SOFT POWER”,

11:36 think-tanks, NGOs,

11:40 universities,

11:44 “public intellectuals” as my Australian friend called them.

11:48 Media. That is the world that surrounds politics.

11:52 85% of this by my estimation is made up of

11:56 left-wing liberals. And it is capable

12:00 of acting in coordinated manner. That is why,

12:04 whenever a Western politician even thinks the same as a Hungarian,

12:08 and would say something like as a Hungarian, the next morning,

12:12 this 85% majority will tear him into little pieces.

12:16 We are not braver than the Western Europeans.

12:20 The situation in Central Europe is that

12:24 the hard core of power, the politicians, are surrounded by a soft power,

12:28 which has ratio of around 50-50. Maybe even now

12:32 moving a little more in the Christian Democratic direction.

12:36 That is the historical process that is happening now. That is why I can survive,

12:40 those words, which approach, which I use

12:44 here and abroad. Here in Central Europe I can survive, but in

12:48 the West I could not survive. Despite the fact that we are convinced,

12:52 that we are factually correct, we are morally right, too,

12:56 and represent a genuine European interest,

13:00 a Prime Minister and country like myself and Hungary

13:04 have never had such a bad reputation.

13:08 That clearly demonstrates what we fight here.

13:12 As long as we have the 2/3 in the Parliament, we will fight bravely,

13:16 but as I said, this is an unnatural state of things.

13:20 So for Hungary this is a key issue,

13:24 which explains our hope about the Italians.

13:28 So for Hungary it is a key issue that finally there might come a big

13:32 country, not with just ten million, but a bigger,

13:36 a big country, the French, or the Spanish, maybe the Italians,

13:40 perhaps the Germans… but when I look around, there is only one country

13:44 that has a government that speaks the same way we do,

13:48 says it like we say it, represents what we represent,

13:52 exactly because they are a border country, too, from the sea,

13:56 and their interest is to stop the migration on the sea, too,

14:00 and I think that is Italy. But somebody must come, because for a while

14:04 we are able to persevere, but this cannot continue to infinity.

14:08 Simply because we have limited energy [resources], we need a larger country

14:12 from Western Europe that would finally say what we saying.

14:16 Otherwise, no matter how well we hold on here, we Central Europeans,

14:20 we will lose in Europe. That is all

14:24 about the political situation. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

14:28 migration is an issue that,

14:32 as Mr. President Sarkozy mentioned,

14:36 attacks our most important strength: OUR UNITY.

14:40 And also provides a serious

14:44 intellectual and political challenge for us.

14:48 Because it is clearly visible that in the matter of migration,

14:52 there is a sharp division between Western Europe and Central Europe.

14:56 This division is sociological in nature.

15:00 It was not our decision.

15:04 What happened in the western countries

15:08 is that a situation arose

15:12 in which beside the original indigenous Christian population a new minority group appeared.

15:16 In the last couple of decades

15:20 there appeared a new minority group, which reproduces in much larger numbers

15:24 than the indigenous people, and they have a stronger cultural consciousness

15:28 and identity. The proportions are continuously

15:32 changing, at the expense of the indigenous population and

15:36 and for the benefit for the newly-arrived, mostly

15:40 Muslim community. That is why in Western Europe,

15:44 the most important question now besides border control,

15:48 a close second, is what has already happened

15:52 — because they are already here —

15:56 how to manage our lives beside them. All of their thoughts,

16:00 around that. All of their principles, ideologies, looking for

16:04 the answer, how to manage

16:08 the different cultures — which very visibly do not want to mix together —

16:12 to live beside each other. I am opening a bracket here:

16:16 There are many indicators available about integration. I do not see them

16:20 as serious indicators; I do not believe in them. For true integration

16:24 there is only one indicator — based on the Hungarian experience —

16:28 and that is the cross-marriage indicator. If we are willing to choose each other

16:32 as partners, then we are integrated with each other.

16:36 If we never choose this way, never or in mathematically insignificant numbers,

16:40 that means we are not integrated, and in Western Europe from this perspective,

16:44 a non-integrated community exists.

16:48 And all of their questions are focused on this issue.

16:52 In contrast, in Central Europe, the situation is the following:

16:56 Here, we do not have such masses.

17:00 That is why we focus zero energy on the issue

17:04 of how to integrate the migrants. Because what we do not have, we do not need to integrate.

17:08 And all of our effort is concentrated on the issue

17:12 of never having migrants.

17:16 In Central Europe there is a situation. Do we deserve this situation

17:20 or not? Are we lucky or not? It does not matter. But there is a situation.

17:24 We do not have huge masses that are culturally different

17:28 — in a civilizational sense — from the local indigenous people,

17:32 in the same country with us. And we want to preserve

17:36 this state. The Westerners are talking about how to live together

17:40 with them, how to integrate them, and we are talking about how to avoid having to

17:44 think about it at all. So European politics has two parts.

17:48 The Western and the Eastern are proceeding separately alongside each other.

17:52 And obviously it requires completely different principles to

17:56 defend our viewpoint that we do not even want such masses,

18:00 and very different principles to explain

18:04 how one wants to integrate them and live together with them. European politics

18:08 in the matter of real political action and the intellectual

18:12 approach are also moving dangerously away from each other.

18:16 About how to bridge this difference —

18:20 because I agree with Mr. President Sarkozy that this issue must be bridged —

18:24 for that, nobody today knows the answer.

18:28 In this struggle — I have to admit honestly —

18:32 we feel morally superior. This might not be nice,

18:36 possibly not all conforming to a Christian humility,

18:40 but anyway, in the debate with the Westerners, we Hungarians

18:44 feel morally superior. The reason for this the following:

18:48 As we see it, they want to force their position and

18:52 their ideological approach upon us.

18:56 We also have an approach, but

19:00 we do not want to force it on them. That grants us

19:04 moral superiority. We do not want to give them advice

19:08 on how to restore that state when they did not have

19:12 migrants in large masses. Because that is their business.

19:16 It’s their principles, their ideology and their integration politics.

19:20 It’s their future. But we cannot accept that, based on their

19:24 experience, they want to tell us how to think.

19:28 And how to mix with those who for now

19:32 we do not need to. This leads

19:36 to a philosophical question of

19:40 whether there is a community — and here I agree with our Australian guest —

19:44 there is a community, a sovereign state with borders,

19:48 that has a population, with a Constitution (Basic Law), so that it is a lawful society.

19:52 And it has a cultural quality, so that

19:56 it has a right to cling to that cultural quality,

20:00 or must it accept the teaching of the Westerners that

20:04 a western multicultural social structure is more

20:08 valuable than our homogeneous structure? That is why

20:12 we must make ourselves multicultural with the tool of migration.

20:16 Does a country have a right to say “No”?

20:20 We can argue about whether multiculturalism,

20:24 at some point in the future, may or may not produce a more

20:28 valuable world than where it started from.

20:32 We can argue about that. The question is not that, but whether it is mandatory for us

20:36 Hungarians to participate in this experiment? Or do we have the right

20:40 to say: “No thank you; we would like to remain like this and not change at all.”

20:44 As we are now. Of course we have faults, which we would like

20:48 to work on, but essentially we do not want to change.

20:52 Does a country have such a right? To the Anglo-Saxon

20:56 mind, this is a meaningless question, because of course it does [have the right].

21:00 But if you are member of a United Europe, which is a political integration,

21:04 then the answer will not be so simple. And that is what

21:08 causes all the suffering for Hungary in the [political] discourse.

21:12 …Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

21:16 These were a couple of my comments.

21:20 Now here would come my presentation,

21:24 which I will not present now, because it would be a great discourtesy

21:28 to all of you and to our presenters.

21:32 Perhaps I would like to mention only one thing.

21:36 …that would be the question of

21:40 the time horizon.

21:44 There is a famous scientist, perhaps he lives in Canada,

21:48 a Hungarian demographer, his name is Paul Demeny.

21:52 Whom I have had the luck to be able to consult from time to time,

21:56 and who taught me a lot. He is an older gentleman.

22:00 And he said that the reason migration does not get

22:04 the necessary attention is because

22:08 the time horizon of politics is short, while the migration’s

22:12 is long. And it is true.

22:16 As in every one of our lives, so in politics as well.

22:20 There are always some urgent problems to solve

22:24 …the most important for the

22:28 voters and most important for the politicians.

22:32 Urgent problems, which need to be taken care of. Such as a Brexit, to mention a bigger bite.

22:36 The nature of migration is different.

22:40 The time horizon of migration is measured in decades.

22:44 I will tell you some numbers here.

22:48 I am a 56-year-old man.

22:52 If the Good Lord helps me, I will be alive in 2050.

22:56 Those who are forty years old now

23:00 will be alive in 2060.

23:04 Those who are twenty years old almost certainly will be alive in 2080.

23:08 Those who are ten years old — I am sure you have a 10-year-old child —

23:12 will be alive in 2090.

23:16 The ones who are born while we are talking here

23:20 have a great chance of reaching the 22nd century alive.

23:24 And we are all belong to the

23:28 same community. We belong to the community of

23:32 living Hungarians. So our responsibility also exists —

23:36 of course for everybody, for their own age — but as I previously

23:40 stated, the groups mentioned there have

23:44 a common responsibility for the future. Those who

23:48 sit here will see how Europe will look twenty,

23:52 thirty, and forty years from now, and twenty,

23:56 thirty years from now they will talk about what the European decision-makers

24:00 missed today.

24:04 This is what we have to understand, we politicians, that there is always

24:08 some problem to take care of that is more urgent than the migration, which has

24:12 dangers in a ten- to twenty-year perspective, but we must make decisions now,

24:16 otherwise twenty to thirty years from now

24:20 our descendants or perhaps we ourselves will have to face such consequences

24:24 that we will be sorry about it.

24:28 I usually work from UN data.

24:32 The UN says nothing less than that —

24:36 in their 2017 estimate — by 2030

24:40 Europe population will have decreased by a couple of million,

24:44 and by 2030, the population of Africa

24:48 will increase by 448 million!

24:52 In thirteen years, only thirteen years,

24:56 the population of Africa will increase by half a billion!

25:00 That is why Mr. President Sarkozy was talking about it:

25:04 the population increase in Africa in a bit more than decade

25:08 is almost as much as the present number of the entire population of the EU.

25:12 …That will happen such a way, my dear friends,

25:16 that in the meantime the difference between the

25:20 African and the European standards of living will not decrease.

25:24 If things progress in the same way, it will rather increase.

25:28 Consequently the pressure coming from Africa towards Europe

25:32 will only increase, because they will want to come here,

25:36 I can say with the certainty of nature’s laws

25:40 that the pressure will increase.

25:44 And all that mass will drop on Europe.

25:48 Then another forecast:

25:52 from 2010 to 2050, when we will still be alive,

25:56 The Muslim population from the present forty-something million

26:00 will increase to at least to seventy million, and the number of

26:04 Christians in parallel with this will decrease by 99 million.

26:08 And with this I did not calculate the masses of newcomers.

26:12 …Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this means

26:16 that if migration is not handled with the seriousness

26:20 it deserves — as we did today — if European politics

26:24 does not put it on the agenda and make decisions now,

26:28 immediately, then the sort of processes will start

26:32 that cannot later be stopped.

26:36 Mr. President Sarkozy is right: Africa cannot be developed five years from now;

26:40 we must start it now, to bring the help there

26:44 and not let the trouble come here. We must restore

26:48 East-West unity on the issue of migration now, not later.

26:52 We must find a modus vivendi, because later it will be impossible.

26:56 With respect to EU unity, border defense and the issue of migration,

27:00 we must act now. Finally, I would like to welcome

27:04 Mr. President Sarkozy’s suggestion for

27:08 a possible solution, which states it

27:12 perhaps less philosophically than the way I phrase it.

27:16 In politics, the most important thing

27:20 is to admit failure. Of course, winning is

27:24 not easy, but it is possible there is such a thing.

27:28 …to live with victory

27:32 is an easy thing. The ability to accept loss,

27:36 to admit failure, is

27:40 the most important in politics, especially in international politics.

27:44 And here in front of our eyes is a huge fiasco. From 2015

27:48 for the past four years, we must admit —

27:52 it is very uncomfortable, but we must admit — that the leaders

27:56 of the EU, the present structure of the European Union,

28:00 have been unable to solve the problems

28:04 of migration and border defense.

28:08 And if they were unable to do anything in the last four years,

28:12 there is no reason to believe they will be able to do it tomorrow.

28:16 So we must adjust the system. As Mr. President Sarkozy told us, we must reach into

28:20 the system and, as in the interest of the currency they created

28:24 Council of Financial Ministers to handle the currency union,

28:28 in the same way the countries belonging to the Schengen zone

28:32 must create a new organization [council] composed of

28:36 the countries’ Interior Ministers.

28:40 The right to migration [control] and border defense must be taken away from

28:44 the European Commission and given back to the member states,

28:48 and the member states should delegate those rights to a new plenum

28:52 via their Interior Ministers, so that together the Interior Ministers

28:56 Might give answers to the questions about migration

29:00 and border defense. If we could at least get that much after the EU elections,

29:04 then it will have been worth it to stage-manage the European Parliamentary elections.