Hungarian leader defends controversial new laws

HUNGARIAN PRIME minister Viktor Orban has defended his controversial new constitution and blamed the country’s economic woes on its previous government and financial speculators.

In characteristically pugnacious comments, Mr Orban said he was proud of Hungary’s new laws and would fight to preserve them, but he pledged to compromise if necessary to protect the nation’s interests – which could be crucial in tough talks with the EU and International Monetary Fund.

Both organisations have demanded that he scrap new legislation on Hungary’s central bank, judiciary and data protection authority before they will open talks on Mr Orban’s request for a credit line of €15 billion to €20 billion. Many other measures have also raised international concerns that too much power is being concentrated in the hands of Mr Orban and his allies.

Mr Orban has already suggested he will give way on some of the disputed points to secure a deal that he hopes will reinforce the confidence of the world’s financial markets in Hungary, which his unorthodox reforms have so far failed to drag out of an economic slump. “I am proud of the new constitution,” he said in his annual state-of-the-nation address, claiming the new laws formed the “irreversible” basis for building a strong, modern Hungary.

“We are ready to fight and to reach an agreement in the interest of the country,” Mr Orban said.

“For us, both fighting and coming to an agreement are a means, not an end.”

Those comments suggest Mr Orban will move to reverse reforms before February 17th, after which the European Commission said it could take legal action against Budapest.

Mr Orban – whose popularity has slumped since his landslide election victory in spring 2010 – insisted that his government had made Hungary better able to withstand Europe’s travails.

“We have seen a weakening of Europe’s self-confidence . . . Euro zone members going bankrupt and the end of the single currency are no longer the stuff of science fiction,” he said, while urging his people to “follow our own hearts, ignore Europe and do not be frightened of dangers ahead”.

Mr Orban claimed that Hungary was recovering from the damage done by the previous socialist government and the attacks of financial speculators on its currency and bonds.