„There are no poor countries, but poor governance“

Mr. Orbán, everything at the moment indicates that your party will win the elections on April 11th. If so, what will change in Hungary? How will you handle the current economic challenges?

It‘s true that the overwhelming majority of the Hungarian People would like to have a change. Therefore our chances are good, because we are the party of change. If the Hungarian people would like to close this chapter of our history and open up a new one, the real option is our party.

Speaking economically: The major change in Hungary would be that we would generate economic growth by any means. Without generating economic growth we can not handle the financial difficulties of the budget. Economic growth can be generated only in cooperation with the local and international business-community. What the state should do is to provide the circumstances for a higher growth rate, like business-friendly circumstances, less bureaucracy, simplier and lower tax-level and flexibility in the labour-market.

I have committed myself to build up Hungary as the most business-friendly country in the region. We have to compete with Austria, we have to compete with Slovakia, even with Roumania. The modern age is about competitiveness of the state services and tax-systems. I'm aware of that and I would like to get Hungary back among the competitors, because we are far at the end of the row at this moment.

But we count on Austrian investors as well - Hungary needs investments in the future - and we are ready to provide better conditions for them then they had in the recent year.

How do you see the role of the European Union: What should be the key issues of the "Europe2020"-strategy? What should be done in the fields of innovation and R&D so that we won't loose ground versus the US and emerging markets like India and China?

What the more developed countries can do, is raising R&D-expenditures. What Hungary can contribute to the success of the European continent is raising our employment rate. Because the employment rate in Hungary is the lowest in Europe.  We are the second from the back, Malta is last, but for their family structure that is another case. So basically, we are the worst in Europe. So what I would like to do is to provide more jobs for the people. That means we need economic growth again. What Hungary and Central Europe can do is to become the fastest growing region in the future again, as Central Europe used to be before the crisis.

Speaking about Central Europe: Which concept does FIDESZ propose to further strengthen cooperation in CEE and how do you see the relationship between Hungary and Austria?

I think cooperation between Austria and Hungary is traditionally good. Austria was always like a brother-country, regardless of our collisions and contradictions. So if any western country feels closest to us, it is Austria. So therefore everything in cultural, geographical and historical terms is given to have an excellent cooperation with Austria. Plus the Austrian investors brought a lot of investments to Hungary in the last twenty years, and Austrians are successful. So I think this is a good reason to continue with the Austrian Investors in Hungary. The reason why I am here is to understand what their suggestions and their difficulties are. What should be changed in Hungary in order to attract more foreign investors and to have the most business-friendly circumstances. Cooperation with Austria was earlier a success and it can continue to be a success as well.

Everywhere in Europe extremist parties seem to benefit from the economic crisis, also in Hungary Jobbik could become a major political factor. How should pro-European politicians handle this development - how will you handle a stronger than ever Jobbik?

In every country, in Europe and even in the US, we have approximately ten to fifteen percent of extremists. Sometimes they are leftist, sometimes they are rightist - but we have them. When the governments are more successful, especially providing jobs, the voice of extremism is always lower. When the governments are corrupt and unsuccessful, the voice and support of the extremists grow. This is the case now in Hungary. So the best recipe against the Hungarian extreme right is good governance. My personal conviction is: There are no poor countries, but countries with poor governance. So I would like to bring good governance to Hungary, this will bring stability, economic success and jobs.