Hungary’s current population policy, which is being pursued by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government, was again a key topic at the biennial Demographic Summit in Budapest.
The Prime Minister hopes his ideology will gain power in the next European elections, while his Italian counterpart talks about the collapse of the West in the face of declining birth rates. The summit was held under the motto “Family is the key to security”. Giorgia Meloni, President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, was the guest of honour at the summit.
Viktor Orbán has once made suggestions for changing the political course of the European Union:
“We need a change of political direction. We need to ensure that conservative, family-friendly powers take power in as many European countries as possible. In addition, elections to the European Parliament will be held next year. Everything is set for that we tip the balance of power in our favour with an enveloping maneuver”.
Viktor Orbán believes that everything must be done to revive the value and importance of the family in the state. He added:
“We want to defend it, we want to revitalize it. The family does not limit anyone’s freedom, but rather increases everyone’s wealth. And we do not believe that the State can replace the family. Where it has been tried in the past, it has happened in Eastern Europe. This under the Soviet regime, the results serve as a warning so that everyone does not repeat the experience.”
The leader of the Brothers of Italy believes that the declining birth rate will lead to the fall of the West. Meloni criticised the fact that society is increasingly dominated by the ideology of loneliness, a free life without relationships, and that traditional family values are increasingly being attacked by criticism in films and commercials.
Viktor Orbán has been strengthening his policy of commitment to family values and Christianity. Five years after coming to power, he passed a bill on subsidised housing for young married couples. Euronews reporter Zoltan Siposhegyi wrote:
“A total of sixty opinion leaders, experts and politicians from four continents attended the Demographic Summit.”
The Budapest Demographic Summit has been organised since 2015, but this year was the first time when the heads of state and government accepted the invitation. The Presidents of Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni discussed the problem of declining birth rates.
