As Hungary Enjoys Resurgence in Marriages and Births, Will Brussels (Finally) Give Viktor Orbán Some Credit?
Viktor Orbán continues to show Brussels that there are better ways of managing the EU than simply taking the “one suit fits all” approach.
Rather than opening his nation’s border to offset population decline, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister, looked to the nuclear family as a way to spur national growth, an investment that is now reaping handsome rewards. So why is the leader of the national conservative Fidesz party still chastised by his European peers?
What sort of madness is it that induces so many EU leaders to place their respective nations on the path to eventual ruin? Case in point: the opening of the European landmass to massive migration, which continues to invade the shores of European continent.
If pure insanity were not the primary motivating factor behind modern politics that it is today, it would seem strange that Brussels decided to address the migration crisis not by strengthening EU borders – a time-proven security measure employed by nation states throughout history – but rather by lowering the moat and inviting the strangers into the EU hothouse.
Those migrants, Westerners have been told ad nauseam, do not represent a threat to the peace and security of the nation state. Rather, they are essential to help offset flagging birthrates and diminishing labor reserves on the continent. In other words, governments simply had no other choice but to open their doors to the hoard. Just ask the Hungarian-born philanthropist George Soros, who funded the migrant incursion to the tune of $500 million dollars.
“Governments must play the leading role in addressing this crisis by creating and sustaining adequate physical and social infrastructure for migrants and refugees,” Soros wrote in a 2016 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.
Perhaps if Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán had been a billionaire financier and not merely the democratically elected leader of an Eastern European country, his own personal plan, which called for the construction of a security fence to block the mass migration, might have gained some traction and spared the EU from being inundated with migrants they simply cannot accommodate. Indeed, as the major Western European capitals wallow in rising crime and homelessness, Hungary is showing the rewards that come from taking the path less traveled.
Consider marriages, which are critical for fighting demographic decline, not to mention the dubious argument that migrants are necessary for shoring up population numbers. Since 2010, which marked the start of Orbán’s role as prime minister, the number of marriages among Hungarians has increased by 89.5%, while the number of divorces is down 57%, according to data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. That is a marked contrast with the former period of leftist rule in Hungary (2002-2010), when the number of marriages had decreased by 23%.
Moreover, 90% of married couples say they want to start a family; 43% would like to have at least two children, and 18% three or more. It seems they may enjoy success on that account as the fertility rate has increased from 1.25 in 2010 to 1.55 in 2020, the highest reported percentage since 1996; already the number of births has increased by 2.1%, while abortions have dropped by nearly 50 percent.
Meanwhile, employment among Hungary’s female workers has gone from 54.6% in 2010 to 67% in 2020, while the overall unemployment rate is just 4.2%, the sixth lowest figure in the EU.
This positive news is no accident. In addition to providing incentives for young Hungarians to enter into wedlock (the government provides stae-backed home and car loans for first-time buyers, as well as a vast network of nurseries that allow parents to focus on their careers, among many other perks), the government of Viktor Orbán has taken steps to protect underage children in Hungary from overt sexual messaging, notably from the LGBTQ community.
This month, Hungary’s parliament outlawed the dissemination of information to impressionable minors that actively promotes homosexuality or gender change. Imagine! A school environment that focused attention on academic excellence as opposed to the sexual identity of the prepubescent students? Nevertheless, the news was greeted by European lawmakers with the same predictable hysteria that welcomed the construction of Hungary’s barrier fence on its southern border.
In a European Council meeting this month, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Hungary’s premier to either “respect LGBT rights or leave the European Union,” while French President Emmanuel Macron remarked that the “fight against homophobic laws is to defend individual freedoms and human dignity.”
It is both sad and tragic that EU leaders fail to understand that parents have a right to know that their children are receiving a public education without lectures being held on alternative sexual lifestyles, which many believe is a discussion best held between parents and their children, if at all. At the same time, should it really be a priority among EU leaders to celebrate alternative lifestyles among schoolchildren at a time when the continent is suffering on the demographic front? There is a severe contradiction inherent in that argument that few wish to confront. In any case, human rights are human rights regardless of the sexual orientation of the individual. The law is specifically designed to protect everyone equally.
More to the point, however, is that Viktor Orbán continues to show Brussels and the major Western capitals that there are better ways of managing the EU than simply taking the “one suit fits all” approach (which is what helped fuel Brexit, by the way). While Western Europe may have “lost its religion” and conservative beliefs long ago, it should keep in mind that countries like Hungary and Poland have not. Eastern European nations, with histories far different from their Western counterparts, still largely observe Christian teachings and conservative lifestyles that Brussels wishes to ignore.
Moreover, judging by the positive data emerging from Hungary with regards to its demographic and economic situation (which did not require a massive influx of migrants to become stabilized), it would appear that Viktor Orbán has many valuable lessons to teach the bureaucrats back in Brussels. Yet admitting as much would require Western European leaders to drop their empty virtue-signaling play acting and actually defend the vital interests of the people. There are powerful forces at play behind the scenes, however, many of them non-government organizations with vast influence, that will never permit such a volte-face.
Sadly, the days of dynamic political leadership on the European continent are over as weak and venal leaders continue to destroy the fragile bonds that hold the EU together, while ostracizing smart and courageous leaders like Viktor Orbán who actually accomplish commendable things. The tiger that could have saved the EU from itself has been caged and, to use the parlance of these troubled times, cancelled, and now only timid mice are calling the shots. The European Union needn’t end on such a lamentable note, but it’s very hard to see any other alternative.
