"We both know that it is over," Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar confronts Viktor Orban in EP debate. Péter Magyar began his speech addressed to Orbán. He said that he hoped that at least here, the Hungarian people could finally get an answer to the question of how Hungary got to where it is today. "You had every opportunity to make our country the land of promises kept," Magyar said of Orbán's 14 years of leading Hungary with a majority, but you still failed to make the country work. "We are members of the European club, and that of the West, even if you prefer talking about changes in the world order instead of the real problems of the Hungarian people," Magyar said. He added that while the fight against illegal migration is indeed important, that is not what Orbán's party is fighting for, using the case of people smugglers who were allowed into Slovakia as an example. Magyar added: "please be honest, don't blame Brussels for this". According to Péter Magyar, everyone must work on ending the war in Ukraine, and a ceasefire and then peace talks are needed. However, Balázs Orbán's suggestion that Ukraine should not be fighting for its freedom is unacceptable. He called Balázs Orbán's words treasonous. “Your leering political advisor has desecrated the memory of 1956.” Magyar said he agrees with Orbán that families and the countryside are important, but at the same time, Hungary is being "shaken by paedophile scandals". Never before have so few children been born, pensions are 60 euros, and the country is heading for a demographic disaster, Péter Magyar said. The government is bringing in migrants from Asia without asking the Hungarians, while rural post offices, birth centres and railway lines are being closed down and outdated locomotives are breaking down one after the other, said Péter Magyar. "Shame on you!" someone shouted Hungarian during Péter Magyar's speech from the Patriots for Europe faction. While Magyar was listing the economic problems, Fidesz MEP Enikő Győri shook her head and several members of the group repeatedly erupted in laughter. Péter Magyar also spoke about the deteriorating Hungarian health care system and the worsening state of the Hungarian education system. "Education has been dismantled, the indicators of the Hungarian children's performance have been getting worse for years," Magyar said. He also talked about the absence of the Erasmus programme and the fact that Orbán raised his own salary, while teachers, health workers and people on minimum wage are in a difficult financial situation in Hungary. Listing the economic difficulties, Magyar pointed out that "Inflation is the highest in Europe, and VAT is the highest". Prime Minister, we both know it's over. "The sea is rising, the sea of peoples", Magyar said (quoting a poem by Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi) adding that his party was going to "take back our country brick by brick". Magyar ended his speech with a quote from Pope John Paul II, telling people to "not be afraid".
