BUDAPEST Reuters - Hungary must stay a member of the European Union to ensure access to its single market, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday, adding the country would be among the last to leave the bloc if it were ever to disintegrate.
Brussels and Hungary have both been at loggerheads over issues ranging from LGBT rights to press freedoms in Hungary and Poland. In July, the European Commission launched a legal action against the two over measures it says discriminate against gays and lesbians.
This week the Hungary's government debt agency AKK raised 4.4 billion euros $5.2 billion in global markets, far more than expected to help cover a likely delay in the EU COVID recovery fund funds.
Conservative nationalist Orban said for Hungary, a beneficiary of EU funds, the main reason for staying in the EU was not money coming from Brussels. He also said this week's debt sale showed Hungary stood on solid ground financially.
If you look at the full year, Brussels gets more money than what we pay. But if you subtract the amount of money eastern companies repatriate from the country each year, the balance is negative, Orban told public radio.
'The EU is important for Hungary because it provides a market, he said. We must stand up for the EU and stay in it. It is the reason why I tell no matter how it crackles and creaks, we will be among few still in the Union should it ever end. Orban, who will face a highly anticipated election next year, has used a 9% corporate tax rate to attract large investments in its car and manufacturing sectors that have helped Orban lift economic growth and employment, helping Orban embroil an image of strong economic management.
Orban said that this year's economic growth would likely exceed 5.5%, paving the way for a raft of measures to support key voting groups before the parliamentary elections due next spring.
Orban will address lawmakers about the government's plans at Parliament's inaugural autumn session on Monday.