Hungary stands on new foundations, says Orban

The government has reached a milestone, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in his address to the nation on Tuesday. Hungary now stands on new foundations and this is an irreversible fact, he said.

Orban staunchly defended controversial measures taken since his centre-right Fidesz government swept into power in April 2010.

He said that the bank levy, crisis taxes and repayment scheme for forex mortgage-holders were not "the most elegant steps of his life [...] but the government had no time to waste and had to take these measures to keep the country afloat."

He said Hungary must maintain a flat income tax system in order to protect its middle classes. The government had managed to rein in the public debt, even if the forint's volatility blurred the picture, he added.

Orban said that the government had kept the budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product for the first time since it joined the EU, which was important because "below 2.8 percent the public debt automatically falls".

Orban said he was prepared to cooperate with everyone whose goal is to help the creation of a strong Hungary.