“Viktor, Viktor!” chanted the crowd in Kossuth Lajos Square when the prime minister arrived. Viktor Orbán began his speech by saying “I wish you a good day, you can see it from space.”

God brought the wanderers of freedom! We are here who have been here for 23 years, and I greet them in particular. Today you have once again occupied, filled and adorned the streets of our nation's capital, Budapest, with a dignified festive procession. You brought with you a flag, faith and hope, just as on October 23, 1956

– Viktor Orbán said, emphasizing: it is not guns that are being fired, but songs that are being sung, it is not blood that is being shed, but flags that are flying, Hungarian hearts that are beating together and remembering.

Viktor Orbán continued by saying that “Pest boys, girls, workers, mothers, who did not desire glory, did not desire to become heroes, but only defended the wounded homeland.” According to the Prime Minister, we hear the roar of ’56 again, they show the world that Hungary does not forget, does not let go of the hands of its heroes.

The Prime Minister called the Peace March the greatest political force in Hungary, and even the greatest patriotic movement in Central Europe, perhaps all of Europe.

You are the most important political movement in all of Europe, which was able to defend its homeland against the liberal spirit of the times and the Brussels oppressors. You were able to keep the only Christian, conservative and national government in power in Europe for 16 years and who knows how long. You were able to create the only Christian and patriotic constitution in Europe. You were able to defend Hungary's borders and keep our homeland as the only migrant-free country in Europe

– Viktor Orbán listed.

Orbán: Communism would never have failed without Hungarians

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán then spoke about how the movement was able to keep our country as the only migrant-free country in Europe, protect families from all the vipers in Brussels, expel LGBTQ activists from schools, and protect their children from ideas and teachings that are contrary to nature and the order of creation.

Europeans would give half their arms if they had a migrant-free country, they would give years of their lives if they could ban crazy gender activists from schools, and they would give everything to have a free, Christian, patriotic country again.

– said the Prime Minister, then continued: it is worthy and just that the Peace March celebrates the heroes of the revolution, according to him, ’56 is what the past 16 years have meant. And the revolution was the moment when the nation dared to believe in itself again. “Nothing is impossible, there are only small-minded and incapable governments. 1956 has not passed, it lives there in the heartbeat of every Hungarian, in every true word.”

We Hungarians have always made more history than we needed. When the Hungarian heart beats, the whole world hears it. It heard it in 1956, too, and it trembled. All world communism was shaken because Budapest set an example for the enslaved nations. It taught the whole world that freedom is not a gift, not a favor, but an earned right.

Orbán then said: communism would never have failed without the Hungarians.

He then listed that without the Hungarian 1956, there would have been no Prague ’68 and 1989 either. Orbán then said that the world has changed a lot in nearly 70 years, but one thing has not: the attitude. The Prime Minister said that 1956 is a celebration of human dignity. “All people have the right to live in freedom, dignity and peace,” he said.

"Leave us alone"

Viktor Orbán continued by saying that today the living heroes of 1956, the most persistent marchers of freedom, are still with us, they are the last generation that shed their blood for Hungarian freedom. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

The Prime Minister explained: “69 years ago, Hungarians were in extreme danger, threatened by oppression like never before. We have endured and survived many blows, tens of thousands have been chained, entire parts of the country have been exterminated, we have gone into hiding in impassable and uninhabitable regions, thousands have fled across the great waters, but what was prepared then was unmatched. A large part of our country was taken from us, what remained groaned under foreign occupation. The foreign power also wanted to invade our souls, wanted to eliminate our national consciousness, wanted to lie about our past, and wanted to force the mockery of its distorted ideals on us, which is why we had to take up arms, rebel, and this is why we must rebel again and again when foreigners want to force us to live.”

Hungarians don't ask for much from life, we are content with freedom. If there is freedom, everything is there and everything is possible, we will take care of the rest. We are not demanding, we don't expect much from strangers, we are indifferent to praise, we are not interested in rewards, awards, certificates or bribes. We do not want to conquer and build empires, we do not want to tell others how to live, and we do not educate anyone about what a good life is. We do not run away from the task assigned to us, and in fact, we even undertake missions for the sake of a righteous cause, but we do not chase worldly glory. Anyone can make an iron ring out of wood or bacon out of a dog, that is their business. We only ask for one thing, but we insist on it: leave us alone. They do not want to force their onion dreams on us, let us live freely

– Viktor Orbán emphasized, adding that they know only one freedom, the freedom of the Hungarians, and they insist on it, and they have the means to do so. “It is in vain that we are threatened by powers or by Brussels, which pathetically imagines itself to be a world power. We will not kneel down, and we always have a few tricks up our sleeve. The Council of Governors has already been dug out, the Soviets have left, the IMF has been dragged home, and the pro-migration Brussels people have slipped away. None of them could swallow us, we got stuck in their throats, and they had to be happy that they got away without any major trouble,” said the Prime Minister.

Viktor Orbán stated: “Brussels has decided to go to war. The pro-war countries have created a war alliance. With inimitable elegance, they call it a coalition of the willing. They are willing to send others to die. They are ready to send even more weapons and money to Ukraine. They have declared the Russian-Ukrainian war their own war, and with that they have entered it, they are in it up to their necks. If Brussels had not obstructed the US president’s peace mission, the war would have already ended. If Donald Trump had been president, the war would not have even broken out, and if they had not obstructed it now, there would already be peace.”

The Prime Minister emphasized:"Hungary stands on the side of peace, the Russian-Ukrainian war is not our war. The Hungarians of Transcarpathia got involved like Pilate in the Creed. We have not forgotten you, we are with you, we count you and we help your families. Only the country has borders, the nation does not. No Hungarian is alone."

"We are left out of this war"

The Prime Minister continued: “The number of soldiers, widows, orphans, and parents who have lost their children on the front is in the starry sky.” The Prime Minister emphasized that this war is not ours, but it is blocking the growth of the European and Hungarian economy. The Union’s money is pouring into Ukraine in countless amounts, and in return we only get factories that are closing. That is why Orbán believes it is a miracle that Hungary is able to finance Europe’s largest home-creation program and tax-cutting initiative.

The Prime Minister said that Brussels had run out of money, “they have no money, but they want to go to war.” He used this as an excuse to say that Brussels “wants to raise taxes, eliminate utility cuts,” and is trying to squeeze Ukraine into the EU at any cost.

Bringing war to Europe, taking money out to Ukraine. They talk about supporting Ukraine, but its division is already on the agenda. 

Orbán then went on to say at length that Kiev is not an independent, autonomous country. He then touched on Ukrainian-Hungarian relations: “The Ukrainians treated the Hungarians badly, but Christian morality demands that we help them make peace. We are the only country where peace can be achieved, and we are ready for it.”

Orbán then said that Hungarians would not like Ukraine to join NATO and the EU, but they would like it to be a country linked to, associated with, the European Union. “This is what the Hungarian nation wants,” he said. He then spoke about

Hungary alone stands for peace in Europe, there are those who want peace but do not dare to stand up, so they prefer to march together with the war alliance. Peace requires strength. […] When the second Ukrainian front came, Hungary was weak and vulnerable, now we are not under German occupation, Brussels has not yet been able to occupy Budapest.

Then the Prime Minister reminded us: we lost 660,000 people in World War I, and 850,000 in World War II. Viktor Orbán said that if they don't die and have children and grandchildren, then we shouldn't worry about population decline today.

Orbán's idea was that, although we didn't survive the first and second world wars, we will be left out of this one.

According to the Prime Minister, we are now a strong and sovereign nation with dignity, and no matter how much they shout"slava Ukraini!", we only respond with"glory to Hungary."

"When the time comes and we have to rush, we will rush"

Viktor Orbán reminded that

In five months, our country will have to decide its own fate. Those of us here know what we have to do. We will do what we have to do. We are fine. You can see, if we need to move, we will move together, if strategic calm is needed, we will wait for the right pace. If the moment comes and we need to wave, we will wave with our ballpoint pens, just so that the ballot paper does not fall out. In the next five months, we must also talk to the deceived Hungarians. We cannot give up on a single soul, because every Hungarian is responsible for every Hungarian.

The Prime Minister emphasized: “I am not talking about their leaders, they have their masters, they know exactly what they are doing and why, but there are many Hungarians who believe that they are supporting a good cause when they support Brussels and the puppet government candidates sent here from Brussels. We must tell them that Brussels is not a help today, but a danger. The European People’s Party is not our friend, but our ill-wisher. They are not bringing development, but war to Hungary. Those who think they support a change of government are actually supporting war, if they know about it, if not. They are not supporting a change of government, but the bureaucrats in Brussels who want to force the migration pact on us. They are not supporting a better life, but on the contrary, they are supporting tax increases, pension taxes, the abolition of utility cuts and the curtailment of family benefits, this is true even if they do not know, do not believe, or do not they want to believe.”

"Time to rebel"

Viktor Orbán pointed out: “We must also talk to the young people. This is not an easy task, maybe we are at fault, but we must try. Revolutions are usually sparked by young people. Young people are always in the front row, they raise the flag of freedom. When needed, the nation could always count on them. I wonder if today, when you are needed again, can your country count on you? It has become a different world. Reality is being replaced by digital and virtual spaces, it is difficult to know what is reality and what is manipulation. We believe that there are real things, Hungary is real, your country. Freedom, for which your grandparents fought and died, is also real. The attack is also real, our peace, freedom and security are in danger, this is the real world. It is also real that you are needed to defend Hungary. Defending the country is a real cause, not manipulation, not a hoax, not a scam. If you desire to have the weight,"Be serious about what you do, stand up for the right cause. Dare and do, take risks, defend what is noblest. But it's good to know that the Brussels empire does not want you to be patriots. The Brussels empire wants you to be stateless Europeans, to stay in the virtual world, to sleep tied to a machine."

It's time to rebel. Dear young Hungarians, you too can be patriots, free and proud Hungarians, but first you have to get off the plane and throw out the Brussels infusion. Wake up, rebel, your country is waiting! So here we are, again we have two choices. In '56, freedom or slavery, today it's war or peace. There's nowhere to hide and nowhere to retreat. War would take away our future, it's there whether you like it or not. Hungary stands in the way of the warmongers. In '56, they came with tanks, today with financial sanctions. Just as they found their own scumbags then, today they still have the slim fit interpreters of the Brussels master plan

– said Viktor Orbán.

The Prime Minister highlighted: “It is good news that we have an election, peace advocates are gathering, after Italy and Slovakia, the wind has turned in the Czech Republic. It is turning in Poland too. The President of the United States is with us, and the ground is moving under the feet of the European liberal elite. We are here too, in ’56 Budapest was the capital of European freedom, in 2025 Budapest will be the capital of European peace.”

Viktor Orbán acknowledged that the greatest idea for centuries has been the cooperation of European peoples, but the people of Brussels only know submission, “whoever agrees with Brussels has submitted to migration and war plans. There is no middle ground. The European Union yes, Brussels no. My friends, next year we must show the world that there is a nation in the heart of Europe that is not afraid to go its own way. There is a nation that does not give in to blackmail. A nation that does not back down in the storm of history. These are we, Hungarians, the wanderers of freedom. As long as we are here in this space, and as long as there is even a single Hungarian on earth, there will be someone who will say: there will be peace here, because we want peace. There will be freedom, because we were born for freedom,” Viktor Orbán said at the end of his speech.

They marched across Margaret Bridge

The 11th Peace March started at Elvis Presley Square, then crossed Margaret Bridge and arrived at Kossuth Lajos Square, passing through Nyugati Railway Station, at approximately 1 p.m. The marchers arriving at the nation's main square are awaiting a speech by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Before the Prime Minister's speech, Philip Rákay led the commemoration at Kossuth Lajos Square, which was also attended by freedom fighters from 1956. Three Gripen fighter jets flew over Kossuth Lajos Square as a tribute. You can read our minute-by-minute coverage of the events in Budapest here.