Katalin Novák: the pro-family approach should be a national minimum!

"The pro-family approach should be a national minimum!" emphasised President of Hungary Katalin Novák on Thursday, on the opening day of the Budapest Demographic Summit in the Museum of Fine Arts.

"We have gathered here today as allies to each other and to families", said the President, adding that today, we are fighting for the freedom of families. 

She stressed that the demographic winter that has afflicted the developed world is now turning into an ice age, and if there are no children, there is no future. 

Katalin Novák recalled that we are the heirs of our freedom-fighting ancestors, and that through their lives we have learned that Hungarians do not get freedom for free, they must fight for it over and over again. 

Recalling the Twelve Points of Hungary’s revolution and freedom fight in 1848, she set out the wishes of Hungarian families in twelve points. 

She said that the fifth edition of the Budapest Demographic Summit is all about freedom. She recalled the "anti-family times" when her own children were born, in 2004, 2006 and 2008. At that time, support for home ownership was abolished, the time available to spend at home with children was shortened, the financial burden on families increased, the sense of security that parents had just begun to grow accustomed to disappeared, fewer and fewer people dared to enter into the bond of marriage, and the propensity to have children plummeted to an all-time low. 

Katalin Novák stressed that in spite of these pressures, Hungarian families did not give in but decided to fight for their freedom and stood up for a secure future. Civil movements were launched, family organisations were formed, and the Population Roundtable was established. 

"They have fought it out and created a country where human life is of value", she said, adding that the freedom fight launched by families has not been in vain, a family-friendly turn has taken place in Hungary. 

The marriage rate has doubled in ten years, the number of abortions has halved, the divorce rate has started to decline, Hungary has the highest rate of childbearing in Europe, the number of large families and their living standards are on the rise - Katalin Novák presented the details. 

"But the fight that families launched for their freedom is not over", she pointed out, stressing that families are ready to fight again and again if they feel the future is at risk, "and the future is at risk" – the President said. 

A demographic winter in the developed world is now turning into an ice age, she stressed, adding that while alarm bells are being sounded about climate change, hardly anyone is paying attention to the real and irreversible change going on in the world. 

"If childlessness becomes the norm, if fewer children continue to be born each year than the number of people who pass away, our beloved and secure world will fall into pieces ".

"If there are no children, there is no future. It only makes sense to take care of the Earth if we have children and grandchildren to pass it on to," she said. 

She also spoke about the fact that the demographic ice age is hitting us in increasingly vulnerable state, "the pillars of our lives, the foundations of our Christian culture are cracking and crumbling, and if we do not uphold our values we have thought to be indestructible, we will sacrifice ourselves voluntarily even before we become victims of the coming ice age", 

But the freedom fighter families will not give in to the pressures, they will not give up the church, they will not give up the school, and they will take back everything that belongs to them. 

The President of Hungary recalled that the biblical number twelve also plays a significant role in the history of the Hungarian wars of independence. 175 years ago, in 1848, during the Revolution and War of Independence, our heroes summarised their goals in 12 points. This is the iron law of Hungarian freedom, she stressed, adding that the Hungarian families' fight for freedom also has at least twelve fundamental principles, demands whose lasting implementation can be the basis of a pro-family approach. 

In 12 points, the President of Hungary set out what Hungarian families want: first and foremost, freedom to raise their children, making sure that the upbringing of children should be the right, responsibility and duty of parents, without the imposition of any ideology. 

"We will not allow our children to be deprived of the sense of security rooted in their identity: children born as girls should be allowed to grow up as girls, and boys as boys ", she continued, adding that Hungarian families demand pro-family decision-makers who do not incite resentment against families. Pro-family policy-making should be a national minimum, she stressed. 

The next point concerns the representation of Hungarian families at home and abroad: Hungary should not give its consent to anti-family decisions. In the demand for security, Katalin Novák stressed that our kindergartens, our schools, our villages, our towns, our country and our borders should be safe, and we should not have to worry about our children and our ageing parents. 

Those with children should also be given appropriate opportunities, and those who have children should not be worse off financially than those who decide not to have any. Childbearing must not be allowed to equal the risk of poverty, and there must be no financial obstacles to having the children their parents desire to have.

The Head of State also spoke of respect and appreciation of the elderly and called for real freedom of choice for women, so that they do not have to give up work for the sake of having children nor having children for the sake of work. She called for the security of home ownership to be protected and for young people to be helped to create a home of their own. She also called for competitive public education, vocational training and higher education, modern health care, support for those living in less favourable conditions than the average, and attention for Hungarian families living beyond the borders. 

Katalin Novák stressed that "the pro-family alliance is a worldwide network" and the presence of the participants at the Demographic Summit gives her hope that we are not alone. God bless families, she concluded.