The coronavirus vaccination is not a political issue, Hungarian government Spokesman Zoltán Kovács told CNN in an interview, pointing out that the Chinese and Russian vaccines used by Hungary have been vetted in several countries across the world.
“The Brussels bureaucracy could not make quick and immediate decisions, and we were at least two months behind,” Kovács said. “The good vaccine is the one you’ve already been given.”
He added that everyone knows that the only antidote to the third wave, which is currently affecting Hungary, is to speed up the pace of vaccinations, Kovács said, pointing out that Hungary also adheres to European regulations in connection with the procurement of vaccines.
“We have not broken any of the rules, but we have extended our strategy to non-Western sources,” he said.
“The Hungarian government expects the use of both the Russian and Chinese vaccines to be approved by the European Union within a few weeks,” he added. “We are currently competing with time because newer variants of the coronavirus, such as the British or South African mutations, are spreading faster than the original virus. Urgency determines the Hungarian strategy.”
The third wave will be the hardest so far
We can see from the numbers that the third wave will be the hardest so far, Kovács said. Regarding how the Hungarian population received the Russian and Chinese vaccines, Kovács explained. Some people — as before in the case of Western vaccines — are skeptical, but added that “Hungarians understand the essence of the psychological pressure we have lived in for the last year can only be freed by vaccination”.
Kovács said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was vaccinated with the Chinese vaccine on Sunday, set an example that all available vaccinations in the country, which were licensed by Hungarian scientists and doctors, were reliable and effective.
Regarding the Hungarian opposition’s protest against oriental vaccines, Kovács said, “We all know and see that nothing is too expensive for the Hungarian opposition”.
As he put it, “as a matter of fact, their strategy is that the worse the country is, the better it is for them. The many lies that are being said by the opposition about non-European vaccinations prove that they are fundamentally anti-vaccination, inciting fear and distrust among the population,” he added.
“Over the last decade, we have proven that there are solutions beyond the so-called European solutions.”
Asked whether Orbán’s response to criticisms of the rule of law was a political decision to use Eastern vaccines not yet authorized by the European Union, Kovács said that all decisions made by the government are political decisions.
“Over the last decade, we have received countless criticisms and accusations from all corners of the European bureaucracy. At the same time, for example in the field of economic and social policy, we have proved that there are solutions outside the so-called European solutions,” he said. “Our philosophy is very simple. We are Europe, so it is not up to Brussels to tell us what to do.”
He also emphasized that “we decide what is best for the Hungarians and the most important feedback is the decision of the voters, who elected the government of Viktor Orbán three times, with a two-thirds mandate.”
Title image: Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács. (source: Facebook)
