Third Orbán Government

The third government of Viktor Orbán was the Government of Hungary between 6 June 2014 and 18 May 2018. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán formed his third cabinet after his party-alliance, Fidesz and its coalition partner, Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) altogether won a qualified majority in the 2014 parliamentary election.

Third Orbán Government
71st Cabinet of Hungary
Incumbent
Date formed	6 June 2014
Date dissolved	18 May 2018
People and organisations
Head of state	János Áder
Head of government	Viktor Orbán
Deputy head of government	Zsolt Semjén
Member party	Fidesz, KDNP
Status in legislature	Coalition
Opposition party	MSZP, Jobbik, LMP
Opposition leader	Gyula Molnár, Gábor Vona
History
Election(s)	6 April 2014
Predecessor	Second Orbán Government
Successor	Fourth Orbán Government

Party breakdown

Party breakdown of cabinet ministers:

Fidesz	7
KDNP	3
Independents	3

List of Ministers

Following the 2014 parliamentary election, Fidesz–KDNP gained 133 seats in the National Assembly. The government majority of the parliament elected Viktor Orbán as a fully-fledged prime minister on 10 May, but his third cabinet formed only 6 June.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs transformed into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, while the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice were renamed to Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Justice, respectively. On 17 October 2015, the Ministry of the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office was established. Two ministers without portfolio were appointed in May 2017 and October 2017.

Office	Image	Incumbent	Political party		In office
Prime Minister		Viktor Orbán		Fidesz	10 May 2014 – 10 May 2018
Deputy Prime Minister Minister without portfolio for National Politics		Zsolt Semjén		KDNP	6 June 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of the Prime Minister's Office		János Lázár		Fidesz	6 June 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office		Antal Rogán		Fidesz	17 October 2015 – 18 May 2018
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade		Tibor Navracsics		Fidesz	6 June 2014 – 13 September 2014
		Péter Szijjártó		Fidesz	23 September 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of Interior		Sándor Pintér		Independent	6 June 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of Justice		László Trócsányi		Independent	6 June 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of National Economy		Mihály Varga		Fidesz	6 June 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of Human Resources		Zoltán Balog		Fidesz	6 June 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of National Development		Miklós Seszták		KDNP	6 June 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of Agriculture		Sándor Fazekas		Fidesz	6 June 2014 – 18 May 2018
Minister of Defence		Csaba Hende		Fidesz	6 June 2014 – 9 September 2015
		István Simicskó		KDNP	10 September 2015 – 18 May 2018
Minister without Portfolio responsible for the planning, construction and commissioning of the two new units at Paks Nuclear Power Plant		János Süli		Independent	2 May 2017 – 18 May 2018
Minister without Portfolio responsible for the development of towns with county rights		Lajos Kósa		Fidesz	2 October 2017 – 18 May 2018

Policy

Immigration

During the 2015 European migrant crisis the government initiated the erection of the Hungary-Serbia barrier to block entry of illegal immigrants.[1] Just like the other Visegrád Group leaders, the government was against any compulsory EU long-term quota on redistribution of migrants.[2]

On 24 February 2016 the prime minister announced that the government would hold a Referendum on whether to accept the European Union's proposed mandatory quotas for relocating migrants.[3] He also said it is "no secret that the Hungarian government refuses migrant quotas" and that they will be campaigning for "no" votes. Orbán argued that the quota system would "redraw Hungary's and Europe's ethnic, cultural and religious identity, which no EU organ has the right to do".[4] On 5 May, after examining the legal challenges, the Supreme Court (Kúria) allowed the holding of the referendum.[5]

In the autumn of that year the no vote won with 3,362,224 votes or 98.36% of the total number of votes.

Free Sunday

Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People's Party (Hungary) has supported the restriction on Sunday shopping ("free Sunday", as they called) for a long time, citing Christian values. Parliament voted on the issue on December 14, 2014[6] and the law came into effect on March 15, 2015[7] (a Sunday on which shops would have been closed anyway, the day being a public holiday in Hungary). Public opinion was predominantly against the decision. Three polls done in the spring of 2015 registered an opposition of 64% (Szonda Ipsos), 62% (Medián) 59% (Tárki). By the end of May, according to a poll by Medián, 72% of those polled disliked the new law, even the majority of Fidesz-KDNP voters were against it.[8] Opposition parties and private persons tried to start a public referendum several times. By November 2015 there were 16 such attempts, but none of them were approved, for various bureaucratic reasons,[9] until in early 2016 one of these attempts, initiated by the Hungarian Socialist Party, was finally successful. The government, rather than being forced to hold the referendum (which could have been interpreted as a huge success for the opposition party, even though the law was opposed by the majority of Fidesz voters too) lifted the ban in April 2016.[10]

References

1. Troianovski, Anton (19 August 2015). "Migration Crisis Pits EU's East Against West". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
2. Ian Traynor. Refugee crisis: east and west split as leaders resent Germany for waiving rules . The Guardian, 5 September 2015.
3. "Migrant crisis: Hungary to hold referendum on EU quota plan". BBC News. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
4. "Orbán: Népszavazás lesz a betelepítési kvótáról". Magyar Nemzet. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
5. "Lehet népszavazni Orbánék kérdéséről" (in Hungarian). Népszabadság. 2016-05-03. Archived from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2016-05-10.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
6. KDNP.hu. "Megszavazta az Országgyűlés a szabad vasárnap bevezetését".
7. HVG.hu (2015-03-15). "Vasárnapi boltzár: "Annyian voltak, mint a sáskák"".
8. Origo.hu (2015-06-30). "Már a Fidesz-szavazóknak is elegük van a vasárnapi zárva tartásból".
9. 444.hu (2015-11-11). "Bármi áron meg kell akadályozni, hogy népszavazás legyen a vasárnapi zárva tartásból".
10. usnews.com (2016-04-11). "Hungary's government says it has asked parliament to repeal a very unpopular law banning most retail stores from opening on Sundays".

General

• "Official website of the Hungarian Government".