Is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán plotting to abolish private ownership in the countryside by 2030, in cahoots with World Economic Forum (WEF) Chairman Klaus Schwab? No, that's not true: The claim distorts a statement Orbán made in a 2022 speech, as well as a prediction that a Danish politician -- not Schwab -- made in a WEF social-media video from 2016.
The claim appeared in a Hungarian-language video (archived here) on TikTok on August 22, 2023, under the title "'2030 You'll have nothing and you'll be happy' ‼️🖕🐀." (All translations by Lead Stories.) It shows Orbán delivering a speech to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK) on February 19, 2022, in which he speaks of vague "reorganizations" in the global economy that he predicts will occur around the year 2030. It then presents a clip from the WEF video, whose text reads:
8 predictions for the world in 2030
You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy
Whatever you want you'll rent
The narrator then says:
It's not surprising that Viktor Orbán should think about this often-repeated date, 2030, in the same way as Klaus Schwab, the founding chairman of the World Economic Forum... The [Hungarian] government's package of measures, which limits the use of subsidized electricity and gas, contributes to the building of the same new world order... Think about it: Since it will be much more expensive to maintain a household in the countryside than an apartment in a housing estate, for example, prices on the real-estate market will drop. This may result in many people wanting to leave their countryside homes and move into a housing estate instead. So, what will happen to the abandoned properties in the countryside? ...Here in Hungary, it is probable that oligarchs close to the government will seize the opportunity [and buy up the real estate]. The ultimate goal is clear... They will abolish private ownership and the freedom of countryside life, and force [people] into the depths of the concrete jungle, bound by four walls.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Aug 23 06:58:05 2023 UTC)
Neither Schwab nor the WEF has any stated goal of abolishing private property by 2030. The quote appeared in a video titled "8 Predictions for the World in 2030," which the WEF published on Facebook on November 18, 2016. Its author was former Danish Environment Minister Ida Auken, who said it was not a "utopia or dream of the future," but rather "a scenario showing where we could be heading -- for better and for worse," according to a Reuters fact-check published on November 25, 2021.
2030 is also a year that Orbán has used as a benchmark date for his economic programs since at least 2018. In his speech on February 19, 2022, Orbán did not say anything betraying a plot to impoverish the countryside. Rather, he extolled the purported benefits of an economic-acceleration agreement he signed with MKIK the same day (downloadable here), saying:
Around 2030, when there will be all kinds of major reorganizations in the world, which I don't have time to talk about now, but a lot will happen from America to the European Union... By 2030 our nation, our national community, including its economy, must be in a condition that will allow us to withstand those challenges... if we can abide by this agreement in the next ten years, then by 2030 we will reach the average level of development of the European Union.
In fact, Orbán highlighted his government's efforts to help Hungarian villagers resist the pressures of urbanization:
If a person comes from a village, then he knows its value, and it is impossible to condemn it to death and accept urbanization as a natural process... In my opinion, the opportunity to enjoy a good quality of life in a village, on the same level of civilization that exists in a city, is part of Hungary's identity.
Additional Lead Stories fact-checks about Klaus Schwab are available here; fact-checks concerning Viktor Orbán are available here.
