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PM Orbán signs declaration on improving and protecting the EU's future

The prime minister emphasized the importance of taking steps against illegal migration and tackling terrorism, and a commitment to creating jobs

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has signed a declaration on the European Union's future, which he has called a “good document”.

The prime minister met with EU leaders in Rome over the weekend, where he said Europe can be set right only if every nation sees to its own security and welfare.

“If we want a secure Hungary then we must rely on ourselves and we have to make our own security," PM Orbán said, adding that if Hungary also wants to develop economically, then “we must do more, and work well and be competitive”.

The prime minister said “no kind of celebratory declaration will change anything”, referring to the document marking the 60th anniversary of the founding Treaty of Rome. “We can only be proud of Europe, if we can be proud of our own countries,” he added.

PM Orbán said there was much to be proud of when drawing the balance of the past 60 years in Europe but big question marks also hung over the bloc. “We have reason to feel that we must respond to big challenges.” He said Hungarian proposals had been incorporated into the document and “from the point of view of the interests of Hungarians, this is a good document”.

The prime minister also emphasized the importance of taking steps against illegal migration and tackling terrorism. Further, he noted a commitment to creating jobs. He also said the Visegrad Group of countries was completely unified on the issue of jobs: it is not through immigration that workplaces should be filled but through family-friendly policies and a work-based society.