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President Áder: Vaccinations key to easing restrictions

The president said he hoped that vaccination could be sped up “by Easter or in the period after Easter, until end-April, the latest”.

 

President János Áder said Hungary will hopefully be in a position to further ease its coronavirus-related restrictions in May if “good progress is made” in the vaccination of residents, which could result in “another quite successful summer” for tourism.

Speaking after a meeting with his Visegrad Group counterparts in Warsaw, President Áder said that “the sooner and the larger quantities of vaccines are delivered, the sooner we’ll be able to lift restrictions in tourism, too.” The president said he hoped that vaccination could be sped up “by Easter or in the period after Easter, until end-April, the latest”. “Thus, similarly to last year, we could reopen in May,” he speculated and voiced hope that “this summer will be as successful for most people in tourism as it was last year”.

Concerning energy, President Áder said that participants in the summit had agreed that the use of coal must be reduced. Basic power plants are needed, however, and “if we take emissions targets seriously, all four Visegrad countries will need nuclear energy and – at least in the next 20-25 years – gas-operated plants, too,” the president said. He added that the group would lobby for European support for gas projects.

The participants also marked the anniversary of the Visegrad Group, and concluded that the past 30 years have been successful, President Áder said.

Photo credit: MTI