Finance Minister Mihály Varga said the economic success of the Visegrad Group, and Hungary’s above-average performance within it, is key to Europe’s economic success.
Speaking after a meeting of the finance ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, Minister Varga said Hungary was among the 10 EU countries to have already rebounded to pre-pandemic economic levels. The country took over the rotating presidency of the Visegrad Group in July under the motto “Recharging Europe”, he noted. The presidency is focusing on restarting the economy, security, and on giving the group a “decisive voice” in the debate on the future of Europe, he added.
The minister added that numerous data show the V4 countries developed before the pandemic and recovered after it more rapidly than the EU as a whole. To bring up two examples, he said that the EU economy shrank by 6.1 percent last year as against the V4’s 4.6 percent decrease. The unemployment rate exceeded 7.1 percent in the block and amounted to 4.1 percent in the Visegrad countries, the minister said. The participants agreed to continue to boost their economic recoveries and pursue fiscal policies to this end, Minister Varga said. They also confirmed their commitment to keeping V4 growth rates above the EU average by increasing competitiveness, creating jobs and promoting investments. The ministers also agreed to coordinate their climate-related steps, increase family support to meet demographic challenges and cooperate in protecting borders and fighting illegal migration, Minister Varga said.