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Foreign Minister welcomes V4 agreement to continue bloc’s cooperation

Minister Szijjártó noted the V4’s “outstanding achievements” in ensuring that central Europe remained “strong, sovereign and competitive”.

Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, welcomed it as good news for Hungary that the leaders of the four Visegrad Group countries agreed on continuing the bloc’s cooperation at their meeting in Prague on Tuesday which he said was also in Hungary’s national interest.

According to MTI, Minister Szijjártó noted the V4’s “outstanding achievements” in ensuring that central Europe remained “strong, sovereign and competitive”. “Many were probably expecting the disintegration of the bloc”, he said, adding that the V4 prime ministers had stood up for continued cooperation. “This is also in our national interest so that we can cooperate in future on matters that will strengthen Hungary, its sovereignty and economic competitiveness,” the foreign minister said, according to a ministry statement. “The four of us will be able to cooperate in preserving our sovereignty and in designing our own energy mix, as well as in preserving our competitiveness by setting our own tax rates,” said Minister Szijjártó. He also welcomed that the V4 countries would be able to decide on their own how to protect their farmers against the glut of poor-quality grain from outside Europe.