Hungary’s foreign minister has stressed that there is no closer and more effective cooperation in the European Union than the V4.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that the V4 has a voice that is heard throughout Europe and beyond, and has become an important factor in shaping European political processes.
Minister Szijjártó also believes the V4 is playing a major role in protecting Christian values. “There are stupendous attacks going on against Christian traditions, culture and identity; many would like to do away with these,” he said. “This is something we cannot allow because we know what Christianity gave us, and what it means to cling to our traditions and our heritage,” he added.
“The V4 has become a ‘brand’, and when the prime ministers of the Visegrád Group countries meet, the whole European political elite and press pays attention,” he explained.
The minister also highlighted the group’s power. He revealed that trade flow between Germany and the V4 is 55 percent higher than between Germany and France. “The axis of European economic operations is shifting to here, and the countries of Central Europe are becoming the economic hinterland of modern German industry, which provides the backbone of the European economy,” he said.
“The goal set at the beginning of Hungary’s Presidency of the V4, that Visegrád Group cooperation should become global, must be taken seriously. This is a market of 65 million people in which economic growth is higher than the European average,” he added.
He also said that the governments of the V4 are basing their economic policies on common sense and rationality, and believe in low taxes.
“Central Europe has become the engine of European growth, and investors from outside Europe are increasingly viewing this region as a starting point for their expansion into Europe,” he said.
The minister also pointed out that according to the draft of the UN migration package, the right to migration is a fundamental human right, and illegally crossing a border is not a crime but an administrative issue.
“The UN’s basic assumption that migration is a good thing and is unstoppable is at odds with our experience in view of the fact that, in cooperation with the V4, Hungary has successfully stopped migration along its southern border,” he said.