Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that Central Europe is experiencing a renaissance, and is growing and developing continuously and dynamically.
The prime minister was speaking at a commemorative event in Krakow linked to the conference, “Europa Centralis – History of the Region Throughout the Ages”, which was organized by the Jagiellonian University to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Polish professor of history Wacław Felczak.
In his speech, PM Orbán said that the Hungarians and the Poles have come to understand that they must seize control of their fates, and by uniting their efforts history has given them the chance to make Central Europe the most successful region in Europe and the world. This is what the V4 are working on, he said, and “there is no point in aiming for a lesser goal”.
PM Orbán pointed out that Wacław Felczak had “mapped out a path for our political ideas”; it was on his advice that Fidesz was formed, and so “he became our intellectual and spiritual founding father”.
The prime minister said that Central Europe has now come close to how Professor Felczak wanted to see it; while earlier the Habsburgs, the Germans and the Soviets wanted to administer the region, he said, today the EU “is unifying, embracing and protecting” it. This, he added, is a more favorable state of affairs than has ever been experienced before.
The prime minister highlighted that the region’s role within the EU; the fact that the members of the Visegrád 4 (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) stand up for each other; the common stance taken by the V4 countries on the issues of European reform and immigration; and the region’s economic development.
The prime minister added that the region is now displaying its better side, and Wacław Felczak would be pleased with the situation today, adding that economically and politically Central Europe is Europe’s most stable region. He remarked that we should not allow our critics to shroud accurate assessment of the situation.