N

PM Orbán hails 'enormous success' of Hungary’s six-month presidency of Council of EU

The prime minister said all of the Western Balkan countries had made progress during the Hungarian presidency.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has hailed the "enormous success" of Hungary’s six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union ahead of an EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels on Wednesday.

PM Orbán said all of the Western Balkan countries had made progress during the Hungarian presidency.

"There’s no country that did not benefit from our work, and if I count the Schengen area, this six-month period ends with enormous success," the prime minister said.

Asked about the state of the Hungarian economy, PM Orbán said the government always measured itself against 2010. He said the government always compared the pre-2010 state of the economy with its current state, "and what we see is that this has become a totally different, much more modern country, and we are happy about that".

Asked if he believed the economy was in order, the prime minister said: "It’s never in order; the economy is like a bicycle that you have to keep pedalling, otherwise it will fall over."

Asked about the government’s plans in connection with the Ukrainian gas pipeline, PM Orbán said they were "working on it".