Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has completed “a record-breaking diplomatic schedule” over the past month.
The prime minister has met some of the most important world leaders and improved relations with nations right around the globe.
According to the state secretary for communications, PM Orbán’s recent meeting partners included the German chancellor, the prime ministers of China and Israel, the presidents of Russia and Turkey and he had a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, with whom he also exchanged a few words personally during a NATO summit.
“All of which means that world leaders pay attention to the Hungarian prime minister and consider him a central European premier whose opinion is important and worth listening to,” Tamás Menczer said.
Menczer said political opponents have criticized the government for isolating Hungary in terms of diplomacy, yet these meetings showed that the opposite is true. He added that people were paying attention because the Orbán government had broken with the opposition’s diplomatic stance of “we dare to be small. “We are respectful but we also have reciprocal expectations,” he said.
He continued that the government had always acted to defend Hungarian interests. “It doesn’t seek out conflicts, neither does it shrink from them,” he added.
Furthermore, PM Orbán’s government has responded well to international challenges, insisting that the prime minister had been the first European leader to recognize the dangers of illegal immigration and to act swiftly to protect the country.
PM Orbán “has been working for the Hungarian people for 30 years,” Menczer said, noting the prime minister had not departed from political life even after election defeats.
The state secretary said that Hungary is interested in a European Union based on strong nation states while also maintaining pragmatic ties with eastern and southern partners based on respect.
On the topic of migration and a European Commission proposal to pay member states 6,000 euros per migrant taken in, Menczer said the government firmly rejects such payments. The EU should instead spend its budget on border protection and the well-being and security of European people, he added.