Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has confirmed that both Hungary and Poland want to build a strong Europe and contribute to discussions and reforms aimed at Europe’s peaceful development.
The prime minister made the announcement during his first official foreign visit following his re-election at joint press conference with Prime Minister Matusz Morawiecki of Poland.
PM said “we have a lot of work ahead” when discussing the EU budget and moving forward. The positions of Hungary and Poland are close but some other countries “have a very different view," he added.
“We want to protect our farmers’ interests,” he said. “Reducing the farm budget is not on: we don’t object to establishing new funds — since new tasks are always emerging — but this should not be at the expense of existing funds.”
The prime minister said that some difficult issues, such as migration, had been discussed at his meeting with Morawiecki. He added that this was the most important issue regarding national sovereignty: who decides who gets to live within a country’s territory.
According to MTI, the prime minister said Hungary was under strong pressure by people in Brussels who wanted to conclude the migration issue before the EU summit in June. This will happen only if the EU plan meets the Hungarian government’s expectations, he said.
The prime minister also noted that “the parliament now sitting in Brussels was elected before the migration crisis.” Decisions on migration should be left to the new European Parliament to be elected next year. “The principles of democracy must be respected,” he said.
He added that efforts should be focused on border protection rather than the distribution of migrants. “We also have a heart … we are a Christian nation … so we know what it means to help … but we believe help should be taken to where it is needed instead of bringing troubles here,” PM Orbán said.
The prime minister said that under the “Hungary Helps” scheme, Hungary provides help to the Middle East and this work will continue. Otherwise, Hungary’s contribution has been to help to protect Europe from illegal migrants coming through the Balkans, he added.