Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has officially handed over the V4 presidency to Slovakia.
Hungary’s neighbor will lead the group for one year from July 1st. Slovakia’s prime minister Peter Pellegrini said, “thanks to the Hungarian presidency, Visegrád’s voice has rung out loudly”.
PM Orbán said that Central Europe is now the continent’s most successful region, and one that has a fantastic future ahead of it.
The prime minister stated that the region is not what it was even just a few years ago. “It has the highest economic growth in the EU, fiscal discipline, falling rates of government debt and unemployment, and extremely high competitiveness,” he said.
Praising Slovakia’s economic indicators, PM Orbán said that over the next twelve months the V4 will be led by one of the continent’s most successful countries.
PM Pellegrini said that “Visegrád has never turned its back” on Europe. He added that the V4 forms an “indivisible part of Europe”, and acts in a responsible manner in every field – although the V4’s views have not always been welcomed by their other European partners, and they will not always be welcomed in the future either.
He described the three priorities of the Slovakian V4 presidency: a strong Europe, a safe environment and intelligent solutions. He said the challenges over the next twelve months include the new European budget and the 2019 European parliamentary elections.