I welcome you all. Good day.
I would like to extend a special – indeed distinguished – welcome to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who has honoured us with his visit today. There are many reasons why this meeting has come about at this particular time. I will start with the most topical one. You all know that important negotiations have been taking place today in Budapest. The interior ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania are meeting, and you are obviously aware that there is a very important reason for this, which we all know about: the extension of the Schengen Area to include Romania and Bulgaria. You are also aware that Hungary holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and when I last met the Prime Minister in Bucharest we agreed that the Hungarian Presidency should definitely be used to accelerate this process: the process of Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area. At that time I made a promise to the Prime Minister. I have always thought that the current situation is unfair to Romania. I have seen the many efforts that Romanian governments have made over the years, and I have also seen that for some time now they have fully satisfied all the conditions necessary to become part of the Schengen Area. And then, with the Prime Minister in Bucharest, we agreed that I would help to remedy this injustice, and that the Hungarian Presidency would make this a priority. This is how we arrived at today’s talks in Budapest between the interior ministers, which are rightly focusing on illegal migration. What the interior ministers discussed here today was the need to significantly reduce illegal border crossings and to step up the fight against illegal migration. We have been able to establish that both Romania and Bulgaria have made fantastic progress in this respect; and here today the Hungarians, the Austrians, the Romanians and the Bulgarians have established that all the conditions have been met, and all the obstacles that have made it impossible for Romania to join the Schengen Area have been removed. This means that it has been agreed that all four countries will work to ensure that on 1 January Romania will become a full member of the Schengen Area – not only in relation to airports, but also land border crossings. The decision on this, which will require the Interior Ministers of all the Member States of the European Union, will be taken in Brussels on 12 December, when the Hungarian Presidency will make a proposal on the basis of today’s meeting in Budapest, and which can be confirmed by the interior ministers of the European Union. This is what we can look forward to in the coming days. In this process Budapest will be famous for having been the venue for the negotiations that cleared the last hurdle and paved the way for formal decisions. And if everything goes according to plan, from 1 January, when I go to Bucharest by car to visit the Prime Minister, I will not have to stop at the border, but will be able to travel from Budapest to Bucharest without any border checks. This will be a great moment in the lives of all of us.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I congratulate the Prime Minister on the fantastic work he has done to make this a success. I would like to mention that we have also discussed bilateral issues, of course, and we have a working relationship. But I must also note that the last time a Romanian prime minister visited Budapest was in 2008, so the time had come for us to rectify this; and I am pleased that we have been able to meet not only in Bucharest, but now also in Budapest.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have talked about the economic relations between our two countries, which are fantastic. The volume of trade is constantly growing, its value is increasing, and we have agreed with the Prime Minister that we also consider investment in each other’s countries to be important. We will continue to support the flow of products from Romania to the Hungarian market, and also products from Hungary to the Romanian market. I am convinced that economic cooperation and integration in the Schengen Area are particularly important for the communities living in the border region. After all, for a long time we have put up with unfair situations: people look across to a neighbouring settlement, but have to make a round trip of several kilometres to get there. This is not only unfair, but also unjust and inequitable. Local communities can at last arrange their relations with each other in a way required by the natural order of life. The Schengen accession will see the immediate opening of several border crossings which were previously only open at weekends.
At the same time I would also like to thank the RMDSZ [Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania] for the work it has done to strengthen this relationship, both economically and politically, and for the work it has done to help Romania join the Schengen Area.
Prime Minister, my heartfelt congratulations! Thank you very much for being here with us.