The purpose of all international meetings conducted by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is the enforcement of Hungarian national interests.

Minister of State for International Communication and Relations Zoltán Kovács recalled that Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin reviews the state of relations between the two countries every year if possible. However, the domestic opposition puts an “absurd, hypocritical and deceptive” construction on the nature of relations, and “with their active assistance” the Western press, too, seeks to put a “non-existent” framework of construction on Hungarian-Russian relations, Mr Kovács said.

In the words of the Minister of State, “the framework of construction created by the Hungarian post-communist opposition feeds the Western media with solutions which inspire political hysteria and apply double standards; at the same time, they are based on obvious lies”. He observed that the meetings of Mr Orbán and Mr Putin held in recent years cannot be compared, either in their frequency or in their nature, to the meetings of the Russian President with the German Chancellor, the President of France or, for that matter, Italian leaders.

Mr Kovács also highlighted that all international meetings conducted by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán bear in mind the best interests of the Hungarian nation. It was in the spirit of the enforcement of Hungarian national interests that in the past few months Mr Orbán met with US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and the leaders of neighbouring countries and the Visegrád states, he said. From a Hungarian point of view, the nature and meaning of relations with Russia, too, can only be based on Hungarian national interests, the Minister of State stressed, stating that the Hungarian interest is that every great power of the world should have a vested interest in the success of Hungary.

He highlighted that the country’s NATO and EU membership does not rule out, but in actual fact presumes a political relationship with Russia. Among the areas of priority political cooperation from the viewpoint of Hungarian national interests, the Minister of State mentioned the situation in Syria, migration and the provision of help for Christian churches in the Middle East.

In answer to a question, the Minister of State for International Communication and Relations also spoke about Hungary’s energy security, pointing out that “by creating a framework” for the cooperation of Hungarian and Russian gas and oil suppliers, they have laid down the framework and opportunities regarding energy supply up to 2025 which greatly enhances Hungary’s energy security.

In answer to the question as to whether further negotiations are yet to be held with respect to a more long-term gas supply agreement, he said there will be further talks in order to clarify details and technical specifications. Mr Kovács added that the enlargement of the Paks nuclear power station is also a pledge of Hungary’s energy independence.

(MTI)