“A strong Hungary requires a strong Europe”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday.

At the third “Civil Coffee House” event for public figures, Mr. Szijjártó stressed that the strength of the European Union has major significance for Hungary, because it can export more to a strong EU, in addition to which more investments come from a strong Europe.

“The Hungarian economy is small and open, and its performance is fundamentally decided by external factors”, he pointed out, adding that 79 percent of Hungarian exports go to the countries of the European Union, and four out of the five largest investors in Hungary are EU member states.

“It would not be right to contest the fact that our opponents also want a strong Europe, the only question is: how do we accomplish it”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

“There are highly extreme approaches, such as the one that wants to establish a United States of Europe, but we totally reject this because integration cannot be strong if the member states that establish it are weak”, the politician said.

“Hungary wants to see strong member states that insist on their own historical cultural and religious heritage; countries that are not prepared to forget about their national identity and accept what they are trying to force onto Europe, that European integration should enter a kind of post-Christian phase”, he stated.

According to the Minister, a strong Europe requires allowing competition between member states, security must be established, which it being endangered by migration and the related threat of terrorism, in addition to which Christian values and traditions must be preserved.

“We must not allow the community to be split into first- and second-rate member states; it is important for exiting the EU to not become a trend, but rather for the community to be enlarged further”, he emphasised.

“And Hungary must strongly object to being criticised ‘on a democratic basis’ by European Parliament and Brussels officials who close the most important issues that affect the European people prior to the European Parliament elections in a way that does not allow those affected to debate them”, the Foreign Minister added.

Member of Parliament for Siófok Mihály Witzmann (Fidesz) spoke about the fact that Hungary has been on a growth trajectory since 2010, and even Hungary’s greatest critics, including international credit rating agencies, are acknowledging the efforts of the Hungarian people.

“The novel foreign policy sense of mission of the Ministry headed by Péter Szijjártó has also contributed to the favourable indices”, he added.

(MTI)