According to Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, the Visegrád Group (V4) is currently the economically most rapidly developing region within the European Union, and maintaining it is in the interests of Central Europe.
“The Visegrád Group remains the European Union’s closest and most effective alliance. Its maintenance is clearly in the interests of Central Europe”, the Minister declared in a statement to Hungarian reporters in Prague on Friday, following talks with his Czech counterpart Tomáš Petříček. The main topics of the Czech-Hungarian meeting were V4 cooperation, the migration crisis and bilateral economic relations. “In future, the economic development of the European Union will come from the Visegrád region; this is clearly visible from the statistical data”, the Minister noted.
“The annual volume of Hungarian-Czech trade is approaching ten billion euros”, the Minister stated, pointing out that Czech investors are also playing an increasing role within the Hungarian economy. As an example, he mentioned the food industry companies in which the Czech President is involved, whereas Hungarian oil company MOL operates the second largest network of petrol stations in the Czech Republic. In a statement following the talks, Mr. Petříček said relations between Prague and Budapest were problem-free, and stressed that the Czech Republic regards the further development of these relations as extremely important. Mr. Szijjártó stressed that Hungary has an interest in a strong and successful Czech Republic.
With relation to migration, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said that the countries of the Visegrád Group have played a key role in finding a solution to the problem. “In European debates, we have made it clear that migration should be stopped, not organised”, the Minister underlined. Mr. Szijjártó criticised the UN Global Compact for Migration, which in his opinion represents a huge danger, wrongly categorises migration as a human right, and washes away the difference between illegal migration and legal immigration.
The Compact has been rejected by five countries so far, including Hungary and the Czech Republic. Prior to his meeting with Tomáš Petříček, Mr. Szijjártó met with Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Marta Nováková and the Minister of Transport Dan Ťok. In the afternoon, Hungary’s chief diplomat will be participating in and giving a speech at a Prague conference on the persecution of Christians, and will be making courtesy visits to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, and Archbishop of Prague Dominik Duka. In the evening, Mr. Szijjártó will meet with businesspeople.
(MTI)
