“Never before has there been so much at stake at or so much significance to the EP elections, because European citizens can provide responses to real issues, and their decision will affect their everyday lives”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in Budapest at a conference organised by the National University of Public Service.

At the event entitled “The Future of the European Union – Relations between Hungary and the European Union”, the Minister said the elections are being held just in time, because it is high time to put a close to the past five-year period that brought a host of awkward experiences and failures for the European Union (EU). “It is also time to place the functioning of the European Commission, which has never performed as badly as during the recent period, onto new foundations”, he added. “The EU is facing historic challenges, and there is an ongoing debate concerning its future, but it is a problem that the debates have become driven by emotions and everyone who does not represent the mainstream is being stigmatised as anti-European, despite the fact that today’s minority could be tomorrow’s majority”, the Minister pointed out.

He highlighted the fact that it is only through a debate based on common sense that Europe can be made strong and successful again, explaining that he has no doubt that the partners in the debate also want a strong and successful Europe, but there is disagreement with relation to the path that leads there. “Hungary rejects the concept of a United States of Europe and all proposals that hinder competitiveness and want to centralise things, because Hungary believes in a European Union of strong member states and strong nations”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

The Minister explained in seven points what he believes is necessary for a strong European Union. In his opinion, competition must be allowed. “Because competition within the European Union also increases the EU’s external competitiveness”, he added. “However, current proposals such as the proposal concerning tax harmonisation point towards the cutting back of internal competition”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

He stressed that low taxes require major discipline with relation to the budget and finances, which is not easy and not always free of risk, but Hungary has succeeded in reducing its sovereign debt every year since 2010. “This is not possible everywhere, however, and this is why proposals concerning tax harmonisation emerge, meaning they would like to raise taxes where they are low in the interests of decreasing the competitive disadvantage of countries that are incapable of reducing their own taxes”, the Minister said.

He declared that Hungary rejects the proposal on the “communitification” of debt, because it is simply about the distribution of the consequences of earlier, irresponsible economic policies. As the second point, he spoke about the fact that the security of the European people must be restored, and it must be assured that it is only possible to enter the EU legally. “It has by now become clear that a significant portion of European migration policies and Western European integration efforts have failed, as proven by the development of parallel societies as well as the terrorist attacks of recent years”, he said.

He added that the approach according to which migration is the best thing ever to have happened to mankind must be done away with, and instead of managing migration, efforts should be aimed at stopping it, while national-based responses should be provided to demographic and job market challenges. “In Hungary’s opinion, providing financial support to families and the modernisation of education are the right response, and accordingly it will not accept the fact that they want to take national spheres of competence away from it, because every sovereign nation has the right to decide who it will allow in and who it wants to live with”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed.

“Furthermore, Hungary believes that Christian culture and the European identity must be preserved, and accordingly it expects people arriving in Europe to respect European cultural, behavioural and legal norms”, the Minister said. According to Mr. Szijjártó, the strengthening of Europe requires the debate on the next seven-year multiannual financial framework to be fair, and for the idea that EU funding arriving in Central Europe is some kind of donation to be finally done away with. “Hungary has a right to that funding because it has fulfilled its obligations and opened its markets, on which Western European enterprises are realising huge profits. Today, seventy percent of the resources arriving in Central Europe find their way back to Western Europe in the form of profit”, the Minister highlighted.

Mr. Szijjártó said that in his opinion the next European Commission should not operate as a political body and must show more respect towards the European people and Europe’s nations, while European institutions must once again begin to understand people’s problems. The Minister also spoke about the fact that the European Union should be enlarged further, and accordingly Hungary continues to regard the integration of the Western Balkan countries as a priority. Lastly, Mr. Szijjártó said double standards must come to an end in Europe.

Following his speech, the Hungarian Foreign Minister also replied to questions from those present. In reply to a question on the so-called top candidates for the post of European Commission President, he said there are no regulations concerning the fact that people can only choose between the top candidates put forward by the European Parliament’s party families for the post. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has also stated that Hungary cannot find a suitable candidate among those currently on offer, and following the elections we will see “who has a say in this”, the Minister said. With relation to Brexit, Mr. Szijjártó said he believes no one has assessed its effects, and they are treating it as if it has no effect on the EU, whereas it will have a major effect. In his opinion, it would be in the interests of the EU to continue to work in the closest possible cooperation with the British.

(MTI)