“Hungary and Poland want a strong Europe, a Europe that is capable of defending itself, its own borders and the security of its citizens”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stressed on Thursday in Warsaw following talks with Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz.
At the press conference following the meeting, Mr. Szijjártó told reporters: the visit just one day prior to the appointment of the new Hungarian Cabinet was aimed at underlining the importance of Polish-Hungarian relations.
Mr. Czaputowicz and I are representatives of two countries that are “in a defensive and offensive alliance”, he said, referring to the recent attacks from Brussels aimed at both countries. “The representatives of both countries want a strong Europe’, he continued, adding: “But it is clear that a strong Europe must be built on strong member states and strong regions”. “For precisely this reason a strong Central Europe built on a strong Poland and a strong Hungary is indeed in the interests of Europe” he added.
According to the Polish Foreign Minister, the whole Visegrád Group (V4) has a similar vision of Europe, and wants a democratic EU that is not protectionist and whose legitimacy is rooted in national parliaments.
Mr. Czaputowicz said Poland and Hungary share a similar standpoint on the main issues relating to the European Union, including on the post-2020 EU budget. The two countries will be striving to continue cohesion funding and Joint Economic Policy, “while also recognising the importance of the development of other EU issues”, he said.
In reply to a question from the press, Mr. Szijjártó said with relation to this that Hungary is prepared to veto the EU budget for 2021-2027 if the payment of funding is tied to upholding norms relating to the rule of law.
While the distribution of cohesion funding has always been at the centre of debate during the drawing up of every seven-year budgetary framework, the fact that “some people want subjective rule of law criteria to supplement the existing objective conditions with relation to the drawing down of EU funding” is something new.
Hungary see this as an attempt “to establish the potential for political blackmail” and regards it as an initiative that is “extremely un-European” and at odds with European values.
“European law is extremely clear with relation to the drawing down of European funding. If someone wants to change this they must go through a clearly defined legal process”, he declared.
“Our Western friends are trying to portray EU funding as if it was some kind of humanitarian aid”, as if we have been receiving this funding “as a friendly gesture on their part”, he declared.
“We are entitled to these resources on the basis of the European treaties”, he underlined, explaining that when Hungary and Poland jointed the EU they opened their markets to Western enterprises, and western companies have “realised huge profits” on those markets, and in Hungary’s case, 70 euro cents out of every 1 euro in funding received finds its way back to Western enterprises.
The EU budget must be adopted unanimously, and if some of the related regulations are “unfair, non-transparent and violate the fundamental treaties”, as are the possible stipulations with relation to the rule of law in his opinion, then a budget of this kind can hardly be expected to gain the support of every single member state, Mr. Czaputowicz added.
In reply to a question from Hungarian news agency MTI concerning the EU enlargement process, Mr. Szijjártó said Hungary’s standpoint is that the EU integration process of the Western Balkan countries must be accelerated. He expressed his dissatisfaction concerning the fact that the European Commission has set 2025 as the target date for their accession and called for all negotiation chapters with Serbia and Montenegro to be opened before the end of this year.
“There are historic tensions within the Western Balkan region, and these can be best resolved via European and Euro-Atlantic integration”, he pointed out.
Mr. Czaputowicz also highlighted the geopolitical significance of the Western Balkan region. “If the EU is not present within this region, other interested parties may appear, who don’t always give preference to European security”, he declared, adding that it was nevertheless important that the EU had at least designated an accession timeframe, “even if it is a long way off”. Poland “fully supports the EU accession aspirations of the Western Balkan countries”, he declared.
(MTI)
