If Bavarians and Hungarians are able to successfully cooperate under the auspices of a policy that is based on Christian values, then the situation of the whole of Europe, too, could improve, the Parliamentary and Strategic State Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday in Budapest.

At an event organised by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Balázs Orbán highlighted that Bavarian-Hungarian relations go even further back than the foundation of the state. St. Stephen and his wife, Gisella from Bavaria “worked together” to make Hungary Christian, he recalled, and it was as a result of their efforts that the Hungarian State was founded and then consolidated, and stability returned to the central territory of Europe.

He added that the two peoples had been able to work together also later on in the interest of creating a geopolitically stable Europe that rested on the foundations of mutually advantageous economic, political and cultural relations. In this joint effort, politics based on Christian values has always been the common ground for work which has traditionally tied Hungarians and Bavarians together, he pointed out.

Mr Orbán thanked the Hanns Seidel Foundation for supporting the network of Christian Roma specialisation colleges, and for the fact that, as part of home affairs cooperation, they contributed to the protection of the borders, the cause of European and Hungarian security. He added that the Andrássy University likewise could not have come into being without the Foundation.

At the event, Bavarian Minister of State for Housing, Construction and Transport Hans Reichhart described relations between Hungary and Bavaria as strong. These relations have developed for centuries both in the economy and between people, and therefore fostering friendship between the two nations is an important goal in 2020.

Talking to the Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr Reichhart, a politician of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) added he would be happy if Fidesz stayed in the European People’s Party as the People’s Party is a large party family with common values and common convictions which also include Fidesz. He added that we have a common Christian vision of man, and our economic concepts are similar as well.

“We would be happy if we continued on the same path within the People’s Party together also in the future,” he said.

(MTI)