At a press conference on Friday forming part of the Budapest conference of the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) – the organisation of centrist parties with links to Christian democracy – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that the CDI believes Christian culture to be a valuable asset, and it must therefore be preserved.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the CDI is an organisation with Christian motivation and which therefore regards human dignity as the basis of politics. This is important, he said, because questions of identity will be at the centre of political debates throughout a world undergoing change. He observed that this is most noticeable in Europe, because here migration has highlighted these issues.
He reported that at the Budapest meeting there had been a number of decisions: the establishment of the CDI’s youth organisation will be launched; parties from the Caucasus region took a step closer to the organisation; new members from Latin America and Central Europe were admitted; and most of the region’s Hungarian parties also gained admission to the CDI.
Mr. Orbán said that Hungary is one of those European countries which tend to pay more attention to themselves and to Europe, and less to politics outside Europe.
He said that the CDI – of which he has been a vice president for nearly twenty years – is seeking to create a world organisation on the basis of Christian democratic values, and in this it has been highly successful.
He stressed, however, that the organisation has gained strength in waves, and with this meeting in Budapest they would like to give another significant thrust forward to the development of the CDI and the integration of Central Europe, with special regard to the Western Balkans.
The goal is to integrate into the organisation parties from as many countries as possible, he said, adding that the relevant decisions which allow this were adopted at today’s meeting.
The Prime Minister stated that there are times when the CDI is particularly important, and this is now the beginning of a period – as the world undergoes major changes – in which such organisations will assume an especially significant role. He observed that the CDI is able to ask good questions as regards the future, and “this is a fine mission”.
At the press conference Andrés Pastrana, Columbia’s former head of state and President of the CDI, said that in Budapest eighteen new parties had been admitted to the organisation, which now has more than one hundred member organisations and affiliates. Mr. Pastrana described the meeting as also being important in terms of preparing future generations for their mission.
The President thanked Mr. Orbán for meeting with Venezuelan opposition politician Antonio Ledezma, who had managed to escape from his country.
Mr. Pastrana also said that he is certain that they can celebrate the victory of Fidesz in Hungary’s upcoming general election.
Antonio López-Istúriz, Executive Secretary of the CDI and Member of the European Parliament in the European People’s Party, stressed that Prime Minister Orbán is clearly playing a leading role in Central European and Balkan affairs. He also said that it is crucial that a youth organisation emerges within the CDI. Fidesz itself started as a youth organisation standing against communist power, and this can be presented as an example, he remarked.
Among the organisation’s aspirations the Executive Secretary mentioned the need to address poverty and societal inequalities.
He also confirmed that all member organisations offer their full support to Mr. Orbán and Fidesz in the Hungarian election.
(MTI)
