The Visegrád countries are able to cooperate not only in good times, but also in times of trouble, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a press conference held on Wednesday in Prague.

At their summit, the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia consulted with respect to the coronavirus situation among other issues.

Mr Orbán highlighted that it was a good decision to convene the meeting because the virus had entered the territory of the V4, it had arrived in Central European reality.

We knew that this was going to happen sooner or later, he added.

He said while in Hungary no infection has been detected yet, “we cannot delude ourselves into believing that Hungary will be left out of this”.

We, too, must prepare for the threat of actual infection, that the virus will also appear in places where it is not present yet, he said.

Mr Orbán said they had reviewed the threats and precautions, and had coordinated the activities of their governments.

He pointed out that the prime ministers had identified two threats, a threat to public health and a threat to the economy.

Today they concerned themselves with the threat to public health because “people are more important than the economy and money,” the Prime Minister stated.

He said he informed his Visegrád counterparts about the situation and the measures adopted in Hungary.

We have an internationally accredited laboratory, and are able to determine the presence of the virus within a few hours. At the same time, we are monitoring border-crossing points, Mr Orbán said.

The Prime Minister highlighted that there was a difference in the characters of the Visegrád countries; in the countries situated North of Hungary, people are more disciplined than we Hungarians are.

“Today, however, my message to the Hungarian people is that they should not take this issue lightly because everything depends on whether we will be disciplined enough,” he said.

Mr Orbán added he had observed how disciplined the preparations were in the three prime ministers’ countries. “We will learn much from this,” and if necessary we will also rely on their assistance.

(MTI)