Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Speech before receiving the Macedonian Goce Delčev Award
Your Excellency, I ask you to accept that I will speak Hungarian to the Hungarian press.
Before saying thank you for this acknowledgement, which this community has awarded Hungary through me, it is important that I provide the public with an explanation of how I have found myself in this position of receiving an award here today. There are two reasons for this. The first is that there is always a strong feeling of brotherhood in Hungarians with regard to countries whose history has been determined by fate in a similar manner to our own. Although Macedonia may have lived through decades under a communist system that was somewhat different to that in Hungary, it nevertheless suffered from the same things – a lack of freedom, the repression of national culture, the attacking of the right to free movement – which we Hungarians also suffered from. So this is one of the reasons why Hungary openly stands up in support of Macedonia within the international arena; the feeling that we share a common fate. This isn’t fair, we feel. We rarely put on balance – although politics is the art of balancing – who likes what we say and who doesn’t, because when we are talking about freedom and history then there is no space for balancing, and Hungary will always stand by Macedonia in this regard.
The second reason for today’s event is less of a Hungarian, national issue, and more so an international one. We believe that the communities to which Hungary currently belongs, namely NATO and the European Union, have a debt to pay with regard to Macedonia. This debt is also present in the case of a few other countries, but it is most poignant in the case of Macedonia. This debt must be settled. We Hungarians don’t like being in debt; we like to settle our outstanding debts as quickly as possible. Both NATO and the EU should do likewise as soon as possible. Because both NATO and the European Union are based on the principle that countries who undertake the responsibilities that go with being members of the community, the responsibilities that go with NATO membership and the responsibilities that go with being members of the EU, and who are prepared to become members of these communities, must not be denied membership. Macedonia is prepared, it has committed itself, it has completed the required tasks and it is ready to assume the related responsibilities. It is incomprehensible why an international community that is based on such principles – NATO and the European Union – should accumulate such a debt because although it itself recognises that Macedonia is ready to join them it nevertheless does not allow entrance and in fact is not even prepared to begin accession talks with them. We all know that the underlying cause is the fact that there is an ongoing dispute between Greece and Macedonia, and Greece is a member of both NATO and the European Union. We do not wish to influence this dispute with our own standpoint, because that is up to the two countries involved, but the standpoint that we certainly do represent within the international community is that this dispute cannot prevent the commencement of substantive talks with Macedonia on NATO and EU membership. Because what is happening today is that the commencement of the negotiation process itself is being blocked because of the dispute, which quite simply isn’t fair. We feel that what is happening is bad for Macedonia and is far from what may be called historic justice, and it is also bad for the international community of both NATO and the European Union. This is the standpoint that Hungary has represented so far and will continue to represent in future. I explained this standpoint in the closing memorandum of the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union, which I prepared for the EU, and this is the standpoint that we will continue to represent in future. So, I wanted to tell the Hungarian public this background information so that they may understand why the Macedonian community, which is endeavouring to unite its diaspora, should even think of giving a Hungarian Prime Minister any kind of acknowledgement. This is the background to today’s event.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In addition, I would also like to tell you that although this award is being presented by an organisation that was formed to facilitate the unification of the Macedonian diaspora, we feel that the whole Macedonian nation is behind this award. This makes this award especially valuable. And so we view this award that I will soon be presented with as an acknowledgement given by the whole Macedonian nation, but in fact it is being received by Hungary for the support and solidarity that we have already shown and will continue to provide towards the affairs of the Macedonian nation. This award may be presented to individuals, but there is a whole nation behind this one. This award will be presented to Hungary. Our greatest desire it to soon welcome Macedonia to our community.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The name of this award is also interesting, because the award is named after a revolutionary, and so in addition to our common national fate such an award may also be interpreted in a wider context with relation to freedom. In my opinion, this and other similar awards also symbolise the belief and tradition, which I think is a common thread in both Macedonian and Hungarian history, that the struggle to achieve freedom is never hopeless. The fight for freedom and independence may sometimes experience difficulties, and it may sometimes seem that we are set to lose the fight, but neither we nor the Macedonians have ever accepted that it is a hopeless cause, and this common belief in national freedom and independence adds to the value of this award.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
And what’s more, the individual after whom the award is named also symbolises the fact that the cause of freedom and national independence is capable of uniting people from all walks of life when it comes to important national issues, because Goce Delčev was a Macedonia revolutionary.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
And so in summary I would like to say that this award is a great honour. This award expresses universal values. This award also reinforces the friendship and cooperation between Macedonia and Hungary and we hope it will contribute to assuring that Macedonia receives the justice it is owed by NATO and the European Union, i.e. by the international community. We wish you much luck in achieving your objectives!
Thank you for your kind attention.
(Prime Minister’s Office)
