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Viktor Orbán: Hungary, Serbia need to protect border together
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Hungary and Serbia must cooperate to protect their borders, the security of their citizens and their cultural identity, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after a Hungarian-Serbian government meeting in Budapest on Friday.
At the press conference, held together with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Orbán thanked Serbia for its help in stemming migration along Hungary’s southern borders. If needed, Hungary will also help Serbia with border controls in the south, he added.
Orbán also said that the four Visegrád Group countries — Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia — were urging Serbia’s European Union integration. “The achievements of development in Serbia are obvious,” Orbán said, and suggested that the EU should see that country as an asset, “especially in light of the fact that Serbia’s protecting itself against migration is also protection for the whole of Europe.” Serbia has a key role in the region, Orbán said and added that “there is no peace in the Balkans without Serbia”.
Orban highlighted the two countries’ seeing eye to eye over political issues.
He referred to Hungary and Serbia as “countries with national foundations”, which can cooperate very well.
“This is so much better than deceptive internationalism, which covers up problems; instead, we will identify, manage and resolve those problems,” he insisted.
The prime minister welcomed that the turnover of bilateral trade had grown by 30 percent last year and reached a record high. He also highlighted the presence of Hungarian investment in central and southern Serbia. “Promoting the ethnic Hungarian economy will help Serbia’s integration in the European Union,” he added.
