Foreign minister: Hungary needs strong Europe
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó, in a lecture at the University of Bonn on Monday, argued for a strong Europe composed of strong nation states.
“If there is any country that needs a strong Europe, it is definitely Hungary,” he said, noting that Hungary, located in the middle of Europe with an open economy, has a history of losing out in conflicts between east and west.
Europe, he added, faces historic challenges, so it is natural that there are debates about its future and on how to secure a strong Europe.
Whenever “someone strays from the mainstream” in the debate on the European Union’s future, it is wrong that they immediately get labelled “un-European”, he said.
Szijjártó said some wanted weak EU member states within a kind of united states of Europe. Yet strong integration between weak countries is hard to achieve, he argued, adding that Hungary believes strong member states are needed.
Szijjártó named migration among the EU’s ongoing challenges. He said migration had heightened the threat of terrorism in Europe.
When hundreds of thousands are allowed to enter the continent unchecked, certain terrorists take advantage of such a lax policy, he said. This is why migration is also a security issue, he said.
Meanwhile, he said every country should have the opportunity to provide its own solutions to its demographic challenges, and this did not necessarily have to be in the form of immigration.
Border protection is also a question of sovereignty and even the Schengen Agreement mandates the protection of Europe’s external borders, Szijjártó said.
The minister also said Europe should return to its Christian roots. He called it “unacceptable” that Christian symbols were being removed in certain places in western Europe.
He also touched on the issue of the EU’s next budget, saying that its implementation should be preceded by a fair debate. The distribution of EU funds does not depend on the generosity of western European countries, Szijjártó said. “We have a right to these funds,” he said.
The minister also said the EU should place greater emphasis on the bloc’s enlargement. The larger the EU, the stronger it will be, he argued. Hungary knows what it is like when there is peace in the Western Balkans and also when there is instability, he added.
In response to a question, Szijjártó noted that a few years ago several thousand people crossed Hungary’s border illegally “and it is not clear how they would have had the right to do that”.
He said the migrants had rejected any sort of cooperation with the authorities and “took over public spaces”.
Hungary does not judge another country if it wants to build a multicultural society, but other countries should not judge Hungary, either, for following a different path, Szijjártó said.
Featured image: MTI
Source: MTI
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EU Split is clearer and clearer: Dutch lead rebel states angry at Macron in row threatening to tear apart bloc France and the Netherlands have come to blows over a Dutch-led alliance within the European Union, in a row threatening to tear apart the unity of the bloc.
French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, ambushed the EU’s new Hanseatic League – a group of small northern and Baltic countries – during a dinner in Paris claiming closed clubs threaten the future of the European project. His scathing attack prompted Dutch foreign minister, Wopke Hoekstra to hit back saying: It is not one group against another. The Dutch has spearheaded the Hanseatic League, which is an alliance between Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The group aims to push back on French President Emmanuel Macron’s plans for the eurozone budget, by instead focussing on more national responsibility in the single currency area. There are suggestions French officials have grown exasperated as the alliance threatens to reflect Mr Macron’s lack of work to change the direction of eurozone reforms within the bloc. Mr Hoekstra added: The job for someone in a position like my own is to make the most of the hand you are given. I’m a realist. My job is to do what is in the best interests of the Netherlands, and of course keep my eye on what is in the interests of Europe as a whole. It is not one group against another said Dutch foreign minister, Wopke Hoekstra. When 40-year-old Mr Macron was made French President in 2016, he rose to power as EU golden boy with plans to ratchet up the federalisation of the 60-year-old bloc’s core economies. But this alliance looks to be unveiling Mr Macron’s failure to make a dent, with one member of the group boasting: We have the collective size of France with the competitiveness of Germany. Hanseatic League is also in response to stronger Franco-German relations under Mr Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel (Sauer) following Brexit. But Germany is said to be pushing for the alliance quietly from the corners, while France publicly attacks it. German finance minister, Olaf Scholz said last week: I am from Hamburg, we are the traditional ancient Hanseatic League. The Hanseatic League takes its name from the famous group of northern states that dominated commercial activity in northern Europe from the 13th to the 15th century.
It seems that more and more politicians are copying Mr. Ortbán Viktor, the real great leader in Europe!