PM Orbán and Slovak Socialist PM Fico discuss friendship, migration, and gas supply

Conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks with his socialist counterpart, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, in Bratislava (Pozsony) on Monday.

Hungary-Slovakia gas supply capacity to be increased by 900 m cubic metres

The capacity of the interconnector between the gas networks of Hungary and Slovakia will be increased by another 900 million cubic metres, PM Orbán said. At a joint press conference with Slovak counterpart Fico, Orbán said it was “regrettable” that Ukraine was blocking natural gas transit across its territory.

“We don’t think this is the path of the future,” Orbán said. “It’ll be very difficult for Ukraine to establish closer ties with Europe like this; they should show much more understanding towards our countries and should also consider our economic interests.”

Noting that the capacity of the gas interconnector between Hungary and Slovakia has already been raised once to 3.5 billion cubic metres, Orbán said he and Fico have agreed to increase it by another 900 million cubic metres.

Orbán said he and Fico were also in agreement that since both Hungary and Slovakia are landlocked countries, they should insist on being exempt from the sanctions on crude oil imports.

Orbán: Hungary ‘migrant-free country’

“We are a migrant-free country, and we don’t want to sacrifice the future of our children for a misguided migration policy,” PM Orbán told a press conference.

“I am convinced that no one may limit member states’ sovereignty on migration policy, and no one may decide instead of Hungarians and Slovaks whom they have to live with as a result of migration,” Orbán said. That decision must be rooted in national sovereignty, he said.

Orbán: Hungary-Slovak relations at an all-time high

It is not an exaggeration to say that Slovak-Hungarian relations are the best they have ever been, PM Orbán said. Orbán thanked Fico on behalf of Hungary and Hungarians for “the many bold decisions, expressions of friendship and initiatives” he had taken recently to promote the two countries’ friendship.

“If someone had said 15 years ago that we’d be standing here talking about the two countries’ relations in this tone, most likely few would have believed this to be possible,” he said. Orbán said Slovakia and the Slovak people would always be able to count on Hungary, and Hungarians, too, were counting on Slovakia given the two countries’ “numerous shared interests”. The prime minister said he considered Hungary’s ethnic Slovak community “a valuable and respectable part” of the country, vowing to do everything he could to ensure that they preserve their cultural and political identity.