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.
As we wrote a two weeks ago, an Anti-Hungarian banner displayed by Slovan supporters at the match against DAC, details and photos HERE.
Hungary, Slovakia planning new road links, bridges, train services
Hungary and Slovakia plan to build three new connecting roads along with three new bridges and plan to launch new train services between the two countries, Orbán said, adding that the reconstruction of several old border crossing points was also planned. He said they had agreed on the need for constant developments as part of their bilateral cooperation.
Under an earlier agreement, Hungary and Slovakia increased the number of border crossing points from 22 to 40, “but now we need more roads, bridges and rail links,” Orbán said. As we wrote earlier, Slovakia and Austria close borders with Hungary: everything you need to know
US-Russia talks ‘basically eliminated danger of escalation’
“Our task in Europe would be to welcome peace initiatives concerning the Russia-Ukraine war, as the fact alone that the US and Russia are in talks has basically eliminated the danger of escalation,” Orbán said. He told that the war had no solution on the battlefield, “so we Europeans, in Brussels too, should be supporting peace initiatives.”
Orbán: Democracy ‘in member states, not Brussels’
“Democracy is not is Brussels but in the member states,” Orbán said.
Orbán told a press conference held with PM Fico that “the competencies of member states are being constantly curbed by stealthy amendments of competencies and by the misinterpretation and re-interpretation of the basic treaty”. He said that was “wrong and disrespectful.” “We want … Brussels to show respect for member states, and not only symbolically but also by respecting their interests,” he said.
Asked how the representation of European interests could be guaranteed while member states were lobbying for growing sovereignty, Orbán said Brussels was not the one to guarantee European values for member states. “The situation is not that Brussels is the guardian of democracy and then tells us what democracy is. It is the other way around, Brussels comprises bureaucrats.” Democracy in Slovakia or Hungary is not guaranteed by Brussels, but rather “we are guaranteeing the democratic nature of Brussels from Slovakia and Hungary, against the bureaucracy there,” he said.
Read here for more news about relations between Slovakia and Hungary.