Polish parliamentary delegation hold talks in Budapest

Budapest (MTI) – Zsolt Németh, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, on Friday discussed the role of central Europe in the future of the European Union with members of a Polish parliamentary delegation.

Central Europe has a lot to say about the kind of future it envisions for the EU, Németh told a press conference after the meeting. The region does not strive to be “an alternative to the EU”, but wants to be a part of it, Németh said.

He noted that the two countries’ parliaments recently approved a resolution declaring 2016 the year of Hungarian-Polish solidarity marking the 60th anniversary of the anti-Soviet uprisings in Poznan and Budapest.

Németh said areas of bilateral cooperation on which the two countries can concentrate include transport and energy infrastructure developments.

Grzegorz Schetyna, Németh’s Polish counterpart, called bilateral relations excellent, and said the two countries will continue to maintain strong ties in the future regardless of what parties may be in power.

Schetyna said the meeting focused on the EU’s challenges, the Visegrad Four cooperation, the situation in the bloc’s eastern neighbouring regions, advancing business ties with China and the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw.

Asked about the European Commission’s criticisms of the Polish government, Schetyna said that as an opposition politician, he agrees with most of the commission’s concerns. It is the Polish government that must now address those concerns over the state of the Polish constitutional court, he said.

Németh said that over the past years, the Polish government had been highly supportive of Hungary and now the Hungarian government is prepared to demonstrate the same kind of solidarity towards Poland.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters