Putin in Budapest – Orbán: West, Russia cooperation in Hungary’s interest
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Hungary’s interest lies in the improvement of cooperation between the West and Russia, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest on Wednesday.
Hungary also benefits if relations between western and eastern Europe, NATO, and Russia are good, the prime minister said.
Orbán noted that Hungary and Russia have been organising high-level summits for reviewing the state of bilateral relations for a number of years now.
On the topic of economic cooperation, Orbán said 2018 had been the first year trade turnover between the two countries had increased since the sanctions against Russia were imposed, exceeding 6 billion dollars.
Hungary wants to strike deals on Russian investments and aims to produce goods it can sell on the Russian market, he said, noting that Hungary has already launched investment projects in Russia’s meat industry as well as animal health and pharmaceutical sectors.
As regards bilateral political cooperation, Orbán said Hungary aimed to ensure that every major global power should have an interest in its success, especially those that have a significant impact on it regionally.
Hungarian-Russian cooperation fits into this approach, he said, arguing that though Hungary was and would continue to be a member of both NATO and the European Union, those memberships did not exclude the possibility of political cooperation with Russia on certain issues.
Orbán highlighted the protection of persecuted Christian communities and the issue of migration as key areas of bilateral cooperation. Concerning migration, Orbán said there were 96,000 migrants making their way to northern Europe via the Balkan migration route, which he said was a cause for concern for Hungary, forcing it to protect its borders.
He added that Hungary and Russia were also cooperating in their efforts to advance the stabilisation of the Middle East. If the region becomes unstable it will trigger an exodus of migrants towards Europe, Orbán said, adding that Hungary was interested in political stability in the Middle East and Syria.
He said this form of bilateral cooperation also extended to the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, noting that Hungary has supported Erbil with troops, financial aid and by training local soldiers.
Asked about Hungary’s decision to veto a joint declaration of NATO ambassadors on Ukraine, Orbán said