Slovenian-Hungarian governmental meeting hold in Slovenia – Photos

Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, January 22 (MTI) – A fence should be built on the Macedonian and Bulgarian borders with Greece to stem the influx of migrants, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on the sidelines of a Slovenian-Hungarian governmental meeting in Brdo pri Kranju on Friday.

“If we cannot secure the outer border (of the EU), regardless of how costly or demanding that is, we will destroy the Schengen regime by ourselves,” Reuters quoted Orbán as saying.

Orbán told a press conference after the joint governmental meeting that Hungary firmly supports Slovenia’s initiative for international efforts to create a second protective barrier along the northern borders of Greece. He said Hungary saw it as a “natural and moral obligation” that it should help Slovenia’s efforts to handle the migrant crisis by sending police officers and equipment.

Orbán said the issues addressed at the joint governmental meeting in Brdo included bilateral economic ties, which, at two billion euros, were below their potential. Strategic cooperation was needed which would include creating motorway, railway and energy links, he said. Plans include widening the M70 to a four-lane motorway along its full length by 2018 and connecting their countries’ electricity grids and gas pipeline networks. These issues are important for both states from an energy as well as a security point of view, he said.

“Koper means a sea exit for Hungary” and Hungary has interest in developing its port and the rail link leading to it. A credit line of 370 million euros has been secured for this purpose, Orbán said.

Orbán said he had asked Slovenia to support Hungary’s bid for the 2024 Olympics.

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar told the joint press conference that the EU needed a joint solution within weeks to the migrant crisis to avoid conflict between countries.

“We do not have time until spring to find a solution. We need a solution within weeks … if not, we can expect conflicts between countries,” Reuters quoted Cerar as saying.

Slovenia announced on Thursday that it would reject all migrants except those seeking asylum in Austria or Germany.

As regards relations with Hungary Cerar agreed that tapping opportunities to the fullest was necessary in future. Road, rail, electricity and gas network projects will have priority, but there is unfulfilled potential in agriculture, forestry and tourism, he said. Cerar said the Hungarian and Slovenian minorities living in each other’s country were key to their relations and satisfied with their situation.

On the subject of migration Orban said after the press conference that Slovenia, Germany and Serbia have never made disparaging statements about Hungary, “not even in the worst times” of the crisis. Even when there were disagreements between them, they always gave Hungary the respect that it deserves in international relations. But Croatia and Austria have far overstepped the line, he said.

Several European states want to protect abstract principles and ideologies, but “we want to protect actual people,” Orban said. “We don’t want compromises, we want a solution,” he said.

On the subject of Schengen he said the basic principles contained in its treaty must be observed: guaranteeing the protection of external borders, and all members keeping to their obligations. Bulgaria should be admitted into the Schengen zone because “its contribution was exemplary” in the migration crisis, while other countries should be asked whether they still wanted to stay a part of Schengen. For Hungarians, who suffered through a travel ban (in communist times), Schengen is a “symbol of freedom,” Orbán said.

Photo: MTI

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