Slovakia

Hungary, Slovakia benefit a lot from cooperation, says Szijjártó in Bratislava

slovakia hungary

Hungary and Slovakia both higly benefit from bilateral cooperation, and their reliable partnership is behind their ability to tackle current problems, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Bratislava (Pozsony) on Monday.

Speaking at joint press conference with Rastislav Kacer, his Slovak counterpart, Szijjártó said that when Europe faces serious challenges predictable, reliable and good neighbourly relations are highly valued.

“Hungary and Slovakia have built a predictable and reliable partnership which helps both countries in tackling the security, economic and energy supply difficulties more successfully,” he said.

Szijjártó called both countries reliable NATO partners, noting that Slovakia has contributed several dozen police units to help protect the Hungarian-Serbian border, which he said was “under siege”. At that section, authorities have so far stopped 255,000 illegal migrants this year, he said.

“Your own Slovak police officers can now see first-hand how incredibly aggressive the migrants and people smugglers are,” said Szijjártó.

In terms of economic cooperation, Szijjártó said Slovakia is Hungary’s second most important trading partner, with a record volume of over 13 billion euros worth of bilateral trade reached last year. This year has seen an increase of 43 percent, he said.

In a bid to further develop infrastructure ties, three additional bridges are slated to be completed over the Ipoly river next year. There will also be a road construction project completed and a ferry service launched in 2023, allowing border crossings at another five spots, Szijjártó said.

Slovak foreign minister
Read alsoSlovak foreign minister: Orbán plays from Kremlin playbook

The Hungarian foreign minister welcomed the European Commission’s approval of a 135 million euro joint programme on cross-border development projects under the EU’s current seven-year financial framework.

Speaking about energy cooperation, Szijjártó called the decision to connect the two countries’ gas pipeline and electricity networks “the right and very good strategic decision”. As cross-border capacity has increased by 150 percent, electricity has become the most important commodity imported from Slovakia by Hungary, he said.

Further, he said that by connecting the two countries’ gas networks, an important corridor had been created along the north-south transit route. Hungary is ready to increase gas supplies to Slovakia via the interconnector from the current annual 1.75 billion cubic metres to 5.2 billion in future, Szijjártó added.

He called close cooperation in nuclear energy mutually beneficial, adding that both countries were working on increasing their capacity in an effort to boost their energy security.

Asked about disputed issues between the two countries, Szijjártó said that those had been addressed at meetings held by the mixed minority affairs committee this year. “We have reached an agreement on most of those issues, with very few exceptions,” he said, adding that the co-chairs of the committee would soon meet again.

Hungarian president visit Slovakia
Read alsoPHOTOS: Hungarian president’s official visit in Slovakia

Key figure of criminal network dismantled by Eurojust lived in Hungary

Video, photos: Car chase in Budapest, fleeing man shot at police

A leading figure of the poly-criminal network shut down by European criminal justice agency Eurojust earlier this week who was arrested in Slovakia had previously lived in Hungary, police said on their website on Friday.

The international operation involving law enforcement authorities from 11 countries was aimed at cracking down on the leaders and members of one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the European Union, the operational police force of the National Investigation Bureau (NNI) said in a statement.

The Győr department of the NNI’s international crime department also took part in the operation, in cooperation with their Slovak colleagues, the bureau said.

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The authorities raided the home of a Slovak married couple in Bezenye, in north-western Hungary, where they found drugs, satellite phones and 35,000 euros in cash. Investigators suspect the couple of drug smuggling.

The operation involved investigations across eight countries and led to 44 arrests, the NNI said.

hungarian police drug dealer caught in Budapest
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PM Orbán’s scarf on the agenda at Visegrád 4 meeting

PM Orbán scarf scandal

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wore a scarf depicting Great Hungary at the Hungary-Greece friendly football match. The incident turned into such a massive scandal that even the Visegrád Four included it in its agenda. The Slovak prime minister reacted.

Orbán’s scarf scandal

Viktor Orbán was spotted sporting a scarf depicting Great Hungary at a football match. As we reported earlier, the incident stirred up a huge scandal.

Ukraine, Romania and Croatia expressed their disapproval and demanded an apology from Hungary. Viktor Orbán reacted on his social media page. He said football had nothing to do with politics and we should not have read more into it than it actually was.

Visegrád Four meetings

On Thursday, the Visegrád Group, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland will meet in eastern Slovakia, Reuters reports.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala issued several statements saying that he would bring up Orbán’s scarf at the V4 meeting. “What we hear from time to time about Hungary, whether in the form of statements or political decisions, certainly does not help our situation,” shared Fiala when asked about the Hungarian government’s pro-Russian policy.

PM Orbán scarf scandal
Read alsoPM Orbán’s scarf on the agenda at Visegrád 4 meeting

Slovak Prime Minister hits back

The Hungarian prime minister streamed live on Facebook prior to the V4 summit. Orbán was seen wearing a Slovak scarf, which he shared with Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Hegger, writes rtl.hu.

“Hungary and Slovakia are two good friends! The V4 summit is about to start in Kassa,” Orbán wrote. Heger also shared a picture of the two, writing, “I’ve noticed that Viktor Orbán had an old scarf, so I gave him a new one today.”

PM Orbán scarf scandal
Read alsoPM Orbán’s scarf scandal extends: Austria jokes, Slovakia horrified, Orbán reacted

PM Orbán’s scarf scandal extends: Austria jokes, Slovakia horrified, Orbán reacted

PM Orbán scarf scandal

As we reported yesterday, PM Viktor Orbán wore a Greater Hungary scarf on Sunday’s Hungary-Greece friendly football match. The scarf depicts the silhouette of the borders of the Hungarian Kingdom, and neighbouring countries reacted harshly to what happened. Here is what the Slovaks and the Austrians said.

But why did Orbán wear such a provoking scarf? We do not know. But the fact is that he uploaded a video on his official Facebook page of the meeting with Balázs Dzsudzsák (whose last professional match was on Sunday against Greece) in the VIP lounge after the match wearing the scarf is questionable.

Of course, some neighbouring countries reacted quickly. First was the Romanian foreign ministry condemning the act. The second was Croatia, where the president said it was laughable and Hungary was the best neighbour of his country. Meanwhile, Ukraine summoned the Hungarian ambassador to Kyiv. Furthermore, Ukraine is waiting for an official apology from Hungary, Dmytro Kuleba, the country’s foreign minister, added.

PM Orbán Greater Hungary scarf
Read alsoPM Orbán in Greater Hungary scarf: Romanian government outraged

The Slovak and Austrian reactions came later yesterday. A spokesperson from the Austrian foreign ministry shrugged the issue off with a joke. “A quick glance at historical maps in the Viennese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed initial suspicions, according to which Transleithania (the Kingdom of Hungary) ceased to exist around 100 years ago,” politico.eu quoted him. “We will inform our Hungarian neighbours of this development at the earliest opportunity” he added.

However, the Slovaks were not in a humorous mood. Rastislav Káčer, the Slovak foreign minister, said the Hungarians living in Slovakia were at home and were citizens of the country. But irredentism and revisionism had no place in Slovak-Hungarian relations. He referred to the ongoing war in Ukraine and highlighted where such feelings might lead. He said the prime minister’s behaviour was disgusting, 444.hu said.

Andrej Stančík (OľaNO), Slovakia’s foreign secretary, also referred to Russia’s war in Ukraine and talked about the independence of Slovakia. He added he could not imagine why Orbán picked this particular neckwear. The Slovak vice president of the European Parliament, Michal Šimečka, said such scarves deny the existence of Slovakia. Therefore, they were dangerous symbols.

PM Orbán scarf scandal
Read alsoPM Orbán’s scarf scandal extends: Austria jokes, Slovakia horrified, Orbán reacted

The Czech foreign secretary, Jan Lipovsky, talked about provocation and expressed their understanding towards their Slovak friends in the issue.

Viktor Orbán tried to cut the story short with three short sentences he wrote on his Facebook page. He said that football was not politics and that the national team was the team of all Hungarians living all around the world. The prime minister will travel to Kassa (Kosice, Slovakia) on Thursday for a Visegrád Four summit, where he will probably have to explain the issue.

Interestingly, Serbia has not reacted yet on the issue despite having a Hungarian community of more than 200 thousand souls thanks to the Trianon and Paris treaties. Orbán said on Sunday that their football team would win the UEFA championships in Qatar. Maybe that is why Belgrade chose to remain silent on the matter.

trianon
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“Hungarians are Trojan horses of the Russians” – Czechs and Poles boycott V4 meeting

Visegrád Four

Hungary is usually the last country to agree to EU sanctions packages. They ask for concessions and threaten not to support further sanctions. This is the view of the President of the Czech Chamber of Deputies. Slovakia cancelled the Visegrád 4 meeting.

“Because of Hungary’s energy policy, the European Union cannot have a unified position. The Hungarian government has a pro-Russian policy,” said Seznam Zprav. This is why Czechs are boycotting the upcoming meeting of V4 presidents in Bratislava.

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According to information from Slovak Napunk, the meeting has also been rejected by Markéta Pekarová Adamová, president of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, and Milos Vystrcil, president of the Czech Senate, who said it was a way of signalling their disagreement with the Hungarians.

According to diplomatic sources, the presidents of the two houses of the Polish parliament will not attend the meeting. Slovakia will, therefore, not hold the meeting as planned.

Mikulás Bek, the Czech minister for European affairs, says the Hungarian government was attracting more and more critics, rtl.hu reports.

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Hungary’s southern border is being protected by Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, Austrian and Turkish policemen

Cooperation key to optimal border protection slovakia hungary

Hungary’s southern border is being protected by Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, Austrian and Turkish policemen, in an effort to improve the effectiveness of the effort, the interior minister said in Hercegszántó, in southern Hungary, on Monday.

Greeting Slovak and Hungarian policemen deployed to protect Hungary’s southern border, Sándor Pintér said their sacrifice would improve public safety in Slovakia by pushing back illegal migration.

He reiterated Hungary’s stance that illegal migration should be addressed outside the European Union’s borders and the bloc’s “lines of defence” should be pushed as far out as possible.

The Hungarian government is aware that Hungary is not capable of protecting all of Europe’s external borders, but it wants to set an example to other countries so that illegal migrants on their way to the EU could be stopped as far from the borders as possible, Pintér said.

Hungary is no longer alone with this way of thinking, he said, arguing that Lithuania and Poland have also set up fences on their borders. Meanwhile, Slovakia is sending 40 police officers to help patrol Hungary’s borders and continually contributes to Hungary’s border protection efforts, he added.

Video, photos: Car chase in Budapest, fleeing man shot at police
Read alsoVideo, photos: Car chase in Budapest, fleeing man shot at police

Pintér said migration pressure on Hungary’ southern border was at its highest since 2015. Some 224,000 migrants have tried to cross the country’s border illegally in the recent period, often endangering the lives of the police officers protecting the border, he said.

Slovak Interior Minister Roman Mikulec expressed thanks to all policemen serving at the borders, saying that “protecting the external Schengen borders is the adequate recipe for preventing secondary, internal migration”.

He thanked Pintér for the cooperation aimed at boosting the protection of the Schengen borders and for his support for persuading the European Commission and EU border agency Frontex to put greater emphasis on border protection.

Hungary fence border
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Slovak foreign minister: Orbán plays from Kremlin playbook

Slovak foreign minister

Hungary’s pro-peace government “won’t rise to the provocations of the Slovak foreign minister,” a government official said on Wednesday, reacting to Rastislav Káčer’s remark that “the Hungarian government’s arguments often align with the Kremlin’s propaganda used in its war of disinformation.”

Tamás Menczer, the state secretary responsible for bilateral relations, said Káčer had shown several times in the past “that he doesn’t like Hungarians”. “But we won’t react to provocation, and we’ll work to preserve the strength of the Visegrád Group…” he said. The government will continue to act according to Hungarian interests, and work for the swiftest possible ceasefire and peace, he said.

According to 444.hu, Rastislav Káčer, the new Slovak foreign minister, talked about the foreign policy of Hungary and the Visegrád cooperation in an interview. He said that the Hungarian government’s media campaign arguing the EU sanctions did not work, harm the EU more than Russian and icrease inflation was a mistake. He said that the Kremlin uses such arguments in its disinformation war. “Hungary is alone with that view in the European Union and has become isolated from its Western allies”, Káčer added.

In the Visegrád cooperation, only Hungary’s relationship with Russia is a problem. He said Hungary’s stance towards Ukraine was different even before the war, and it was the only NATO member state blocking the Ukraine-NATO discussions.

Káčer has been serving as the foreign minister of Hungary’s northern neighbour since September.

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New pipelines help Hungary further diversify its energy imports

MOL Hungary pipeline oil refinery bulgaria ukraine

Recently completed pipelines between Greece and Bulgaria, between Poland and Slovakia, as well as the Baltic Pipe Project supplying gas from Norway to Poland, will help Hungary further diversify its energy imports, a deputy leader of Hungarian energy authority MEKH said in a statement on Tuesday.

Pál Ságvári said Europe was witnessing a “golden age” for infrastructure developments aimed at providing alternative energy sources for the region in wake of soaring energy prices and limited access to Russian supplies. He noted there is also a significant demand to upgrade existing pipelines, mentioning plans to double the capacity of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and a “new momentum to complete EastMed”, a pipeline planned to transfer gas from the eastern Mediterranean to south-eastern Europe.

The Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector started operating on Oct. 1, with an annual capacity of 3 billion cubic metres. Baltic Pipe was put to operation at the same time with partial capacity, the statement said, adding that its full capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres.

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The Poland-Slovakia connector was completed in August, as “the last missing component” in the north-south corridor connecting the Baltic Sea with the Adriatic, facilitating shipments between the LNG terminal on Krk island and the terminals of Poland and Latvia, the statement said. Gas from southern Europe, north Africa, the Caucasus, as well as Norway will now be available to all countries in Europe, the statement said. The new interconnector will facilitate shipping 4.7 billion cubic metres of gas to Slovakia and 5.7 billion in the reverse direction, which will also provide Hungary an alternative supply route via the existing Hungary-Slovakia connector, the statement added.

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Hungarian Alliance notches up ‘historic win’ in Slovak elections

Potápi Slovakia

The Hungarian Alliance party notched up a “historic win” in the local and county elections in Slovakia on Sunday, state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for policy for Hungarian communities abroad, Árpád János Potápi, said on Wednesday.

Potápi noted that Hungarian parties in Slovakia had united a year ago, adding that this had “borne fruit”.

He told a press conference that the Alliance had become a major party in southern Slovakia, and they were becoming a strong force nationally, too. It is highly likely that Hungarians in Slovakia will enjoy “very strong” parliamentary representation, he added.

Potápi explained the need for unity with the fact that also the ethnic Hungarian community makes up 8,5 percent of Slovakia’s population, no Hungarian party or one with Hungarian participation managed to win seats in parliament in the last general election.

Deputy PM congratulated Slovakia Hungarian party on local election win

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén congratulated Slovakia’s ethnic Hungarian Alliance party on its results in the recent Slovak local elections, on Sunday.

In his letter, signed on behalf of the Hungarian government, Semjén called Alliance’s success “the fruit of cooperation” between Slovakia Hungarians. Semjén said he trusted that Alliance representatives would “build a strong representation for (ethnic) Hungarians” in Slovakia.

Read alsoFidesz: Budapest may go bankrupt in 2023

Photos: the newest Hungarian-Slovak border bridge will be opened soon

There are several border bridges between Hungary and Slovakia, making it easier to cross the Danube or the River Ipoly. Now, a new river crossing is being built between Ipolydamásd in Hungary and the Hungarian-majority Slovak town of Helemba, and work has reached a new milestone.

The Ipoly became a natural border between the two countries, and by the 1950s only four of the 47 bridges that used to exist had survived.

In 2000, a flood swept away the bridge at Ipoly Damascene, ending the crossing between the Hungarian communities on both banks of the river. The bridge, which is a joint project of NIF National Infrastructure Development Ltd. and Nitra County Municipality, is being built by Colas Transport Construction Ltd., while the two roads on either side are being built by Colas Road Ltd. and Colas Slovakia.

The bridge will have a total length of 71 metres and will cross the Ipolys with a single opening.

The load test of the bridge will be feasible once the access roads connecting to the project are completed. A 540-metre long road will be built on the northeast side of the river and a 175-metre long road on the southwest side.  The Új Szó quotes József Balkó, head of the Nitra county transport department, as saying that the asphalting of the access road to Helemba will be completed by mid-November or by the end of the month at the latest. Gergely Izrael, the mayor of Helemba, told the newspaper that the asphalt of the old road was currently being milled on the ground, and the access road would join the main road at the church in Helemba.

Once the access roads are completed, the bridge will be load tested, but pedestrians and cyclists are already using the crossing. The bridge will not be used for heavy goods traffic, as only vehicles not exceeding 3.5 tonnes will be allowed to cross

The Eurovelo 6 international cycle route will also cross here.

A total of six crossing points are planned between Hungary and Slovakia by 2023. In addition to the three bridges over the Ipoly River, a cycling bridge will be built over the Danube, and a ferry and road link will be constructed, Magyar Építők reports.

The new Helemba-Ipolydamásd bridge will be opened in the first quarter of 2023.

This video was taken on 5 October, but you can already see the structure of the bridge:

Life expectancy has fallen dramatically in Hungary

coronavirus_mask_hungary_street_budapest

Hungary is one of the countries in Europe where the average life expectancy of people has fallen the most, according to a study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

It is important to clarify at the outset that life expectancy is a measure that researchers use to summarise a country’s mortality patterns in a given year. This calculation is based on all-cause mortality, so it is not dependent on the accuracy of COVID death records and can give a broader picture of how the pandemic has affected mortality.

COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a global decline in life expectancy that has not stopped since the epidemic. Life expectancy improved year on year before 2020 in the 29 countries studied by a team of researchers from the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, but there was a more than a one-year decline in average life expectancy in 2019 and 2020, and to a lesser extent in 2020 and 2021, reports Pénzcentrum.

The phenomenon was also observed worldwide, from Eastern Europe to the United States.

Weathered the pandemic well

While Europe and the world have seen a significant decline, northern European countries and Switzerland have weathered the pandemic exceptionally well:

  • In Norway, average life expectancy increased by 1.7 months,
  • in Sweden by 0.1 months,
  • Finland 0.3 months,
  • 0.4 months in Denmark,
  • In Switzerland, the fall in average life expectancy is 0.5 months below the 1-month mark.

These are the countries where life has been shortened the most

Life expectancy fell most in Bulgaria, by 43 months (3.6 years) in 2021 compared to 2019. Slovakia follows with 33.1 months, where people’s life expectancy has been shortened by 2.7 years, and the United States comes third with 28.2 months (2.35 years).

Hungary and CEE region

Hungary is in the top half of the list, in 6th place: more than two years , (24.6 months) shorter life expectancy compared to 2019.

The Hungarian figures are also among the worst in the region. Although Poland, apart from Slovakia, has seen a greater decline in average life expectancy, the populations of other neighbouring countries have not suffered as much from the pandemic years.

The average person in the Czech Republic and Croatia lost 21.9 months (1.8 years) and 21 months (1.75 years) respectively. But Austria escaped with a 7.6 month (0.6 year) setback.

From a Hungarian perspective, however, perhaps more worrying than the raw numbers is that while many countries managed to reverse the downward trend between 2020 and 2021, in Hungary the trend only got worse.

Fidesz MEP condemns ‘profiteering’ from Bratislava slaying

hidvéghi balázs fidesz mep

Hungary’s ruling Fidesz firmly condemns the recent murders in Bratislava, Balázs Hidvéghi, an MEP of the party, said on Thursday, and expressed sympathy with the families of the two victims shot dead in front of a gay bar.

“Any violence based on sexual orientation must be condemned,” Hidvéghi said on the sidelines of a vote in the European Parliament.

He added, however, that his party would not “accept the EP practice of cynically profiteering from a tragic incident and proposing extreme decrees violating the EU treaties”.

He insisted the proposed decree contained “unfounded and unacceptable declarations” concerning Slovak politicians and the church, that it would “interfere with Slovakia’s constitutional rules” and would “in fact stigmatise the whole of Slovak society”.

Fidesz will “not support leftist ideological proclamations”, he added.

Forint plunge: Slovakians, Austrians swarm Hungarian markets

Slovakians Hungarians swarm Hungary forint

Residents of Slovakia have been using the euro since 2009. Austrians have been paying with the common currency of the EU for 23 years. Since the Hungarian forint has been breaking new historic lows against the dollar every week, more and more Slovakian and Austrian citizens decide to do their shopping in Hungary because their money is worth more than ever. Of course, not only Slovaks and Hungarians living in Slovakia come but also Austrians.

Austrians and Slovakians can buy much more for their euro

According to index.hu, three years earlier 1 EUR cost 330 forints. Last week, the exchange rate increased to 430 HUF/EUR. Some experts argue that it would continue to increase. Others warn of the importance of an agreement with the European Commission concerning the billions of euros locked in the EU funds.

The Hungarian central bank intervened on Friday. Thanks to a drastic interest rate rise, the forint’s exchange rate normalised a bit (418 HUF/EUR, 428HUF/USD), but its weakening is far from over, experts point out.

Based on a report from the Hungarian newspaper Új Szó in Slovakia, more foreigners swarm Hungarian supermarkets. Austrians and Slovakians can buy more for their money because of the weak forint. A resident from Rajka, a settlement close to the Slovakian-Hungarian border, said she could buy two times more meat for the same amount of money than in Slovakia. “That is a considerable difference”, she added. The situation is the same in the case of dairy products, vegetables, and fruits. Thus, those who can come to Hungary to do their shopping here.

Even cheaper products are expensive for Hungarians

Index.hu writes that the number of dairy farms ceasing operation in Hungary is rising. That is because of the soaring energy prices and the drought hitting that segment of the Hungarian economy hard. Therefore, dairy product prices will continue to increase in Hungary. In the East part of the country, fodder is a big question mark, while the energy prices pose an insoluble challenge for everybody working in the country. And the question is no longer the quality but the quantity in that respect.

Index.hu reminds us that in July, Tesco started to import chicken breast from Slovakia because there was a shortage in Hungary. That may happen in the future in the case of the neighbours’ products. Thus, it might happen that Slovakians will come to Hungarian supermarkets to buy Slovakian chicken breast cheaper than they could in their country.

 

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Protection of external borders crucial to Schengen area security, says Minister Pintér

Hungary fence border

Europe must protect its external borders so as to guarantee peace and security within the borders of the passport-free Schengen area, Interior Minister Sándor Pintér said after meeting his Slovak, Czech and Austrian counterparts in Bratislava (Pozsony) on Monday.

The ministerial meeting was held at the initiative of Slovakia in the wake of Czechia and Austria recently reinstating checks on the Slovakian border in response to a rise in the flow of illegal migrants.

The four officials discussed boosting cooperation against illegal migration.

Addressing a joint press conference after the meeting, Pintér said Hungary’s position on illegal migration hadd not changed since 2015.

“In 2015, when 391,000 people entered Hungary uninvited, we built a fence and have been protecting the European Union’s external Schengen borders ever since,” he said.

The minister said the pressure on Hungary from illegal migration this year was at its highest since 2015, with the authorities having turned away or deported some 100,000 people so far. He said the fact that some 2,000 people smugglers had been sentenced so far this year was a testament to Hungary’s successful border protection efforts.

Pintér thanked Austria and Czechia for their assistance in protecting the Schengen area‘s external borders, saying that hopefully the new agreements between the four countries would provide further help.

“I hope Brussels will also accept that we need to protect our external borders in order to ensure peace and security within the Schengen zone’s borders,” Pintér added.

Roman Mikulec, Slovakia’s interior minister, welcomed the “constructive” meeting, saying he and his counterparts were in agreement on the need to boost the protection of the external borders, to stop illegal migration outside the Schengen area, and that this required cooperation from the European Union. “Frontex should do what it was created for,” he said.

Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said the message of the meeting was that illegal migration needed to be resolved at the EU level and that the bloc needed to recognise that it had to act.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said “cross-border crime” required cross-border solutions. Though the protection of the internal borders is also important, it is the strengthening of the external borders that is most important right now, he said, adding that Austria will send police officers to help boost border controls.

PHOTOS: Hungarian president’s official visit in Slovakia

Hungarian president visit Slovakia

Types of EU economic sanctions are needed that would cause serious economic strife for the Russian aggressor, not the European economy, President Katalin Novák said on Friday in Bratislava after meeting Slovak counterpart Zuzana Caputova.

Hungary’s position, Novák told a joint press conference, was clear from the very beginning. “We condemn Russian aggression and its attack on Ukraine and support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” she said. Referring to exemptions from the oil embargo, the president said both Slovakia and Hungary had benefitted from “good compromises” in respect of sanctions against Russia. But an assessment of the impact of current and planned sanctions is needed, Novák added.

The president said she would propose at their meeting later on Friday that Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger also support sanctions packages that cause serious economic difficulties for the Russian aggressor rather than the European economy.

As regards the issue of military support to Ukraine, Novák noted a difference in the positions of Slovakia and Hungary, adding however that both countries had taken in a large number of Ukrainian refugees. “Creating peace is in the interest and a primary aim of both of our countries, whereas the prospect of achieving that is not that positive,” Novák said.

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Concerning illegal migration, the Hungarian president called it a mutual interest to avoid the reinstatement of national border controls among countries of the Schengen zone as well as to strengthen Schengen’s external borders.

Novák also addressed the issue of minorities, noting that Slovakia’s recent census shows around half a million Hungarians living there. The possibility of exercising their rights is of primary importance for Hungary, she said, adding that she had asked her Slovak counterpart to do all she could to ensure that the Hungarian community could nurture their national identity. Novák said Hungary’s 35,000-member Slovak minority has a parliamentary representative, adding that the number of Slovak schools had increased threefold and several Slovak cultural institutions had been established.

Here are some photos of her meeting representatives and leaders of the Hungarian community living in Slovakia:

 

Novák highlighted the importance of cooperation in the Visegrád Group comprising Slovakia, Hungary, Czechia and Poland. The V4 “has no alternative, it is a platform for us to represent our common interests most effectively within the EU”, she said, and asked for her Slovak counterpart’s support in connection with the EU’s allocation of the funds to Hungary which the country is entitled to.

Read alsoDomestic food is more expensive in Hungary than foreign food: why?

Concerning economic ties, Novák noted that Slovakia is Hungary’s second biggest economic partner. She noted in addition that the number of border crossing stations between the two countries continues to grow with 41 operating by the end of 2023.

Speaking about culture, Novák noted that Slovakia is the guest of honour at this year’s International Book Festival that opened in Budapest on Thursday. Asked about Slovakia’s upcoming municipal elections, Novák welcomed the cooperation among ethnic Hungarian parties and encouraged Hungarians to cast their votes.

Defence minister: Hungary, Croatia defence relations ‘excellent’

szalay-bobrovniczky and mario banozic

Defence relations between Hungary and Croatia are excellent, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said on Thursday, after meeting Mario Banožić, his Croatian counterpart, in Budapest.

The Hungarian minister called the Headquarters Multinational Division-Centre (HQ MND-C) the two countries had set up in Székesfehérvár, in western Hungary, in 2020, a key element in that cooperation. He noted that Slovakia had joined the HQ MND-C as a “framework nation” in 2021.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky called the three countries a key for NATO’s military command in the region, saying “we know our region best, it is the three nations through which NATO can promote its military interests and command defence operations”.

The Hungarian minister noted that after the outbreak of war in Ukraine NATO had set up a combat unit in Hungary to strengthen its eastern flank. The unit includes 80 Croatian soldiers, of whom 60 are participating in the ongoing Brave Warrior 2022 military exercise at Várpalota which the two ministers would inspect.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky said they also discussed the security of the Western Balkan region and were in agreement that the EU’s ALTHEA E operation was key in that. They also agreed that illegal migration was an increasing threat to Europe’s security.

He said they explored cooperation possibilities in a further development of the two countries’ defence industry. Banožić said that Hungary and Croatia as neighbours, EU members and responsible NATO allies face several common challenges and share many interests. He called defence cooperation an important part of bilateral ties. “Our cooperation in NATO missions demonstrate our common commitment towards strengthening collective defence,” he said.

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V4 defence ministers meet in Slovakia

v4 defence

The countries of the Visegrad Group (V4) have a vested interest in peace being restored in Ukraine as soon as possible, Hungary’s defence minister said on Tuesday.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said after a meeting of V4 defence ministers in Banska Stiavnica (Selmecbanya), in southern Slovakia, that the sides had been in agreement that every effort must be made to prevent the escalation of the war and the involvement of the V4, the European Union and NATO in it.

The meeting focused on the war, the current and future cooperation of V4 countries in defence and the defence industry, army development and the Western Balkans, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.

Hungary’s position on helping Ukraine has remained unchanged, he said, citing the largest humanitarian scheme in the country’s history to help refuges and assist in caring for the injured, and in demining and training in military first aid.

“We condemn Russian aggression and maintain the importance of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he added.