Poland

Pro-govt group COF: Oct 23 Peace March ‘will be message to all of Europe’

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The Peace March being organised by the pro-government Civic Union Forum (COF) and associated COKA foundation on the Oct 23 national holiday will show all of Europe that Hungary’s government enjoys mass support, a member of COF’s board of trustees said on Sunday.

Tamás Fricz told public broadcaster Kossuth Rádio that there had not been a greater need for a Peace March since the first one than now.

“The Brussels bureaucrats, the Soros network, the globalist-liberal forces and financial circles are gearing up for a final showdown so that after ousting the Orbán government they can institute a way of life which Hungarians reject,” he said.

“We must therefore defend traditional values, our way of life, our national independence, Christianity and our family policy and show them that Hungarians will resist the pressure from the global elites.”

EuCET conference takes place in Budapest

Tomasz Sakiewicz, editor-in-chief of Polish weekly Gazeta Polska, said that thousands of the Hungarian government’s Polish supporters could attend next week’s march,

given that they could not take part in this year’s commemorations of the March 15 national holiday due to coronavirus restrictions.

He said the message of historical anniversaries was that Hungarians and Poles were constantly fighting for their freedoms. They are forced to do so today as well, he said, arguing that freedom was under threat in Europe because the continent’s most powerful countries were looking to “crush democracy”.

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Read alsoEuCET conf: the EU must be built on a community of sovereign nation-states

EuCET conference takes place in Budapest

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Threats to the freedoms of EU citizens, the sovereignty of families and nations and anti-Christian manifestations of open society ideology are the main topics of a two-day international conference. It is organised in Budapest by the European Union Civil Cooperation Council (EuCET) set up by the pro-government civil organisation COF-COKA, on October 15-16.

EuCET, a civil umbrella organisation of Christian, conservative NGOs, foundations and trade unions representing the cause of national identity, has been established with a mission to “return Europe to the basic principles laid down by the founding fathers”, the head of COF-COKA told a press conference prior to the event.

The council will in this spirit address issues such as double standards applied by Brussels, the threat of parallel societies emerging as a result of migration, the deteriorating demographic situation in Europe, possible measures to halt illegal immigration to Europe and the protection of its borders, László Csizmadia said.

Minister: Christian democracy nonexistent in western Europe in original sense of the word

“A dictatorship of minorities and non-governmental organisations” will also be discussed at the event by the representatives of 13 European NGOs and trade unions, he said.

Tomasz Sakiewicz, editor-in-chief of Poland’s weekly Gazeta Polska and co-founder of COF-COKA, said at the same press conference that convening the EuCET was timely in the current “critical moment” when Brussels had blocked EU funding Hungary and Poland were entitled to and “calls into question democratic constitutions”.

“Poland wants to remain a member of the EU, but will not accept rules imposed onto the country,” Sakiewicz said. “European institutions should follow the model of Hungary and Poland, because these two countries represent the future of Europe.”

According to its press release, participants at the EuCET conference support the council’s objective of “changing negative developments in Europe”.

EuCET’s primary objectives include preserving Europe’s Christian cultural heritage, nurturing its traditions and defending the sovereignty of nation states. EuCET supports a Europe based on the cooperation of nation states as against a federal Europe, the press release said.

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Read also Hungary defends utility price cuts against Brussels’ plans

Egypt needs support from EU countries, says El-Sisi in Budapest

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt

Egypt is in need of support from European Union countries, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt told a press conference after meeting Visegrad Group leaders in Budapest on Tuesday.

El-Sisi thanked Visegrad Group leaders for their support. While their backing is important, the leaders of western European countries should also understand that “Egypt’s leadership respects its people and strives for development”, he said.

Egypt needs support to improve its political, economic and cultural situation rather than “being called out on human rights”, he said.

The question is whether “Europe is ready to offer brotherhood to Egypt,” by offering cooperation with its universities, and by “taking its industry there to provide jobs for Egyptians.”

Unless those needs are answered, “we cannot talk about legal standards,” he said.

The Egyptian government has “spent trillions of Egyptian pounds” in the past years on improving infrastructure and water management in rural Egypt, home to some 60 million people, he said.

On the issue of migration, el-Sisi noted that

Egypt has not allowed “a single ship transporting migrants to leave Egyptian ports” since 2016.

At the same time, the country has received some 6 million migrants from African countries and treated them as “guests … they are taught at our schools and treated in our hospitals,” he said.

Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said the meeting was “further proof that Egypt was one of the most important parrtners in the Middle East”, with great impact on the region’s political and security challenges, such as the fight against terrorism and curbing migration.

Egypt’s “exemplary” way of handling migration should remain sustainable, Heger said. Egypt’s security and stability has direct consequences for the stability of central and eastern Europe, he said.

Slovakia “welcomes and supports full political dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and Egypt, he said.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the meeting was “an important step towards the stabilisation of the European Union”. “Calm” in the Middle East, and opportunities for social and economic development, are key to preventing terrorism and migration, he said.

The Visegrad Group will “try to convince the EU’s western states” of the importance of economic cooperation with Egypt, Morawiecki said. He praised Egypt for “stopping migration towards Europe” five years ago. The Visegrad Group would like to help in that task, he said.

Migration should be “solved where the problem is” by fostering economic development there, he said.

Poland has already sent coronavirus vaccines to Egypt and is slated to send a “few hundred thousand doses” more, he said.

Morawiecki also praised Orban as a “consummate chess player” able to “think a few steps ahead and foresee danger”. Brussels should follow the Visegrad Group’s lead, which puts weight on security, on preventing terrorism, and on economic cooperation with other countries “under the leadership of Hungary and Viktor Orban.”

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Read alsoEgypt’s foreign minister meets with V4 countries counterparts

Orbán on V4-Egypt summit: Strengthening Egypt is in the EU’s “vital interest”

visegrad group egypt

Strengthening Egypt is in the European Union’s “vital interest”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after a meeting of representatives of the Visegrad Group and Egypt in Budapest on Tuesday.

Orbán told a press conference held jointly with Slovak counterpart Eduard Heger, Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that migration was much worse now than in 2015, and the EU could not cope without external allies such as Egypt, “one of the most obvious allies”.

At the meeting, Morawiecki reported on the migration pressure at Poland’s eastern border, Orbán said, adding that the pressure on Hungary’s southern border was also increasing.

“We are beseiged,”

the prime minister said, adding that if Egypt cannot pursue its current policies to rein in migration towards Europe, “we will all be in great trouble”. Egypt not only needs its border controls reinforced, the country’s economy should also be stabilised so that “local youth are offered opportunities of a good life,” Orbán said, adding that it was also in Europe’s interest.

Orbán called on the EU to convene the EU/Egypt Association Council as soon as possible, accept Egypt as a strategic partner and approve its proposals against terrorism.

He proposed that the EU adopt Egypt’s list of terrorists and terrorist organisations, and suggested that European restrictions preventing Egypt from purchasing equipment for border protection should be lifted.

Orbán said that

no ship carrying illegal migrants had left the coasts of Egypt since 2016. “If there is a will and good leadership, migration at sea can be restricted or even prevented.”

Talks will continue in the afternoon, focusing on economic cooperation, Orbán said, adding that such cooperation was a Hungarian priority.

Hungary’s Eximbank has opened a separate chapter to ensure that “Hungary not only exports goods but sets up factories in Egypt”. Such businesses could offer jobs to local youth, while Hungary could also contribute to European efforts aimed at stabilising the Egyptian economy in the long run, he added.

Orbán also said that

the Egyptian president’s visit was an honour, adding that “ties are friendly and brotherly”.

There are no open issues between Hungary and Egypt and the two countries “benefit a lot from good bilateral ties especially in terms of the economy”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after meeting his Egyptian counterpart in Budapest on Monday.

 

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Read alsoEgypt’s foreign minister meets with V4 countries counterparts

Egypt’s foreign minister meets with V4 countries counterparts

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Stemming the waves of illegal migration requires external allies such as Egypt, an “extremely important partner”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with his Visegrad counterparts and the foreign minister of Egypt in Budapest on Monday.

According to a foreign ministry statement, Szijjártó said Europe had been under constant pressure from migration since 2015.

The minister insisted that the Visegrad Group countries had cooperated and thwarted plans to introduce migrant quotas in Europe, adding that “had we not succeeded, thousands or even tens of thousands of illegal migrants would now be living in our countries”. Close cooperation is still needed, he said, adding that “one mistake is being made after another” on the international stage and “irresponsible remarks are threatening even greater migration waves.”

Referring to a potential 4 million refugees leaving Afghanistan, Szijjártó said:

“We now hear proposals that those migrants will have to be redistributed.” He added that Europe was now facing migration pressure from the East, too, at Poland’s borders.

Concerning Egypt, Szijjártó said the country had proven that migration by sea could be stopped by shutting maritime borders and eliminating human smuggling rings. “It would be to good purpose if the EU changed its attitude towards Egypt accordingly. It would be good to turn down the volume of statements condemning Egypt, and it would be also good if the European development funds for Egypt in fact arrived,” Szijjártó said, adding:

“We will continue to rely on Egypt in the future”.

V4 countries will assess whether Egypt is being hindered by European sanctions in obtaining technologies that would make its border controls more effective, Szijjártó said.

The talks, attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Jakub Kulhanek of the Czecz Republic, Mariusz Blaszczak of Poland, and Slovak foreign affairs state secretary Martin Klus, were held in preparation for a V4-Egypt summit on Tuesday.

Blaszczak underlined the importance of protecting the external borders of the EU in Poland.

Illegal migration and terrorism pose serious threats, he said, adding that responsible governments must do everything to protect their citizens.

Shoukry also underlined the importance of efforts against illegal migration. Egypt currently accommodates between 5.5-6 million immigrants and needs assistance from the international community, he said. Egypt is making great efforts to fight extremist ideologies, he added.

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Jobbik MEP: The EU is forced to act – How long can we let our common norms be questioned?

European Union Flage
Remarks from Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi:

The EU’s operation has always been characterized by a certain kind of lumbering bureaucracy when it comes to making hard decisions. In recent years however, the community has more and more frequently suffered serious losses due to its indecision. The Polish constitutional court’s decision to deem certain elements of EU law incompatible with Polish law is just another sign that the European Union can no longer “get away with” failing to take a stance in sensitive issues. Europe is forced to act – but will we realize it?

 

The Polish constitutional court’s decision to deem certain elements of EU law incompatible with Polish law and to state that Poland’s constitution overrides EU law did not come out of the blue. Together with Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, Poland’s governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) has long been testing the EU’s tolerance and trying to distance itself politically from the community and its norms. As a part of these efforts, the Warsaw government has been trying for years to subdue the Polish judicial system to its own political goals by displacing, threatening and sanctioning judges. Fitting into this pattern, the latest decision was made under political pressure, more specifically, upon Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki’s request.

Despite all of that, Poland has so far been able to escape any EU sanctions since another increasingly authoritarian EU member state government, i.e., that of Hungary, has always prevented the initiation of the Article 7 proceedings against Warsaw. In the meantime, Warsaw (just like Budapest) conducted a communication campaign by cherry-picking various European “examples” to suggest that Poland was just doing things that may as well happen in other member states. It is indeed true that Germany’s constitutional court has already questioned the supremacy of EU law in certain cases, but the procedure was met with serious criticism and growing concerns within the community even back then.

Additionally, the latest Polish decision went much further: it questioned the general applicability of EU law in Poland based on political motivations, no less.

The decision may shake the EU’s legal system in its foundations because it may allow Poland to arbitrarily remove itself from under EU law, thus creating a dangerous precedent for other governments and starting such a domino effect that may lead to the European Union being deprived of its substance and becoming irrelevant even in the short run.

It is more clear than ever that the EU can no longer put off settling sensitive issues like this, since the challenges just seem to keep piling up while Brussels’ weak reactions obviously encourage the leaders with a vested interest in the total destruction of the community. The EU is forced to act, and while the concerns about a strong response potentially playing into the hands of Polish anti-EU forces may be justified, the failure to adequately respond to the voices aiming to disintegrate the EU’s legal order from within may be even worse: it may place a heavy burden on EU-Poland relations as well as lead to a political crisis engulfing the whole of Europe.

But what can the EU do in a situation like this? The Article 7 and infringement proceedings are clearly slow and ineffective.

Since 1 January 2021 however, the Commission has been able to apply the rule of law mechanism which was adopted for the exact purpose of settling situations like this.

In addition, Warsaw has been waiting for the €36 billion from the economic recovery package where the rule of law aspects can also be applied, and it’s vital to apply them too, because if Warsaw no longer considers itself to be governed by EU law, then Europe will lose any remaining control over the use of those funds.

The question is: will Europe finally put its foot down or just lie idly by while the “illiberal” politicians simply dismantle the structure built by democrats over the past seventy years?

Hungarian PM’s chief of staff: The decision of Poland’s top court ‘misinterpreted’

Gergely Gulyás Speech

A recent, “clear” decision by the Polish constitutional court is “being misinterpreted in Europe”, the prime minister’s chief of staff said on Saturday, arguing that “the dispute is not over whether European Union law has precedence over national legislation but in which areas it has precedence”.

Gergely Gulyás said that “the case is not about precedence but scope”, adding that in some areas, such as competition law, common European legislation is “indispensable” and its stipulations should be enforced “even to the detriment of national rules”.

Poland’s top court has given an answer “to a bad practice of recent years” under which European institutions “seek to extend their scope of authority to areas in which member states “have never conferred any powers” to those institutions, he said.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán signed a government resolution Saturday morning welcoming the judgement by Poland’s constitutional court regarding the relationship between national and European Union law and requesting that EU institutions respect the sovereignty of member states, the PM’s press chief, Bertalan Havasi, told MTI.

LIBE delegation head: Reservations from 2018 against Hungary still persist

The resolution states that “the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Poland was prompted by bad practice of the European Union institutions, which disregards the principle of subsidiarity and seeks to deprive the rights of the Member States, rights never conferred to the European Union, by stealthy extension of powers without amending the Treaties of the European Union”.

“The primacy of EU law can take precedence only in areas where the European Union has competence, the framework of which is laid down in the Treaties of the European Union,” it states.

The resolution also says “the institutions of the European Union have a duty to respect the national identities of the Member States, which form an integral part of their fundamental political and constitutional order”.

“In addition to the European Union institutions, the law enforcement bodies of the Member States, in particular the constitutional courts and tribunals, are entitled to examine the scope and limits of the European Union’s competences,” it adds.

The government calls on EU institutions “to respect the limits of the sovereignty of the Member States in their operations” in the resolution.

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Read alsoHungarian justice min: EU institutions must respect national identities

Hungarian justice min: EU institutions must respect national identities

Judit Varga Poland

“EU institutions must respect national identities and the political and constitutional system of Member States,” Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a post on Facebook on Saturday.

Varga responded in the post to the European Commission’s announcement on Thursday expressing “serious concerns” over a decision by Poland’s constitutional court establishing that some provisions of the EU’s founding treaties are inconsistent with the Polish constitution.

“According to the majority opinion of the Polish Constitutional Court, EU membership does not mean that the Court of Justice of the European Union can overrule national constitutions or that Poland has transferred its sovereignty entirely to the European Union,” Varga said in the post.

PM Orbán: the EU gives money only if Hungary allows LGBTQ activists into schools

She welcomed the court’s decision, adding that “Brussels’ imperial ambitions must be stopped”.

She said Hungary, like Poland, “believes in the fundamental value of sovereignty and self-determination too”.

“We fully understand the Polish response, which has been triggered by the EU institutions’ bad practice, thus violating the principle of delegation of powers,” she added.

“The time has come to block the stealthy transfer of EU powers!” she said. “They can’t constrain national sovereignty!”

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Read alsoWestern Balkans crucial for European integration, says Hungarian FM in Warsaw

Agrarian summit held in Budapest – V4+4 ministers on the challenges of the region

Agrarian Summit V4+4

István Nagy, Hungary’s minister of agriculture, held talks with agrarian leaders of seven central European countries on challenges to the region on the Budapest fairground Hungexpo on Friday.

Addressing top officials of Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, Nagy called for closer cooperation in agricultural research and joint actions so that the member states could implement the EU’s common agricultural policy under national control, in line with their national characteristics.

180 degree turn: the government backs global minimum corporate tax!

Agrarian Summit V4+4
Agrarian V4+4 Summit in Budapest at the World Hunting Expo
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt

Brussels’ will often runs counter to local agrarian interests, he said, adding that the EU partners should understand that rural regions “are not the periphery but the very heart of the European way of life,” he said.

The minister said that food waste and loss were declining in Hungary but still amounted to 88 million tonnes a year in the European Union. The best way to reduce it, he said, would lie in the digitalisation of the food chain.

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Hungarian passport ranked top 10 in the world

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Despite the rather small size of Hungary, from time to time, it has made it onto the list of the best passports in the world, and in the past two years, it has been in the top 10 even. This year, Hungary has managed to improve its score, placing higher among the top 10.

The Henley Passport Index has been compiled by Henley & Partners since 2006. It ranks all 199 countries around the globe, utilising the data of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to Index, the list is compiled by taking into account where, out of the 227 destinations, a given country’s passport is allowed to travel without needing a visa.

If they allow travel there, they get a point, but if the destination requires a prior visa, then it does not get a point. In this way, it is possible to have multiple passports with the same score, so there are a couple of places in the top 10 where there are more countries tied for the rank.

Top 10 passports in 2021:

  1. Japan and Singapore
  2. South Korea and Germany
  3. Spain, Luxembourg, Finland, Italy
  4. Austria and Denmark
  5. France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden
  6. Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand
  7. USA, UK, Greece, the Czech Republic, Malta, Norway
  8. Australia and Canada
  9. Hungary
  10. Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia

As you can see, the best passports in the world are from Japan and Singapore. With these passports, you can visit up to 192 destinations without a visa prior to your travel.

Planning to come to Hungary? It might be difficult to find a tour guide!

This also includes destinations where you can acquire a visa at the border of the destination. If you want to travel, you need to keep that in mind. The second-best passports let you travel to 190 destinations, meaning that the competition is tough. In seventh place, where the most tied passports are, they let you travel to 185 destinations.

That is where Hungary comes in. According to Nlc, last year, Hungary’s passport allowed entry to 182 destinations, but this time, the country has improved on this by one point, which put Hungary from 10th place to 9th.

Index says that back in 2014, the list was led by Anglo-Saxon countries, but for the past few years and in 2021 as well, the top 10 passports have been dominated by European countries, save the first rank.

The three worst passports on the list are Syria with 29 destinations in 114th place. Iraq’s passport allows travel to 28 destinations without prior visa, and it was ranked 115th. The worst passport, according to 2021 data, is Afghanistan in 116th place, allowing entry only to 26 destinations out of the 227.

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Western Balkans crucial for European integration, says Hungarian FM in Warsaw

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The Western Balkans must not be viewed as the backyard of Europe but as a key region without which neither transatlantic nor European integration can proceed, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday.

He told a panel discussion focusing on NATO’s next strategic concept that he was not certain that western European countries were fully aware of the significance of the region’s security and stability, the ministry said in a statement. He added that one of the reasons might be that they do not sufficiently know the region because they are geographically far from it.

Szijjártó said it was controversial that while the European Union did not make progress with integration, western ministers often complained that external players, such as Russia, China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia were trying to exert influence in the region.

“How can we win the game if we do not enter the field,” he asked. “If the EU cannot integrate the region, others will definitely do it,” he added.

Szijjártó praised the fact that NATO had enlisted three countries from the region which he said was a great achievement.

“The EU is unfortunately much slower in this regard,” he said.

Szijjártó called attention to the dangers of migration waves, saying that one of the most important migration routes was across the western Balkans.

He said that

some allied countries had placed thousands of Afghans in countries of the region during the evacuations in Afghanistan.

He expressed concerns about such persons not having gone through full security checks, adding that had they been screened, they could have been sent directly to the destination countries. “This poses a security threat for the entire region,” he added.

Szijjártó reiterated that Hungary supported the “open door policy” and supported the enlargement of both the EU and NATO.

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Read alsoHungary calls for speeding up Serbia’s EU integration

Hungarian official: Visegrád is the symbol of democratic intl cooperation

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Visegrád is a symbol of democratic international cooperation between equal partners which Hungary has held important over many centuries, an official of the Human Resources Ministry said on Sunday, greeting a bureau meeting of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.

State secretary in charge of European Union development policy Eszter Vitályos said Visegrád Group cooperation was a mark of joining forces and sharing a common past.

The members are linked not only by a common past and the River Danube but also by the nationalities that live in the area, she added.

Finance minister: Visegrád countries poised to be Europe’s engines of growth again

The role of local authorities in the green economy will get special attention at the two-day meeting starting on Monday and Hungary is one of the main advocates of developing a green economy, she said.

President of the Chamber of Local Authorities Bernd Voehringer said that relations with the Hungarian delegation were excellent and the fact that the meeting was held in Visegrád was a strong sign from the Hungarian presidency.

Hungary fulfils the presidency of the CoE Council of Ministers between May 21 and November 17.

Visegrád Group Held First Joint V4 Defence Ministerial Meeting
Read alsoVisegrád Group Held First Joint V4 Defence Ministerial Meeting in Erdőbénye

Visegrád Group Held First Joint V4 Defence Ministerial Meeting in Erdőbénye

Visegrád Group Held First Joint V4 Defence Ministerial Meeting

Defence ministers and deputy ministers of Visegrád Group countries held the first joint V4 defence ministerial meeting in Erdőbénye, in northeastern Hungary, on Friday to discuss military and defence policy issues, the challenges of hybrid warfare and planned cooperation in military health care.

Hungary’s Tibor Benkő told a press conference after the meeting that the defence ministerial programme for Hungary’s V4 presidency had been discussed and action plans had been approved for coordinating various procedures.

The importance of national defence capabilities was discussed with Slovak counterpart Jaroslav Nad, Polish deputy minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz and Czech deputy minister Jan Havranek, he said.

The strength of the defence system rests on nation states and national army development programmes are also built on them, he added.

Each country pays special attention to hybrid warfare, including cyber operations, and there was consensus about the importance of maintaining a system of reservists, he said.

Hungarian investor acquires majority stake in Czech military aircraft manufacturer

Check out some astonishing photos taken of the Breakthrough 2021 military drill!

The Hungarian, Slovak, Czech and Polish delegations reviewed the experiences to be drawn from the Afghanistan mission and each of the four countries stated that they paid special attention to participation in African missions, such as the Takuba operations. The sides were also in agreement about the importance of maintaining peace in the Western Balkans which is also a priority for Hungary, he added.

Nad said the past 18 months revealed the importance of the army’s medical efforts and thanked Benkő for Hungary’s sending experts to Slovakia.

Havranek said the meeting confirmed that V4 cooperation was working well and while the V4’s joint efforts aim to promote an independent Europe, the participants do not want to weaken transatlantic ties either.

Read alsoBritish army’s special forces armed with extremely powerful Hungarian rifles – VIDEOS

High-speed railway will link Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

The railway transport of Chinese goods offers profitable opportunities for the Hungarian railway system, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, told an event of railway association HungRail on Thursday.

Hungary has already started revamping the Budapest-Belgrade rail line with a view to transporting Chinese goods from Greek ports to Europe via Hungary, a statement of the foreign ministry cited Szijjártó as saying. While that project will be operational by 2025, it would also be “important to draw direct railway cargo traffic from China to the European Union to go via Hungary”, thus “monetising” the country’s geographical position, he said.

Such traffic would warrant further infrastructural development in the northeast of the country, such as the intermodal centre already under construction at Fényeslitke, he said.

The 12 billion forint (EUR 33.3m) investment

will be operational by the end of 2022, Szijjártó said.

Another intermodal centre, planned in the west of the country, would be key to help exports reach sea ports swiftly, he said. Szijjarto again welcomed the construction of a container terminal in Zalaegerszeg, in southwest Hungary, saying the facility will draw further investments to the region.

At the same time, Szijjártó said central Europe was at a competitive disadvantage due to a

lack of high-speed railway lines in the region.

Regional cooperation now aims to construct railway lines linking Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, he said.

Szijjártó praised railway cargo transport for withstanding well the coronavirus crisis. That makes it all the more important for Hungary to take its share from the growing traffic, he said.

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Read alsoHigh-speed rail link to connect Prague and Budapest?

Hungarian secretary in Poland: the child protection law not aimed against LGBTQ people!

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Hungary’s child protection law is not aimed against the LGBTQ community, Miklós Soltész, the state secretary for church and ethnic relations, said in Warsaw on Tuesday, emphasising that the law was about protecting children under the age of 18 and imposing stricter punishment for paedophilia.

Soltész took part in a panel discussion with Polish Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek at a conference on Poland’s and Hungary’s family policies. He said those who were “attacking” Hungary’s child protection law in Brussels “either can’t read, misinterpret the law or are deliberately lying”. The state secretary said children were vulnerable to media content and “the activities of certain civil groups”. That is why in today’s complicated world “it is not just parents, but also governments that bear a great deal of responsibility for them,” he added.

Hungary’s law, Soltész emphasised,

prohibits gender reassignment under the age of 18 and bans “propaganda” promoting gender change to children.

It also makes it illegal to target youth under the age of 18 with any pornographic content, he noted.

Soltész said the law was “not even close to being about” adult members of the LGBTQ community.

Czarnek said neither Hungary’s child protection law nor Poland’s family protection measures which have come under fire from the European Commission were aimed against any specific groups.

Tuesday’s conference was organised by the Warsaw-based Trimarium foundation focusing on central and eastern European politics and society.

PM Orbán: Hungary stands by Poland amid EU ‘abuse of power’

Hungary-Poland-Viktor-Orban
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday met Polish President Andrzej Duda in Budapest, and said that Hungary supported Poland amid “the attack from Brussels”, the PM’s press chief said.
 
The talks focused on current issues, especially on the European Commission’s request that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) impose a fine on Poland until it suspends disciplinary chamber for judges of its supreme court, Bertalan Havasi said.
 


Orbán called the move an “unprecedented abuse of power”. The EC attacked the constitutional institutions and identity of a sovereign state, Havasi cited Orban as saying. Meanwhile, Poland continues to protect the EU’S outer borders from growing illegal migration, Orban said.
 
The procedure is “outrageous, totally unacceptable and pulls apart the unity of the EU”,
 
Orbán said. Hungary issued a statement late on Wednesday, declaring support for Poland. It will also look into ways to back Poland during the court proceedings, Orbán said.

Hungarian stretch of Via Carpatia motorway to be completed by year-end

Motorway
The Hungarian stretch of the Via Carpatia, a transport corridor connecting the Baltic and Aegean Seas, will be completed before the end of the year, President János Áder said after meeting his Polish counterpart in Budapest on Thursday.
 
The Hungarian section will cover 230km of the 3,300km motorway, Áder told a press conference he held jointly with Andrzej Duda. Áder said central Europe in the past had been at an infrastructural disadvantage compared with the rest of the continent, noting the region’s underdeveloped railway, energy and digital networks prior to 1990 and in the early 90s.

On another subject, Áder said Poland was Hungary’s fourth most important trading partner, adding that the annual bilateral trade volume was worth ten billion euros. Fully 100 Polish companies operate in Hungary, employing some 13,000 people, the president added. Áder also touched on the situation on the Belarusian-Polish border, noting that the surge in migrants crossing the border illegally has led to Poland having to declare a state of emergency in its border regions. Áder said the recent developments in Afghanistan were likely to result in even greater migration pressure on Poland, noting Warsaw’s decision
 
to build a fence along a 370km stretch of its border.
 
The president said Hungary had offered to share with Poland its experiences in the construction and operation of its own border fence.
 
Meanwhile, Áder noted that Duda will pay another visit to Budapest in November for the Visegrad Group presidential summit. The V4 heads of state will then meet in the Hungarian capital again at the Planet Budapest 2021 sustainability expo, he added. In response to a question, Áder said he will present his Polish counterpart with the Hungarian Order of Merit, Grand Cross with the chain and golden radiant star, later on Thursday for his efforts to strengthen the friendship between their two countries, advance V4 cooperation and his commitment to launching the Three Seas Initiative.
 


The Polish president said that Poland takes responsibilities of protecting the European Union and Schengen borders “very seriously”. Duda said he had provided detailed information to his Hungarian counterpart about the crisis at the Poland-Belarus border and assured Ader that Poland would use all possible means to protect the borders. Duda also thanked Ader for the assistance in border control Hungary had offered, adding that Hungary’s experience was appreciated.

He noted that during the 2015-16 migrant crisis the Polish army had sent troops to help protect the Hungarian and external EU borders.

Duda also informed Áder about the status of the Via Carpatia construction in Poland, adding that the
 
530km stretch was being built according to plan.
 
He said that the new route was crucial for Europe’s road systems and its completion would be a milestone in road transport. He welcomed Ader’s announcement that the Hungarian stretch would be completed this year, and suggested that Poles could use it to reach their holiday destinations as early as next summer.
 
Duda also welcomed the increasing activity of Polish companies in Hungary and vice versa.
 
He said he hoped that the trend would further increase once the coronavirus pandemic was over, and he noted the recent formation of the Polish-Hungarian economic chamber and how it would further strengthen bilateral ties. Duda said he was looking forward to attend a V4 presidents’ summit planned for November.
 

Hungary, Poland cooperate in handling migration, says FM Szijjártó

Hungary and Poland are closely cooperating in preventing some western European states from imposing on the European Union the “flawed and dangerous” migration policy whose consequences have been felt since 2015, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, said after talks with his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau in Karpacz, Poland.

The situation in Afghanistan, he said, keeps deteriorating, with reports on a forthcoming civil war emerging but half of the population of that country had lived on welfare even before the Islamist Taliban rebels came to power.

“The western European statements that can be interpreted as invitations to all Afghans are particularly irresponsible,” Szijjártó said.

Europe is exposed to migratory pressures not only from Africa and the Middle East, but even from the east, through Belarus, he said, adding that another wave from Afghanistan would entail “incalculable consequences”, he said.

Hungary and Poland’s migration policies “are based on common sense”,

Szijjártó said, recalling that Hungary had built a fence along its southern border in 2015, and Poland is doing the same along its eastern border.

The two governments are not only talking about the need to help where needs arise, the minister said, citing a Hungarian-Polish project to grant 1 million euros’ worth of aid to Jordanian hospitals caring for Syrian refugees.

Szijjártó qualified Western Europe’s current migration policy as a “huge threat” to European security and identity, adding that a massive wave of refugees would increase the risk of the spread of the coronavirus.

Former US attorney general Jeff Sessions
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