9 July 2021, Ljubljana
First of all, I’d like to thank the Prime Minister of Slovenia for inviting us.
The cooperation of Central European countries is not a matter of theory, but of practical reality. As the Prime Minister himself said, during the pandemic the countries represented here today helped one another in an exemplary manner.
A very important six-month period lies ahead of us, in which the EU will have to face very serious issues: migration; soon the Commission will release its “green package”; the relaunch of the economy; and enlargement. We’re fortunate that during such a difficult period of six months, the presidency is held by none other than Slovenia. And we’re fortunate that the prime minister here is none other than Janez Janša: he’s now leading the presidency of the European Union for the second time; and he belongs to the “club” that emerged during the period of anti-communist resistance, which gives him a historical perspective when judging European Union affairs. So we’re fortunate, and we have high hopes that Slovenia will provide the EU with an excellent presidency.
We’re convinced that currently the most important issue is the relaunch of the economy. This requires three things: investment, security and the expansion of markets. There will be investment if we don’t raise taxes: taxes should not be increased, but reduced. There will be security if on the issues of immigration and migration we continue to be united in representing our firm position: one which does not support any kind of migrant distribution quota. And finally, as we need to expand our markets, this will be possible if we admit the countries of the Western Balkans into the European Union as soon as possible, thereby increasing the European Union’s strength. In the coming months Hungary will do everything it can to support the Slovenian presidency so that it can be a success.
