Huge protests in Serbia, Vucic honoured in Budapest

The largest protests in Serbia’s history have been taking place in recent months, with many calling for President Aleksandar Vucic’s resignation while he is in Budapest for talks. Viktor Orbán has been full of praise.

Orbán: Vucic ‘champion of Balkans stability’

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has called Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic “the champion of the Balkans stability”. Orbán told a joint press conference after meeting Vucic in Budapest on Monday that Serbia’s stability was key to that of the region, “and Serbia is stable if it has a strong, determined leadership”.

Orbán noted that earlier in the day Vucic received “the greatest Hungarian honour” from the country’s president. Hungary and Serbia have faced similar challenges several times in the course of their history, Orbán said. “Some leaders recognised that; others didn’t. Today, we’re celebrating the fact that Serbia has a president who did recognise this, and acted on that recognition to shape Serbian-Hungarian relations,” he said.

Regarding energy security, Orbán declared that Hungarian energy security did not exist without Serbia and vice versa. “Intensive preparations” for construction of a 300 km oil pipeline between Serbia and Hungary is under way, he said, adding that the energy security of both countries would be enhanced as a result. Last year a record 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas came to Hungary via Serbia, 2 billion more than the previous year, and this was indispensable to the Hungarian economy and households, he said. Work is under way to double the volume of cross-border electricity links, he added.

Orbán referred to efforts to destabilise Serbia-Hungary relations, and said both countries were under pressure by those who “are closing off money taps” and supporting the activities of NGOs. “But, face to face, we have achieved great outcomes,” he added. “We’ll break new records” this year in trade, investment and border developments, Orbán insisted. Serbia “is an extremely successful country” which has recently raised real wages by 9 percent. “Hungary has managed to keep the pace in that friendly competition.” At the same time, Serbia achieved a 4 percent growth this year “which Hungary only aspired to”, he said, adding that Hungary wanted to catch up this year.

“We Hungarians see Serbia as one of the most successful, if not the most successful, country in Europe,”

Orbán said, adding that Serbia had successfully resisted the pressure “and did not get dragged into a war that we hope will end soon”.

Orbán praised as an “enormous achievement” the fact that 40 percent of Serbia’s foreign trade is conducted outside the European Union. Serbia had a successful connectivity strategy and had managed to build important economic ties in all directions, he said, adding that that had resulted in a “much more balanced system than ours”. Hungary took this as an example, he added.

Asked about the pipeline, Orbán said the investment was of strategic importance. “Energy is a circulatory system: if it stops, the economy dies,” he said. The pipeline is the most important among Hungarian strategic investments. “A moment could come when our lives depend on it.” Read details: Hungary and Serbia to build joint oil pipeline.

Meanwhile, Orbán said that he was taking a stand against efforts to destabilise the region. “We’re not blind,” Orbán said. “What’s taking place in Slovakia and Serbia doesn’t happen by itself…” He said he would combat any attempts at destabilisation “without interfering in the domestic affairs of any other country”. Destabilisation, he said, was “bad for everyone”. Trouble arises if people “living here do not decide what happens and the governments they elect do not decide what happens”, the prime minister said. “That’s why we must stand up for our sovereignty.”