Hungarian Permanent Conference held in Budapest

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke about central Europe gaining strength as compared to the German-French axis in Europe, at a meeting of the Hungarian Permanent Conference (MÁÉRT) held behind closed doors in Budapest on Friday.

On a recording posted onto the government’s website, Orbán said the volume and value of German-French trade make up merely half of the one between the Visegrad Group and Germany which he called “an unprecedented development”.

The prime minister said he had predicted earlier that central Europe, including the Carpathian Basin, would become the engine of Europe’s economic growth in the years to come.

Orbán said the accession of Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia to the European Union would be a major step towards enhancing central Europe’s importance in geopolitical terms.

“The reunification of the Balkans is a shared interest of the EU, central Europe and Hungary,” he said.

Addressing relations with Croatia, Orbán said that the Hungarian government had always considered the dispute concerning national oil and gas company Mol an inter-company affair rather than an inter-governmental issue.

“I have tried to explain to them that lifting the Mol dispute to inter-governmental level would justify more forceful action by the Hungarian state which would do major damage to bilateral relations,” he said.

Legal conflicts between companies need to be judged by international courts and the Hungarian state will accept all their decisions in order to settle the conflict, he said.

The prime minister said he would pay an official visit to Croatia in early December.

Orbán expressed hope that large cross-border projects can be implemented in Croatia’s Slavonia region and southern Baranya in Hungary.

Commenting on Slovenia, Orbán said that Marjan Sarec, the new prime minister, was performing without fault in all international forums but promoted a different line in migration than Hungary, supporting the UN migration package.

Orbán added, however, that Hungary’s plan to participate in the development of the Koper port and the extension of the rail link there would not be realised. As a consequence,

the Hungarian government has started talks on access to a port and investment opportunities with Trieste instead of Koper, he added.

Commenting on western Europe, Orbán said that “west of Vienna the situation is hopeless in terms of demographics” because multiculturalism has triggered nearly irreversible social trends in large cities. It will be “spectacular” to witness how the structure and order of political representation will change there, he added.