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Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.
This was the 5th meeting of the European Political Community, Hungary’s largest diplomatic event: 42 heads of state and government, leaders from the European institutions, the Council of Europe, the NATO Secretary General, and a representative from the OSCE. The situation we have discussed today can be described as difficult, complicated and dangerous. Peace, stability and prosperity in Europe are simultaneously threatened. The war launched by Russia against Ukraine is raging for its third year, the Middle East is in flames and there is a danger of escalation, there are destabilising conflicts in North Africa, illegal migration is a relentless challenge and is approaching its previous peak, and the global economy is experiencing the kind of fragmentation and bloc formation not seen since the Cold War. We have come together because we believe that we can respond to these threats better together than we can separately. My personal assessment of the situation is that we have all sensed that history has clearly accelerated and that there is no time to waste. The US elections have closed a chapter, the world will change, and it will change faster than we think. Huge issues are at stake: war or peace; migration or protection; the formation of blocs or connectivity; subordination or European sovereignty.
Now, this is a consultative meeting, so we have not taken any formal decisions. Therefore in reporting to you now I am summarising the thoughts expressed in a consultation in which, moreover, there were a good number of differing opinions. I can talk about what there was agreement on. There was agreement on the need to respond to the US election result. We have to acknowledge that big changes are coming, and we have to react to them. There was agreement that there should be peace in Europe as soon as possible. There was agreement that Europe should take greater responsibility for its own peace and security in the future, and that – to put it more bluntly – we cannot expect the Americans to be the only ones protecting us. And there was also consensus on Europe needing to remain a meaningful player in the negotiations and processes ahead of us that will decide the future. These will affect the fate of Europe, such negotiations will take place soon, and Europe must be present there with the necessary weight, in order to influence the decisions that will be taken later.
The timetable is that we have a plenary session, and then we have working groups, and we participate in the work of those groups. There was a working group on economic security, and there was a working group on migration. I will not describe these now, but the leaders of the working groups can summarise their work for you if they wish. But I would just like to make a comment on migration. For a long time now I have observed that this issue has the power to create enormous tensions, because the question of migration is once again placing strain on the European institutional framework. Everyone is dissatisfied with the current situation and everyone wants change. In my contribution today, what I have found is that there is a major, towering obstacle blocking political leaders’ desire for change. It is an obstacle that needs to be broken through. In our profession this is called judicial activism. We decide things, governments implement them, and our joint decisions run up against first European and then national judicial decisions; in this way the progress we make on reducing migration is suddenly shattered. The only exception to this is Hungary, which has always been on the side of rebellion against judicial activism. I do not believe that we can stop migration if we do not rebel against the laws and court rulings that are currently in force.
In summary, I can say that we all thank President Emmanuel Macron for launching this platform – this form of cooperation – two years ago. We have agreed that we need to continue it and we need to strengthen it. And we have all undertaken to be the guests of Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana, Albania, next May. I wish him every success in continuing the work.
