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Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen.
May I speak Hungarian? We are happy to be here in North Macedonia, we thank the Macedonian government for inviting us, and – as we are two friendly countries – I would like to convey the Hungarian people’s greetings to the people of Macedonia. I would like to inform the journalists that today was the eighteenth meeting between the Prime Minister and myself. I do not want to conceal the fact that there is a sense of kinship in the relations between the Prime Minister’s party, VMRO, and the Hungarian governing parties, Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People’s Party. We never confuse party affairs with state affairs, but in two friendly countries it is always good to have two sister parties in government, because this makes cooperation easier – and I expect that to be the case in the years ahead. With this in mind, I have invited the Prime Minister and his government to Hungary, so that the next intergovernmental summit can take place in Hungary on the date designated by the Prime Minister. After more than a decade, I am an official guest here in your country at the right time, because this year we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries. This gives me the opportunity to tell you that, according to the Hungarian viewpoint, both peoples have a long history, and the history of both peoples has essentially been characterised by struggles for freedom and against foreign oppression in the interests of our nations. The similarities between the two countries and the two peoples are the will to live – including, incidentally, a love of life – and national pride. I am convinced that here they think what we think in Hungary: that the greatest value for a country, for a nation, is national pride.
As you have heard from the Prime Minister, our most important issue is your country’s accession to the European Union. Hungary is holding the rotating presidency this term, so it was only natural that we should talk about this at great length. The Hungarian position is well known: the stability of the entire Western Balkans region and its integration into the European space is in the interest not only of Hungary, but of the entire European Union. Enlargement, the accession of a new country, is not a problem or a challenge, but a huge opportunity. We can all see that countries already in the European Union, including Hungary, have lost momentum, as Mr. Draghi elegantly says in the report that he has just published. We have lost competitiveness, but indeed the European Union has lost the momentum of economic development, and one of the most obvious ways of regaining this momentum is through enlargement. We are not happy about the fact that Ukraine and Moldova have been offered a fast-track route for purely geopolitical reasons, and that the merit-based approach has been completely sidelined. We understand the geopolitical considerations, and they must be taken into account, but it is unfair and unjust that countries that have been working for years to be able to enter the European Union on merit are now being pushed back. It is not fair, it is not equitable, it is not European. So, for our part, during the Hungarian Presidency we consider it most important that the integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union remains on the agenda and that we take tangible steps in that direction. Accordingly, we would also like to accelerate the integration process for Macedonia, for North Macedonia. We stand ready to hold a chapter-opening intergovernmental conference – or, failing that, a political intergovernmental conference.
If the Prime Minister will allow me, I would like to say a few words about the past few years. So the peoples and countries of the Western Balkans deserve better than the treatment they are getting from Brussels today. I would point out that these countries should already be in the European Union. North Macedonia, for example, has been a candidate country since 2005, and was a candidate country together with Croatia. In 2008 it already received a positive response regarding membership at the same time as Croatia. And since then Croatia has been admitted, but negotiations with North Macedonia have not even started. This is a mistake on the part of the European Union that I cannot see as anything other than being a mistake of historic proportions. And this mistake can be compounded, because what we are now talking about is that now you are going to be ranked behind Albania, and negotiations with Albania are going to start before those with North Macedonia. There is no moral or political justification for this whatsoever. This unfair disadvantage in Europe is a difficult legacy for the current government. Hungary is ready to help North Macedonia in the face of unfair, unjust treatment.
Let me now say a few words about bilateral cooperation. First of all, let me remind you that during the summer we provided assistance in forest fires. We sent here 46 – almost 50 – firefighters and disaster relief workers, together with serious technological equipment. I hope that they worked well and were able to help you. I mention that we have helped you because this was in return for the help we have received from you over the last decade in the fight against migration, especially in 2015–16. It was then that we Hungarians really understood that, in addition to historical empathy, Macedonia is not only a friendly and benign country, but also an important country for Hungary’s security. You play a key role for the security of the Hungarian nation, given that your country is on the illegal migration route. And if you do not protect your borders, we will have to fight this battle on the Serbian–Hungarian border. So it is in our interest that you should have a stable government, a successful government, a government that wants to stop illegal migration; and we will give you all the help you need to have such a government, if that help is needed. In our discussions we pointed out that in the recent period 2,400 Hungarian police officers have been patrolling the southern borders of Macedonia, of North Macedonia, and 17,000 illegal border crossings have been prevented by our police officers in cooperation with your police. This is a fine achievement, and a good basis for future cooperation. This is also why Hungary is ready to enter into financial cooperation, and we consider the credit line offered to you – if North Macedonia needs it – as an investment in Hungary’s security. I would like to reiterate: we Hungarians are interested in North Macedonia being a stable country, and in it having a stable government and a predictable partner in you personally. We are also ready to enter into economic cooperation, and we have experience in this area; we know what good cooperation is and what bad cooperation is. This is why we are pursuing a policy of cooperation everywhere in the Western Balkans – not only in North Macedonia, but everywhere. We expect you, your government, to indicate the direction of cooperation and also to choose the form of cooperation. Hungary is a country in good shape, it is growing, it has capital which can be invested abroad and which is ready to be invested. But North Macedonia belongs to the Macedonians, and where and with whom the Hungarians can cooperate here in your country will be entirely your decision. We will respect that decision. We are also happy to have been able to talk about culture, science and education. Hungary provides state scholarships for students from Macedonia, from North Macedonia, to come to study in Hungary, and we would like to see more of them come, so that we can establish friendship and cooperation between our two peoples in the longer term.
Prime Minister, we look forward to seeing you in Hungary!
