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Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, Prime Minister, Dear Robert.
We have to get used to the fact that things change rapidly in world politics, and rapid change does not tolerate formalities. This is why working meetings and working visits such as the one we have had today are becoming an increasingly important part of the political agenda. So I think that there will be ever more of them in the future.
This was a meeting opening the year. I am grateful to the Prime Minister for presenting Slovakia’s plans for 2025. I was also able to tell him what the Hungarians are preparing, where there are shared points, shared challenges and joint tasks. In these fast-changing times, personal friendships are becoming more important, and so the Slovaks and the Hungarians are lucky, because our relationship goes back many years. I am a long-standing admirer of the Prime Minister, and this personal friendship enables our two governments to coordinate and act swiftly and jointly when necessary. I am surprised to hear such a heated debate in Slovakia on the issue of foreign policy orientation, because I agree with the Prime Minister that there is no doubt that both Slovakia and Hungary are members of NATO and the European Union. And this will remain the case. In Hungary, moreover, both of these issues were decided by referendum, so the Government has no scope to change it. We have no intention of doing so, but we also have no possibility to do so. But within the Western world, to which we both belong, there have been rapid and extremely profound changes – even in the last few days. We Hungarians are often described as being isolated in international politics. In contrast with this, since yesterday we are the mainstream. The Western world stands on two legs: the American leg and the European leg. As of yesterday we are in the majority in the whole Western world. The ideas that the day before yesterday were said to be an isolated position are now the mainstream position. We have returned to history’s main street. This is true if you listened to the new US president’s speech yesterday and read his decisions. It is true in terms of gender, it is true in terms of migration, and it is true in terms of the war. The Western mainstream is pro-peace, pro-family, and anti-migration. This is the new mainstream. So whether there is a change in foreign policy is not in doubt, because there has just been a major change. And as two friendly, neighbouring countries, it is our task to align our interests in terms of how we can jointly respond to these changes.
I have told the Prime Minister that it remains in Hungary’s interest for the war to end as soon as possible, and that in the coming year, in 2025, we will continue to subordinate everything to the goal of the soonest possible restoration of peace in Europe. I have also told the Prime Minister that I believe that there are two places in the world that have yet to see how quickly everything has changed. One is Brussels, where they continue to pursue a pro-war policy. If I may say so, I would say that it is time to sober up; but Brussels is still in the inebriation phase, and it will take some time to adapt to the new situation. And the other place where change is not being taken seriously is Kiev/Kyiv. I must say that it is bad news that Brussels still wants to finance the war. Continuation of the war is bad news for the European economy. Continuation of the sanctions policy is bad news. These sanctions mean that Hungary is losing billions of euros every year. We were pleased to hear that your Prime Minister raised his voice against the Ukrainian decision on transit of gas, which is also unfavourable to Hungary. For a long time Hungary has been saying that the whole sanctions regime – not just this one element, but the whole sanctions regime – is bad for European economies, and certainly bad for Hungary. We need low energy prices. What Kiev/Kyiv is doing today is driving up the price of energy. What Brussels is doing today is driving up the price of energy. Families cannot stand it, and businesses cannot stand it. It is up to us to make a political decision, and prices will go down. And we need low prices. In November, Dear Robert, you were in Budapest when the twenty-seven prime ministers took a decision and we obliged the Commission to deliver low energy prices in Europe by June. This decision in Kiev/Kyiv runs completely counter to that.
So, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is clear that in the first meeting of the year we have also identified some issues that are very important for both countries. I also told the Prime Minister that after the war it will not be easy to find the right policy direction towards Ukraine. Because even when the war is over, there will still be a huge amount of weapons out there, which in itself is a risk for neighbouring countries like Hungary. There will be a constant risk that the money that is owed to us – which is, by the way, the money of the Slovaks and the Hungarians – will be diverted by Brussels to Ukraine. There is a daily temptation to do this, and we must block it on a daily basis. This is more likely to affect Hungary, but it will not leave you untouched either. Our farmers, our agricultural businesses, will also be ruined if we allow the unrestricted flow of agricultural products from Ukraine into the European Union market. So if we want to protect our interests we will need regional cooperation; and judging by our discussion and negotiations today, I can say that, on the basis of our agreement, this cooperation between our two countries will be in place in 2025.
I would also like to say that we have a lot of good news to share on bilateral issues. Not for a long time have our relations been as successful as they are now. Now I am speaking from a Hungarian perspective. Now for the first time I have seen that Slovakia has become Hungary’s second most important trading partner. So Slovakia is Hungary’s second most important trading partner after Germany, ahead of Romania, ahead of Poland, and ahead of Austria. This has never happened in history, or at least if it has it must have happened so long ago that we cannot even remember it. Economic cooperation between our two countries is a fantastic asset. This includes joint efforts between us, because we have built bridges, we have opened border crossings, and we have interconnected our electricity grids; and we are interconnecting, and now expanding, our natural gas connectors, adding about 1 billion cubic metres – 900 million cubic metres – of gas capacity. This will help both of us even more, but especially Slovakia; because if you do not get gas from Ukraine, you can get it through Hungary at a reasonable price, or else at a very high price from the West. So Hungary’s responsibility towards Slovakia has increased. We are aware of this, and we will fulfil – I have promised the Prime Minister this – the obligation that this places on us.
Now I will also refer back to political debates, since the Prime Minister mentioned them. You will recall, Dear Robert, that we were lambasted when we decided to build a gas pipeline linking Slovakia to Hungary, and when we built it. The experts told us – because, of course, the knowledge of the experts is narrow but thorough – that it would never pay off, that it was a pointless investment, that nobody could see what it is good for. And here we are in 2025, and if this pipeline did not exist, today Slovakia would only be able to get gas very expensively, from the West. The existence of this pipeline is what allows us to bring cheaper Russian gas from the south to Slovakia. It is a very important experience that strategic decisions should never be left to experts: strategic decisions should always be taken by political leaders. This is why today we have the opportunity to agree – as we have agreed – to increase the capacity of gas transport between our two countries by 900 million, by almost 1 billion cubic metres.
I will stop here. I could say a lot more, because we have talked about a lot of things, but this is enough. I am sure that after our meeting today we will continue to have working discussions later this year. Of course I thank you for the invitation, and Prime Minister Robert Fico, Dear Robert, you have an open invitation to visit Hungary, where you are always welcome and greatly respected.
