At a meeting in Budapest of Hungarian heads of mission, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that the Visegrád cooperation (V4) is the closest and most effective alliance in Europe. His Slovak, Czech and Polish counterparts urged for the unity of Europe to be restored.
The conference was opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary in the presence of the foreign ministers from the other three V4 countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Mr. Szijjártó stressed that the V4 is an alliance which is brave enough to say how things really are, and to speak honestly, instead of giving in to the pressure of hypocritical and politically correct forms of expression. The V4 is “in the best shape, at the best time”, as the EU is simultaneously facing a number of serious challenges, he said. The Minister also added that in these extremely turbulent times, the joint voice of the V4 countries is louder than that of its individual Member States; the alliance has de facto become an important factor in the discussion on Europe’s future.
Mr. Szijjártó explained that on truly urgent matters the members of the V4 call a spade a spade, and – instead of chasing illusions – they want to give genuine answers to these problems. One of the secrets of the V4’s success is that they pursue policy based on mutual respect, he added. This has led to a situation of historic importance: to “historic peace” in Central Europe. He added that we have never been as interested in each other’s success as we are now.
Among the things expected from the heads of mission, Mr. Szijjártó pointed to the following: establishing the closest possible cooperation with V4 partners at Hungary’s foreign representations around the world; representing Hungary’s and Central Europe’s position in the discussion on the EU’s future in a decisive manner; and – following last year’s records – striving to break every foreign trade record again.
Mr. Szijjártó explained that the best guarantee of achieving everything that has been set as a Hungarian national objective is if the V4 countries cooperate wherever they are represented in the world; this is because Hungary’s goals do not contradict those of the other three V4 countries.
He said that, in discussion on the EU’s future, ambassadors must represent the position that security is the number one priority, and that the policy which encourages hundreds of thousands of people to set off towards Europe must be discarded. The mass immigration crisis poses threats, and our task is to protect ourselves against these, he stressed.
The Minister pointed out that good answers to the difficult challenges are given at Member State-level, not in Brussels, and that therefore the V4 oppose efforts which would take away further competencies from Member States in order to raise them to EU-level; EU institutions must end their unchecked expansion.
Continuing with the subject of the position to be represented by Hungarian diplomats, Mr. Szijjártó said that the EU’s laws must be respected by all. We do not accept double standards, just as we do not accept someone being criticised for complying with the rules.
The Minister also emphasised the importance of enlarging the EU.
He said that 2015 was the first full year in which the new Hungarian foreign affairs institutional system was operational, and all previous foreign trade records have been broken. As a consequence it is expected that all records will also be broken this year. There is a realistic chance of achieving this, but even more work is required in order to do so, he added.
Poland’s foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski stressed that Central Europe expects to be taken seriously and to be regarded as a partner. Speaking about the NATO summit in Warsaw, he said that it has brought about stronger European cooperation, and has reinforced the conviction that not a single Member State should sidestep its responsibility.
He called Russia’s actions since 2014 a crack in the security structure, but he also said that hopefully the country does not want to undermine NATO’s credibility. He added that they want to implement a positive agenda, but for this Russia must show an attitude which can rebuild trust.
Mr. Waszczykowski emphasised that it is important that the Visegrád Group contributes to the security of Europe and the region with military exercises and cooperation in the field of defence.
The Polish foreign minister also talked about Brexit, and urged people not to avoid talking about the EU’s future. He went on to say that the V4 wishes to participate in the discussions on reforms “with a strong voice”: an open, honest and unbiased dialogue must be opened, because a divided Europe is weak. We would like to move towards an unorthodox solution, he said, stressing that a community of trust must be established with citizens, Members States and institutions participating in it. In order to achieve this, he underlined, it is important that the voice of national parliaments is heard in Brussels and that the European Commission conducts a less biased policy.
Talking about migration, Mr. Waszczykowski said that a policy based on the effective protection of external borders is a sound one, and he also said that the Eastern Partnership is successful. Further developments are needed in the fields of energy and transport infrastructure, in order to be able to give more flexible answers to crises. He also urged broader economic cooperation, stressing that the EU’s budget must be established in a way which serves growth, and which does not increase Member States’ reliance on EU funds.
Czech minister of foreign affairs Lubomír Zaorálek pointed out that people in the Czech Republic are also worried and live in constant insecurity. In recent years something has fundamentally changed in the world: the self-confidence and feeling of stability that had earlier been the norm has disappeared, he said. The work of politicians and diplomats has also changed: it has turned into continuous fire-fighting, he added.
Governance is based on unspoken assumptions, according to which every crisis can be solved; Europeans are very self-confident in this respect, he said. This, he explained, may be why governments are accused of being incapable of solving the migration crisis and of protecting their people from the impacts of globalisation. These could be legitimate criticisms, but they may also be based on unrealistic expectations.
Mr. Zaorálek said that the coming period must fundamentally be about decisions: after Brexit the most important task is securing the stability of the European project. Brexit itself has to be regarded as the beginning of radical institutional changes, he explained.
The Czech foreign minister stressed that the European Commission must be unbiased and credible; it should represent compromise and unity, but currently this is not the case. The task is to restore European unity in order to combat the current mistrust, he added.
Talking about the V4 cooperation, Mr. Zaorálek said that it has been proven that this form of cooperation is a useful means of asserting shared interests, especially in the field of migration.
In his speech, Slovakia’s foreign minister Miroslav Lajcák stressed that the V4 can achieve much more together than they can individually, adding that the crisis has turned their cooperation into a closer alliance.
He pointed out that currently Slovakia is the president of the EU, and although they do not want to pretend that their programme can solve all problems, they would like to urge a pragmatic approach and the setting of specific goals. Europe must be brought together; the people’s voice must be listened to, he stressed, so that the EU can deal with their real problems. He added that it is also important to establish a sustainable migration and asylum policy within the Schengen framework, and to support Europe in assuming a global role.
Talking about Brexit, Mr. Lajcák said that the closest possible relationship must be maintained with the United Kingdom, and that the current uncertain situation should not remain in place for too long. It is also important that no additional dividing lines emerge in Europe, he added.
The Slovak foreign minister said that the EU has two options: either it reacts to the needs of its people, or it ends up in permanent crisis. We must not allow euro-scepticism to gain more ground, he stressed: the EU is the solution, not the problem.