It is important that Poland and Hungary should continue to stand up for what they believe is right, Beata Mazurek, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm (lower house of the Polish parliament) and Miklós Soltész, Minister of State for Church, Nationality and Civil Society Relations at the Ministry of Human Capacities pointed out after Mr Soltész handed over in the Sejm the resolution of Parliament regarding Hungary’s solidarity with Poland.
In the resolution of 20 February Parliament expressed its solidarity with Poland, and called upon the Hungarian government to stand with Poland in the procedure instituted by the European Union under Article 7. Beata Mazurek thanked Budapest for its solidarity, Mr Soltész told the Hungarian news agency MTI on Thursday.
They confirmed the positions of the two countries regarding migration are identical, meaning that “they make it clear that they will not become recipient countries”, Mr Soltész added. The parties agreed that European solidarity “should, and indeed it does, manifest itself in providing assistance on the ground in the Middle East”. However, “we shall not allow the composition of our peoples and our culture to be changed, and we shall not tolerate the imposition of a completely different culture on our countries”, the Minister of State laid down.
According to Mr Soltész, at his meeting with the Deputy Speaker of the lower house, the parties mentioned in this context that “we must ensure the survival of Christianity” as in their view “most of the countries in Western Europe give up their traditions of two thousand years, Christianity, and increasingly open the way for Islam”. As he said, they agreed that “church closures and the development of no-go areas” amply demonstrate these threats.
Mr Soltész and Lőrinc Nacsa, President of the Young Christian Democratic Union (IKSZ), who also attended the meeting at the Sejm, further told MTI that the President of IKSZ handed over to Beata Mazurek the banner which was signed by hundreds of participants of the demonstration held at the Bem Statue in Budapest on 26 November 2017. The banner features the Polish and Hungarian flags and the inscription “We Stand With Poland”. IKSZ organised the pro-Warsaw demonstration in response to the fact that the plenary meeting of the European Parliament held on 16 November 2017 adopted its decision regarding the rule of law in Poland based on which preparations started for the institution of the procedure under Article Seven of the EU Treaty against the country. The organisers of the demonstration sought to demonstrate that young Hungarians, too, stand with Poland, Mr Nacsa said.
By his account Beata Mazurek was happy to receive the gift and she will pass it on to Speaker Marek Kuchinski. The Deputy Speaker highlighted it is important that Hungarian-Polish relations should intensify not only at the level of so-called high politics, but equally among young people, reported Mr Nacsa who believes that “standing up firmly for one another can guarantee the future of Europe”.