“Major political decisions and solutions must take into account the will of the people and respect minority opinions”, Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog said on Tuesday at a conference in Budapest.
The two-day conference, entitled “Hungarian-German Relations from the Perspective of German Reunification”, was jointly organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Antall József Knowledge Centre and the Andrássy Gyula German Language University of Budapest. In his opening speech, Mr. Balog stressed that the above principle is a fundamental European value and one must always strive for consensus, and this also applies to the current wave of migration. “The current situation may pose a significant challenge, but we should never give up the search for a consensus”, he added.
The Minister also emphasised that in order to prevent the deployment of new fences within Europe, Europe’s external borders must be properly defended. “We must be open to taking people in, but we must also have the right to decide who we will or will not accept; this is a prerequisite for integrating the people we take in”, he stated.
With regard to German reunification, Mr. Balog said an important fundamental principle at the time was that reunification must occur within the Western alliance system and there could be no neutrality with regard to politics, the economy or values. Hungary was an important ally of the Germans in this endeavour, and not just Hungarian politicians, but also the Hungarian people, he recalled.
The Minister said he believed Hungarians and Germans alike have learned their lessons from history and one very important conclusion was that major political decisions can only be made while taking into account the will of the people.
German Ambassador to Budapest Heinz-Peter Behr said he was glad to be able speak as the representative of a reunified Germany, adding that the moment of reunification is key to understanding Hungarian-German relations and Germany will always be grateful for the role Hungary played in it.
Talking about the refugee crisis, Ambassador Behr said that Budapest and Berlin may have diverging views on the subject, but such minor disagreements cannot be allowed to put the friendship between the two nations into question. In the Ambassador’s opinion, the friendship between the two countries will contribute to finding a common solution that both Budapest and Berlin believe must be found jointly by Europe or the international community.