Hungarian Conservative

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary intends to put forward a significant plan during its EU presidency called the European Competitiveness Pact. He believes that Europe’s biggest problem at the moment is the decline in competitiveness.

The Hungarian MVM Group is set to buy a stake in Shah Deniz, one of the world’s largest natural gas fields, in Azerbaijan. This move will significantly strengthen Hungary’s energy supply and represents another major step towards independence from Russian energy sources.

Among other agreements, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced preparations for the joint development of a high-speed railway connection, aimed at enabling swift and comfortable travel from the Liszt Ferenc Airport to the centre of Budapest. In addition, the possibility of building an oil pipeline between Hungary and Serbia will be explored with Chinese and Serbian partners, as well as the expanding of Sino-Hungarian cooperation to nuclear energy initiatives.

Hungary and Slovakia recently signed a cooperation agreement on nuclear energy with the goal of coordinating research between the two countries and making joint efforts to apply the latest technologies.

‘Since the European Union currently refuses to contribute to the financing, Brussels has lost any right to intervene in where Central European countries, including Hungary, source their natural gas from,’ Péter Szijjártó stated.

The government does not intend to hinder Sweden’s NATO membership, the Hungarian foreign minister stressed, noting that he has been in continuous consultation with Turkish leaders regarding both the Swedish and earlier, the Finnish NATO accession. Regarding the Ukrainian conflict, Szijjártó stated that as a neighbouring country, Hungary is in a unique position due to the large Hungarian community living in Transcarpathia.

During his joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, Péter Szijjártó said the cooperation between the two countries has always been characterized by mutual respect. Hungary has always supported the right of the Jewish state to self-defence and to guaranteeing its security, the minister nailed down.