Hungarian Conservative

Borjana Krišto emphasized the good cooperation between the two friendly countries and welcomed the work of the Joint Economic Commission between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary, noting that there is significant space and demand for increasing bilateral trade.

During her meetings, Katalin Novák expressed her support for the EU accession of West Balkan nations, visited the troops of the Hungarian-led EUFOR Althea mission, and discussed Hungary’s family support schemes.

In a joint press statement with the Moldovan Prime Minister, Orbán described the eight years since Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the European Union as ‘offensively long’ and expressed hope that some of the lost time may be regained by speeding up accession negotiations.

In several countries of the European Union, the concept of referendums linked to the enlargement of the Union is well known. In 2016, the Netherlands held a referendum on the adoption of the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. The majority of voters rejected the agreement, but as it was only an advisory referendum, so the result did not ultimately bind the Dutch government. France’s constitution requires a referendum to be held before any future EU enlargement. I see no reason why Hungary should not be the next country to have such a plebiscite.

The French and German political elites have apparently grown tired of the never-ending debates about the present and future of the European Union, which are impeding the integration goals they wish to see, and now want to force them to an end. In some ways, this would also mean a break with the ‘Europa auf Augenhöhe’ (‘Europe at eye level’) policy that made the EU so attractive in the 1990s, and it is to be expected that the ‘problematic’ member states of Central and Eastern Europe will not let this pass without a fight.

The minister emphasised during a joint press conference with his Moldovan counterpart, Nicu Popescu, that the geopolitical significance of the Eastern Partnership has become even more valuable in the present circumstances.

Changing decision-making in areas crucial to state sovereignty would create a specific system of majority tyranny where, although it would be easier to adopt a Council position and bring together a majority of votes, political divisions would be further deepened and the democratic functioning and legitimacy of the Union as an institution would be undermined, and the long-term consequences of this would be unforeseeable in today’s already uncertain times of crisis.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Belgrade, for talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.