Our common goal is to have peace, and peace can be the guarantee of a common European future, said the President of the Republic Katalin Novák on Friday, in her speech praising former Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble in Berlin.

Wolfgang Schäuble was awarded the Grand Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit by the Hungarian President in recognition of his contribution to the Hungarian-German partnership within the European Union and his exemplary political work in the spirit of commitment to the principle of equality of member states.

At the ceremony held at the Hungarian Embassy in Berlin, Katalin Novák "There is no Europe without Hungary, but neither is Hungary without Europe. Just as there is no Europe without Germany, and there is no Germany without Europe. Our common future is in Europe," emphasized Katalin Novák, adding that our common goal is peace, since the European Community was created because of the desire for peace, and peace can be the guarantee of a common European future.

Now, after the agreement reached in the sixth sanctions package, we must focus primarily on peacebuilding, not thinking about whether to move forward with the sanctions policy, the head of state pointed out.

Wolfgang Schäuble, the longest-serving member of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) - fifty years, since 1972. Former Chancellor, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Finance, parliamentary faction leader of his party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), party president from 1998 to 2000, and president of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2021. Wolfgang Schäuble is one of those politicians "who not only hasn't changed, but is also able to believe that we haven't changed either", underlined Katalin Novák, adding that "today we are the same Hungarians who were in 1848, 1956 and They fought for their freedom 33 years ago".

He explained: Hungarians' identity also includes the fact that they are "linguistically, culturally and often politically alone. That is why those friends who, even if they do not always understand us, continue discussions with us as equal partners, and cannot imagine the future of Europe without us, are especially important.

"We have respected this friend in Wolfgang Schaublé for decades, to this day," emphasized the President of the Republic, quoting from an interview in which the German politician emphasized that "both Germany and the old EU countries of Europe must treat the new member states with mutual respect, they must act as , that the other side has at least as good arguments and can be right as we are".

"We also agree with your statement that whoever tries to undermine European unity in the face of the demand for national identity does not strengthen but weakens Europe," Katalin Novák added at the ceremony, which was attended by diplomats and Bundestag representatives as well as a number of leading German politicians. , including Bärbel Bas , President of the Bundestag and Rita Süssmuth, former President of Parliament.

The President of the Republic highlighted the work of the honored Minister of Finance: Wolfgang Schäuble "taught Europe, including us, that we do not have to give up on achieving the most important goals for the country even with strict budgetary discipline". The results achieved in Hungary since 2010 show that "we not only understood and learned the lesson, but also proved that the Schäuble thesis also works in practice", emphasized Katalin Novák, pointing out, among other things, that in ten years one million jobs were created, economic competitiveness improved, unemployment decreased, and the gross domestic product (GDP) increased dynamically.

The head of state added that, in the meantime, thanks to the family-centered policy, the number of abortions has halved, the number of divorces is decreasing, the desire to have children is increasing, and Hungary is now the "European champion" in terms of the number of marriages.

Wolfgang Schäuble emphasized that European peoples all have their own traditions and beliefs, but they can only be successful in the 21st century by working together. As he said, during his political career he always stood up for "we are all equal in Europe".

"This also means that everyone must abide by the jointly created rules and must confess with such conviction the fundamental principles of the rule of law based on freedom and democracy, which are strongly disputed in many places in the world, so that Europe remains a "source of hope" for all those who do not have the opportunity to follow these principles according to Wolfgang Schäuble.

Regarding his relationship with Hungary, he emphasized that in 1956 he watched the revolution of the Hungarians with the greatest respect and sympathy. Among other things, he added that the Hungarians already "walked their own way" in the 1980s, during the last phase of the communist dictatorship , and referring to the opening of the border in 1989, he emphasized that the Hungarians have great merit in the fact that reunification was possible, and thus "perhaps the happiest era of German history" could begin.

During her two-day official visit to Berlin, which ended on Friday, Katalin Novák took part in a series of meetings. Among other things, he had a meeting with German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Bundestag President Barbel Bas

Source: MTI

(Cover photo: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and President Katalin Novák. Photo: MTI/Noémi Bruzák)