Visegrad cooperation is alive and well and has a long future ahead of it, said the President of the Republic at the Wednesday press conference following the summit of Visegrad heads of state in Prague.
Katalin Novák stated that cooperation between the Visegrád countries has existed for almost 700 years, and the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia still intend to maintain it and fill it with content.
The issue of security was a prominent topic at the meeting, in connection with which the head of state stated that the four Visegrad countries "form a safe island in the heart of Europe", they see this as a "treasure", and they want to preserve it in the long term.
Katalin Novák emphasized that the protection of the European Union and Schengen borders, effective action against illegal mass migration and protection against terrorist actions are also considered extremely important.
Regarding the war in Ukraine, the President of the Republic stated that they are of the same opinion that Russia cannot win the war, they stand by Ukraine, and each of the Visegrad countries is trying to help Ukraine effectively defend its nation and country.
At the same time, he drew attention to the situation of the Transcarpathian Hungarian minority, which cannot be the subject of negotiations, and asked his colleagues to pay special attention to this topic.
Regarding Israel's "brutal terrorist attack", he said that they agreed with the V4 heads of state that the escalation of the conflict should be prevented and the number of civilian casualties should be minimized.
He again called on the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas to release the hostages, highlighting the Hungarian hostages in particular, and welcomed the possible agreement on the ceasefire and the release of the hostages.
Katalin Novák emphasized that Hungary clearly stands for the safety of the members of the Jewish community and will continue to guarantee this in the future.
According to the head of state's report, they also discussed how to speed up transport between the countries, achieve independence from Russian energy carriers, and transition to green energy. Regarding the latter, the participants agreed that "nuclear energy should be preserved as a clean energy source" and that they should continue to rely on it in the future, Katalin Novák reported.
In relation to preserving Europe's competitiveness, he mentioned the matter of demography, because in his opinion, if they cannot change the negative demographic trends, then there is little chance of maintaining or increasing Europe's competitiveness. It is necessary to understand why not enough children are born, and it is necessary to help young people to have as many children as they want, when and as many children as they want, emphasized the head of state.
Katalin Novák announced that she made a proposal to increase the amount of the Visegrad fund, which can currently be managed with resources of ten million euros per year.
The President of the Republic of Hungary called for doubling the amount because, according to his wording, it would be more possible to support initiatives that strengthen cooperation between countries, as well as more opportunities to look beyond the Visegrád region and help other countries as well. The head of state also mentioned that next year Hungary will hold the presidency of the union, while Poland will be the president of the V4 cooperation, and he hopes that the two countries will be "serious allies" for each other during this period.
When asked about the withholding of EU funds, he said that he would find it "concerning" if it turned out that the assessment of EU funds is purely a political issue and depends only on whether Brussels likes the government of the given country.
He is confident that the assumption that it is only a political decision is not justified, he stated.
He emphasized that Hungary fulfilled the conditions set by the European Commission, yet it did not receive the funds it was rightfully entitled to. In his opinion, this "undermines civil trust in the European Union" not only in Hungary, but also in many other EU member states.
To the question of the extent of the Russian threat to Europe, he answered briefly, "the last two years have sent a clear message to Russia: don't pull a finger with NATO"!
MTI
Cover image: Hungarian President Katalin Novák (b) speaks, flanked by Polish Andrzej Duda (b2), Czech Petr Pavel (b3) and Slovak President Zuzana Caputová (j) at the press conference after the meeting of the heads of state of the Visegrad countries (V4) in the presidential palace in Prague in 2023. on November 22.
Source: MTI/Noémi Bruzák
