Viktor Orbán in Strasbourg: The situation of the Union is much more serious today than it was in 2011

The European Union must change, and with the work of the Hungarian presidency, we want to be the catalysts of this change. I am here to present the program of the successive Hungarian presidency, Viktor Orbán said at his press conference in Strasbourg on Tuesday. The prime minister emphasized that the focus of the Hungarian EU presidency is on improving European competitiveness.

"After 2011, we are carrying out this task for the second time, the second Hungarian presidency, and I personally lead this work for the second time, and the date of the third is already entered in my calendar. After all, optimism is important," Viktor Orbán declared in Strasbourg.

He added that the period of 2011 was also a period of crisis, as there was still the aftermath of the financial crisis, and then the consequences of the Arab Spring had to be dealt with. "However, I can tell you that the situation in the European Union is much worse today than it was in 2011. What do we see today? First of all, a war is raging in Ukraine, that is, in Europe. There are serious conflicts in the Middle East, the effects of which we are feeling.

The migration crisis has reached dimensions not seen since 2015. Security threats threaten to paralyze and disintegrate the Schengen area.

It was the Swedes who announced today that they are suspending the Schengen rules of free movement," recalled the Prime Minister, who said that the situation in the EU today is much more serious than it was in 2011, because the European Union is losing its competitiveness. He referred to the Draghi report, in which it is stated that Europe is threatened with slow agony. But he quoted French President Macron as saying a few days ago that Europe could die because it is being pushed out of its markets.

"I myself see that the decline of European competitiveness is the most serious challenge we have to face. This was the situation in which the Hungarian presidency continues its work. My task is to present to the European Parliament what Hungary proposes in this situation"

- said Viktor Orbán, who emphasized that, according to the Hungarian point of view, we can overcome these problems only if we make changes. So the European Union must change, and with the work of the Hungarian presidency, we want to be the catalysts of this change.

At the same time, he emphasized that the Hungarian presidency can raise problems and make proposals due to the size of the country, since Hungary is not as big as Germany or France. "We can raise problems, we can only make proposals, and the European institutions will ultimately have to make decisions.

Our work focuses on improving European competitiveness.

For two decades now, our economic growth has been consistently slower than that of the United States or China," he added.

"Our trade share is decreasing. A European Union company has to pay two to three times higher prices for electricity than an American company, and four to five times more for natural gas. Our companies, the European ones, spend half as much on research and development as the Americans," pointed out the Prime Minister, who said that migration is not a solution to demographic problems.

Viktor Orbán announced: the Hungarian government wants to have the European leaders hold an informal meeting in Budapest on November 8, then

adopt a new European Competitiveness Pact.

He believed that with such a pact, all European leaders and countries could commit themselves to a long-term five-year policy to improve competitiveness, which would consist of the following elements: reducing administrative burdens, reducing overregulation, affordable energy prices, green industry policy, strengthening the internal market, goods and services elimination of barriers to movement. "We recommend the implementation of the capital market union, because today

European people's savings end up in the United States,

and the European capital market is not capable of keeping European people's money here in Europe," explained Viktor Orbán, who called protective tariffs against Chinese electric cars absurd.

In relation to migration, he said that the Hungarian presidency is in favor of protecting the external borders of the European Union. The defense of the frontline countries protects the whole of Europe, their work should be recognized, and support for defense should be provided. "The Hungarian presidency has a proposal here, namely to introduce the system of Schengen summits on the model of the Euro Summit. Just like the countries belonging to the Eurozone. Here, the leaders of the countries belonging to the Schengen zone meet regularly and

as they manage the euro, we also jointly manage the Schengen borders at the highest political level"

Viktor Orbán suggested.

The third important topic of the Hungarian presidency, after competitiveness and migration, is European security and defense policy. "We propose steps to create a European defense industry and strengthen the technological base. We will also discuss this on November 7 in Budapest. The fourth important point of our presidency is the enlargement policy," said the prime minister, who believed that the countries of the Western Balkans cannot be integrated without Serbia.

According to the Prime Minister, the Hungarian presidency is also working on several proposals in the field of agriculture, so that we can "create a competitive, crisis-resistant and farmer-friendly European agriculture. If we implement all of this, then the motto of the Hungarian presidency will also become a reality: Make Europe Great Again (Make Europe Great!)" Viktor Orbán concluded his press conference.

Source: hirado.hu

Front page image: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (b2) holds an international press conference on the program of the successive Hungarian presidency in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on October 8, 2024. Next to him are Kinga Gál, the president of the Fidesz-KDNP group in the European Parliament, the first vice-president of the Patriots for Europe faction (b3) and Bertalan Havasi, the prime minister's press chief (b).
MTI/Tamás Purger