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Budapest Times
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
House Speaker: Interests of the ethnic Hungarian community are a priority in Romania
House Speaker László Kövér said the interests of the ethnic Hungarian community are a priority in Romania as well. During an interview with Mandiner, Kövér said the decision on who the right presidential candidate for ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania was should be decided by them and specifically their political representatives, namely the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party. 'We fully respect and support this decision; this is always how it has been, so this is nothing new,' the speaker said. Kövér said Hungary and its government did not want to weigh in on the election of any country and did not support any presidential candidates. This vote, he said, was the internal affair of Romania's electorate. He noted that there was already a precedent for European Union institutions questioning the internal democratic decision of a member state, citing as an example the attempt in the early 2000s to isolate Austria's OVP-FPO coalition led by Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. 'In politics, it's patience, perseverance and wisdom that get us the result we all hope for,' Kövér said. 'We, as a non-EU country, stood up for people's right to make their own decisions even back then,' he said. 'Because we don't believe that the EU was created to interfere in the internal affairs of any country, especially not as grossly as it has been doing more recently, or to try to discipline voters either verbally or through different kinds of sanctions.' Kövér said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's remarks had been about Hungary's willingness to cooperate with a country's governing parties regarding bilateral ties, the given country's minority communities and regarding EU affairs. He said the most important consideration was respecting the rights, dignity and interests of the country's ethnic Hungarian communities. Meanwhile, Kövér said it was 'unprecedented' how far the AUR party's leader had gone with his earlier 'anti-Hungarian gestures and remarks' as well as certain actions he had organised, adding that the government fully understood and shared the concerns that had arisen from this. 'At the same time, we enter into potential cooperation with every potential partner with the hope that if these problems can't be put aside or eliminated, we can at least initiate processes through which these problems are made less significant,' Kövér said. He cited the positive example of how Slovakia, under its Prime Minister Robert Fico was the closest to Hungary in the EU on almost all issues today, despite the 'serious incidents' with Slovakia's Hungarian community that had happened during Fico's previous premiership. 'We can count on their support and they can count on ours, and though the situation of Slovakia's ethnic Hungarian community isn't what it could be, the government has shown a significant, positive change in its approach to the problems of the Hungarian community,' the speaker said, adding that the situation was perhaps even more striking in the case of Serbia. Kövér said after the assaults against Serbia's ethnic Hungarians in the 1990s and early 2000s, the local Hungarian community was now 'in the best legal and political situation' under the governance of a party that was labelled nationalist. Asked to comment on Tisza Party leader Peter Magyar's accusation that Orbán had 'betrayed' the ethnic Hungarian communities beyond the borders, Kövér said: 'What else could we have expected from this gang other than … an attack at the first possible sensitive moment against the national cooperation that also exists with Hungarians across the border?'
Budapest Times
17-02-2025
- Business
- Budapest Times
Orbán: Hungary remains an interesting, strong, dedicated, exciting and instructive country
The prime minister said it was obvious in America that everything was changing, but it was not yet easy to see that from Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Hungary remains an interesting, strong, dedicated, exciting and instructive country, with a prime minister who is the longest-serving prime minister in Europe, with experience that he can share with the world. PM Orbán told news portal Mandiner on board a plane flying back from Dubai that Hungarians were already aware that 'the future is not where they live but somewhere else.' 'And we must now adjust Hungary to that future, we cannot not remain solely in the framework system of the European Union. Hungary is ready for this, it is open, it has arrived, it is here,' PM Orbán said. The prime minister said it was obvious in America that everything was changing, but it was not yet easy to see that from Hungary. 'We Hungarians are still 'within there', in European history, which we consider the mainstream of world history,' the prime minister said, adding that 'while Europe before was the largest economy in the world, it currently ranks only third.' He said it was necessary to understand that that era was over and Europe was unfortunately on a downward path. 'It has run out of steam and has a burning need for new fuel that could help its muscles to grow back and its mind to be to refreshed,' PM Orbán said. He said that at the same time, in other parts of the world certain regions were emerging that used to rank far behind Europe. 'The future lies in the Arab region, in China and central Asia, and not in the European Union,' he said. Commenting on the Russian-Ukraine war, Orban said US President Donald Trump could sign a peace agreement in the foreseeable future. He added that Trump had taken a decisive step and established contacts with the Russian president, with a serious meeting currently being arranged. At the same time, he said it would show that it was not enough to agree on the issue of the Ukraine war, but 'the entire world order must be involved in the talks.' 'This includes the place of Russia in the world economy, in the global energy system, in the global military and security system, in Europe's security architecture, and then there is also Ukraine,' he added. Orban said all the above would add up to a large enough package to be agreed on. PM Orbán said he trusted this would happen but Europeans again 'missed the train'. He said 'European leaders are caught in between because, on the one hand, the decisive player of transatlantic cooperation, the US, is a leader in changing the system of values and the way of thinking, but on the other hand there are the people who agree with this'. In response to a question concerning whether 'Europeans' interest would be incorporated in the Russia-Ukraine peace deal', he said no. 'No, because nobody will fight for us. Nobody will stand up for a community that does not stand up for itself, that does not fight for itself,' he said. 'If western European leaders do not understand what's going on, and they are not taking part, they will be left out from the settlement process. And if they are left out, there will be nobody to represent their interests,' he added. PM Orbán said this was a world of realpolitik and 'not of moralising essayists', adding that there were tough facts and interests at play. 'If you don't fight for your people, for your home country, then you will be simply left out of everything. What Europe is doing now, it risks staying out of all important agreements that will decide our future,' PM Orbán said. At the same time, he added that 'we Hungarians will be present, in keeping with our weight'. 'Europe could be left out but Hungary will always be there, maintaining relations, and what's important for Hungarians I will fight for and achieve every time,' he added. Commenting on his recent meeting with Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, he said it had been an extremely interesting meeting, adding that 'I had not had such an experience for a long time'. 'What we call a leader type in Hungary is gradually disappearing from the European platform. And then a lady arrives who is tougher and more straight forward than the softened European mainstream; and there is will and imagination in what she says. What's more, she has a vision, optimism and strength,' PM Orbán said.
