„We need to make Central Europe stronger, and we can achieve that through reinforcing our solidarity” – Zsolt Németh told the Public Radio concerning the prospects of Hungary’s neighbourhood policy.
The Hungarian Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that Central European states share significant interests. For instance, they all have an interest in that the European Union should not decrease the financial resources for the Cohesion Fund because that would be disadvantageous for the economic development of these countries.
Zsolt Németh pointed out that Hungary had done a lot to promote the development of regional infrastructure. Among others, the connection of energy networks among the countries of Central Europe is on the agenda. State Secretary Zsolt Németh stressed that programs aimed at connecting such networks generate more solidarity, which could be seen, for instance, in the recent improvement of Hungarian-Slovak relations that downplayed the differences concerning the Slovak language law and the citizenship law. He stated that bilateral relations were in the process of „capital accumulation”. Confidence must be built first in order to achieve diplomatic successes.
As regards Hungarian-Romanian relations the Hungarian Parliamentary State Secretary stated that Hungary was committed to maintaining the friendly relationship that characterized the previous years. Relations would become tense without the foundation of mutual respect, he said. The statement made by Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta recently that he – unlike the Hungarian Prime Minister – was a democrat, he appreciated ethnic minorities and respected the opposition, was not very promising.
Hungarian-Serbian relations have been developing on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation. Serbia can rely on Hungary in the process of its European integration.
As regards Ukraine, Zsolt Németh emphasized that energy cooperation would have to be advanced between the two countries.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
