Central European policy as a regional policy complements European integration policy rather than being its alternative, Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi told the Committee on European Affairs of the Hungarian Parliament on 6 February 2014.

Central European policy as a regional policy complements European integration policy rather than being its alternative, Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi told the Committee on European Affairs of the Hungarian Parliament on 6 February 2014.


Minister Martonyi told the Committee that Hungarian regional policy, as well as its neighbourhood policy, could only be effective and successful if European policy is successful too. A major part of Central European policy goals can be pursued as part of European integration policy, he added.

The Minister noted significant achievements by the Visegrád Four group Hungary forms with the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia in integration policy, concerning, for instance, the EU’s seven-year financial period, its cohesion policy and its common agricultural policy.

He said that the interests of the Central European region and the Visegrád countries often coincide or are similar, and can therefore be promoted in a unified way.

He noted similar interests converging around the EU’s energy policy, the free movement of labour and the bloc’s enlargement. These similar approaches also apply to major debates, community-level powers versus those of member states as well as to major common EU foreign and security policy areas such as the Eastern Partnership initiative and the issue of Ukraine.

He said a stronger EU, from a foreign and security policy prospective, is advantageous not only for the bloc as a whole but also for the individual member states such as Hungary.

Speaking in the context of economy, Minister Martonyi said the continent had begun to emerge from the crisis last year and saw favourable developments, noting a particularly positive trend in Central Europe and in Hungary within the region.

Unemployment, however, continues to be a problem with major disparities between member states, Minister Martonyi highlighted.

Answering a question concerning the situation in Ukraine, Minister Martonyi said the Hungarian Government had prepared a contingency plan for every possible development.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)