Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Bratislava, where he held talks with Prime Minister Robert Fico on the EU budget, illegal migration and energy, followed by a signing of a mutual memorandum of cooperation.
At the press conference following their talks, Fico thanked Orbán for the visit and talked about how relations between the two countries have improved over the past 15 years, calling them now “excellent.” He, in particular, had friendly words for Hungarian communities in Slovakia:
“I am happy that the citizens of Hungarian nationality living in Slovakia live well together with the other residents of the Slovak Republic, and whenever I have the opportunity, I visit this southern part of Slovakia, and I feel that together we have done a lot for the peaceful coexistence of the people and residents of Slovakia,” he said.
Regarding energy policy cooperation, the Slovak prime minister thanked Hungary, as Slovakia relies on energy shipments primarily via Hungary.
“I also appreciate the fact that the Hungarian government and the prime minister himself are in favor of renewing Ukrainian shipments to the West, which is extremely important,” he noted.
Highlighting that Hungary will hold the rotating presidency of the Visegrad Four from July 1, he said, “I have asked the Prime Minister (Orbán) to do everything possible to ensure that this extremely important group, this foursome, can cooperate again.”
He also claimed that the V4 “was deliberately destroyed and liquidated because many people in Europe, in the European Union, did not want such regional cooperation, which represented more than 60 million people, to exist.”
Fico also expressed his confidence in American diplomacy’s ability to bring peace to Ukraine, stating that Slovakia is against prolonging the war in any way.
Fico particularly praised the Hungarian government’s stance on sovereignty and protecting national interests.
“I will never agree with anyone in the European Union being punished for their sovereign stance or behavior. I will never agree with procedures that aim to punish those who are merely doing what they promised their voters, who are sovereignly defending their own national, state interests,” he told reporters.
Fico referred to the long-standing cooperation between the two politicians, calling themselves “kind of matadors in politics” who have been around a long time and “still have a lot of energy.”
“We live in the best Slovak-Hungarian relations of all time. This required many courageous decisions,” Orbán opened his remarks, thanking Fico for helping achieve this.
“If someone had said 15 years ago that we would be standing here and talking about the relationship between the two countries like this, few people would have believed it was possible,” the Hungarian prime minister continued.
Referencing Slovakians living in Hungary, he said: “The Slovak national groups living in our country are considered a very valuable and respectable part of Hungary, and we will do everything we can to ensure that they preserve their identity and that their cultural and even political identity is preserved.”
Noting that Slovakia is Hungary’s third most important trading partner, with trade between the two exceeding €15 billion, both countries want to avoid war in Ukraine as well as any tariff war. He also welcomed, as had Fico, U.S. peace negotiations in Ukraine.
Touching on migration, he said that “no one can decide for Slovaks or Hungarians who they will have to live with as a result of migration,” before turning to the issue of energy supply. He expressed hope that shipments via Ukraine would be resumed soon, noting that such a move would help Ukraine “get closer to Europe.”
Hungary and Slovakia, Orbán said, will also be creating new infrastructure, including three new roads, three new bridges and new railway lines.
Answering a reporter’s question, the Hungarian prime minister said unanimity cannot be given up on foreign policy issues, because that would effectively eliminate the sovereignty of the member states.
“It is not Brussels that guarantees democracy in Slovakia or Hungary, but we guarantee the democratic nature of Brussels against bureaucracy,” he said.
Orbán added that Slovakia and Hungary serve as constructive members of the Union while also defending their national interests. This means resisting certain initiatives, such as the Green Deal, arming Ukraine, or tariff wars.
Advocating for the need for diverse opinions within the EU, Fico said, “We are the ones who support diversity. We need different opinions because if we always agreed on everything, the European Union would not be able to function.”
