“The European Union is withholding important funds from Hungary and Poland in terms of competitiveness. However, the spark of cooperation is in sight. I can even declare that currently the European Commission is a better partner than the Hungarian opposition’s left-wing. This was evidenced by the elections, though they did not learn much from this.”
“Hungary has a competitive disadvantage given that the left does everything they can to prevent our country from getting funds,”– said Gergely Gulyás on Wednesday at the 31st Bálványos Summer University and Student Camp, at the “Quo vadis Európa? - What next, Europe?” event. The Minister of the Prime Minister's Office believes that Europe must help rebuild Ukraine. However, he also considers it flawed to introduce sanctions that destroy our own economy. He explained that if Europe destroys its own economy through these sanctions, we will not be capable of helping anyone afterwards.
The alternatives are more expensive
“We always said that Ukraine’s sovereignty is important to us because it is best if there is a country between Hungary and Russia. At the same time though, regardless of the security risks, if one looks at the map it is difficult to claim that it is not worth it for Hungary to do business with Russia,” said Gergely Gulyás.
The Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff added that several countries in Western Europe buy raw materials from Russia. As he stated, this cannot be changed from one minute to the next; the alternatives are expensive and limited. According to him, this is exactly why it was a valid question whether the sanctions should be extended to the energy sector. Hungary took the position – and still does – that energy should not be sanctioned. According to Gergely Gulyás, Europe made a strategic decision in terms of sanctions policy that, as we see now, has proven to be flawed.
The rules of democracy are changing
“The rules of democracy will be changing in the future. Especially in those countries which depend on Russian energy,” said Ludovic Orban. The former Romanian Prime Minister explained that though shutting off Russian gas would cause enormous economic and social problems, we cannot give in to blackmail.
