“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.
“We must find the political line where our energy sources still function. At the same time, we must find a solution to using alternative sources which will put an end to this dependency. It is clear that diversification is necessary,” explained the former president of the Romanian National Liberal Party.
China and the USA win
“It seems that the countries of the region have not even begun considering solving energy dependence. As if it were a natural rule that the countries of the region must be dependant and heavily export-driven. Sooner or later, we will pay a hefty price if we overly expose our country to foreign interests. We may now face a multitude of problems that we could be able to solve on the European level, but even that may not be enough,” said András Schiffer. The former Member of the Hungarian Parliament believes that sanctions policies are definitely not in the interest of Europe.
“At the end of the day, this may be good for China and certain American companies, and most likely the aggressor will win as well. I must note that it is unforgiveable to attack a country and use violence against civilian targets. But let’s not use a double standard here.On one end there is moral outrage, but at the same time, the West has trampled all over international law just as much as, if not more, than the Putin regime,”– he explained.
We must show strength
“We lived under communist oppression far too long to not allow ourselves to speak openly and directly. We cannot make the right decisions unless we insert ourselves in the systems of the world. If the goal is to keep the EU competitive and stay at the decision-making table, then we must say that the EU must show a very unified approach,” said Zoltán Zakariás. The MEP of the Hungarian People's Party of Transylvania believes that a community can show its strength if it has autonomy.According to him, we must establish a common unity strong enough to ensure that countries in weaker economic situations can develop to the level of the stronger ones.“If these were peace times, then we would be able to debate in much calmer circumstances. However, right now we must make a decision in a difficult situation while two halves of Europe are in deep disagreement,” said the MEP in closing.
Photo: Bach Máté
