"Today's visit to Hungary by Slovakia's foreign minister at the beginning of his mandate shows that the special attention and commitment to relations between the two countries are mutual," Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto underlined at a joint press briefing held with Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Wlachovsky in Budapest, on Monday. There is much more that unites the two countries than what separates them, FM Szijjarto has stressed. "Slovakia is our most important trading partner among our neighbours," Mr Szijjarto underlined, adding that this is why the strategic goal of Hungary's foreign policy is to develop Slovak-Hungarian relations. His Slovak counterpart agreed, stressing the importance of dialogue in sensitive areas as well.
Energy supply is part of our sovereignty
FM Szijjarto underlined that the two countries share a common destiny in Central Europe and face similar challenges in terms of security, energy supply and migration pressure, which were among the topics that formed the backbone of Monday's negotiations. Mr Szijjarto said both countries rely heavily on nuclear energy, are members of the European Nuclear Coalition and insist that energy supply should remain a national competence. He said Hungary would continue to take a tough stand against any ideological attacks and negative discrimination against nuclear energy.
We view any attack on nuclear energy as an attack against our sovereignty,
he stressed. FM Szijjarto also welcomed the recent licensing of another nuclear reactor in Slovakia, describing it as yet another step towards securing the country's own energy supply. He added that Hungary would like to achieve the same with the Paks II project.
The solution is border protection
With regard to illegal immigration, the two ministers agreed on the need to strengthen the protection of the EU's external borders. FM Peter Szijjarto said Hungary continues to reject the mandatory resettlement quota, while the government's position is that efforts to protect the borders should be recognised as part of solidarity. In this context, he expressed his thanks to his Slovak counterpart for the assistance of Slovak police officers and border guards in securing the Hungary-Serbia border.
In response to a question from Magyar Nemzet, Hungary's foreign minister wished the French authorities good luck in restoring order in the country as soon as possible.
France's major cities have been embroiled in chaos since the death of a Parisian youngster with an immigrant background in a police operation last week. The current events, as well as those of the past eight years, clearly demonstrate that the integration of migrants has failed, Mr Szijjarto pointed out.
We need to focus on stopping illegal immigration, but revisiting the issue of migrant quotas only encourages it,
he explained. In the case of the Hungary-Serbia border, for example, it is not even possible to talk about refugees, because - from a legal viewpoint - only those arriving from war-torn countries are considered refugees, and there is no war in Serbia, Mr Szijjarto added. "These migrants have no right to enter Hungary," he underlined. In this context, Slovak FM Miroslav Wlachovsky stressed that the problem of migration must be solved locally, in the countries of origin.
NATO accession, defence cooperation and Ukraine
At the press conference, FM Wlachovsky expressed his hope that Sweden's accession to NATO could be achieved in early July, ahead the Vilnius Summit, as it would be a significant contribution to reinforcing the alliance's defence capabilities. Slovakia's foreign minister also underlined that it was in the interest of all European states to have a sovereign and stable Ukraine, which can make its own decision as to when, and under what conditions, it will start peace negotiations. The news that a state-owned Slovak defence industry company would develop and produce tailor-made motorised artillery cannons in cooperation with its Ukrainian partner came just recently.
Slovakia has limited capacities in this respect, so such cooperation provides an excellent opportunity,
Mr Wlachovsky said, responding to our newspaper's question. He added that, in view of the changed security situation, defence industrial cooperation of this kind and similar types should be strengthened throughout Europe.
In response to a journalist's question, FM Szijjartó said the Hungarian government's position on Ukraine's NATO membership remains unchanged: a country at war should not join the defence alliance. He emphasized that there was a relative consensus among member states regarding this issue, although the relased statements sometimes indicate otherwise.
Cover photo: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (r) and Slovakia's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Wlachovsky (Photo: Facebook)
