Viktor Orbán is of great importance in Europe, the Hungarian prime minister is an outstanding politician in the European sense, said Ágoston Sámuel Mráz, who assessed Friday’s Johnson-Orbán meeting in London. According to the head of the Viewpoint Group, there is an important message that the British Prime Minister did not start European cooperation with the German-French axis, but with the Hungarian Prime Minister representing the Visegrad Four (V4). The analyst sees that yesterday’s British-Hungarian talks show that after Brexit, Britain is “seeking special co-operation” with the Visegrad region.
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Yesterday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was bilateral held a discussion Boris Johnson with the British Prime Minister in London. Of special significance for the meeting was the fact that the British Prime Minister met his Hungarian counterpart, the second of European politicians, after Brexit, after his Irish neighbor. The conciliation focused on topics for future cooperation between Britain and the Visegrad countries, as well as issues related to the energy and defense industries.
A strong message to Europe
At our request Mráz Ágoston Sámuel, the director of the Viewpoint Institute, explained the meeting by saying that Boris Johnson is looking for Britain’s place in the world after Brexit and trying to make his independent foreign policy a success. In doing so, it will seek to establish good diplomatic relations as widely as possible. The political analyst pointed out that this applies not only to Europe, but also to the United States, Japan, and thus the Asian region, for example. “Boris Johnson is trying to increase his room for maneuver in foreign policy and is looking for the right ways to do so” he noted.
A rather important message in European politics is that the British Prime Minister did not start cooperating with the Franco-German axis, but with the emerging region of the continent, the Visegrad Four.
he pointed out.
According to him, this is also of special importance because from July 1, Hungary and the Hungarian Prime Minister will be the leader of the V4. “In Hungarian, this meeting was addressed to the Hungarian Prime Minister and to the ‘Visegrad region he represents’. From this, it appears that Britain is ‘seeking special cooperation with these countries after Brexit.’ he analyzed the situation.
Asked how Boris Johnson received the Hungarian office partner as the second European leader after the Irish, Mrs. Ágoston Sámuel answered, “this is very strong and has a strong message in European politics.” According to him, the weight of the British-Hungarian meeting was clearly increased by the fact that “Irish-British relations have local significance”. “The meeting two weeks ago focused on local issues (Northern Ireland, customs union), yesterday’s conciliation was much more decisive for European-British relations.” he underlined.
Highlights
The head of the Viewpoint Group briefly mentioned that two key areas, the energy industry and the defense industry, were also discussed at Friday’s Johnson-Orbán meeting. He was the first to mention Hungary’s long-term gas purchase agreement with Shallel. “His bad guys regularly accuse the Hungarian government of deliberately building a Russian dependency. This position has now been completely refuted.” he explained.
According to the analyst, this also shows what Viktor Orbán has repeatedly emphasized before, that the Hungarian government’s foreign policy is about protecting sovereignty. He emphasized that in the last decade Hungary has built alternative gas pipelines precisely so that its good relations with Russia do not turn into a kind of dependency. “Those who today criticize the pragmatism of Russian-Hungarian relations have previously built up dependence with Russia.” – referred to the foreign policy of pre-2010 left-wing governments. Mráz Ágoston Sámuel sees that with the formation of the right-wing government, the existing interdependence between the two countries has weakened and Hungary has moved towards independence.
The analyst considers another important and forward-looking element of Friday’s discussion to be that the two countries plan military cooperation in the future. “As the details of this have not been made public, this can be considered a letter of intent for the time being. However, those who have watched the Hungarian government’s actions over the past three years can see that the country is consciously developing its military industry, so the planned cooperation fits well.” he added.
Yesterday’s bilateral discussion Mr. Ágoston Sámuel also approached the European People’s Party (EPP). According to him “it doesn’t have much significance, but it still has subtle symbolism” it is that the leader of the British Conservative Party, who has been leaving the European Conservative Party family for more than a decade, has met with the President of Fidesz, who is just breaking up with the EPP. He sees it as a natural process for European right-wing parties and their representatives to seek cooperation as the European People’s Party shifts to the left.
The Hungarian head of government is an important player
“These criticisms lack any basis of fact, Viktor Orbán is very important in Europe.” – noted the analyst we asked about the relevance of the recurring statement of the Hungarian and international left-wing press that the Hungarian prime minister was isolated in European politics in the light of Friday’s meeting.
He emphasized that only the “silly progaganda in Hungary” is about this. He cited as an example that Angela Merkel’s successor, CDU President Armin Laschet recently said that the future of Europe can only be built with Viktor Orbán.
“The Orbán-Johnson meeting also carries this message. Anyone who sees Europe not as an axis of Germany and France, but as a co-operation of the member states of the European Union, is well aware of the need to work with the Hungarian Prime Minister and Hungary.” Mrs. Ágoston Sámuel closed his thoughts.
By the way, the head of the Viewpoint Group also published a blog post on the topic before the publication of our article. This you can read it by clicking on the link.
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