- Title: HUNGARY-ORBAN/RUSSIA Hungary seeks warmer EU-Russia ties to aid business
- Date: 25th August 2014
- Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (AUGUST 25, 2014) (REUTERS) BOAT PASSING BY PARLIAMENT DANUBE AND BOATS EXTERIOR OF FOREIGN MINISTRY HUNGARIAN AND EU FLAGS ON FACADE HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR ORBAN ARRIVING AT FOREIGN MINISTRY CONFERENCE AND GREETING PEOPLE CONFERENCE UNDERWAY AND ORBAN SPEAKING PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "How will we become competitive with China, US and other powers? If we do not use such opportunities [as Russia]? What happens now is a separation process. The EU gets further away from Russia every day. It's another question whether this could be in another way but one thing is sure: this is bad, not for Hungary but for the entire European Union." PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "We must seek the company of EU countries interested in the slowing or halting of this unfavourable separation process. And since not all V4 countries think the same we cannot form a joint stand on this." ORBAN SPEAKING PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "Values are important, as NATO and the EU both rest on shared values, but that does not mean we should relate to countries outside our alliances based on their political culture, institutions, democracy, or any other political views. We have to consider what the Hungarian national interest is in relation to a given country. " ORBAN SPEAKING PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "If you come (to Hungary) to understand what to expect if you do business here, you can tick off immigration. Not a problem. Many European cities cannot say this of themselves." PEOPLE LISTENING MAN TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "For Europe to have general rules that affect all of us who think differently is out of the question. We must fight to keep this issue in national jurisdiction. I make no secret of this: we will continue with a very tough policy that does not at all encourage immigration. We consider it a competitive advantage that the country is transparent, and culturally overall almost homogeneous country, and we do not consider it a value to break it up." PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, VIKTOR ORBAN, SAYING: "I have proposed for (EU leaders) to say, immigration is bad so our goal should be to end it. " PHOTOGRAPHERS
- Embargoed: 9th September 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Hungary
- Country: Hungary
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA73GB4RZEES3E9X0TT0P7DWJ4C
- Story Text: Following its new economic-interests-first doctrine, Hungary is going to whip up support in the European Union to mend crisis-torn EU-Russian relations, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Hungary's diplomatic corps on Monday (August 25).
Speaking to the annual gathering of Hungary's ambassadors, Orban outlined his recently formed third government's foreign policy priorities in an hour-long speech that listed several aspects of European Union policy that he considered faulty.
"What happens now is a separation process," he said. "The EU gets further from Russia every day... (This) is bad, not for Hungary but the entire European Union."
"We must seek the company of EU countries interested in the slowing or halting of this unfavourable separation process," he said, adding that because central eastern European countries had no consensus over the issue they could not act together.
Orban's conservative Fidesz party won reelection for a four-year term in April, renewing a two-thirds majority in Parliament that it has used to reshape the central European country in a fundamental way, often provoking international criticism.
Hungary has been accused of abandoning Western values like checks and balances on government and of seeking role models in eastern countries like Russia. Orban said Hungary remained rooted firmly in the Western alliances.
He added, however, that the escalating tensions between the EU and Russia over the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, complete with sanctions and embargoes, undermined a unique opportunity to do business with Moscow.
He said linking Europe's advanced technology, 500 million consumers and its democratic institutions with Russia's vast natural resources and energy reserves in a mutually beneficial way was an historic opportunity that was being squandered.
Orban said Poland and the Baltic nations consider the Russian issue foremost a security matter, a view not shared by Hungary, which looks upon Russia as a business partner and considers other aspects of the situation secondary.
"Values are important, as NATO and the EU both rest on shared values, but that does not mean we should relate t countries outside our alliances based on their political culture, institutions, democracy, or any other views," he said.
"We must examine what the Hungarian national interest is. That is why what happens about Russia now is harmful for us...The Russian crisis came at the worst possible time for us."
He said Hungary's agreement with Russia earlier this year to build a new nuclear power plant using a 10 billion euro loan from Moscow was one obvious area of cooperation.
Orban said a homogenous society was a competitive advantage in Hungary so Budapest would enforce a very strict immigration policy and insist on setting its own immigration rules, which he
said could prove problematic in the EU.
Instead of allowing mass immigration into Europe and using lots of money to aid immigrants, Orban said a less liberal policy was desirable across the continent - instead, immigrants arrive and receive plenty of aid en masse.
"If you come (to Hungary) to understand what to expect if you do business here, you can tick off immigration. Not a problem. Many European cities cannot say this of themselves." he said.
He said Hungary does not ask other countries like Britain how they handle immigration and the European Union should have no business telling Hungary how it should do that either.
"For Europe to have general rules that affect all of us who think differently is out of the question. We must fight to keep this issue in national jurisdiction. I make no secret of this: we will continue with a very tough policy that does not at all encourage immigration. We consider it a competitive advantage that the country is transparent, and culturally overall almost homogeneous country, and we do not consider it a value to break it up."
Orban added that at a recent EU conference he proposed to the EU to do away with immigration and include that in a statement.
"I have proposed for (EU leaders) to say, immigration is bad so our goal should be to end it."
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