Through cooperation, the Visegrad Group countries could become winners of a post-pandemic ‘new world order’, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.
Speaking after a meeting of V4 heads of diplomacy in Łódź in central Poland, Szijjártó told a press conference that the alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia had been pursuing “economic and security policy strategies based on common sense”. Thanks to their joint efforts, mandatory quotas for the distribution of migrants have not been enforced in the European Union and central Europe has become the most attractive target for investment in Europe, he added. “As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it is not an exaggeration to talk about an emerging new world order both in economy and politics,” he said. “Close cooperation between the V4 countries ensures swift economic relaunch in the future and enables the group to belong among the winners of the new world order,” he added.
Central Europe has now become a major supplier to German industries, the “backbone of the European economy”, Szijjártó said, adding that trade turnover between the V4 and Germany had exceeded 300 billion euros in 2019.
Szijjártó noted the region’s disciplined fiscal policy and low taxes, saying that “Hungary will never support the introduction for any minimum tax at a global level”. “We will not raise taxes under international pressure; retaining tax policy making as a national competency is a guarantee for our competitiveness,” he said.
In another development, Szijjártó said that the Hungarian government insisted on its earlier position on mandatory migrant quotas. “We have seen that the idea of such quotas has not been given up in Brussels or in New York”. “We must be alert so that what we managed to prevent once from happening, should not be smuggled back and jeopardise the security and self-determination of Europe,” he said.
Hungary is interested in a strong Europe, which “cannot exist without strong Christian values and communities”, Szijjártó said, adding that the Hungarian government would therefore “continue to support persecuted Christians in the world and insist that Europe’s fundamental Christian values be reinforced.”
The minister also said he hoped that agreements could soon be concluded within the Visegrad Group under which coronavirus vaccination certificates would be mutually accepted.
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