Mr Orbán met Spanish PM Aznar

Spain and Hungary agree that the EU's recently heralded economic stimulation package should be financed from newly established community funds, as opposed to the already existing ones, said Mr Viktor Orbán following his meeting with Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar in Barcelona today. Their discussion also touched upon the future European Constitution.

Dátum: 2003-10-28 11:36:00, eredeti URL: http://archiv.fidesz.hu/index.php?Cikk=16448
KCMDB-be feltöltve: 2024-05-04 18:59:27.253977, Feltöltő: fidesz_hu_scraper_v2

The President of Fidesz was a keynote speaker at the conference "Catalunya and the Europe of 25" on the invitation of Mr Aznar, organised by the Popular Party. The European Union has decided that the way out from an ever worsening economic situation is not austerity and restriction, but investment, job creation and the stimulation of enterprises, said Mr Orbán following his meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister after the conference. Spain and Hungary are both beneficiaries of existing EU-funds, and it must be avoided that the new development programs be financed from these funds, Mr Orbán said.

The growth-oriented EU-policy is also to be reckoned with by Hungary, he said. It is unwise to build the 2004 Hungarian budget on restrictions, as the country will distance herself from the crisis management methods proposed by the community, he warned. Hungary has had a very difficult 13 years behind, and will hardly cope with another austerity package. We are therefore interested in a growth-oriented community development in the EU, he added.

As far as Hungarian interests concerning the future European Constitution are concerned, Mr Orbán emphasised that the inclusion of a reference to Christianity and to minority rights in the document is of much importance for Hungarians. There are working examples for national minority self-governments in Europe, with Spain giving home to ethnic and regional autonomies like Catalunya and the Basque Region, for instance. Moreover, the EU itself is also proceeding toward self-governments and regional autonomies, as the recent Scottish and Welsh devolution in Britain and the Corsican self-government in France has shown, he added. Therefore, Hungary wishes to feature minority rights in the Constitution with emphasis. The creation of minority self-governments in Central Europe would be in line with current historical trends, Mr Orbán said.