Viktor Orbán's visit at the CDU in Berlin

Dátum: 2004-02-03 13:03:00, eredeti URL: http://archiv.fidesz.hu/index.php?Cikk=19664
KCMDB-be feltöltve: 2024-05-04 19:28:23.049480, Feltöltő: fidesz_hu_scraper_v2

Fidesz president and former prime minister Viktor Orbán met leading politicians of the German Christian Democratic Union in Berlin on Tuesday, including CDU president Angela Merkel, parliamentary group leader Wolfgang Schauble and former chancellor Helmut Kohl. The negotiations addressed concepts about the future of Europe, economic, as well as security policy issues. Mr Orbán also participated at the Bundestag memorial session remembering the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

As far as concepts of a multi-speed Europe are concerned, Mr Orbán pointed out following the meetings that Fidesz advocated a united Europe and that primary efforts should focus on achieving this goal. The problem we face is that the unification of Europe has not been completed yet, he said. He cited agricultural funding as an example, emphasising that Hungarian farmers will only be eligible for the current level of EU subsidies ten years from now. Mr Orbán mentioned the principles of free movement of persons and of labour as other examples where continued restrictions will be in force for the acceeding countries after 1 May. We must first accomplish the work we have embarked upon, as Europe is not unified even now, he added.

Mr Orbán called for representing Hungarian national interests above party lines. It is insignificant from the perspective of representing Hungarian national interests in Brussels who is or who was right at home about what, he said. The European Union will not give anything on its own. Regardless of the fact that we are going to be a member state, Brussels does not intend to solve our problems. Every nation has to solve its own problems, sometimes in Budapest, sometimes in Brussels, he added.

Turning to economic matters, Fidesz President Orbán pointed out that, regardless of the differences between the two countries, there are several CDU concepts which would be applicable in Hungary, particularly in the domain of tax cuts and employment.

Mr Orbán evaluated the positions of the CDU and Fidesz as overlapping concerning the situation in Iraq. Military intervention requires UN authorisation besides the NATO-framework, whereas the desired cooperation between the European Union and the United States is impossible to imagine without NATO or with a weakened NATO, he said.

During the day, Mr Orbán also participated at the Bundestag memorial session held in remembrance of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

Budapest, 29 January 2004