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Official: EPC summit proved a ‘great breakthrough’

The EPC Summit offered an opportunity to exchange ideas between the 47 heads of state and government attending the informal meeting.

State Secretary Barna Pál Zsigmond said the 47 heads of state and government attending the summit organized by Hungary as EU president seek answers to “issues that truly concern Europeans”, which is a “great breakthrough”.

Zsigmond told public television that in the recent period it had been impossible to honestly address some issues, such as migration, that posed a challenge. But now, partly thanks to the Hungarian presidency, problems could be discussed candidly, and hopefully solutions would be found, he added.

He said the EPC Summit offered an opportunity to exchange ideas between the heads of state and government attending the informal meeting. He noted that the countries represented at the event also included non-EU members, such as the UK and Turkey, as well as Caucasus and Western Balkan countries.

The state secretary also said that it was certain that Donald Trump’s victory in the US election would not be to Hungary’s detriment, but it was still a big question what policies the US would now pursue with the EU. “Our job as Europeans is to develop a strategy in respect of the new situation, defining what Europe’s interests are, and to try to enforce them — if necessary against the US or together with the US — and to try to give common responses to the big challenges,” he said.

Throughout the campaign, Trump said he wanted peace in respect of the Russia-Ukraine war, so now this can be discussed at the Budapest summit, he said. “An absurd situation prevailed earlier in European institutions when the word ‘peace’ could not be mentioned”, because those that did mention it were immediately “banned from any respectable company”, he added.

Zsigmond said peace and the fact that European people wanted peace could now be discussed at last, as this was the basis for Europe’s welfare and security. Peace must be found in a way that is acceptable to both Russians and Ukrainians and which can be guaranteed by the big powers, he added.

He also said that some positive developments had taken place in connection with migration in the recent period, partly thanks to the Hungarian presidency, and partly thanks to an increasing number of right-wing parties winning in Europe. The anti-migration forces had become stronger in some countries by becoming governing parties, he added. When in 2015 Hungarians first said that migration must be stopped with a fence, “they condemned us”.

The political means for protecting the borders seem to be available now, so defence systems must be developed to filter out illegal migrants, he said. “For a long time, we Hungarians have been saying that help must be taken to countries that are the source of migration, so we propose signing as many agreements as possible with the countries of origin,” he said.

Commenting on trade, he said the formation of blocs went against the interests of Europe because this resulted in economic recession and destabilised the region. “When the economy goes in the wrong direction, it poses a security risk,” he said. In order for the economy to progress in the right direction ties are needed, and those that have already developed them should not be cut down by EU protectionism and sanctions, he added.

In connection with energy, he said a great many problems were caused “when certain European countries separated from well-tested energy supply systems overnight, and energy became more expensive in Europe”. The introduction of protective tariffs made it impossible for European industry to develop, while ill-advised green policies also hindered industrial policy, he added.

Zsigmond said there was a chance that Friday’s summit would see EU member states approving an economic competitiveness pact setting the direction for bringing wealth and security to Europe.

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