Magyar after joint Czech-Hungarian government meeting in Prague: “I'm an easygoing guy”

The high-speed rail project connecting the Visegrád Four countries, efforts to encourage energy investments, and shared EU-related matters were among the topics discussed at the Hungarian-Czech intergovernmental meeting in Prague, which was followed by a joint press conference held by Péter Magyar and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. The Hungarian Prime Minister said that he is an “easygoing guy” and that he and the Czech Prime Minister did not focus on issues that divide them. Magyar was also asked what he thought about the possibility of Orbán becoming the head of the UN. “I don’t think the UN is a criminal organization,” said the Prime Minister, who believes Orbán would ruin the organization.

Magyar said he was surprised to learn that this was the first ever Czech-Hungarian intergovernmental meeting, but added that they look forward to welcoming the Czech government to Budapest in the spring. According to him, these are two friendly nations, which is why cooperation is important. He is pleased that they have managed to restart the V4 cooperation, because, based on his experience in the European Council, it helps to have allies. Among others, they can work together on migration and energy-related issues.

The Czech public media asked Andrej Babiš about his relationship and cooperation with Péter Magyar, given that he had been on very good terms with Viktor Orbán. According to the Czech Prime Minister, he represents his country’s interests, and they respect the decisions of other countries. In his view, this meeting also demonstrates that things are going well between the two parties.

“Our approach is pragmatic. Prime Minister Magyar has achieved a huge victory-he doesn’t even have a coalition partner-and for that I envy him,”

said Babiš. Magyar confirmed that they are indeed in a fortunate position to be able to govern with one of the strongest mandates in Europe. The Hungarian Prime Minister said he does not like to discuss ideological issues. “I’m an easygoing guy; I care about the interests of the Hungarian people.” He wants to discuss specific issues with everyone and does not approach topics such as the rule of law and security from an ideological perspective. He said that they neither look for issues that divide in international relations nor within Hungary.

Hungarian public media asked about the Hungarian budget and whether the EU fine imposed due to migration policy—for which Hungary continues to pay a daily penalty of one million euros—had been included in it.

“Not a single eurocent has been allocated for this purpose,”

Magyar said. He is confident that the country will be exempted from paying the fine before the end of the year, noting that the European political situation has recently developed in a favorable direction. “I hope we can put an end to this undignified situation before the end of the year,” the Hungarian prime minister concluded. Babiš also considers it absurd that Hungary is paying a daily fine of one million euros for doing what other countries are now doing as well-namely, protecting its borders against illegal migration.

CNN asked Magyar what his position would be if Donald Trump were to support Viktor Orbán and the former Hungarian prime minister were ultimately elected UN Secretary-General.

“There are many bad things one can say about the UN, but I don’t think anyone believes its goal is to be abolished. If you want to ruin the UN, just bring in a person like Orbán,”

the Hungarian Prime Minister said. In his view, while there are challenging points when it comes to the UN, he does not consider the organization to be a criminal enterprise which needs a leader who previously headed a government, several members of which are now in custody.

They want to build cooperation around specific projects

The Hungarian Prime Minister noted that energy cooperation was an important subject during the talks. They agreed to continue supporting energy companies and to facilitate mutual investments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and other EU member states. They also exchanged experience on healthcare; for example, Hungary’s Minister of Health Zsolt Hegedűs told his Czech counterpart about the new Hungarian evaluation system. According to Péter Magyar, they would like to put the theoretical cooperation into practice through specific projects. “I am pleased that our ministers emerged from the bilateral talks having achieved concrete results in many areas,” the Prime Minister said. As for the V4 high-speed rail system, Magyar noted that Europe needs joint investments, especially since there aren’t many of them. In his view, EU cities must also be connected from north to south. If this were to happen, the journey between Budapest and Prague would take three hours, while the trip between Warsaw and Budapest could be completed in five hours.

“We need to work on trying to secure significant funding for this in the next EU budget,”

Péter Magyar said of the V4 railway. Babiš noted that this was the first time in the history of the two countries that they had come together in this format. “We agreed that a similar meeting will take place in Budapest as well. We want to speak openly about issues that directly affect our people’s lives,” he said. According to the Czech Prime Minister, he and Péter Magyar share similar views on many issues, which is why they would like to further deepen their relationship.

According to the Czech leader, regional cooperation must be based on specific projects, for which they must find solutions together. Babiš said that they also discussed cooperation relating to military matters. And in the field of energy, they are working together within the European Council to make energy more affordable. They both support the use of nuclear energy and have signed a memorandum of understanding under which they would carry out joint projects in the field of transportation, such as railway investments. They plan to develop the Budapest-Prague railroad line and hope to secure EU funding for it. “Thank you for the constructive discussion, Prime Minister,” – said the Czech Prime Minister.

Magyar took eight ministers with him

Early Thursday morning, Péter Magyar and eight of his ministers traveled to Prague to participate in the first Hungarian-Czech intergovernmental meeting. The program included joint talks between the heads of government and bilateral meetings between certain ministers from Hungary and the Czech Republic.

According to a statement from the office of the Hungarian Prime Minister, the talks focused on current European and international issues. Topics discussed included the EU’s competitiveness, energy security, migration, the future of the European budget, and EU enlargement. The Hungarian PM was accompanied to Prague by eight of his ministers, including Dávid Vitézy, Minister of Transportation and Investment; Zoltán Tanács, Minister of Science and Technology; István Kapitány, Minister of Economy and Energy; Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, Minister of Defense; András Kármán, Minister of Finance; Szabolcs Bóna, Minister responsible for Agriculture and Food Economy; Zsolt Hegedűs, Minister of Health; and Zoltán Tarr, Minister responsible for Social Relations and Culture.

Péter Magyar arrived at the Czech government office shortly before noon, where he was welcomed with a military honor guard. Following this, the Czech and Hungarian heads of government introduced their respective ministers to one another. The bilateral talks began after a brief tour of the premises. Péter Magyar and Andrej Babiš have previously met on several occasions, including at the Visegrád Four summits in Gödöllő and Bratislava.