Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar expressed his satisfaction on Friday in Brussels, as — according to a video message he shared on his social media page — at the two-day EU summit "we achieved success on every issue important to our country," with Hungarian interests prevailing on every key question.
In his message, Péter Magyar stressed that although he is feverish and tired at the tenth hour of the second day of the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, he is satisfied with the results achieved.
“Veteran, experienced prime ministers” said that there had not been such an open, candid, and at times emotional debate in Brussels in years. There was everything: veto threats, shouting, alliances, and enormous disputes, he said.
“But most importantly: after two days of extraordinarily intense negotiations, I was able to stand up proudly knowing that Hungarian interests prevailed on every important issue,” Péter Magyar stressed.
Regarding the migration debate at the EU summit, the prime minister emphasised that by now everyone can see that the previous flawed, permissive policy cannot be continued, as mass migration poses serious social, economic, and security risks across Europe. He stated that on behalf of Hungary, he supported the position of the member states calling for the strictest possible action — the Visegrád Four, as well as Italy, Denmark, and Belgium.
He said he described it as completely unacceptable in the debate that Hungary must pay a daily fine of one million euros for defending its own and Europe’s external borders. He reported that he had received a promise from both member states and the President of the European Commission to resolve the relevant EU court case.
According to him, the “toughest and longest debate” at the EU summit was triggered by energy policy, which he said poses a threat to the competitiveness of the European Union. “More and more people feel that the current regulations would impose unbearable burdens in the future — not only on European industry and businesses, but on the population as well,” he stressed.
“This is not acceptable for us — for the Visegrad Four and many other member states. In a tough debate lasting hours, as part of a broad coalition, together with the V4 member states, Italy and Greece, we managed to ensure that the European Union reassess the social and economic impacts of the adopted regulations,” said Péter Magyar, adding that this was an extremely important breakthrough in the fight against high energy prices.
He recalled that on the Friday of the summit he held one-on-one talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which — as he emphasised — he welcomed the political agreement reached between Hungary and Ukraine on strengthening the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. He confirmed to the Ukrainian president that, as a first step toward restoring mutual trust, Hungary greatly appreciates the fact that, under the agreement, Ukraine’s parliament passed the minority education law, and that the Ukrainian side immediately began implementing it.
“I expressed my gratitude for the Ukrainian parliament’s September resolution, in which they acknowledged that crimes were committed against the ethnic Hungarians of Transcarpathia between 1944 and 1946 through the forced deportation to labour camps and mass deportations,” he said.
He said he agreed with the Ukrainian president to continue consultations between the two countries at ministerial level, with particular attention to be paid to further improving the situation of minorities.
“We agreed that it is in the interest of both countries to place political and economic relations on new foundations,” he stated, adding that he had assured the Ukrainian president of his full solidarity in light of the “inhuman Russian aggression” waged against his country for nearly five years.
Hungary is ready to provide assistance through every possible diplomatic means to bring about an early ceasefire and a lasting peace, he emphasised.
He also reported that, on the occasion of the European summit, he had held talks with the leaders of the European People’s Party (EPP) and of member states “advocating stricter EU migration rules.”
In the course of these discussions, he made it clear that Hungary would only accept the EU’s new seven-year budget in December if Hungary received all the development funds it is entitled to, and if the EU funds allocated to the common agricultural policy and cohesion development were not reduced by any amount.
“We have just come through an important, substantive EU summit, which showed that — without vetoing and by building genuine alliances — we are able to represent the interests of the Hungarian people and Hungarian businesses far more effectively than before,” said Péter Magyar, who then informed the public that on Saturday, the ministers of the Tisza government would continue finalising Hungary’s 2027 budget.
Artificial intelligence was used for the translation of parts of the original Hungarian text.