The confrontation at Palazzo Chigi between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban lasted about an hour and a half. At the end of the face-to-face meeting, the Prime Minister, in joint statements to the press, underlined: appreciate “very much” and share “the priorities that have been identified by the Hungarian presidency” who will assume the leadership of the EU from July 1st, “starting from the not obvious decision to include among the priorities a challenge that I too have taken the liberty of mentioning many times, also due to the competence of the European Union, which is the demographic challenge: it is one, from my point of view, of the preconditions that serve to build a strong Europe, a Europe that knows how to return to being a protagonist in the world”.
“There birth rate it is a problem that affects the entire continent – he continued -, today no European nation reaches the so-called ‘replacement rate’, that is, the minimum number of children per woman that guarantees the continuity of the population. If we do not face this challenge together and fail to reverse this trend in the medium and long term, our economic systems, our social systems, our welfare systems will become unsustainable and for this reason we have always considered that we should work on this matter Together. I am very happy that the rotating Hungarian Presidency has decided to place this issue among its priorities.”
“We also share the Hungarian programme” for the presidency of the EU focus on competitiveness, another fundamental focus proposed by the rotating Presidency. Clearly European competitiveness but also European defence, the new approach that Hungary proposes in terms of agricultural policies, attention to cohesion policies, therefore matters which have also from our point of view been the subject of particular indications that arrived with the last elections Europeans by the citizens of the continent”.
The Hungarian presidency of the EU wants “to put on the table a great project called ‘European Agreement on Competitiveness’, because we think that the main problem of Europe at the moment is competitiveness”, announced Orban, underlining “that both Italians and Hungarians have an interest in the European economy being successful and competitive.” “Another common interest is that Europe does not isolate itself from third-party partners outside Europe. It is our common interest – the Hungarian prime minister continued – to have a strong industry and that the green transition is collaborative and does not act against the European economy”. “I am convinced that without better competitiveness European jobs will be lost over the next decade,” he concluded.
Migrants
With the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbàn “in our meeting we also explored the priorities of the Hungarian presidency” of the EU “with regards to the management of migratory flows. Here too we agree, we agree on the fact that the new European approach that has developed in recent months, also thanks to the impulse of Italy which is based on some pillars, namely the defense of the external borders of the European Union, the fight against mass illegal immigration, the fight against traffickers , the commitment to build a new model of cooperation and partnership with the nations of origin and transit that is beneficial for all, also and clearly to get to the root of the causes of migration”, continues Meloni.
With Orbàn “we also agree on the fact that it is important to experiment with new forms and new innovative solutions precisely in the field of immigration. I mention, as I have already done, the Italy-Albania protocol, which as you know has also become the subject of a letter signed by the majority of member countries addressed to the Commission asking to continue this approach in the future, defining it as a solution to follow”.
“We we support everything that the Italian prime minister has proposed, one pan-European development strategy for the development of Africa“, Orban said for his part. During the meeting “we talked about illegal immigration. You are closer to Africa than us – added the Hungarian Prime Minister – but migrants also come to us, so the situation in Africa concerns us too”. “According to our calculations, in the next 20 years the population of Africa will increase by 750 million people”, continued Orban, arguing that “so there are two solutions: either we have a development project for Africa with which we can make Africans stay at home or there will be mass immigration that we will not be able to manage” .
Ukraine
With Orbàn, the prime minister said, “we obviously also discussed the conflict in Ukraine. We know very well that our positions do not always coincide, precisely for this reason I want to say that I greatly appreciate the position that Hungary has shown so far, both in within the European Union and within NATO, allowing other member states and allies to make very important decisions even when they did not completely agree with Viktor. In any case, we reiterated our undisputed support for sovereignty, independence, to the territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
“Let’s look at reconstruction together with great attention – continues Meloni – because obviously the best way to look beyond the war is to imagine a Ukraine that is rebuilt, that can prosper, that can grow. As you know, Italy is very committed to this, we will organize the Ukraine Recovery Conference here in 2025 and therefore we also talked about this.”
Italy-Hungary relations
“During our meeting we obviously also took stock of the excellent state of bilateral relations between Rome and Budapest. Hungary is clearly an important European partner, it is a precious ally for us also within NATO, I am very satisfied with the intensification in recent months of both our political dialogue and the strengthening of our economic relations”, said Meloni. “Italian companies are looking with ever greater interest at the Hungarian market in terms of exports, in terms of investments – continued the Prime Minister -, Italy supports, as we know, the Hungarian-led multinational NATO battalion, we are satisfied of the excellent level of cooperation achieved particularly in the Balkans, a region that both Italy and Hungary consider strategic and it is no coincidence that here too one of the main focuses of the Hungarian presidency concerns precisely the attention towards the Western Balkans towards that enlargement which, as you know, I like to define as reunification, on this there is perfect harmony between Italy and Hungary”.
