With Viktor Orban, we fought out a huge support for our economies, and together we stopped the pressure from Brussels on the rule of law. The Hungarian-Polish cooperation was extremely effective at the recent EU summit, Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview with the Hungarian daily Magyar Hirlap. The Polish prime minister also spoke about the cooperation among the Visegrad Four countries and the importance of Christian values.

On 1 July, Poland took over the presidency of the Visegrad Group from the Czech Republic. The slogan of the Polish presidency is Back on track , „because we want to return to a dynamic economic development and have a positive impact on the EU. We need to return to basic European values such as economic cooperation, single market, solidarity and understanding the historical and social differences of the different European countries,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview with Magyar Hirlap.

The premier emphasized that „the Polish presidency of the V4 is going cover an extraordinary period: not only because of the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, but also because of important EU processes, such as the negotiations on the new multiannual financial framework and the reconstruction fund, which ended a few days ago. In short, this will be the year which determines what the whole next decade will look like, not just in our countries but in Europe as a whole.” He added that the recent European Council summit had clearly shown that the Visegrad Group had the power to shape the policy of the whole EU. We embody „balance” – the voice of understanding between the opposing sides in a debate.

In connection with the Polish presidential election, which was won by Andrzej Duda, the candidate for the governing party, Mr Morawiecki said, there was both a geographical and an age divide in the country, so „one of the most important tasks right now is to unite the Poles. This is an absolute priority. I believe that today the symbols of unity can be the ambitious investments.”

These include the construction of the Central Communications Port, which will become the transport hub of Central Europe, thus decoupling Poland from Western European airports, the Vistula sandbank canal, which strengthens the safety and independence of Poland and the entire V4 Group from Russia, or the Via Carpathia motorway, which connects not only eastern Poland but the entire eastern edge of the EU, passing through Hungary as well, the premier explained. He added that road and rail infrastructure also needed to be further developed and that public services needed to be digitised.

„Simply we want to create a country where it is good to live, study, work and start a family,” Mr Morawiecki said, who attaches particular importance to good governance for the coming years.

„Today, the first and foremost issue is to restore economic growth. Without cooperation with the president, strategic and local investment programmes, it would be impossible to return to the path of development. We want and must revive the whole of Poland, not only the cities and large agglomerations, but also the small villages, towns and counties.”

In the meantime, however, we must also fight the epidemic, which requires that all public institutions work well together and help each other in different areas of activity to combat the epidemic, Mr Morawiecki added.

The Polish press has drawn attention to foreign intervention, as well as to the unilateral reports of foreign media, and to the activities of NGOs and human rights organisations. To the question how they plan to defend themselves against such actions, the prime minister said, the basis of their activities, as the last five years had shown, was to preserve and strengthen Polish sovereignty. „Fortunately, we have many third sector institutions for which this is just as important. I am talking about foundations, associations, independent institutes and many talented young people – I am convinced that they will be the driving forces behind this renewal,” he added.
 

In connection with the Polish-Hungarian alliance he said it was especially important for him.

„Our friendship is not just a thousand-year-old historical relationship, it is full of moments of solidarity and shoulder-to-shoulder struggles. We are also united by a common goal and strategy of action. I am also pleased that both the Polish and Hungarian sides intend to work together to further develop our alliance. Today, we can clearly see how fruitful this is, not only for our countries, but also for the whole Visegrad Group and Central Europe. Together with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, we have fought out a huge support for our economies, together we have stopped the pressure on the rule of law exerted by Brussels, and before that, we resisted the pressure together on issues such as migration policy. It is clear that the issues we address are changing dynamically, but one thing remains the same: the Polish-Hungarian friendship.”

Mr Morawiecki added that the common values and history between the two countries, the forced communism and the experience of how devastating planned economy can be have all contributed to a good understanding of each other.

„We are sensitive to ideological revolutions and have a good understanding of the importance of traditional institutions such as family. I want to work with Hungary and our whole region, because I know that together we can make families feel safe and develop freely. This is possible because our policy is based on Christian values, which are not only the basis of European identity, but also provide a cultural and moral basis for many people, including non-believers. And when monuments are destroyed in the United States or in certain parts of Europe, we want to offset this destruction with a positive program, which is mutual respect and the building and nurturing of values without which Western civilisation would have never evolved. That is why we need to ensure that Central Europe remains an oasis of common sense and peace.”