The sovereign attitudes of Hungary and the Slovak Republic would be suitable for significant strengthening of the cooperation of the Visegrad Four group (V4), whose chair is held by the current Hungary. This was stated by the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Robert Fico on Sunday, Northern Hungary, Esztergom in a speech on the occasion of the 135th anniversary of the position of the Maria Valéria Bridge. The Prime Minister of the Hungarian Government Viktor Orbán, who also gave a speech, was also present, informs the TASR rapporteur in Budapest.
Fico pointed out that he never interfered with the internal affairs of other countries, but expressed the view that Of the Prime Ministers of the V4 countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – “there could soon be three, with whom we could have the same opinion on certain questions”.
“We offer cooperation especially on safe energy supplies for our countries. No one should command us where we will take oil and gas, because according to international law it is a sovereign country that decides on its energy mix. I share the same opinion as the Prime Minister of Hungary that the political, ideological decision to cut Europe completely It will damage not only Hungary and Slovakia from the supply of these fuels from Russia, but will significantly damage the entire European Union, ” stressed Fico.
The second serious topic is illegal migration, the Slovak Prime Minister addedwho appreciated the steps of the Hungarian government against this migration, which, in his words, helped Europe. Hungary has held the position of the President of the V4 for the seventh time.
The bridge between Štúrovo on the Slovak side and Esztergom on the Hungarian side was thrown into the air in the First World War, subsequently restored and after World War II it was again thrown into the air. After November 1989, the idea of building it again revived. The project became part of the Program Declaration of the Government of the Slovak Republic Mikuláš Dzurinda from 1998. Work on the completion of the bridge with planned costs of EUR 11.7 million began on 17 October 2000. The European Union contributed five million euros from the Phare funds.
The reconstructed Bridge of Maria Valérie across the Danube was inaugurated again to use on October 11, 2001 With the participation of the prime ministers of both countries – Mikuláš Dzurinda (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union, SDKU) and Viktor Orbán (Fidesz), as well as the then European Union Commissioner for the Extension of Günter Verheugen.
