First Czech-Hungarian Joint Cabinet Meeting 'Historic'

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar called the first Czech-Hungarian joint cabinet meeting a "historic" event, praised the cooperation of the Visegrád Group and spoke about plans for a high-speed railway linking the V4 countries at a press conference held jointly with his Czech counterpart, Andrej Babiš, in Prague on Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Péter Magyar said the second such intergovernmental consultation will be held in Budapest in the spring.

He added that he was pleased that new momentum had been given to V4 cooperation, adding that "if things continue like this", the cooperation of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia could be stronger than ever.

Joint action by the Visegrád Four would be very useful in the European Council, too, he said, on important issues such as fighting illegal migration, reducing energy prices and representing central European interests in the next seven-year European Union budget, adding that it was much easier to succeed together than separately.

The prime minister, who was accompanied to Prague by eight ministers, also said that Hungary and the Czech Republic wanted to translate their cooperation into concrete projects in the areas of competitiveness, energy, transport, the defense industry, agriculture and water management, as well as culture.

Speaking about the possibility of a V4 high-speed railway, Magyar said central Europe needed common projects that were symbolic yet tangible. The time had come, he said, to connect the region's capitals and major cities along a north-south axis, linking some 60 million people.

He added that Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic had to work together to try to secure significant support for the railway project, worth more than EUR 10 billion, in the European Union's next seven-year budget. Noting that the Baltic states have already received funding for a similar project, he said that it might take 10-12 years until the plans of such a project are fully implemented.

Regarding bilateral cooperation, Péter Magyar said Hungary and the Czech Republic want to work to make the most of their shared opportunities.

Andrej Babiš called the first joint Czech-Hungarian government meeting a "historic milestone" in Czech-Hungarian relations. He welcomed the revival of Visegrád Group cooperation, an achievement he attributed to Péter Magyar, as well as the fact that Visegrád countries were again coordinating ahead of EU summit meetings.

The current talks had shown that the Czech and Hungarian positions on international issues were identical or very close to each other, he said.

The Czech PM said that he was a proponent of pragmatic politics: "Our cooperation is very good, and I am very pleased about that."

After the joint Czech-Hungarian government meeting, Péter Magyar was also received by Czech President Petr Pavel.