Poland can count on Hungary’s solidarity over any use of “double standards” against it, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after talks with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo in Budapest on Monday. Speaking at a joint press conference, Orbán said he and she agreed on the need to further strengthen the Visegrád Four grouping of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He said that in the coming years the success of the European Union would depend on the success of central Europe. Concerning bilateral economic ties, Orbán said he agreed with Szydlo on connecting the two countries’ eastern industrial regions with a four-lane highway. The two leaders also agreed on strengthening direct rail services and flights. On Europe’s migrant crisis, Orbán said Europe’s southern external borders remain unprotected and Greece is incapable of protecting the continent, which is why the Hungarian government believes that a new line of defence is needed along the Greek-Macedonian and Greek-Bulgarian borders. He said most western European leaders still see migration as a positive, just as they did half a year ago. Until they realised that migration was bad for Europe, the inflow of illegal entrants could not be stopped. Orbán called on these leaders to support the central European stance of a need for a southern European line of defence against the migrant flow. Szydlo said Poland will always support Hungary in political and economic matters and is “thankful” for Hungary’s solidarity. She said the two are committed to forming a joint position on Britain’s EU renegotiation. The most important part of Britain’s proposals was the plan to restrict EU migrants’ access to social benefits, which she said was “unacceptable”. Szydio said the two countries are committed to strong co-operation on the migrant crisis, and she reiterated Poland’s stance that the Schengen zone’s southern borders should be strengthened and that the solution lies outside the EU.
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