Speeches

The European Union must keep the promises made to the Western Balkans and continue enlargement. Serbia and Montenegro should be included in the Union as soon as possible and accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania should be opened. I therefore welcome the adoption of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (so-called IPA III) to accelerate the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU. The Facility will provide the region with a financial envelope of more than €14 billion, of which up to €9 billion will be mobilised to implement the Western Balkans Economic and Investment Plan presented by the Commissioner for Neighbourhood Olivér Várhelyi in October 2020. The plan will stimulate the long-term development of the Western Balkans region, which we hope will have a high added value in integrating the Western Balkans into the EU.

Dear Madam President, Everyone is talking about the decline in European competitiveness, but the main reason for this is being kept quiet. This is high energy prices. The deepening of European competitiveness will not stop as long as Europe is paid multiple times more for energy than its global competitors. Brussels is making the situation worse with its ideologically driven decisions. For example, there is the decree on the phasing out of Russian energy, which further increases energy prices and threatens the energy security of Central European countries. Energy supply is a physical issue, not an ideological one. Moreover, the rules of the game were written in disregard of the will of the most affected Member States. Therefore, Hungary is challenging the regulation before the Court of Justice of the European Union, because we cannot let the household utility bills of families triple and our businesses become impossible. We will protect the reduction of public utility charges and Hungary's energy security. In addition, there is a huge amount of funding for Ukraine, including a €90 billion loan package that puts Europe in a debt spiral, which only worsens the competitiveness prospects. Like the excesses of the Green Deal, the Mercosur agreement, which puts farmers at risk, only adds to the problem. Now we have put simplification enthusiastically on the flag, which is an important and welcome beauty patch only for serious injury. But they are deeply silent about the fact that these burdens were imposed by them, by you, with just as much enthusiasm. Instead of playing an ideological gamble, we expect the European Commission to change course, take concrete steps to reduce energy prices and finally take decisions in the interest of the people of Europe.