Orbán also proposed that institutions like the European Council and the European Commission should go back to fulfilling their “original roles”. He said the EU should preserve its “tried and tested” policies, such as cohesion and agricultural policies. But migration and social issues should not be managed at the EU level, the prime minister said.

Orbán suggested that the bloc should also preserve the economic policy aimed at safeguarding fiscal discipline, structural reforms and economic stability. The prime minister said Britain’s exit from the European Union is not the cause but rather a consequence of the state of things in Europe. He said the EU is facing two challenges at the same time. The first is that it has lost its ability to adapt in every respect. T

he EU failed to draw the right conclusions from the global financial and economic crisis and has failed to respond to migration and terrorism, the prime minister said. The bloc has also failed to respond to foreign policy challenges within Europe, such as the conflict in Ukraine, Orbán added.

He said the second challenge facing the EU was that the bloc does not observe its own existing rules pertaining to border protection, the Schengen area, fiscal discipline and the operation of financial institutions. The Hungarian, Slovak, Czech and Polish prime ministers are joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the V4 summit.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

Photo: MTI Balázs Szecső