H.E. Mr. Gergely Bánhegyi:

I thank the Deputy. Hungary is a member of the European Union and our Government is committed to Hungary staying a member of the Union. There is no serious discussion in Hungary, whether in political life or society, about whether Hungary should be a member of the European Union and whether the Union is a beneficial and great structure. This is definitely clear for our Government. The Deputy mentioned the veto in his introduction. One of the biggest values of the European Union is its diversity and the difference of member states, which can work together. However, we are coming from different historical backgrounds. Our countries are in different geopolitical locations. The best example is Ireland and Hungary. We are so far away from each other. We have different environments. The European Union is an institution which is trying to harmonise the interests and intentions of all these member states.

The Deputy mentioned the veto. The biggest value of the European Union is that it creates agreements between all member states. We do not see the veto as an issue that is blocking decisions but, rather, we place emphasis on unanimous decisions, and all member states have the same right in this regard.

If I may, I will show the committee the logo of the Hungarian Presidency. This is a Rubik's cube. On one side is the European flag and, on the other, the Hungarian flag. The Rubik's cube was invented 50 years ago by Ern Rubik, a great personality. It consists of 27 small cubes that create a big one. This big one has six different sides of colour. It is quite colourful but the cubes are the same size in this cube. They are also connected strongly. You can mix it and can create chaos but at the end, somehow you can find a way to solve it and create harmony again. The Hungarian Government sees its role during the Presidency as one of promoting how to solve this Rubik's cube.

The Deputy mentioned the patriotic alliance. As a party political issue, I am not very up to date on it. In the European Parliament, Fidesz, the governing party in Hungary and the party of Prime Minister Orbán, is trying to find its place. I cannot really say anything about party political issues.

The Deputy also mentioned the slogan of the Hungarian Presidency, "Make Europe Great Again". It reflects the slogan of our previous Presidency in 2011, which was "Stronger Europe". On the other hand, I cannot clearly recall, and do not think, that President Trump whom the Deputy referred to would have had the intention to make Europe great. He focused instead on the United States. I believe this slogan reflects the contents and priorities of our Presidency programme. I also have to admit that it is a slogan that many people will probably remember in the coming years. There are not many slogans of previous Presidencies which people will always have in mind. It might be the case with this one.