Viktor Orban: We need to understand that cooperation is also needed to be successful in the European Union

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday, in Sanpaul (coomune in Cluj County, ed.n.), at the opening of an investment of more than 15 million euro, that if the peoples of Central Europe do not understand that cooperation is needed as far as investments are concerned, as well, they will never be in a top position in the European Union. 

"I would refer to Central Europe, there are nations, peoples living together, there are conflicts, of course, but there are some common interests. And if these peoples in Central Europe do not understand the need for cooperation from the point of view of investments, we will never be in a top position. We need to understand that cooperation is also needed to be successful in the European Union. I would like to give you an example, we have an exceptional cooperation with Serbia and Slovakia and I have also analyzed the way the community of Germans and Saxons, which is very small in Romania, how they do this, how they cooperate. I would like to tell you that in our cooperation with Serbia and Slovakia we have advanced more and we are not so advanced in our cooperation with Romania and I hope that if there are investments like this, then cooperation between the two countries will be better and better," said the prime minister of Hungary. 

Viktor Orban pointed out that it is said that there is a lot of money coming from the European Union, and that is true, but that figures should also be looked at, indicating that "foreign investors are taking more money abroad than they bring into the country." 

"We have to invest in order to progress and we have to enter this competition, we have to cooperate. Even if it seems an illusion, I think in 10-15 years, this distance between the countries that were in a communist system and those that weren't is going to diminish and it will be smaller. I can say that things look very good from an economic point of view in Hungary and I know this from the companies present here and those that want to cooperate with the actors in Romania. In Hungary there are financial institutions such as the Exim Bank, which is trying to finance these cooperation projects between Hungary and the countries around it. This investment was made with their help," Orban said. 

The Hungarian Premier said that there are some problems as regards cooperation, which is why talks are being conducted with the Government of Romania about a series of infrastructure investments. 

"We have some problems from the point of view of cooperation, we continue to discuss with the Government of Romania regarding investments in other sectors, as well, for example the problem of motorways and the connection of the motorway system in Romania and Hungary. We are carrying out negotiations to set up a high-speed train to connect Romania with Western Europe. These are incredibly large investments, but I think that if we have succeeded in reaching a co-operation with the Serbs regarding the railway between Belgrade and Budapest, I cannot see why we would not succeed here, too," Viktor Orban showed. 

The Hungarian Prime Minister participated in Sanpaul on Friday at the inauguration of one of the largest combined feed factories, UBM Feed Romania SRL, having UBM Hungary, East Grain, East Consulting and Oprea Avicom as shareholders, following an investment of more than 15 million euro. 

The new fodder plant has a production capacity of 30 tons / hour, approx. 220,000 tons / year and a state-of-the-art technological flow, being one of the most modern factories in Europe.