Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Mart Helme, Estonia’s deputy PM and interior minister, for talks in Budapest. Estonia’s Conservative People’s Party, which Helme leads, sees the Visegrad Group as advocates of important European values in debates on the bloc’s future, Orbán’s press chief cited Helme as saying. Orbán and Helme agreed on the importance of supporting national economies, culture, and education, as well as protecting Christian culture and effectively protecting the EU’s external borders. They also called for stricter immigration rules and support for families as the key to resolving Europe’s demographic problems.
Meanwhile, Katalin Novák, the state secretary for family and youth affairs, also had talks with Helme and they agreed that Hungary and Estonia aimed to create a strong Europe comprising strong member states. The issue of migration is a priority for both countries, Novák said, adding that Helme was being briefed on Hungarian border protection measures during his visit. Estonia, like Hungary, answers the demographic challenges facing Europe with a strong family policy, Novák noted.
Helme said another goal of his visit was to find ways to expand cooperation between Hungary and Estonia as well as between the Visegrad Group and the Baltic states, he said. The cornerstones of that cooperation will be “sovereignty within the European Union”, as well as family policy and the protection of the national culture, language and Christian traditions, he said.