The Prime Minister met with Brazilian head of state Jair Bolsonaro, and in a joint press statement made after their talks, he listed the areas in which the two countries share similar views. These include migration, supporting persecuted Christians, warding off attacks on families, commitment to free trade and the development of the armed forces.
He said large international organisations strive to adopt documents in which migration is depicted as a positive development for humanity, but there are countries – “we call them the coalition of the sober ones” – which would not like the world to change as a result of migration.
He recalled that earlier they had foiled the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration, and now we have “its little European brother” which is currently being discussed by the European Union. “On the European scene, too, we will prevent the adoption of migration regulations either to be recommended later or made compulsory for us,” Mr Orbán stated.
He highlighted they agreed to set up a joint early warning system on the international scene in order to detect in good time any documents in the making involving recommendations related to migration that are contrary to their interests, and to cooperate in foiling any such attempts.
Mr Orbán said according to the two countries, it is absurd that today Christianity is the world’s most persecuted religion, and “the civilisation that stemmed from the roots of Christianity, primarily European civilisation is doing very little” to protect those who are persecuted due to their faith. They now signed an agreement to jointly help persecuted Christian communities living in Africa, he added.
He said they also share a similar approach to attacks on families which seek to make the world accept a concept of the family that is different “from what we perceive as family”. The Hungarian Constitution is clear: “the father is a man, the mother is a woman; one man and one woman constitute a family, and we will do everything we can on every stage in order to not relativise this approach,” the Prime Minister stressed.
He also pointed out that free trade is crucial for Hungary because Hungarian exports represent an enormous percentage of the gross domestic product, reaching 80 to 90 per cent, meaning that if there were no free trade in the world, the Hungarian people would be much worse off. They agreed that Brazil is open to receiving Hungarian investments, he added.
He said Brazil takes part in the Hungarian defence forces development programme, Hungary has already procured two military cargo carrier aircraft from Brazil. They agreed to widen the path of defence industry cooperation, he stated.
The Hungarian Prime Minister observed that today 504 Brazilian students are studying in Hungary; half of them, some 250 Brazilian students study with scholarships granted by the Hungarian State.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the Brazilian President arrived in Budapest from Moscow, adding that today “the possibility of war” casts a shadow on diplomacy as well as on our daily lives, and so every diplomatic effort that serves to avoid a war is extremely valuable for the whole world, and in particular, for Hungary “as we are close to this conflict zone”.
He said the European Union has 9 strategic partners, one of them is Brazil, and additionally, Brazil is also a military cooperating partner of NATO. Mr Orbán thanked the Brazilian President for the fact that “he himself made efforts in the past few days to maintain peace in this part of Europe”.
Mr Orbán observed that the Brazilian President’s visit to Hungary is an outstanding event in the history of diplomacy, and a great honour. Before the talks, they offered their condolences to the Brazilian people due to the recent natural disaster, he added.
At the press event, Jair Bolsonaro highlighted that his visit is an opportunity to intensify relations between the two countries, among others, in the area of the economy.
The President referred to Hungary as Brazil’s “little big brother,” with regard to the territorial differences and the results his partner achieved in the representation of common interests, including the issues of God, country, family and freedom.
The President described the talks as useful where, in addition to signing cooperation declarations, they also spoke about the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Jair Bolsonaro, who arrived in Hungary from a visit to Moscow, stressed that no one has an interest in war; everyone only stands to lose by a war.
He also said around a hundred thousand Hungarians live in Brazil, and many Brazilians study in Hungary.
Mentioning his meeting with head of state János Áder, the Brazilian President further spoke about the fact that regarding the issue of the Amazon, there are often distorted reports about his country, describing Brazil as a destroyer of the rain forests. He stressed that they preserve the flora and fauna in 63 per cent of their territory, and they also plant forests. He took the view that the attacks launched against them come from agricultural businesses.
Before the press statement, the parties signed agreements on cooperation in the areas of defence, humanitarian activities and water management.
