In his speech delivered at the ceremonial inauguration of the Belgrade-Újvidék section of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line held at the Újvidék railway station, the Prime Minister highlighted that “we have the war that is being waged at the Eastern borders of Hungary in our all minds and hearts”.
This war came at the worst time, and “now, it’s forcing us to face grave challenges just as we were doing so well, we started out so dynamically, and we have so many more beautiful plans,” Mr Orbán said.
The world has now become uncertain, Serbs and Hungarians must reconsider a great many things, he said, adding that “I sincerely hope that in this reconsideration President Vucic and I will have a role” after the upcoming elections.
“We want peace, and despite the difficult circumstances, we will implement all our great plans together with your president,” Mr Orbán stated.
At the ceremony – at which the Prime Minister arrived by train from Belgrade together with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – Mr Orbán said friendship between Hungarians and Serbs had never before been as close as it is now.
He highlighted that in the past 70 years countries had been connected together in the East-West direction, “and meanwhile, we have forgotten how important it is to connect together territories in the North-South direction”. This is how “the appalling situation” developed that it took many hours to get from Belgrade to Budapest which is “not a normal state of affairs in the 21st century,” he stated.
He said they had decided to connect the two countries, the two capitals together, “and to thereby make the lives of Serbs and Hungarians easier”. He observed that “it’s true that we’re a little behind you,” but “I’d like to promise you that by 2025 this railway line will be fully operational from Belgrade all the way to Budapest”.
He stressed that “Hungarians and Serbs are two historical nations with difficult fates,” but as a result of the cooperation with the Serbian president “today these two nations are close to each other”.
He said “today is proof of the fact that we two will yet do fantastic things together”.
“God bless Serbian-Hungarian friendship, I wish you all the very best and a great victory,” Mr Orbán said in conclusion.
