Slovenia External Relations Briefing: Slovenian-Hungarian Relations in the Foreign Relations Policies of the New Government Helena Motoh and Tina Čok

ISSN: 2560-1601

Vol. 26, No. 4 (SI)

Febr 2020

Slovenia external relations briefing: Slovenian-Hungarian Relations in the foreign relations policies of the new government Helena Motoh and Tina Čok

1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11.

+36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin

Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01

Slovenian-Hungarian Relations in the foreign relations policies of the new government

Summary

Only two days after the new Slovenian government of Prime Minister Janez Janša started its mandate, and despite the start of the measures against the spread of the coronavirus, the new Minister of Foreign Affais, Anže Logar, welcomed the first official visit of his Hungarian counterpart, Péter Szijjártó. In what was seen as a very telling decision, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed the close connection not only between two countries but also between the two leading political parties, Slovenian Democratic Party of Janez Janša and Fidesz of Viktor Orbán. Apart from coronavirus, other topics of their discussion were the large infrastructure projects which aim to establish new strategic partnerships in Eastern Europe.

Background: Relations with Hungary during the previous Šarec government

One of the first important changes when the 13th government of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec began its mandate in September 2018 was a shift of attitudes towards the participation of Hungary in the large-scale infrastructure project of the second railway track between Divača and Koper. The disclosure of classified government documents specifying the agreement between Slovenia and Hungary in the time of the previous Cerar government was done by the new Minister of Infrastructure Alenka Bratušek, who was critical of the concessions promised to Hungary in the Port of Koper. Hungary eventually announced its intent to withdraw from the project in mid-November 2018.

The two Prime Ministers first met in October 2018, when Slovenian Prime Minister visited Viktor Orbán in Budapest. The central part of their meeting was dedicated to the bilateral relations between the two countries, the dynamics of economic collaboration and the challenges in EU and the region. They especially stressed the intent for deepening the economic collaboration between the two countries, with Hungary then being the 6th trading partner of Slovenia. They identified the potential for increasing this exchange especially in the investment and cooperation in advanced technologies, i. e. e-mobility, digitalisation, car industry, renewable energy sources and green economy. They also touched upon the planned gas and

1 electricity connections between the two countries. A memorandum of understanding was signed in relation to the development cooperation in Africa, enabling joind presence in areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa. As neighbouring countries, the issues that were also addressed were those of the two minorities along the national border. Border safety in relation to migrations was another topic of their talks, especially regarding the status and implementation of the Schengen border standards. Management of migration currents was in general terms an area where the policies of the two countries diverge, with Slovenia strongly supporting the common EU solutions and Hungary being critical of them along with several other members of the Visegrád Group.

Border issues, especially the common protest of the two countries against Austria reintroducing border security measures, were a topic of the meeting between the Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Miro Cerar and his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó in November the same year. The main topic however were the infrastructure projects concerning both countries. Three main issues were discussed. The first one was the building of the interconnector between natural gas networks of the two countries, which is especially important for Hungary since the Italian liquid natural gas terminal (Adriatic LNG offshore terminal in Rovigo) would become accessible to Hungary in the next five years. Second major project is related to the building of electricity network connecting the two countries’ high voltage electricity systems. The third common plan is to better connect the two countries with new cross-border roads and railway line.

Being in opposition during the time of Šarec government, the Slovenian Democratic Party had established their own strong connections with the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz and especially with its long-term president and continuously the Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010, Viktor Orbán. These connections became especially obvious in spring 2019, when due to violations of EU rule-of-law principles European People’s Party (EPP) suspended Fidesz party. It was not a surprise that Slovenian Democratic Party initially opposed the expulsion. During the election campaign in Slovenia the party was strongly supported by Orbán, who even spoke as a guest of honor at one of the large pre-election rallies of Slovenian Democratic Party. The political party of Janez Janša is also connected with Fidesz through the ownership of two SDS-related media – the journal Demokracija and the Nova24TV Television channel, which are owned by Hungarian companies close to the party of Viktor Orbán.

Szijjártó’s visit

It is therefore no particular surprise that only two days after the government of Janez Janša was sworn in and at despite the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the first official visit to the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia was that of his Hungarian counterpart. Péter Szijjártó’s political provenance is closely linked to the political career of Viktor Orbán. Becoming a parliament member for Fidesz at only 24 years, he was also the president of the youth organisation of Fidesz, i. e. Fidelitas between 2005 and 2009. He then took different positions in the Fidesz party and became the personal spokesman of Viktor Orbán, a position he held until 2012. In 2012 he was appointed to serve as the chairman of economic committees which dealt with opening up trade in the neighbouring countries and countries of the region. In September 2014 he was then appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the third Orbán government and has kept this position also in the fourth Orbán government after April 2018 parliamentary elections. The career of Anže Logar, Slovenian Minsiter of Foreign Affairs, is rather similar to that of Szijjártó. Almost the same age, Logar’s most important step in his political career was the position of the head of the Government Communication Office, that he was first appointed to in 2004 (until 2008) during the first government of Janez Janša, and appointed again for Janša’s second government term (2012-2013). In 2008 he was involved in a scandal where the official statement claiming the freedom of press in Slovenia was distributed to foreign reporters in widely criticized way.

In their first meeting in this government term, the two ministers spoke primarily on the issue of handling the coronavirus crisis in the two countries. They especially focused on the measures taken on the Slovenian Hungarian border and on the coordination of two border regimes, since the measures implemented in Slovenia and Hungary to stop the spread of the Covid-19, differed and caused difficulties at the national border. Minister Logar presented the system of humanitarian convoys, which was the Slovenian suggestion to EU for solving the issue of transit cargo transport which, due to the Covid-19 prevention measures remained trapped at the different border crossings. The two ministers made plans for future communication via videoconferences between themselves and other relevant institutions in dealing with the coronavirus crisis, announcing for example the coming videoconference meeting between the commanders of the police in the two countries.

Apart from this pressing topic, they also discussed migration issues and addressed other common projects of Slovenian-Hungarian cooperation, which predictably included especially

3 infrastructure priorities, gas pipelines, high voltage electricity networks, while they also mentioned the potential new border crossings.

Conclusion

Related to the new political reality in Slovenia, the revival of the relationship with the neighbouring Hungary will probably be restructured in light of the political alliance between the ruling parties in the two countries, the Slovenian Democratic Party of Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša and the Fidesz of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The recent symbolic first meeting between the new Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó does seem to confirm this, while also clearly identifying political priorities of the partnership. Among these, the migration issues and large- scale infrastructural projects seem to be most prominent.