Hungary to support Czech EU presidency

Prague, Nov 20 (CTK) - Hungary will fully support the Czech Republic in the first half of next year when it will hold EU presidency as the first member of the Visegrad Four (V4), Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Thursday.

The V4 comprises the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Gyurcsany pointed to that Hungary will be EU president one year later and Poland will follow it.

He said this will be an opportunity for the V4 countries to markedly influence EU decision-making and to project the specifics of the Central European region into European developments.

"Hungary expresses a significant support to us and it is interested in Czech presidency being successful because the speculations that small countries will not manage it endanger not only the Czech Republic but also Hungary," Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said after one-hour talks with Gyurcsany.

He was alluding to the speculations according to which France, the current EU president, is trying to weaken the Czech position before it takes over the EU, claiming that a small country does not have enough forces to direct the Union.

"If someone harmed the Czech Republic in this respect, he would harm us as well. Therefore we will show our solidarity at any moment," Gyurcsany said.

Topolanek also said he wants to enhance communication within the V4 during Czech EU presidency.

Gyurcsany said his country favours the introduction of supervision over the banking market and that it should be a double-level supervision.

He said the EU should play the role of minimal supervision while national governments would have the right to a stricter supervision and to taking into consideration national specifics.

Hungary has been the most threatened by the world financial crisis within eastern Europe due to a high dependence on foreign loans.

Gyurcsany said Hungary would prefer a stronger European supervision while the Czech Republic is more cautious, indicating he does not expect much from the Czech Republic in this connection.

Gyurcsany said he expects Czech presidency to introduce more progress into the discussion on a joint energy policy, and that Hungarians just as Czechs wish that Croatia successfully complete EU accession negotiations next year.