BUDAPEST, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Visegrad Group countries -- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia -- have gained vital portfolios in the new European Commission, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday.
"The Visegrad Four (countries) have gained vital portfolios," Orban said in his regular Friday morning radio interview with MR1 public radio station.
"The whole region, with the V4 at the helm, is seeing an on-going increase in appreciation, and all developments have been favorable. Good news for Hungary," he said.
"The Visegrad countries gained two vice-presidential seats in the new Commission. Never before has this happened," he said, adding that the Agriculture portfolio, secured by Poland, was "one of the most important policy areas in the EU".
"Hungary has nominated an excellent man," Orban told about former minister of justice Laszlo Trocsanyi, whom he nominated for EU Commissioner. Trocsanyi is to take over the EU's Neighborhood and Enlargement tasks.
About the enlargement process of the EU, Orban said as Hungary resided on the eastern flank of the EU, the Neighborhood and Enlargement portfolio directly affected it.
"Had the EU not had a 'blank spot' in the Balkans, Hungary wouldn't have been the first country where migrants, who made it through Greece, could be stopped," he said, adding that the EU accession of Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia would increase Hungary's security.
On Hungary's foreign policy and mid-term strategies, Orban said for any foreign policy goal, stability had to come first -- financial stability, economic growth, and jobs.
Secondly, the V4 alliance had to be strengthened. The third task was to enhance relations with other neighbors, and then look for potential Western European allies who shared the Hungarian government's view on migration, he said.
