Traveling to Hungary, Emmanuel Macron is due to meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban

This is the first trip to Hungary by a French head of state since 2007. Emmanuel Macron meets on Monday, December 13 in Budapest the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, his opponent in the European Union on the values ​​side but a potential ally on matters such as investments, nuclear power or European defense, on the program of the French presidency of the EU.

“He is a political opponent but a European partner”, underlined Thursday Emmanuel Macron, who thus ends his tour of the 26 capitals of the European Union. “Whatever our political sensitivities, our choices, we must work together for our Europe”.

“It is very clear that on the subject of the rule of law, there will be disagreements but I think that on the subjects of sovereignty, on the subject of the growth model and on multiple subjects, there may also be a ability to find useful compromises “, he added.

Viktor Orban has however often been cited by Emmanuel Macron as the leader of a nationalist and sovereignist camp in the EU, to which he opposes that of the Europhiles “progressive”.