Orban urges Hungary-Croatia border regional developments

Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for new development projects in Hungary and Croatia's shared border regions on Thursday. Addressing the inauguration on Thursday of a new Hungarian-run student hostel in Osijek (Eszek), in north-eastern Croatia, Orban underlined the importance of intensifying ties between Croatia's Slavonia region and Hungary's Baranya County. At the event jointly held with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic, Orban said that 80-100 years ago Slavonia and Baranya County had been the most prosperous areas of their respective countries. "They envied us, not just for our cultures but also our high standard of living," Orban said. He said Croatians living in Slavonia and Hungarians living in Baranya County tended to think of themselves as living on their countries' peripheries. "People and communities that think they live on the periphery will never be successful. Only those who believe that their home is the centre of the world can be successful."