The economy ministers of the Visegrad Group countries and France have met in Krakow to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and ways of strengthening Europe’s economy in the post-pandemic period.
László Palkovics, Minister of Innovation and Technology, told MTI that the ministers discussed in detail the economic, healthcare and social impact of the pandemic. Palkovics said they established that Europe had faced a shortage of essential medical supplies and production capacities it would have needed to tackle the pandemic, noting that Hungary had responded to the challenge by enhancing its domestic production capacities in ventilators, face masks and other medical supplies.
Discussing the economic aspect and the restarting of Europe’s economy, Palkovics said that global supply chains had posed a challenge but the industrial sector had recovered in a relatively short period of time. “There is, however, still a shortage of some raw materials which must be tackled,” he said.
The five ministers also touched upon the issue of energy independence and agreed that the option of using nuclear energy and natural gas must be maintained.