Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, has said that Germany’s relationship with Central European states is far more important to the future of Europe than any French plan.
Emmanuel Macron surprised other EU member states this week when he laid out his plan for a more integrated union, with Germany and France at its heart.
But, Hungary has already dismissed Mr Macron’s EU power grab.
Mr Szijjarto pointed out that Germany’s trade relationship with the Visegard Group is 55 times higher than its trade with France.
The Visegrad Group is made up of four booming Central European states – the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
These states have recently had a series of run-ins with Brussels and France over the extent of EU oversight into domestic policy in their countries.
In September, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rejected complaints filed by Slovakia and Hungary against a mandatory quota to accept asylum seekers.
Budapest condemned the court ruling as “appalling and irresponsible”, saying the EU will pay for its security fence with Serbia.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mr Szijjarto said that officials in Brussels and Mr Macron have tried to blackmail his country over not conforming to their “illegal orders”.
He said: “Commissioners threaten Hungary to take away the European financial resources. Macron said exactly that too.
“European financial resources are based on contracts and treaties and France is already making a big profit from Hungary.”
The Hungarian minister suggested that his country’s president Viktor Orban told his French counterpart to “cut out” his meddling.
Mr Szijjarto added that his country will test Mr Macron’s leadership ambitions in the EU bloc.
He rejected the claim that France and Germany are the future of Europe.
The minister told Al Jazeera: “Germany is the number one investor in here. The German industry and our economy are tightly linked.
“Everyone speaks about German-French cooperation, that it is important for the future of Europe and regaining competitive.
“But the Visegard group, its trade relationship with Germany is 55 times higher than that in France.
“Visegrad is basically the backyard for German industry, which is the backbone of the entire European economy.”