“Hungary has a major national security and economic interest in the stability of the Caucasian region, in which Georgia is playing a key role”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday.
Mr. Szijjártó in on an official visit to Tbilisi at the invitation of Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze, and will be giving a speech at the annual meeting of Georgian diplomat mission leaders.
Reporting on his various meetings, the Hungarian Foreign Minister explained: “Georgia has one of the most stable political systems within the region”. “Europe has too much trouble on its hands at the moment to have an interest in avoiding the destabilisation of the Caucasian region, which would have yet another dramatic effect on European security”, he said, adding that “This is one of the reasons why Hungary is maintaining a close relationship with Georgia”.
“Hungary is supporting Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, because the faster the country can make progress in this area the more we can count on it as a stable partner in future, and this is something of great value in this region”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed.
“Hungary has always stood up for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and accordingly nine Hungarian officials continue to serve in the EU observation mission”, he highlighted.
“Georgia has fulfilled every detail of the conditions required for being afforded visa-free travel into the EU, and accordingly it is unacceptable that the country has still not been afforded visa-free travel. Hungary is calling on the EU to immediately grant Georgia visa-free entry and is also calling on NATO to invite the country to join the Alliance at the earliest opportunity, since Georgia was the non-NATO country to send the most troops to Afghanistan and is also taking part in the work of the Alliance’s Response Force”, he explained.
“Hungary has also undertaken a task with relation to establishing tighter cooperation with NATO, in view of the fact that the Alliance’s logistics facility has been established in Tbilisi, the leading country of which is the United States, while Hungary and Belgium are the two supporting countries”. Mr. Szijjártó added.
The Foreign Minister told the press that he had also held discussions regarding the further development of economic cooperation between the two countries, that they would be signing an investment protection agreement, and that the main areas of cooperation have been determined as agriculture and the food industry. “Hungarian food industry exports to Georgia increased by 14 percent during the first four months of this year and the Georgian government are counting on Hungarian agricultural technologies playing an important role in development projects”, he said, adding that “Negotiations on the establishment of stalls selling Hungarian foods in Tbilisi’s shopping centres are also in an advanced stage”.
“50 Georgian students are being given scholarships to study at Hungarian universities and all places have already been filled for courses beginning in September”, Mr. Szijjártó announced.
“An agreement was also reached on the fact that Georgia will be supporting Hungary’s nomination for membership of the UN Human Rights Council”, he noted.