Péter Szijjártó held bilateral talks on the occasion that the Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) met on Thursday in Basel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) informed Hungarian newswire MTI.
The communication reveals concurrence between the Hungarian Minister and OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović regarding the issue that freedom of the press and balanced reporting represented fundamental values of democracy, and were to be protected in particular.
They agreed that they would keep up consultation in the future “since Hungary is dedicated to freedom of the press”. The partners consider constructive dialogue equally important.
Péter Szijjártó and Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu agreed that Aurescu would travel to Budapest in February for an official visit. Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary attributed strategic importance to the development of bilateral relations with Romania, with particular regard to the Hungarian community that lives there and to the fact the Romania was the second largest export market for Hungary.
They agreed that cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, energy management and economy should play an important role in bilateral relations, the communication reports.
According to the MFAT statement, Péter Szijjártó met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who provided information on the current events of the Ukrainian conflict. The Hungarian minister claimed that Hungary was committed to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.
They agreed that Hungary would provide support to Ukraine in its reforms concerning administration and local government. They also discussed the measures necessary to further increase bilateral trade. The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade is to visit Kiev on 19 December.
According to the communication, Belarus Foreign Minister Vladzimir Makei and Péter Szijjártó were pleased to see that bilateral trade had grown by 23% in the first eight months of this year.
They welcomed the establishment of a EUR 10 million export credit line between Eximbank and the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus, and extended the air service agreement between the countries, in the wake of which direct air service between Budapest and Minsk is to be provided until 2016. Negotiations about the agreement on investment protection had also started, the Ministry revealed.