At the Dubrovnik Forum, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó held bilateral talks with Croatian economy minister Tomislav Panenic. Among other topics, the two ministers discussed the MOL-INA case.
In a press release to Hungarian news agency MTI, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated that at the meeting Mr. Szijjártó said that it is in the interests of Hungary “to engage in cooperation, instead of heated debate”, but for this purpose, it is necessary for the “Croatian party not to hinder rational, fair and logical decisions” concerning the MOL-INA case.
The press release also stated that the Croatian minister has reiterated the commitment of his Government to constructing the LNG terminal.
Mr. Szijjártó has been quoted as stating that “in accordance with its bilateral and European obligations, we expect Croatia to authorise reverse gas trade via the Croatian-Hungarian gas line connection”.
The Dubrovnik Forum international conference was first organised in 2006, attended by heads of state and government. That is when Croatia, the host of the conference, started its accession negotiations with the EU; it has been a member since 2013.
The slogan of this year’s conference is the strengthening of Europe, with particular regard to the cooperation between the continent’s northern and southern regions. The presidents of Hungary, Slovenia, Lithuania and Bulgaria also attended the event.
The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Austria and Estonia were represented at ministerial level.