Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu initiated the Romanian-Hungarian-Slovakian-Austrian discussion of the events of First World War during negotiations with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó in Bucharest on Wednesday.
The two foreign ministers spoke to the press after Mr. Szijjártó gave a speech at the annual meeting of Romanian ambassadors. Both stressed the improving level of mutual trust between the two countries.
Teodor Melescanu said that the First World War had had a decisive effect on the region’s history, and that accordingly he had recommended that some kind of joint event be organised with the participation of the governments of Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, and perhaps also Austria and Germany, during the course of which the parties should discuss historical issues, look to the future, and examine their countries’ roles in Central Europe, the EU and the world.
The Romanian Foreign Minister thanked Mr. Szijjártó for his lecture at the annual meeting of Romanian ambassadors, the essence of which related to how regional cooperation could facilitate security and prosperity in the region. The Hungarian minority in Romania and the Romanian minority in Hungary act as a link in relations between the two countries, he stressed.
Mr. Melescanu said the legal foundations developed by the two countries will enable them to concentrate on issues relating to connectivity in the upcoming period, mentioning energy networks, the linking of motorways and a high speed rail connection on the Budapest-Cluj-Brasov-Bucharest line. “These are projects that will be discussed by the Romanian-Hungarian Joint Economic Committee and during the course of a possible joint cabinet meeting; this is what we are planning”, Mr. Melescanu declared.
In his press statement, Péter Szijjártó said: five years ago, anyone who said that the Romanian and Hungarian foreign ministers will invite each other to hold lectures at their relative annual meetings of ambassadors would have become a laughing stock. The Hungarian Foreign Minister said Mr. Melescanu’s person was a guarantee that mutual trust between Romanians and Hungarians will continue to grow, while enabling the parties to realise success stories.
The Minister also mentioned the development of economic relations, and announced the good news that Hungary will soon be opening a Hungarian Cultural Institute in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca).
“We are at least as happy about the fact that we have conducted constructive negotiations on enabling the Hungarian Government to finance an enterprise development programme in Romanian territories inhabited by the Hungarian minority. These agreements will give rise to more success stories, through which bilateral relations will improve even further”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said.
In reply to a question from the press, Mr. Szijjártó said that last year the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade had decided that Hungarian diplomats will not take part in events organised to mark the Romanian national holiday, and the Ministry will now decide on whether this decision should remain in force.