“We are striving to develop good interstate and intergovernmental relations with Romania, and this requires dialogue”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Monday in Budapest following a meeting with his Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu. The Romanian Foreign Minister stressed: Both parties are approaching the various issues openly.
“Without dialogue there will never be joint successes and trust between the two countries, peoples and governments”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed. “Joint success and trust is required for there to be a hope of solving the difficult issues that exist in our bilateral relations”, he explained, adding: “Because nobody is disputing that there are sensitive issues that are fundamentally related to minorities”.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister said he was grateful to his Romanian negotiating partner for having given a speech at the diplomats’ conference that began on Budapest on Monday.
“Hungary’s most sensitive bilateral relations are perhaps those with Romania, and accordingly the issue must always be approached with care. Accordingly, it is best ‘if we choose simplicity instead of speculation’ and approach relations according to our mutual interests ‘instead of resorting to tricks or overcomplicating things”. “This means that if there is a good relationship between Hungary and Romania, and between the two governments, then that is good for every Romanian and every Hungarian, irrespective of which country they live in”, he said.
“It is important that nobody should be able to use any kind of political or legal goal to ‘intimidate or harass’ the members of an ethnic minority”, the Minister highlighted.
“The parties would like to expand links between the two countries and need to establish as many border crossing points as possible. Accordingly we will be examining ten border crossing stations that are currently only open at weekends, choosing the two busiest, and drawing up the details on how they may remain open all day”, he explained.
Mr. Szijjártó also mentioned that although the two countries’ natural gas pipelines are interconnected, gas flow is currently only possible in one direction, from Hungary to Romania. “Romania has promised that the interconnector will be operating at full capacity in both directions by 2020”, he announced.
On the subject of Hungarian-Romanian economic cooperation, the Hungarian Foreign Minister told reporters: “Romania is Hungary’s second most important export market, and in the interests of achieving further progress in economic relations, Eximbank will be opening a 514 million euro credit line to facilitate cooperation between enterprises”.
Mr. Szijjártó recalled that Romania was the first foreign country in which MVM Hungarian Electricity Plc. acquired ownership within the renewable energy production sector, and the company is investing in further energy sources in the country, in addition to which the activities of Hungarian oil company MOL, OTP Bank and pharmaceuticals producer Richter are also significant.
“Both Hungary and Romania regard nuclear energy as an important energy source”, he noted.
Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu stressed: “Both parties are approaching the various issues openly and with the clear intent of finding suitable solutions, and accordingly relations may now improve to the advantage of both countries”. Mr. Melescanu also suggested holding a joint Hungarian-Romanian cabinet meeting.
The Minister told the press that during the meeting particular emphasis had been placed on topics with regard to which the two countries’ standpoints are similar, and accordingly could have a favourable effect on expanding relations. “But we also did not ignore those topics on which our standpoints are more diverse”, he added.
Mr. Melescanu highlighted the importance of regular consultation between the countries of the Visegrád Group (V4) and Romania on topics that are important to all five countries.
The Romanian Foreign Minister said that in his view he and his Hungarian colleague had taken a significant step forward today and this is not the last, but the first step in a process that leads to relations becoming exemplary, adding that Mr. Szijjártó had been invited to Bucharest in the autumn to hold a lecture for Romanian ambassadors.
In reply to a question, Mr. Melescanu said he did not wish to comment on last December’s decision not to allow Hungarian diplomats to attend Romanian national celebrations, but was sure they would find a way to overstep this situation.
Also in reply to a question, Mr. Szijjártó told reporters that there is a realistic chance that more immigration pressure will be placed on Central Europe in the relatively near future, and accordingly the protection of the southern border is being reinforced.