At a joint press conference held with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that since all gas pipeline projects bypassing Ukraine have failed in succession, the importance of Georgia’s role in Europe has increased significantly.
The Hungarian Prime Minister pointed out that although for 40 years Georgia has been referred to in Hungarian as “Grúzia” – the name for it in the Russian language – today in Hungarian he welcomed the delegation as that of “Georgia”. Mr. Orbán said that having seen a succession of failed gas pipeline projects, the importance of Georgia’s role in Europe has increased significantly, as new solutions must be found.
Prime Minister Orbán added that “Whatever the new solution might be, Georgia will play a part in it, since due to the events of recent months, the importance of Georgia has increased significantly. It is hard to imagine the achievement of energy security in Europe without Georgia playing an important role, either as a distributor or a transporter. Therefore, today we welcome the prime minister of a country which is also very important for Hungary’s energy security.”
Mr. Orbán said that taking the political and economic measures of the last 15 years into account, Georgia is one of the most innovative countries, therefore “we always examine the solutions that Georgia chooses.” The Prime Minister assured the delegation that Hungary will support the Euro-Atlantic integration of Tbilisi and that Hungary respects and acknowledges Georgia’s efforts for territorial integrity.
“We would like to see a stable Caucasus region,” Prime Minister Orbán said. Therefore, Hungary will suggest to the EU that it should develop a country-specific programme for Georgia. In the opinion of the Hungarian government, the most important part of this should be – as already discussed in Riga – providing visa exemption to Georgia.
Mr. Orbán also pointed out that Georgia is an important trade partner of Hungary: trade between the two countries increased by 10% in the first ten months of 2014, and this April a Hungarian trading house will open in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
The Hungarian prime minister also noted that the Hungarian Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) has provided a credit line of USD 50 million in order to support cooperation between Hungarian and Georgian SMEs. Prime Minister Garibashvili stressed that Hungarian-Georgian economic and trade relations have great potential, which must be exploited.
He also pointed out that the main field of bilateral cooperation is in the economic sector and both governments are working hard in order to further strengthen their relations in this field. Mr. Garibashvili expressed his great appreciation for the fact that Hungary supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as its Euro-Atlantic integration.
The Georgian prime minister underlined the importance of strengthening relations between the two countries and announced that they have discovered new areas of cooperation. He also expressed his hope that many Hungarian companies will soon discover the opportunities provided by the Georgian market, stressing that his country is making serious efforts to introduce reforms, to prove that Georgia can be a suitable partner for the EU. He also underlined the importance of the Association Agreement and the visa exemption, and thanked Hungary for having ratified the former.
The Georgian prime minister also expressed his gratitude to Hungary for supporting his country in implementing the commitments approved at the NATO summit. In closing, he added that during the negotiations the two prime ministers had discussed regional energy issues, markets and transit opportunities.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and his Georgian counterpart Tamar Beruchashvili signed a cooperation agreement prior to the statements by the prime ministers.