Visiting Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto hopeful Romanian - Hungarian bilateral relations will continue to improve

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told a joint press conference delivered on Tuesday with his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu at the premises of the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest that good relations require efforts from both sides, which must respect each other's sensitivities. Voicing Hungary's commitment to continuing to build a mutually respectful cooperation with Romania, Peter Szijjarto said that he has invited ForMin Aurescu to come on an official visit to Hungary so that they carry on the extremely constructive dialogue they had in Bucharest. Referring to the two sides having tackled history, Peter Szijjarto remarked that the two states have different views on the same historical events, and that what can be a reason for joy for some countries can be a reason of sadness for others. For Hungary, the events related to the Treaty of Trianon are a reason of great sadness, as it lost two-thirds of its territory back then, but - Szijjarto underscored - this must not influence the two states' bilateral relations. We respect our partners, but as a nation dating back more than 1,000 years, we also expect respect. We trust our collaboration with Romania to be built on good relations and understanding, said ForMin Szijjarto. He also called on Romania to consider the Hungarian ethnics in Transylvania as a solid link between the two countries. This is how we look at the Romanian community in Hungary and we support them to enjoy their traditions, to use their language and we ask the same from the Romanian side. Our government, which has been at rule for more than ten years now, has fivefold increased the budget support for the Romanian community in Hungary, and we also have a law on the minorities living in Hungary. We support the children of these minorities to visit the neighboring countries, go there on camps, and we are happy if Romania supports the participation of Romanian students who live in Hungary in Romanian camps. We equally support all the religious and economic activities of the respective communities. We know that these communities are a bridge between the two countries, said the Hungarian Foreign Minister. In terms of economic relations, he said that Romania is Hungary's ninth most important partner, with trade exchanges worth over 9 billion euros. OTP and MOL operate on the Romanian market, the Hungarian top diplomat went on to say. Thanks to the Hungarian economic development program launched in neighboring countries, 250 million euros of investments have been made in Romania so far. I welcomed the initiative of Mr. Minister Aurescu that we should continue this program under a future agreement. We consider our energy cooperation is highly important, he said, noting that works to connect the two countries' gas networks - which will also allow gas to be transported from Romania to Hungary - will be completed soon, in the first period at 1.75 billion cubic meters per year, and that another motorway connection between the two countries is expected by August. AGERPRES (RO - author: Irinela Visan, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)

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