If the Croatian party makes an offer and the parties are able to come to an agreement on a business basis, the Hungarian party is ready to sell its stake in the Croatian oil industry company INA, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said on the Croatian public service television (HTV) late Thursday evening.

He highlighted nonetheless that the fact that Croatia has no stable government poses difficulties in the resolution of the situation. “It is an enormous competitive advantage for Hungary that it has a strong and stable government, and is therefore able to adopt legislation very swiftly should the economic situation call for that”, he added.

Mr Semjén took the view that the Croatian coalition disputes and the difficulties in forming a government make Croatian-Hungarian inter-governmental relations more difficult. “I have to say that governments come, governments go, but the Croatian people and the Hungarian people, Croatia and Hungary, are here to stay, and this should serve as the basis”, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

He expressed hope that Croatia will have a stable government within the shortest possible time with which Hungary is able to cooperate fruitfully, on the basis of mutual trust, in the long run, and that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, too, may meet shortly. “We are happy to welcome the Croatian Prime Minister in Hungary”, he said.

(MTI)