21 new border-crossing points will be opened between Hungary and Slovakia within the framework of a project to be launched this autumn, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced on Monday in Budapest after negotiating with his Slovak colleague.

Péter Szijjártó said that there are several cross-border infrastructure development projects in preparation, for example a new ferry connection on the river Danube between the two countries, or the construction of the bridge in Komárom for which Hungary and Slovakia submitted a joint tender to the European Union.

The Minister added that Slovakia is Hungary’s third most important trading partner with a trade turnover approaching EUR 8.5 billion last year.

He noted that the Hungarian-Slovak gas interconnector is still being tested but the two governments will do their best to launch commercial operation as soon as possible. In addition to this, planning has been commenced to connect the electricity networks of the two countries.

Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák said that Hungarian-Slovak relations are good and pragmatic, and the cooperation is positive. As he said, he and his Hungarian partner agreed on priority projects in the field of cross-border infrastructure development.

Both Foreign Affairs Ministers noted that although Hungary and Slovakia may disagree on a few issues, there are no matters that they would not be able to discuss calmly. They emphasised that there are no accusations; the representatives of the two countries are not sending messages to each other through the media. As they said, there are no taboo subjects; they will negotiate about all upcoming issues.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)