“The friendly relations we maintain with Bavaria play an extremely important part in almost all areas of life in Hungary, particularly during the current coronavirus pandemic”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a video posted to his Facebook page on Wednesday.

Following a videoconference with Bavarian State Minister for Federal and European Affairs Florian Herrmann, Mr. Szijjártó said the two parties are facing similar challenges in view of the fact that Western European countries are also concerned with the easing of the protective measures introduced because of the pandemic. “However, it is not at all clear what effect these measures will have from an epidemiological perspective, since experts are also talking about a second wave of infection”, he added. “It is certain that we must be cautious; we are monitoring international trends and the consequences that the decisions of other countries will have, and as far as I can see this is also the approach of our Bavarian friends”, the Minister said.
He added that the Bavarians also have a schedule for the easing of these measures, but they are also mentoring developments in Austria in view of the fact that the epidemic began earlier there. “Social distancing and the wearing of face masks are also among the most important measures and recommendations in Bavaria”, he said, highlighting the fact that both parties agree that we must prepare for a long-term challenge.

Mr. Szijjártó emphasised that during the meeting the two foreign ministers had confirmed their intent to handle cooperation between Bavarian and Hungary at a strategic level, for instance with relation to the economy. He added that Bavarian investors such as for instance Audi, Siemens and Knorr-Bremse, maintain over 50 thousand workplaces in Hungary. “It is most welcome that within the automotive industry, in which Bavarian enterprises play a leading role in Hungary, companies are restarting their production one after the other”, Mr. Szijjártó said, adding that it is also good news that 67 enterprises have already taken advantage of the opportunities provided by Hungary’s recently relaunched investment promotion system, 55 of which are Hungarian. “These companies are undertaking to create over 15 thousand jobs”, he added.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, the European Union must ease regulations relating to the level of state funding that may be provided towards new investments. He also emphasised that the European Commission should now authorise all kinds of state support in an effort to promote investments.
The parties also agreed that they will be concentrating on the defence industry as one of the most important points of future cooperation, and that they will also continue to weave the web of Hungarian-Bavarian diplomatic relations. Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that the new Hungarian Consulate in Nuremberg is almost complete, and could open as soon as the virus situation enables it. “This also indicates that Hungarian-Bavarian diplomatic relations will be entering an even more active phase in future”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister declared.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)