“Germany is Hungary’s most important partner both politically and economically”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Berlin prior to a meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
At the press conference held jointly with the German Foreign Minister, Mr. Szijjártó stressed that the success of Germany to a great extent determines the success of Hungary.
The Hungarians and Germans are linked by many things, he added, and expressed his sympathies in the name of every Hungarian for the recent deaths of “two outstanding German Foreign Ministers” Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Guido Westerwelle. The Hungarians share in the Germany’s grief, he declared.
The relationship between Hungary and Germany continues to gain strength, 2015 was “the year of records” with both bilateral trade flow and the level of Hungarian exports to Germany breaking all previous records, in addition to which the highest level of foreign investment in Hungary was again realised by German enterprises, Mr. Szijjártó explained.
In addition to daily cooperation, Hungary also builds on German foundations and views cooperation with German companies as standard with regard to research and development and the further development of education, and accordingly Hungarian-German cooperation also represents the most important ingredient for the future competitiveness of the Hungarian economy, the Minister highlighted.
In addition to Europe’s competitiveness, Europe’s security will also be a key issue at the meeting and the relationship between the European Union and Russia are important to both, he added. Hungary would like to raise the “possibility of restabilising pragmatic cooperation” with regard to this issue, Mr. Szijjártó said.
On the topic of European security, Hungary and Germany agree that the external borders of the European Union must be protected, he added, stressing that Hungary “will always be at the forefront of adhering to the Schengen regulations”.
Hungary also agrees with “the standpoint, which enjoys a wide European consensus” with regard to the fact that crises in the southern and south-eastern vicinity of Europe must be handled and the widest possible cooperation must be established in the interests of creating peace in Syria. Hungary also believes that the countries neighbouring Syria should receive suitable assistance in view of the fact that Europe’s responsibility lies in enabling people who are forced to leave Syria and other war zones to remain as close as possible to their homes and return as soon as possible, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade emphasised.
Hungary holds the achievements of German diplomacy with regard to the stabilisation processes underway in Europe’s southern and south-eastern neighbourhood and the most important recent multilateral agreements in great esteem, Mr. Szijjártó said.
The topic of NATO expansion will also be touched upon at the meeting, with regard to which Hungary hopes that the North Atlantic Alliance will uphold its “open doors policy”, he added.
In his statement, Frank-Walter Steinmeier highlighted the fact that former German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who died last week, maintained extremely close ties to Hungary and was particularly grateful for the country opening its borders in 1989, which he regarded as a courageous act of European solidarity. Despite the disputes “that sometimes arise in everyday Europe, and which undoubtedly exist with regard to the refugee issue”, Germany is grateful to Hungary for having opened its borders and will never forget this brave act with which the Hungarians helped the Germans.
The relationship between the two countries is undoubtedly strong enough to withstand “everyday differences of opinion” concerning internal politics or refugee policy, he added.
With regard to the handling of the refugee crisis, Mr. Steinmeier pointed out that the effectiveness of the joint, “pan-European” agreements is now being put to the test, including initiatives aimed at creating peace in Syria and assisting Greece and the countries in the Syrian region, as well as the EU-Turkey agreement. With relation to the programme aimed at having Greece transport illegal immigrants shipped back to Turkey and the legal reception of Syrian refugees currently in Turkey, the German Foreign Minister stressed that the first day of implantation isn’t even over and so it is too early to draw conclusions.
Mr. Steinmeier said he and his Hungarian counterpart would, amongst others, also be discussing the crisis in Ukraine and the re-emergence of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)
