“Never before during the course of our common history has Hungarian-Slovakian cooperation been as good as it is today”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday in Budapest.

At a joint press conference following a meeting with Slovakian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Ivan Korčok, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted: “The Hungarian government is affording strategic significance to its cooperation with Slovakia”. Also referring to the fact that Ivan Korčok’s second official foreign visit after being appointed Foreign Minister was to Budapest, he stated: “This cannot be very different on the northern side of the Danube either”. “Protecting against the coronavirus epidemic has reinforced relations even further”, he added. “Slovakia provided assistance to enable 93 Hungarian citizens to come home, while Hungary has helped 53 Slovakian citizens to return home, and the Hungarian party has sent shipments of the equipment needed for health protection to eleven hospitals in southern Slovakia”, the Minister listed.

Mr. Szijjártó said he was highly appreciative of the fact that commuting was first enabled along the Hungarian-Slovakian border, that freight traffic has been continuously maintained, and that Hungarian and Slovakian citizens can now stay in each other’s countries for up to 48 hours without any restrictions whatsoever. “From Tuesday morning, the Esztergom freight ferry has begun operating again and the Nógrádszakál-Ráróspuszta border crossing point has been reopened, meaning the two countries’ citizens can now travel using 13 border crossing points”, he said. The Minister also spoke about the fact that Slovakia is Hungary’s third most important trade partner, realising 10.5 billion euros in bilateral trade flow last year, and Slovakia is the third most attractive target for Hungarian capital investment.

With relation to the future of bilateral relations, Mr. Szijjártó expressed his hope that the upcoming years will be about new links and more joint success stories, which “will bring good for Slovakia and Hungary, and to both Hungarians living in southern Slovakia and the Slovakian minority in Hungary”. “Construction of the new bridge linking Komárom and Komárno will be completed by the end of this summer, six new border crossing points will be opened by 2022, including three new bridges across the River Ipoly, and by 2024 the capacity of the interconnector linking the two countries’ natural gas networks will be significantly increased in both directions”, he stated. Mr Szijjártó also announced that the two countries’ high voltage electricity systems will also be linked by the end of December this year, which he evaluated as a major step forward in assuring the security of the two countries’ electricity supplies.

Mr. Szijjártó said the fate of the Hungarian minority in southern Slovakia is a crucial issue for the Hungarian nation and the Hungarian government, with relation to which he said: “Luckily, it seems that the same is true in the case of the Slovakian government”. He praised the fact that the recently appointed Slovakian government also published its programme in Hungarian, and the fact that the drawing up of Slovakian legislation on minority rights and national education has begun. According to Mr. Szijjártó, this proves that Hungary was right to think that it must build joint success stories.

Ivan Korčok agreed that bilateral relations are excellent, which he evaluated as a result of the efforts of recent years. According to the Minister, the Slovakian-Hungarian treaty signed 25 years ago “includes everything necessary to enable the development of relations”. He said that in his opinion, in addition to the two countries, the ongoing energy development projects are contributing to the energy security of all of Europe. With relation to the coronavirus epidemic, he said both countries had succeeded in keeping the spread of the virus under control, and have assisted each other in protecting against it, “but citizens finally want to see the results of these two months of major and difficult effort”. “Both countries are taking care of their national minorities”, the Slovakian Minister declared, citing as an example the fact that a Slovakian cultural centre is being established in a Slovakian evangelical church in Budapest.

With relation to the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, Mr. Korčok spoke about the fact that the two countries have a differing approach to the historical event, but stated: “It is our responsibility to assure that history does not separate us from each other, even if it does not always connect us”. “Everyone may approach history as they see fit, but we must continue working to further improve relations”, he declared.

In reply to a question from the press, Mr. Szijjártó said: “We regard it as a kind gesture that the Slovakian head of government is holding a reception for around a hundred members of the Slovakian Hungarian community in Bratislava to mark the one hundredth anniversary of Trianon”,  and took the opportunity to invite Prime Minister Igor Matovič to make an official visit to Hungary. With relation to Trianon, he emphasised: “The anniversary means something totally different to Slovakians and Hungarians”. “Our future good cooperation depends on our successfully respecting each other’s emotion”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted. Calling for an empathetic approach, Ivan Korčok noted that the anniversary must not have a negative effect on bilateral relations, and said Igor Matovič will soon be visiting Budapest.

Amongst others, Mr. Szijjártó was also asked about the closure of transit zones, with relation to which he replied that Hungary is implementing the decision of the European Court of Justice, but does not agree with it. “From now on, requests for asylum may be submitted at any Hungarian foreign representation, not in the transit zone”, the Minister added, also stressing that Hungary will continue to refuse admittance to illegal immigrants in future.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / MTI)