Though the two countries might take different approaches, they were always in agreement about the most important issues and will find means to keep it this way in the future, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in Budapest.
The Minister had a meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna in the morning, and declared at their joint press conference that there was no argument between the two countries about the importance of the Visegrád Group (V4) and about the fact that Central Europe will remain the engine of European growth in the future.
He was of the opinion that both Hungary and Poland are interested in deepening the cooperation between the V4 countries in every area, and as much as possible. He added that the cooperation between V4 and Germany has considerable benefits for each party. Péter Szijjártó mentioned that the meeting also dealt with energy issues. It is important that every country can decide on its own on the type and proportion of the energy carriers it uses to ensure its energy supply, he explained.
He noted that it is important to develop a North-South infrastructure in addition to that established in the East-West direction. He reminded that the trade turnover between Hungary and Poland increased by 7 percent last year, and a Hungarian trading house will open in Krakow in order to further strengthen economic relations. Eximbank will open a credit line of almost EUR 360 million to promote the cooperation between Hungarian and Polish small and medium-sized enterprises. He noted that he agreed with his Polish counterpart to allocate more government funds for the promotion of civil cooperation.
Grzegorz Schetyna emphasised: the friendship between Hungary and Poland is the foundation of Central European cooperation. He said that although there might be some conflicts in their foreign policies, the two countries always find common ground.
The Polish Minister emphasised the importance of the economic relations between the two countries, noting that they are looking for new areas of cooperation. He also mentioned that an agreement was reached on accommodating each other’s diplomats in those places where the other country has no diplomatic mission.
He thought that this kind of cooperation should primarily focus on Africa, Latin-America and Asia. Answering a question about US Chargé d'affaires André Goodfriend leaving Budapest, Péter Szijjártó said that sending or calling back a diplomat to or from a specific location is the sovereign decision of the sending country; this is a domestic affair of the United States, so the government does not need to comment on it.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
