“Hungary wants to build cooperation with Romania that is based on mutual respect, and would like to further develop the rational cooperation experienced during the global pandemic”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday in Bucharest, where he held talks with his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu.

At a joint press conference held by the two foreign ministers, Mr. Szijjártó said. “Hungary has an interest in reinforcing cooperation within the Central European region, and bases its bilateral relations on mutual respect”. “We afford respect to our partners, but our over a thousand-year-old nation also expects the same”, he underlined.

“It is also in the interests of the some one and a half million Hungarians living in Transylvania for the two countries to get along better”, he added. During the course of his negotiations in Bucharest, Mr. Szijjártó asked his Romanian counterpart for Romania to also regard the Hungarian community living on its territory as a resource, in the way Hungary regards the Romanian national community living within its borders.

“Since it took office, Fidesz has increased budgetary support for national minorities, including the Romanian community, by 400 percent, and the new Nationality Act submitted to Parliament places the buildings they use for education or cultural purposes under their ownership”, the Minister stated.
“The Hungarian party welcomes the fact that Romania also supports Romanians living in Hungary, just as we also regard it as natural for Hungary to provide support to enable parts of the nation living abroad to survive and prosper on the land of their birth. Over 250 million euros in investment has been realised to date in Romania thanks to the economic development programmes Hungary has launched in neighbouring countries”, he explained.

“The Hungarian party is open to concluding an agreement on the continuation of this program, as requested by Romania. Work on interconnecting the natural gas networks of the two countries will soon be complete, thanks to which it will become possible for shipments of natural gas to also arrive in Hungary via Romania at an initial rate of 1.75 billion cubic metres-a-year, and the latest motorway link between the two countries is expected to be complete by August of this year”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade continued.

“Hungary has an interest in good relations, and would be glad if the Hungarian community were not a topic during the Romanian election campaign”, Mr. Szijjártó added, expressing his hope that the related “unfortunate statements” are not repeated.

Referring to the approaching hundredth anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, Mr. Aurescu emphasised: “The two countries must get over their differing approaches to history, and must construct a ‘true’ strategic partnership while concentrating on mutually advantageous projects”. He explained that in his opinion this requires the two countries to exit the logic of “mutual provocations” and base bilateral relations on mutual respect and trust, in addition to which Hungarian officials visiting Romania must refrain from making statements that are at odds with the spirit of strategic partnership.
“For Romania, the Treaty of Trianon represents the international acknowledgement of the resolution issued by the Romanian National Assembly in Alba Iulia (Gyulafehrvár) in 1918, which proclaimed the unification of Transylvania and the Kingdom of Romania, and which ‘is of primary importance’, to the Romanian peoples”, he pointed out.

“We respect Hungary’s right to decide for itself concerning commemorations relating to historical events, but we would like relations between the two countries to be determined by the pragmatic intent to build the future, in a 21st century, European spirit”, the Romanian Foreign Minister declared.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)