Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó held talks on the increasing role and importance of parliamentary diplomacy with President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Gabriela Cuevas Barron on Tuesday in Budapest.

In a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said: “At the meeting, the parties agreed that in the continuously changing global political and economic situation the role and importance of parliamentary diplomacy is increasing”.

“There are a host of tensions worldwide for finding a solution to which parliamentary diplomacy has a wide range of instruments available”, the parties stated.

“Mr. Szijjártó drew the attention of the IPU President to the fact that one of the keys to Hungary’s competitiveness in this rapidly changing world is the stable parliamentary background that stands behind the Government, and which facilitates rapid and rational decision-making”, the Ministry’s statement reads. Prior to the meeting, an event commemorating the 130th anniversary y of the Hungarian National Assembly’s membership of the Inter-Parliamentary Union was held in Budapest’s Parliament Building. At the event, Speaker of Parliament László Kövér said international cooperation was exceptionally important with relation to taking action against global problems.

(MTI)