While there are countries with which relations are at present worse than before, relations with other countries are better, and consequently, relations with the neighbouring countries have on the whole never been as balanced and positive as they are now, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said at his annual hearing held before the National Cohesion Committee of Parliament on Tuesday.

The Minister highlighted: the goal of nation policy must be to reinforce Hungarian national communities in the Carpathian Basin locally, and to help them to become successful and to become ever stronger in their respective places of residence. This requires economic and political measures as well as measures which help to connect Hungarian communities and the motherland together, he explained.

Péter Szijjártó reiterated: on the occasion of his account rendered before the Committee last year, a debate evolved regarding the extent to which Hungary’s policies related to the neighbouring countries should be pragmatic and reasonable, and the extent to which conflicts should be in the focus. These issues in dispute cannot be rendered the pre-conditions of the development of relations, but Hungarian foreign policy likewise cannot forget about them, he said. He added: we must strike a healthy balance between the two approaches.

He took the view that the goal of the political measures is to develop good relations with the neighbouring countries, and „it is better – also from the point of view of the Hungarian communities in question – if two countries maintain good relations than if they do not”, and therefore this is borne in mind upon the formulation of the country’s foreign policy.

According to the Foreign Minister, the objective of the economic measures is to support Hungarian entrepreneurs and businesses beyond the borders, but the programmes which serve this objective, too, can only be implemented if intergovernmental relations are good.

Regarding connections, the Minister said: new border crossing stations must be built, and this, too, requires good bilateral relations. At present, there are 103 border crossing stations on the Hungarian border, and 20 new border crossing facilities have been opened since 2010, he said. He told the Committee that another ten new border crossing stations could be used on the Romanian border, but Romania is tying the use of these facilities to its Schengen membership, and no progress can be made on the matter. They would like to create 27 new border crossing stations in total up to 2020, he added.

Mr Szijjártó stressed: we need a pragmatic policy regarding neighbouring countries. The existence of good relations with a country does not mean that everything is in order, but efforts must be made to close as many open issues as possible, he said.

The Foreign Minister said in the context of the Hungarian community in Transylvania: Hungary must seek to achieve positive cooperation with Romania as Romania is Hungary’s second largest export market and we share the same view on a number of EU issues. At the same time, however, it is unacceptable for the Hungarian Government and Hungary that, with reference to their anti-corruption legislation, the Romanian authorities systematically harass officials and people of Hungarian nationality. The language law, the use of flags and symbols, and restitution are issues which must be kept on the agenda continuously, but as expected, there will be no progress as elections will be held in Romania in the near future, he said.

The Minister said regarding Slovakia: the best political cooperation of all time has developed between the two countries which provides adequate foundations for further progress on the open issues. It is a favourable development that, with the amendments made to the Slovak education law, the direct threat of having to close down small Hungarian schools has been averted, but we need further progress, he said in stating his view.

The Foreign Minister told the Committee in connection with Serbia that it is in relations with Serbia that we have the fewest problems. Hungary currently has the best relations of all time with Serbia, and it is important to support the country’s European integration.

In the context of Transcarpathia, Mr Szijjártó said: they continuously urge the development of Hungarian-majority electoral districts, administrative districts and school districts, and these issues, too, will be tackled on the occasion of the visit of the Ukrainian head of state at the end of November.

Concerning Croatia, he reiterated: a new government was recently formed in Croatia, and the new Foreign Minister’s first official visit abroad will be to Budapest in the next few days which is a good sign, indicating that the two countries may repeatedly engage in normal cooperation.

István Szávay (Jobbik) asked the Foreign Minister about the impact of the US presidential election on the region. Mr Szijjártó said: the election will have a major impact on Central-Europe as some countries are strongly committed to a certain political direction, and they will now „have to change track”. President-elect Donald Trump is not a fan of the exportation of democracy without restriction, which is good news, he pointed out. He added: we shall see what the new US Administration’s approach will be to Central-Europe.

Mónika Dunai (Fidesz) proposed: in the light of the fact that the members of the Committee appear to agree on the significance of the issues of language use, the Committee should word a position in which they draw the attention of the Members of the European Parliament to the importance of these matters.

László Kiss (Fidesz) said: it is essential to keep the truly important issues on the agenda, but we seem to be unable to resolve these questions, and there is no sign of major achievements either.

Mr Szijjártó said in answer to the question of Attila Petneházy (Fidesz): Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area is also a political issue, and in this respect, too, Romania must respect European values.

In response to a comment made by László Szászfalvi (KDNP), Vice-President of the Committee, the Foreign Minister said: it is to be hoped that we shall succeed in forging good cooperation with the new Croatian government.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)