“The restrictive measures introduced along our borders because of the coronavirus epidemic must be lifted”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on his Facebook page on Monday following talks with Slovenian Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek. According to Mr. Szijjártó’s post, the two ministers expressed their mutual appreciation of each other’s handling of the global pandemic.

“Both Slovenia and Hungary introduced the required measures in a timely fashion, and by doing so have succeeded in curbing the spread of the epidemic, and accordingly the main topic of discussion was now the rebooting of our economies”, Mr. Szijjártó wrote. “However, the rebooting of our economies is not possible without the recommencement of international cooperation”, he added. “For this reason, there is a need for the lifting of the restrictive measures introduced along our borders, without of course endangering the priority of health protection”, the Minister emphasised.
According to Mr. Szijjártó, annual trade flow between Slovenia and Hungary exceeds 2.5 billion euros, “in addition to which a diverse and active relationship has developed between our cross-border communities, and we both have national minorities living on both sides of the border”. “Taking into account the above, we have begun work on the gradual lifting of the restrictive measures affecting the crossing of the border, with relation to which we have designated a target date of 1 June”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister indicated.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)