The Secretary of state for European Affairs, Daniela Gitman, co-president of the Romanian-Hungarian Select Committee for Collaboration in the Issues of National Minorities, received, on Monday, in Bucharest, her Hungarian counterpart, Ferenc Kalmar, with whom she had an in-depth exchange of opinions regarding the preparation and start of the ninth session of this structure, a press release from the MAE sent to AGERPRES, reads.

The two sides agreed for the future that the committee’s activity would be „constant”, „constructive” and „efficient”, oriented towards analyzing „real” problems related to the protection of ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural identity of the persons belonging to the Romanian minority in Hungary and the Hungarian minority in Romania.

Also, Gitman and Kalmar agreed to a consolidated cooperation to identify concrete solutions to answer these problems, respecting the constitutional order and the internal legislation of the two states.

This approach will be reflected including in the structure of the protocol of the ninth session of the committee, in the spirit of the understanding agreed between the ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries, occasioned by the visit to Bucharest of the head of the Hungarian diplomacy Peter Szijjarto, in July, the MAE release adds.

„The talks highlighted the desire for cooperation between Romania and Hungary within this mechanism created on the basis of the Treaty of Understanding, Cooperation and Good Neighbourliness between Romania and Hungary (Timisoara, September 16, 1996), for the direct benefit of Romanian citizens of Hungarian ethnicity, respectively to the Hungarian citizens of Romanian ethnicity, who remain authentic bridges between Romania and Hungary,” the source said.

Agerpres