On an official visit to Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday, Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu met Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, and the two discussed, among other topics, „the issue of private visits to Romania by some Hungarian state officials and inappropriate public statements delivered by them,” according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), Agerpres reports.

Aurescu also presented the results of consultations with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto, and conclusions regarding the priority projects of shared interest that should be defining for collaboration between the two countries moving forward.

Addressed were a rapidly growing trade; the need to balance the trade balance; boosting Romanian investment in Hungary and Hungarian investment in Romania; establishing a bilateral chamber of commerce; the upcoming signing in Bucharest, in December, of documents that lay the foundation for the Romania-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Hungary project for an undersea cable for the transmission of green electricity from Azerbaijan, and the Bucharest-Budapest high-speed railway project.

Aurescu said that the Romanian-Hungarian specialist committee on ethnic minorities is the only pragmatic framework for solving the problems of ethnic minorities in the two countries, pointing to the specific problems of the Romanian minority in Hungary. Aurescu proposed, and the Hungarian prime minister accepted, the creation of a contact plan at the level of relevant ministers from the two countries. Orban reiterated Hungary’s full support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, particularly appreciating the efficient way in which Romania provides security on its external borders and co-operation between the two countries’ interior ministries.

Aurescu also highlighted the role of the bilateral strategic partnership, which this month turns 20, as an instrument of great significance that elevated the profile of bilateral relations, built mainly around economic co-operation, to the benefit of all the citizens of the two countries, regardless of ethnicity.

The situation in Ukraine was also discussed, with Aurescu presenting Romania’s multidimensional support and the country’s assessment of the possible developments in Russia’s illegitimate war against Ukraine.

Agerpres