Hungarian-Bulgarian business forum hold in Budapest – UPDATE

Budapest, March 17 (MTI) – Hungary urges that Bulgaria should be allowed to join the Schengen regime as soon as possible, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, told a Hungarian-Bulgarian business forum in Budapest on Thursday.

The minister argued that Bulgaria’s Schengen integration would give “new impetus” to trade ties with Hungary and that country.

He said Europe’s migrant crisis comes with serious economic risks and had shaken the Schengen Area to its core. Bulgaria is not yet a member of the bloc, but had done more over the past months for Schengen’s survival than some Schengen members, Szijjártó said.

The minister said that political ties with Bulgaria were “settled”, which facilitates further trade development. He noted that the turnover of bilateral trade had reached 1.3 billion euros in 2015, 14 percent up from the previous year.

Szijjártó announced that Hungarian low-fare airline Wizz Air will operate three direct flights a week between Budapest and Sofia starting in November.

He also announced that the two countries will sign an economic cooperation agreement and set up a Hungarian-Bulgarian mixed economic committee.

Bulgarian economy minister Bozhidar Lukarski said there were multiple areas in which Hungary and Bulgaria can work together, adding that bilateral economic ties were dynamic.